Preface to Portuguese Edition of Theaters of Trauma (Cenarios Psicanaliticos de Trauma)
Couch Side BlogThe following is a beautiful preface to Theaters of Trauma (Cenarios Psicanaliticos de Trauma) written by Psychologist Maria João Saraiva. Enjoy!
Detroit: Living in Between Official Trailer
Couch Side Blog"Raubolt sees Detroit not as an emblem of American decay, but as a metaphor for change, which lifts Living in Between from documentary to allegory."
Language of the Heart
Couch Side BlogOur hearts speak to us although we do not always recognize the language so we do the best we can to construct meaning with words.
Detroit: Living Between
Couch Side BlogBy way of brief introduction–I am a psychoanalytic psychologist who grew up in the Downriver area and who has remained enthralled with Detroit ever since.
Book Excerpt: Weightlessness Part 1
Couch Side BlogCeely, a large twenty-four year old woman with deep ebony eyes and circles to match had inflated herself in proportion to the beatings she had suffered.
Book Excerpt: Weightlessness Part 2
Couch Side BlogThe real work of Ceely’s therapy could now begin in earnest: writing her own life story without the lies, distortion and misrepresentations she had heard about herself for so many years.
Trauma and Time: Returning to What Was Never Left
Couch Side BlogWhat cultures of trauma lead children to murder? What are some of the conditions that make such killing normal, even applauded? What binds victims and murderers in separate yet shared dances of hell?
Heart Attacks and PTSD
Couch Side BlogDid you know there are an estimated 1.4 million patients each year in the U.S. that suffer heart attacks? Many of us think we know the signs. But do we?
Silent Places, Deep Reflections
Couch Side BlogIt is usual to find nothing but darkness around your mind, or, as it were, a cloud of unknowing. You will know nothing and feel nothing except a simple reaching out to God in the depths of your being.
Ten Steps to Ease Out of Panic
Couch Side BlogTerrifying, disorienting and disruptive feelings can come on without warning. A word, sound, smell or image can trigger disturbing thoughts as well as emotions. Here are 10 steps to helping you ease out of a panic attack.
Must We Always Forgive?
Couch Side BlogI believe this issue represents a cutting edge concern in our current social, cultural and political landscape. I know I cannot, in a brief paper, address many of the nuances on this fascinating topic. My hope instead is to raise a few questions for reflection and discussion.
Living with Chronic Pain
Couch Side BlogLiving with chronic pain is draining, disturbing, frightening, debilitating and terribly disruptive. Sometimes the injury or ailment is visible like the results of a severe automobile accident or stroke. Frequently there is no apparent "cause" as the pain results from stenosis, immune disorders or fibromyalgia.
Medication vs. Psychotherapy
Couch Side BlogFor far too long “vs.” has designated a combative stance which has interfered with a useful combination of psychotherapy and medication. Medication can be a vital aid, but are not silver bullets and can cause significant problems in therapy.
Tell Me Again, What Does EMDR Mean?
Couch Side BlogEye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is considered a mind-body approach that focuses on bi-lateral stimulation, which is a fancy way of saying moving the eyes back and forth by following a light bar or experiencing alternating pulses from hand held sensor pads.
Mindfulness in a Mindless World
Couch Side BlogIn a world that has gone so far out of control many are seeking some comfort in practices of certainty. Many want to have some stability, tradition and thereby peace of mind. Not surprisingly the “good old days” are remembered with relish even if they weren't “so good” at the time.
Whose Therapy is it Anyway? Recognizing Coercion and Control in Therapy
Couch Side BlogRecently I have edited and written chapters in the critically acclaimed book Power Games: Influence, Persuasion and Indoctrination in Psychotherapy Training. This book is a description of the structures, methods and applications of dictatorial and authoritarian training many therapists experience.
What’s Love Got to do With It? Recognizing the Seductive Psychotherapist
Couch Side BlogPsychotherapy is an intimate, private and deeply personal experience. Both therapist and patient/client co-construct, in the common professional parlance of the day, a relationship where unknown or unexpressed desires, conflicts, questions and dreams are explored.
How to Select the Right Therapist For You
Couch Side BlogThere are thousands upon thousands of psychotherapists in this country with over a few hundred in Grand Rapids alone. It is, you might say, a growth business (pun intended) but of course not all therapists are equally well talented, ethical and responsible. Finding someone you can trust to share some of your most frightening, embarrassing and intimate details of your life, is no easy task.
Richard Raubolt, Ph.D, ABPP
Board Certified in Psychoanalysis
NAAP Certified Psychoanalyst
Call (616) 485-4146
Home Office Location
2735 Woodcliff Circle SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506