Earlier this month, an interesting moment in my career occurred for me: I became an “expert.”- Even more jarring is the idea that I could be an expert in road rage.

I had to include a Carly Rae Jepsen song title in my blog. I’ve apologized in advance, now we can move on… And when I say “cut to the feeling,” I also like to visualize us moving towards the feeling, maybe even leaning into it.

Here is an image that might conjure up some memories for you: Your partner telling you they are anxious…VERY anxious. How do you help?

It’s an oft-used expression to describe one way of handling our emotions, “shutting down.” But what is happening, and how do we handle it?

I notice that we often have relationships which involve moments we don’t always get quite…“right.” Most of the time we might see fighting in this way, in the “Find The Bad Guy” dance.

Somehow, the phrase “the Protest Polka” doesn’t quite capture the negative cycle like I wish it would; “polka” feels fun! But this polka is anything but fun. But, the important part of the phrase is “protest,” and not “polka,” so that is where we focus our attention, we can see a lot of examples of protesting these days.

The “Opinionator/Couch” series of articles in the New York Times – it has apparently been running for years – is a personal favorite. Written from a clinician’s or patient’s first-hand perspective, it documents the inevitable struggles and successes in therapy.