Romancing the Wind

This is an under six-minute video that begged to be shared. It might just be impossible to not feel good watching it. It's a kite ballet performed to the Flower Duet from Lakme by Delibes.



Wonderful, isn't it?

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

How Can We Understand Contradictory Research?

Dr. Ben Goldacre gave a funny and important talk on TED called Battling Bad Science. It's about 14 minutes long.

What you'll get from watching it is a much more balanced way to respond to the contradictory information we get about what we should do, eat, avoid, etc., in order to stay healthy.

You'll also learn about some of the tricky things pharmaceutical companies do in how they design their clinical trials. And what they leave out.



Useful, right?

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

Does Exercise Help Sleep?

The answer is yes. Anyone who suffers from insomnia knows how miserable it can be, but this Northwestern University study showed that exercise can improve sleep.

Participants in the study exercised in either two 20-minutes sessions four times a week or one 30-40 minute session four times a week. The period of the study was 16 weeks.

Compared to the control group, which participated in activities such as classes or museum lectures, the group that did the aerobic exercise reported that they went from being "poor sleepers" to being "good sleepers." They also reported other benefits, including less symptoms of depression.

Whenever a new client starts psychotherapy, exercise and sleep are two of the things I ask about.  If the client suffers from depression or anxiety - both of which can cause poor sleep, and both of which can be made worse by poor sleep - I usually recommend some form of aerobic exercise.  (Of course, the person needs to know they're medically okay for exercising.)

It's important to pick a form of exercise you like. If you hate running but love dancing... just dance to fast music!

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
New York City Psychotherapy

How Long Does Counseling Take?

Most people starting psychotherapy want to know the answer to the the question, how long will it take?

I wish I could give you a formula for the answer, but each person is too unique. However, studies have shown that motivation is a key predictor of successful therapy, and I think it's a big predictor of length of treatment, too. What I mean by that is that if you really want change and you work hard at it, you can get the most out of each session - and the time in between - and be done sooner.

Finding the right counselor for you is also a key factor. Research has shown that feeling that the therapist is a good fit is more predictive of positive results than the type of therapy done.

If you've been in therapy for even a short while and you don't feel like anything is happening, I encourage you to bring that up with your therapist.

People stay in a treatment that isn't working for many reasons, for example:

• Not knowing what to expect so not standard to judge by
• Being afraid to hurt the therapist's feelings
• Fear of making the therapist angry
• Difficulty with change

There are many more reasons. You may have guessed that the last three in the list likely came out of the person's experiences in childhood and are probably creating problems elsewhere in their life.

These can all change with good psychotherapy. If anything like that is keeping you in counseling you aren't sure is right for you, talk to your therapist. And remember, you are the customer - it has to feel right to you.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Psychotherapy for Change

Am I Repeating History with my Relationship?

We all do this: Pick people who are a mixture of things that are familiar to us from our family (good and bad) and sometimes things that, at least in the beginning, are the dead opposite of what we grew up with.

Whats going on here? It's likely a combination of the feeling of familiarity (I know what my role is!), having learned to tolerate things we shouldn't, and an unconscious desire to rework the past with someone similar.

Examples are the person who grew up with an alcoholic who marries one, or marries a workaholic (same unavailability). Growing up with a lot of anger in the home, so picking a very calm person and then becoming the angry one yourself. Those are just two examples - the list is long.

Therapy can help you:

• Get to the source of these choices and make better ones.
• Let go of the unconscious belief that if you can get the new person to hear you, see you, care for you, that will somehow rewrite the history of your childhood.
• Learn how to not behave in ways that get you what you don't want. An example of this is doing too much care-taking of others, which may have gotten you people in your life who feel entitled to be taken care of.
• Unwind the old beliefs from childhood that underpin your choices (such as "I'm not good enough").

You can get help that can improve the relationships you already have or help you get out of a bad one and into a good one.

If you decide you want counseling to be part of your growth and healing around relationships, read this blog post about finding the right therapist.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

Is Antipsychotic Use with Children Out of Control?

This article from my favorite professional journal, Psychotherapy Networker, is about the surprising amount of off label use of powerful, side effect prone anti-psychotics with children and adolescents.

The article is titled The Anti-Psychotic Epidemic. It's short, so I'll let it speak for itself except for one stunning fact:

These powerful medications, according to data from a large national survey published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, are prescribed by psychiatrists to a third of the children they see.

An option to medication could be counseling. If I were a parent of a troubled child, I'd want to consider it, possibly along with neurofeedback. I'm not trying to generate business for myself with this post - I don't work with children. I'm also not a physician - I don't prescribe medications. In this post, I'm just a person who's concerned.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

How to Find Low Fee Psychotherapy?

If you want to start therapy but your budget is limited you still have options.


Many counselors have a sliding scale, particularly in economically difficult times. And even therapists who don't have a sliding scale are often willing to lower their fee if you are able to come to a day time appointment.

Most cities and many towns have lower fee therapy available in clinic settings such as in hospitals or in training institutes. Suggestions for the New York City area can be found on the Links page of my website.

However you proceed, the therapy and the therapist should feel like a fit to you, whether you're paying full fee or a reduced fee.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
New York City Psychotherapy