Elisabeth LaMotte
Discovering infidelity leads many couples to seek therapy. The road to repair such a betrayal is a painful one that takes patience, commitment and hard work. As a couples’ therapist who believes in the power of prescriptive film-viewing, I often suggest that couples working through the discovery of infidelity watch movies on this topic. The…
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Years ago, I worked with a therapy client who reached out when she learned that her twenty-three-year-old daughter was addicted to opioids. Remembering early days of motherhood, my client sobbed recalling her struggles to balance a demanding career as an academic with her daughter’s pleas for attention and affection. Her daughter’s needs were obviously understandable.…
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As the film King Richard opens and viewers meet the Williams family, there are a lot of healthy relational dynamics to admire. Richard and Oracine Williams are fiercely devoted to their 5 daughters and work tirelessly to build an enriching childhood and a safe secure home. The daughters work hard, do chores, have manners and…
Read MoreRomantic relationships thrive through a healthy ability to balance separateness and togetherness. Individuals who can venture out into the world and enjoy hearty doses of independence and then come back together with their partner to connect romantically tend to report greater relationship satisfaction and less anxiety. Reliance on remote work during the pandemic has compromised…
Read MoreFollowing 18 months of remote work, many in the DMV are returning to the office with a mix of emotions. As a therapist, the greatest stressor I hear is fear about the Delta variant. At this moment, that fear is outpacing social anxiety about reacclimating to an in-person office experience and the constant social interaction…
Read More Therapists are taught to screen for substance abuse in the first session. Conventional training teaches that traditional psychotherapy will not be helpful if a client is actively abusing a substance and encourages clinicians to refer addicts to a substance abuse treatment program. Some therapists use a tough love approach and refuse to move beyond a…
Read More Most schools of psychology emphasize the significance of examining the past. As a systems therapist, I try to help therapy clients discover how past family dynamics shape current life experience. Rather than harping on the past, which no one finds particularly useful, we reflect on what a client’s life was like growing up to develop…
Read MoreI knew nothing about the viral apology dinner convo that was flying around the cybersphere until contacted by Huffington Post to weigh in. I also had a chance to discuss the topic with channel Q and will add that link soon. Therapists have some thoughts about that viral “Apology Dinner” Below are my full thoughts…
Read More Committed relationships often feel complicated, as any couples therapist will acknowledge. But falling in love often feels simple. Clear and inspiring, liberating and pure. Kent Haruf captures the purity and ease of burgeoning romantic feelings in his final novel, Our Souls at Night. The novel is a quick, engaging read that explores the magic of…
Read More Rebellion is considered a natural part of adolescent and early adulthood development and a topic of interest for many therapists and clients in therapy. Rebellion can look remarkably different depending on the rebellious actor and their family unit. While some rebellious acts, like cutting class or shaving one’s head, seem obvious, others feel more confusing…
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