Elisabeth LaMotte
Teenage romantic relationships are formative experiences that can be especially difficult to capture on film. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s adaptation of Jesse Andrews’ novel, Me, Earl and the Dying Girl captures the gritty and evasive sphere inhabited by teenagers and draws convincing, memorable performances. Thomas Mann plays Greg (“me”), a moody, self-deprecating teen who spends his spare…
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During post-graduate training in couples, family and sex therapy, I was taught the importance of asking new clients about alcohol and substance use during the first session. There is a controversial but widely accepted understanding in the therapeutic field that if someone is actively abusing a substance, traditional psychotherapy will have limited benefit unless a…
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As a therapist specializing in relationships, I spend a lot of time discussing dating patterns, intimacy and commitment. Many clients decide to enter therapy when they realize that their romantic life has felt unsatisfying for years. When a client expresses pain or frustration about difficulty finding love, it is often helpful to focus on the…
Read More Writer/ Director: Olivier Assayas 2014, 124 Minutes, Rated R When therapists assign films to clients, research demonstrates that this approach can improve and enhance the effectiveness of therapy. Why? Movies — when thoughtfully selected and strategically assigned — function as powerful therapy tools because film provides a non-threatening mirror reflecting aspects of the client’s experience.…
Read More Breakups are rough. Some rougher than others. And when the breakup happens suddenly, with no warning, the sting of what therapists often call a “cut-off” can feel as unsettling as the loss of the relationship. Cut-offs refer to important relationships that stalemate when one person refuses contact with another. In dating, the current popular term…
Read More A few days ago, the New York Times reported on the explosion of new ideas and approaches in sex therapy and revolutionary thinking in the psychotherapy field about how to work with couples around issues of monogamy and sex. The article, “First Comes Sex Talk With These Renegades of Sex Therapy” by Amy Sohn points out that…
Read More When a parent falls ill, the family constellation is bound to change, and multiple familial relationships usually become strained or strengthened, sometimes in unexpected ways. Most people decide to begin therapy because something has changed, and usually this change involves a family or relationship crisis. Since most of the clients in our therapy practice are…
Read More Gary D. Chapman, Northfield Publishing How can couples who want to make their marriage work regain the loving feelings from earlier years? This is a question asked by many clients in couples therapy and obviously an excellent one. One challenge is that the whirlwind passionate experience of falling in love is magical — in part…
Read More Director: John Madden Screenplay: Ol Parker Stars: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel PG – 122 Minutes We are socialized to imagine that getting engaged and planning a wedding will be a magical whirlwind fulfilling life-long fantasies of white lace, multi-level tiered cakes and happy-ever-after. Any couples therapist with experience in pre-marital counseling…
Read More Three Generations One Story Elaine J. Cooper Group therapy is one of the most difficult forms of therapy, but it is also perhaps the most effective. World renowned group therapist Elaine J. Cooper’s new book, Let’s All Hold Hands and Drop Dead; Three Generations One Story, is part autobiography, part biography and part guide for…
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