Elisabeth LaMotte
In a society that emphasizes internet sensations, the joys of finding meaningful work can take a backseat to the celebration of viral videos and social media phenomenons. Jon Favreau’s 2014 comedy Chef explores what it means to choose to pursue a passion for the sake of the work itself, rather than for the praise or…
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Can a marriage be saved following infidelity? Is it okay to cheat if a marriage has become sexless? If infidelity is discovered and a couple wants to stay together, how do they find their way through? Such questions are frequently raised in couples therapy if one or both partners have strayed. Ian McEwan’s 2014 novel,…
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“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” Robert F. Kennedy Many clients enter therapy because they have experienced a significant failure or rejection. Job loss and breakups are among the most difficult blows and can trigger a level of emotional pain so intense it becomes physical. But failure and rejection are…
Read More What makes a marriage work? What makes a relationship last? How does work influence marriage? How does marriage influence work? How important is it to make time to see friends? These are questions that come up frequently in psychotherapy. Wallace Stegner’s 1987 classic novel on love, literature, friendship and marriage illuminates the timeless quality of…
Read More 257 pages, Simon and Schuster Molly Wizenberg’s blog, Orangette, was named the world’s best food blog by the London Times. Her lively 2014 memoir about her husband Brandon’s dream of opening a pizza joint in Seattle and what happens along the way says as much about maintaining a healthy, happy albeit imperfect marriage as it…
Read More Most of us experience some form of social anxiety. We may feel nervous before a social gathering or slightly agitated during group activities. In the extreme, social anxiety compromises the ability to connect to another person in an intimate relationship. Jean-Pierre Ameris’ 2010 French film “Les Emotifs Anonymous” is a comedic but meaningful study of what happens…
Read More Meg Wolitzer’s page-turning novel traces the experiences and relationships of six friends who meet as teenagers at Spirit-in-the-Woods arts camp in the summer of 1974. Wolitzer captures these glorious fifteen and sixteen year old souls with their musings, quirks, and complexities. Readers will relish their adolescent ability to be intensely vulnerable and real with each…
Read More Michael Berry’s timely new film, Frontera, is sure to stir controversy and conversation. The film’s backdrop is the border between Mexico and Arizona where Ed Harris plays a retired Sheriff living on an expansive ranch with his wife (Amy Madigan). The couple have a deliberately independent and horse-centered life and one of their ongoing conversations…
Read More Michael Cunningham, 2014, 272 pages Intimate relationships are a primary focus in psychotherapy. Through therapy, people examine their closest relationships in order to determine what aspects of their approach to others work well for them, and what aspects of their approach they might want to change in order to form healthier attachments. In order to…
Read More If you have tween or teen daughters, it is highly likely that you have already heard an earful about John Green’s bestselling novel and subsequently recently released film, The Fault in our Stars. Even if you do not have teens or tweens, you would have to be living under a rock to have missed the…
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