By Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D., M.Div, LMFT There is a moral task of caregiving, and that involves just being there, being with that person and being committed. When there is nothing that can be done, we have to be able to say, ‘look, I’m with you in this experience. Right through to the end ofContinue reading “When Death Is a Blessing: Living with Alzheimer’s Disease”
Category Archives: Mental Health
Creating Healthy Couples & Families
In this essay, I discuss the importance of rules and boundaries for couples and families. Just as games need rules, so do families if they are to be happy and successful.
The Busy Brain
By Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D., LMFT When I was a practicing mental health professional, many of my clients would complain about anxiety. “I just can’t turn off my brain,” they would complain, “My busy brain keeps me awake, floods my waking moments with ominous possibilities and makes my everyday life so problematic it’s affecting myContinue reading “The Busy Brain”
Am I speaking your language?
By Harold W. Anderson, M.A., M.Div., Ph.D., LMFT As with every discipline, mental health and its related fields have developed its own vocabulary. Learning how to become a mental health professional includes learning how to be comfortable with and utilize this form of discourse. However, when one moves into the field and begins working withContinue reading “Am I speaking your language?”
Facing the End of Life
By Rev. Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D., LMFT Last March we were bringing our vacation in Maui to a close. While packing our bags, Becky received a call from Becky’s youngest sister. Since we were busy packing, Becky let the call go to voicemail and thought she would call her sister back on the way toContinue reading “Facing the End of Life”
Living with Depression: A Challenge No Matter How You Cut It
“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow While some people might feel “down” occasionally, such feelings do not describe the intensity of negative emotions and debilitating effects of depression. Clinical depression (major depressive disorder) isContinue reading “Living with Depression: A Challenge No Matter How You Cut It”
Fitbit Watches and Mental Health
My clients’ constant glance at their watches and my conversations with my cousin really got me to thinking about these things. Are they really that good for our health? When I saw people as a mental health provider, I began to notice they were starting to look at their watches all the time. At first,Continue reading “Fitbit Watches and Mental Health”
Mental Health Care and the Free Market
Should Mental Health Care go to the highest bidder? I can remember a conversation I had a while back with a county commissioner. I was discussing an idea with him when he paused, calculated for a moment, and said “Yes. That fits into my way of thinking.” It was a while ago, so I don’tContinue reading “Mental Health Care and the Free Market”
Loving a Façade: The Powerful Deception of Abuse
A human being is spirit. But what is spirit? Spirit is the self. But what is the self? The self is a relation that relates itself to itself or is the relation’s relating itself to itself in the relation; the self is not the relation but is the relation’s relating itself to itself. A humanContinue reading “Loving a Façade: The Powerful Deception of Abuse”
Relational Reflexivity as the Key to Emotional Balance
The psychic fact receives from speech the power to be what it is. From Difficult Freedom by Emmanuel Levinas As one who has worked in caring services for most of his life, it is a privilege to hear the stories of those who are afraid, who are overly anxious and who are depressed. There appearsContinue reading “Relational Reflexivity as the Key to Emotional Balance”