by April R. McDowell, Ph.D., LGMFT Deciding to start therapy, whether it’s individual, couple, or family therapy, is often a big decision!  Many factors are taken into consideration before taking this step, not the least of which is cost.  Even though many people realize its value and the significant investment that it represents for themselves and their relationships, it is not at all uncommon to hear clients express concern about affording...

This morning one of my six year-old daughters confided in me that she is having a problem at school. When I asked her about it, she said that one of her friends, Sam, isn’t talking to her anymore. In fact, he got in trouble yesterday because he put his fingers in his ears and stuck out his tongue when she tried to talk to him. Since she dearly loves Sam, this is particularly upsetting. She added, “It makes me so sad when he does...

It’s about midnight, and I can’t sleep because I’m thinking about pain. Today a person I know poured out her pain to me, and it was raw and real and I could feel it, see it. In that moment I felt like she invited me into it, and I accepted, and it hurt. I feel the pain of my clients often. I don’t say that as a type of martyr – I knew full well what I was getting myself into by becoming a therapist. In some ways, I...

I see a great many couples in my private practice. Lately, there seems to be a theme: couples who have been together or married for many years, who have “grown apart”. This feeling is usually expressed by one partner, while the other is caught somewhat off-guard, not realizing things have gotten as bad as they are until the unhappy partner suggests a separation, divorce, or counseling. The expressions of incredulity on my...

Right now I’m at the AAMFT Annual Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. The conference itself hasn’t started yet, but as President-Elect of the Mid-Atlantic Division of AAMFT (http://www.madmft.org), I just finished attending Leadership Day, which is a day set aside for – you guessed it – leaders in the AAMFT divisions. The purpose of Leadership Day is to get together and talk about ways we can better service our members and the populations...