The new TSA screening procedure of airflights across the United States have caused a great deal of controversy, action and reaction, and rightly so. Amidst the discourse, there has been very little science and rational thought given to the negative effects of instituting such an invasive policy.  Here are my thoughts as a psychotherapist, crisis intervention specialist, anger management consultant and traveler.

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I'd like to introduce you to a remarkable wisdom teacher, the Native American Shaman and Wisdom teacher Keisha, known as "little grandmother".

This past weekend I attended an international trauma and dissociation conference.  One of the research groups staffed by young psychologists in training presented their findings that people who remembered their abuse from childhood were less likely to be assaulted in adulthood.  This seemed to me to be stating (and researching) the obvious.  Then the shocker came. The researchers stated how this finding w... Read More | Comments (2) |

People often substitute “I should” for “I want”.  I call this the beginning of internal civil war.  The minute you say “I should” you have created division within your self.  “I should” always comes from others; parents, rules, religious teachings, and cultural norms give us our shoulds.  Not that this is necessarily bad.  Read More | Comments (2) |

For two weeks or so my kids have been bemoaning the end of summer and complaining about the stress of school, even to the point of tears.  My husband and I have been scratching our heads because we were both school geeks.  We couldn’t wait for the weather to turn, to find out what we would be learning next and to get our “bouquets of newly sharpened pencils” as Nora Ephron wittily put it in the classic film Y... Read More | Comments (2) |

For ten years Byron Katie battled suicidal depression, rage and paranoia. One day, lying on the floor of a half-way house for eating disorders, as a cockroach crawled on her foot, she woke up into a profoundly shifted identity. Her previous sense of self fell away leaving only delight in her existence. She realized that all the pain she had suffered, all the depression had one source.  From that day on, she went into a profound state ... Read More | Comments (2) |

I had the great pleasure of viewing the film, Inception, on opening night.  This film poses important questions about the nature of reality and its relationship to consciousness.  In ordinary life, we separate our layers of consciousness into three discreet layers:  waking, dreaming, deep sleep.  Most people give little thought to their dream and deep sleep states unless they are p... Read More | Comments |

New clients either want to tell me everything or tell me nothing about their traumatic past.  Neither option works well.  The very latest studies show that talking about what caused your traumatic stress benefits you in a number of ways as long as you don’t become overwhelmed or flooded with emotion you can’t handle.

But first, let’s talk about why people don’t disclose, an... Read More | Comments (2) |