“I feel abandoned!” a woman says to her partner. I watch her partner as he stiffens slightly and a wash of hurt comes over his face. I had encouraged the woman to express her feelings. Her face and body expressed feelings of pain and frustration, but her words expressed an evaluation of her partner (you …
Making effective requests of others or ourselves requires clarity and a connection to the feelings and needs that are alive in you and the specific context in which they arose. Brainstorming requests also requires a sense of flexibility or openness to a variety of ways in which your needs could be met. I notice that …
What are you saying when you call someone “needy”? In one of my favorite movies, “What about Bob?”, Bill Murray plays the role of Bob. Bob is obsessed with getting help from his therapist (Richard Dreyfus). There is a scene in which Bob pleads with his therapist: “I need, I need, I need. Give me, …