Genuine versus fasle affection: what's real and what isn't? “He only gives me a hug goodnight because I complained about how little we touch. But it isn’t real. He’s only doing it because it’s on his list. It doesn’t feel like genuine affection, and I’d rather not have it,” said 36-year-old Marion describing her [...]
The disappointment loop – Shannon’s story Shannon a 40-year-old sales manager sighed deeply as her husband Dario, a 41-year-old robotics engineer, declined her help in the backyard and ignored her when she asked him to cuddle up on the sofa to watch a show in the evening. The disappointment loop kicked in again – [...]
“I can’t stop going to prostitutes for sex. I hate myself for it, but I can’t stop. I hate doing this to my girlfriend, but it’s all I think about. After the sex I feel disgusted with myself, but I keep doing it. I’ve tried hard to give it up but I can’t. I [...]
How I helped My Client – Showing How She Set Herself Up to Deny Her Deepest Wish Susan a 38-year-old Dental Hygienist had always felt that she got a raw deal in life. Unloved and neglected by her parents, she was now rejected by her partner Mick when she made overtures for closeness, affection, [...]
Here’s how I helped David last week – Am I a pedophile becuase of a dream I had? David, a 37-year-old electrical engineer had been working on his sense of entrapment in romantic relationships for some time in his indivdual therapy with me. Recently he brought a dream to a session and it turned [...]
Howard couldn’t commit to his girlfriend Melinda. He was torn between her and his parents. He didn’t want to choose, and hoped that Melinda, a 33-year-old food writer would tolerate his umbilical connection with his parents; because being cut off from them was worse than the idea of losing Melinda. Howard couldn’t separate from [...]
Mandy vehemently denied agreeing to take the kids to their swim meet on Saturday morning, despite eagerly agreeing to do so the previous evening. Troy, her 40-year-old husband was astounded. He recalled her excitement along with the kids, anticipating digging into their favorite foods at their local weekend brunch eatery. But come Saturday morning, [...]
Helplessness is scary and destabilizing. Helplessness evokes the need to be rescued, and excused from one's ineptitude. It’s seen as a negative; a sham or overdramatization. Helplessness is regarded as a sign of immaturity, neediness and over dependency in our society – except when that helplessness is sanctioned as cute and or adorable when [...]
When partners are at different phases in their personal development, they are often afraid that exploring their expanding experiences might threaten the relationship. Self-Censorship becomes a valuable tool in keeping feelings locked away, so as not to rock the boat. But, there is a price to pay, and that is a relationship where each [...]
A Relationship with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) bot sounded weird at first, but gradually grew appealing to Stella, a 45-year-old copy reader who was the sole carer for her mother, suffering from dementia. A relationship with an AI bot that looked human, smiled, and asked how Stella was doing, made her feel cared for [...]
