Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW Psychotherapy Blog

2017-01-26T12:12:00.000-05:00

If you've found your way to this blog, I need to let you know that I have closed my psychotherapy practice. I'm now doing just the neurofeedback that I introduced to my clients 13 years ago.

Neurofeedback complements good psychotherapy. It can also be the missing piece for many who have worked hard on themselves. If you're interested, please visit New York Neurofeedback to find out if it might be helpful to you.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW

How Soon Should I See Change from Counseling?

2015-11-20T21:21:00.002-05:00

That's a question most people starting a course of psychotherapy have - how long will they be coming to their new therapist's office?

I think that you can often very quickly - even in the first session - have a sense that your therapist "gets you" and feels confident that if you work together you can accomplish real change.

I believe it's good to have clear goals in mind. That means not just wanting to feel better but also having a sense of how that would look in your life. Some examples:

Healthier relationships (less fighting, more fun...)
Different work if yours isn't satisfying
Liking your body better
Better self care - nutrition, exercise, etc.
Waking up looking forward to the day

Think about what those markers of a more fulfilling life might be for you. Achieving them will make whatever amount of time counseling takes be a worthwhile investment in yourself.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
New York City Psychotherapy

Foods Your Brain will Thank You For

2015-06-24T09:38:00.000-04:00

Having as healthy a brain as possible can't help but be good for psychotherapy.

Nutritionist Barbara Mendez, who has guest posted here, wrote a post a while back on her own blog Roots and Seeds titled Six Foods Your Brain Will Thank You For.

Here are the six foods - to read more about how each is good for your brain, click on the link above.

Blueberries
Wild Alaskan salmon
Nuts and seeds
Avacados
Flax
Cacao

Hmmm, cacao... chocolate... None of those foods sound hard to take, do they? I get a daily dose of flax by sprinkling ground flax seeds on my cereal (get the vacuum packed kind for freshness). This kind of good nutrition will help your brain make the most of the good work you're doing in therapy.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Psychotherapy on Manhattan's Upper West Side

Our Brains are Wired for Connection to Others

2015-05-13T12:54:00.000-04:00

Our brains are hard-wired for connection

Forbes Magazine recently published an interesting article titled Study: To The Human Brain, Me Is We. Here's the heart of the article:

A new study from University of Virginia researchers supports a finding that’s been gaining science-fueled momentum in recent years: the human brain is wired to connect with others so strongly that it experiences what they experience as if it’s happening to us.

If you read the abstract of the study (scholarly language for "summary"), you'll find that the researchers used fMRI scans of the study participants' brains to compare their reactions to a perceived threat to themselves with their reactions to a perceived threat to a friend and to threats to strangers.

The researchers' description of the subjects' reactions uses names of brain parts that most of ua are not familiar with, but what it boils down to is that we react physically the same way to threats against the people we feel most connected to as we do to threats against ourselves. But not to threats against strangers.

It seems that we don't have built in wiring for stranger empathy, but we are hard-wired for empathy for the people we're close to. How we experience threats to them is the same way we experience threats to ourselves.

The article also references the work of Dr. Dan Siegel, one of my favorite neurobiology authors and teachers. Dr. Siegel writes eloquently and accessibly (to non neuro-trained people) about the importance of connectivity to the creation of what we call the mind.

If you'd like to read more about that, here are two excellent books. (The second one is the more technical.)

Mindsight
The Developing Mind

The results of the University of Virginia study are useful information for psychotherapists, since so many of the things our clients come to us for are related to their connection to others.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Counseling

Decluttering for Mental Well-being

2015-03-04T07:40:00.001-05:00

An interesting and helpful article by professional organizer Marcia Sloman of Under Control is titled Why People Hold onto Stuff and may help you understand yourself better.

Personally, this office makes me feel something could fall on my head at any moment.

Whereas this one makes me want to get to work.

If this kind of change appeals to you and you're stuck about making it happen, you may want to contact Marcia if you are in the Tri-State area. If you're not local, consult the National Association of Professional Organizers directory.

If you're really stuck, also consider counseling.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

Happy Holidays!

2014-12-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

Wishing all of you a happy holiday season!

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
New York City Psychotherapy

Best Description of Depression

2014-10-29T09:10:00.002-04:00

"The opposite of depression is not happiness, but vitality, and it was vitality that seemed to seep away from me in that moment." Andrew Solomon says this about depression in his TEDx talk that eloquently and accurately describes the experience of depression for many.

