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Fear, Doubt, Uncertainty, ERP, & the Monster Under the Bed

Fear, Doubt, Uncertainty, ERP, & the Monster Under the Bed

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Everyone I know has, at some point, had to deal with the monster under the bed. Some do it with grace. Others falter. I’ve always been clumsy. I can vividly recall many terrified nights from my childhood, when I would lie rigidly in my bed, utterly paralyzed by fear. Afraid to make the slightest movement, to breathe, to call out for my parents…lest I be detected by IT. The pounding of my heart would be so loud in my ears, and my breathing so ragged, that I could swear the entire house could hear me. And yet…no one came to help. The moment would stretch out like taffy. At some point, my raw fear would ever so subtly decline, freeing me up to end the stalemate in one of several ways. Some nights, I would call out for help....

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School Refusal Causes (Social & Anxiety-Related Factors)

School Refusal Causes (Social & Anxiety-Related Factors)

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With the summer quickly fading to black and the academic year looming largely, we will soon be entering the season of school refusal. When I use the term “school refusal,” I’m not talking about that once-in-a-blue-moon occasion when a child forgets about an important test or project and decides it’s easier to feign illness than face the music. That’s pretty typical for nearly all kids, and it doesn’t necessarily establish a pattern of problematic behavior. What I’m talking about is school refusal that is pattern-based, recurrent, and results in academic or social impairment. For assessment or treatment of school refusal, feel free to contact me at my private practice, which services Palm Beach (Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach), Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. What causes school refusal? Why do kids refuse to go to...

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Specific phobias: symptoms & CBT treatment (reader question)

Specific phobias: symptoms & CBT treatment (reader question)

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Question: Basically, I wanted to know from an expert, what can a phobia do to a person? How does it affect them mentally? Also I see that you’ve got a new treatment philosophy — is there any way you can talk me through it? One of the goals of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is to learn to better understand the interrelationships among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.  Once you understand how these things are connected, it gives you a lot of power to implement change. Most people who seek therapy do so because they are experiencing an emotion they don’t want to have.  In the case of depression, the person might feel sad.  In the case of a phobia, the person might feel scared.  People often have trouble modifying these feelings directly because emotions tend to be somewhat involuntary.  If...

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