A recent study led by researchers from Portland Psychotherapy, including Kati Lear PhD and Jason Luoma PhD, delves into the complex relationship between self-criticism, emotional regulation, and interpersonal connections. Published in Motivation…
The findings suggest some behaviors that may partially explain why highly self-critical people often experience poorer quality relationships and social isolation. Out of a desire to avoid rejection, self-critical individuals may mute their emotional expressions and conceal thoughts and feelings. Unfortunately, this emotional guardedness can distance others and undermine relationship intimacy and closeness.
Feeling excited about rejoining your communities after more than a year of quarantine, but also a little scared? Are you racing to fill up your social calendar, yet somehow exhausted by tiny interactions? …
Dealing with COVID-19 is difficult for most people, but often even more so for people who have struggled with anxiety in the past. If you have a history of OCD, health-related concerns, panic…
In Portland, Oregon, where I live, potential therapy clients have access to wide range of therapists who use evidence-based practices. However, this is not true for people who live in many other areas…
Often people want to make changes, but are overwhelmed by a very loud and convincing inner critic. An inner critic is: a powerful, internal voice that tells us we cannot do well in…
Anxiety can be a loud voice in your head telling you that something bad is going to happen. Your heart rate starts to quicken, your thoughts speed up, and you feel a knot…
Since I saw him present on some preliminary results at a conference 6 years ago, I’ve been following with interest University of Albany – SUNY professor John Forsyth’s, PhD, research on his self-help…
One of the problems I specialize in working with is repetitive skin picking (also known as excoriation or dermatillomania). People struggling with this problem experience intense urges to pick at blemishes or perceived…
There’s no shortage of self-help books on the market. There is, however, a paucity of research on whether those self-help books are actually helpful to the people who use them. In an ideal…
Everyone has experienced intense fear at some point. Our hearts start racing when we realize we forgot to pick up the kids at school, our hands tremble and sweat as we struggle to…
One of my specialties is working with people who struggle with repetitive hair pulling (called trichotillomania) and/or skin picking (called dermatillomania or excoriation). Individuals with these conditions often do damage to their appearance….
Trichotillomania (or trich for short) is a condition in which people repeatedly pull out their body hair, often leading to bald patches and thinning. The scalp is a common site—as are eyebrows and…
You’ve probably noticed this already, but our minds have something to say on most topics. Some of this is pretty minor: “That iced tea looks refreshing!” In other cases our minds dole out…
The Oregonian published an Op-Ed piece that my colleague Christeine Terry and I wrote. The article addresses the growing practice of off-label use of antipsychotic medications to treat anxiety-related problems. Our aim was…
Recently, there’s been some press on the development of smartphone apps for mental health issues. I think this a very worthy area of pursuit. For a few dollars to download, thousands of people…
Have you ever heard of trichotillomania or the wonderful organization called the Trichotillomania Learning Center (TLC)? See below to learn more. What’s Trichotillomania? Trichotillomania—or “trich” for short—is a problem that’s a little obscure…
Not long ago my girlfriend stumbled across a YouTube video from Animal Planet’s show “My Extreme Animal Phobia.” It features a segment from the show involving a tough-looking, heavily tattooed man who is…