Does this resonate for you? If you aren't getting help with depression, please seek it. If you're concerned about medications, there are alternatives to consider.

Please ask questions here on the blog or email me.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Counseling

Urban Green Area Residents are Happier

2014-07-14T08:27:00.002-04:00

BBC News article Green spaces have lasting positive effect on well-being says that urban dwellers who move to a greener urban area experience more positive effects than if they get a promotion or a new job.

I know New York City's wonderful parks contribute to emotional well-being. Research has shown that as little as 20 minutes spent in a natural setting improves mood.

I feel fortunate that my office is a five minute walk from both Central Park and Riverside Park. Many of my

clients make a segue through one of the parks on their way to or from my office.

Find some "green time" for yourself. It makes a difference.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

Sleep Therapy Seen as Aid for Depression

2014-06-16T07:27:00.001-04:00

According to the New York Times article, Sleep Therapy Seen as Aid for Depression, curing insomnia can double the chance that people with depression will recover fully.

Why am I not surprised? Because for more than 25 years that's been my experience treating depression. When sleep improves, everything gets better. Depression can appear to cause sleep loss - the famous 3am staring at the ceiling depression wakeup - and sleep deprivation can trigger depression.

Helping my clients with sleep issues has become an important part of my work.

It's always seemed like a chicken or the egg question to me. I'm really happy to see it being studied.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

Is There a Glut on Anti-Depressants?

2014-04-14T08:14:00.002-04:00

New York Times writer Roni Caryn Rabin wrote a thought provoking article last fall titled, "A Glut of Anti-Depressants.

Two alarming statistics she cites:

One in ten Americans now takes anti-depressants.
For women in their 40s and 50s, this rises to one in four.

Why? Rabin references research led by Dr. Ramin Mojtabai of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She says,

The study, published in April in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, found that nearly two-thirds of a sample of more than 5,000 patients who had been given a diagnosis of depression within the previous 12 months did not meet the criteria for major depressive episode as described by the psychiatrists’ bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (or D.S.M.).

Dr. Mojtabai's study indicated that this is particularly true among the elderly.

Given the side effect potential and costs, as well as the possibility that a different treatment would be more helpful or that treatment is unneeded, this is worrisome indeed.

A good counselor can help you determine if a depression diagnosis is right for you - and what could help with whatever got you that diagnosis, whether it's accurate or not.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Psychotherapy for Change

Talk Therapy May Reduce Biological Symptoms of PTSD

2014-03-10T08:20:00.000-04:00

PTSD changes the brain - in the way certain genes express themselves, for example, and in shrinkage of the hippocampus, which plays an important role in memory consolidation.

This Science Daily article, Talk therapy may reverse biological changes in PTSD patients, describes recent Hungarian research using cognitive behavioral therapy. The results demonstrate that these changes to the brain can be reversed by therapy.

The expression of a specific gene associated with risk of developing PTSD, and to a lesser extent the growth of the hippocampus, actually predict symptom improvement. Other positive brain changes were also observed.

This is obviously good news. It validates the anecdotal experience of therapists working with people with PTSD.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

Are Herbal Supplements What They Say They Are?

2014-02-10T08:30:00.002-05:00

Here's a short summary of a recently published study that, alas, reveals that many herbal supplements don't contain what they say they do. The summary was published in Nutrition Action, a nice, inexpensive newsletter that my mother's doctor introduced me to. It's put out by The Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The name of the article is Are Your Herbal Supplements Really What They Say They Are? This is a concern to me as a psychotherapist because there are many supplements that can be helpful with mood.

The article doesn't really tell you what to do, other than to be suspicious. What I've done myself is ask healthcare professionals I trust - my nutritionist, a holistically-minded psychiatrist I know, for example - what brands they trust. I try to stick to those brands.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Counseling

Meditation and Compassion

2014-01-13T07:05:00.000-05:00

Dr. David Steno, director of the Northeastern University Social Emotions Group, wrote an interesting article in the New York Times this summer titled The Morality of Meditation.

Meditation has gotten a lot of good press in recent years, with research indicating benefits in everything from lower blood pressure to improved job performance.

Dr. Steno's recent research addressed a very different question than health or work improvements: Does meditation increase our level of compassion - and therefore our moral choices? The very cleverly designed study indicated that the answer is yes.

