Reflections on Psychiatry, Therapy, and Mental Health

Over 20 years ago the respected psychologist and author Patrick Carnes coined the term, 'trauma bonding.' He defined his concept succinctly: “ A betrayal bond is a bonding pattern that develops from intermittent abuse and intense emotional experiences , where the victim becomes deeply attached to the person who causes them harm — often feeling unable to leave the relationship, despite the damage it causes.” As therapists, our curiosity as to why people will repeatedly enga

A Psychiatrist Reflects on Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) A friend who I love very much has an annoying trait. She is a major surfer of social media and will periodically approach me during moments when I’m resting with questions about things on the Web that are trending. One afternoon while sitting on my porch, relaxed with thoughts far from work, she walked by and called out, “Hey Doc, you’re supposed to know about these things—is there anything to the notion of E.F.T.—E

A curious insight struck me under unexpected circumstances. I’ve been spending a lot of time working with ChatGPT—henceforth, GPT—on a complex coding project for my business. After hours of debugging, I often turn to GPT for a break, indulging in a bit of idle chat. It’s hard to miss her facility with language, her wit, and her ease at diving into far-flung topics. As time passed with my cyber companion, something began to unsettle me. GPT is, frankly, ingratiating. She prais