Effectively providing therapy to patients with a history of trauma and PTSD depends on being guided by theoretical principals. I've recently noted a convergence of ideas that leads me to put a lot of credence in what follows. One idea comes from the emerging psychedelic movement; the idea that the mind has a natural tendency to self-heal. Other thoughts derive from the writings of Abraham Maslow, an author whose fame had led me to know of his 'hierarchy of needs,' but littl

As the season of giving came to a close this year I started to think a way in which I have not been giving to my patients over the years as much as I would have liked. To wit, all these years I have been formulating a theory of my patient's psychological functioning using sophisticated tools but have not shared these very same tools with my patients. Long ago one of my teachers told me that the counseling process is socratic, in effect, it is a process in which we teach our

Alcoholics Anonymous is a powerful self help movement that over decades has accrued wisdom on how people can help each other. A powerful element is the concept of 'The 12 Steps.' I'd like to borrow from step 4, 'Taking a Moral Inventory,' and see how we might apply this in the ordinary process of counseling. The idea of a moral inventory to the AA member is to enhance self-awareness in a way that promotes growth. Rather than 'moral inventory,' we therapists might consider