Participants who had been meditating as part of the study were tested against a control group who were merely on a waiting list. The researchers wanted to see if they would offer their seat to a person on crutches (even though two others in the room didn't). The participants thought they were waiting for the research activity to start; they didn't know this was the research.

The results: Those who had been meditating were three times more likely to offer their chair than those who hadn't. Dr. Steno speculates that this may be because meditation tends to increase the experience of being interconnected.

An impressive result.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
New York City Counseling

2013 How to Survive the Holidays

2013-11-18T07:46:00.001-05:00

Years ago, when I was in training to be a counselor I was the assistant to the leader of a workshop called How to Survive the Holidays. Jill Raiguel, MFCC, author of Life Skills: Keys to Effective Living was the leader. It was the best attended workshop we did, which told me how much of a problem holidays can be for people!

Since then, I've watched for opportunities to be helpful around the holiday season - in my psychotherapy practice and, since it's inception, in this blog. Here it is, that time again. If you have a dysfunctional family, it's important to have a plan for self care. The suggestions below have been tried, tested and added to since that workshop.

Make sure you get time away from the house. Go for a walk, run an errand, see a movie. This is easier when you're the visitor, but sometimes just five minutes alone in the backyard or the back room can help.
Have a support person lined up. That could be your good friend from where you live now, ready to
remind you over the phone that you have a life outside your family. Get counseling if you need it.
If you are the visitor and there are people you like who live in the same town or city as your family, make plans to see them on your own during the visit.
Conduct an experiment: Study your family members as if you were meeting them for the first time. This will give you some helpful distance and perspective. What you see can be surprising.
Remember: You are not your family; you are a separate person.

Please ask questions or make comments here, or you're welcome to email me.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Psychotherapy in New York City

Talk Deeply, Be Happy?

2013-11-04T06:42:00.001-05:00

I just came across this interesting New York Times article from 2010 by Roni Caryn Rabin. The title asks the question, Talk Deeply, Be Happy?

University of Arizona psychologist Matthias Mehl headed up a study whose results indicated that people who engage less in small talk and more in meaningful conversations seem to be happier.

Dr. Mehl proposes that this is so because it fills two needs common to our species:

The need to find meaning in life
The need to connect with others

The study shows a correlation between these kinds of conversation. That's not the same as proving cause

and effect. Correlation means they show up together significantly more often than would happen randomly. Dr. Mehl plans to investigate the question of causation as the next research step. Does having this kind of conversation make people happier?

Interesting, isn't it? I have to say, it feels right to me.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

Who is at Risk for Combat-Related PTSD?

2013-10-07T06:44:00.002-04:00

Here is a very interesting article from Science Daily, titled Why Some Soldiers Develop PTSD While Others Don't.

Researchers at Columbia University and the New York Psychiatric Institute found that while traumatic experiences during combat were predictive of full-blown Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder less than 32% of these veterans actually developed the disorder. Even with the most severe exposures, 30% did not develop PTSD.

The data suggested that for PTSD to develop some combination of other factors needed to be present. These included:

A mental disorder other than PTSD, predating the combat experience.
Age - younger soldiers were more susceptible.
A history of having been physically abused as children.
Having physically harmed civilians or prisoners of war.

This research could be helpful in keeping the most vulnerable soldiers from the more serious potential exposure. Better understanding could also help minimize harm to civilians and POWs.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

Rethinking Sleep

2013-09-23T07:47:00.000-04:00

The way we sleep - and don't sleep - today is creating a nation of sleep-deprived citizens. The problem may not be that we don't get the eight hour block of sleep a night that most of us believe is what is needed and natural.

Evidence from journals and other records suggests that prior to the electric light and the Industrial Revolution, people slept in two blocks, rather than the "straight through" that we think is ideal.

Read more in "Rethinking Sleep," a fascinating New York Times article by David K.Randal. It looks like sleeping this way results in more alertness, energy, productivity and creativity.

Although the way life is set up for most of us today doesn't make it easy, you may be inspired to try something new - that is actually old - with your sleep. I've tried it and I like it. A lot.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
New York City Counseling

How Mindfulness Helps the Brain

2013-09-09T07:08:00.001-04:00

Jon Kabat-Zinn, developer of MBSR - Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction - is largely responsible for the introduction of mindfulness training into main stream medicine. In this video, in less than four minutes, he explains the science behind why mindfulness-based practices can aid in the healing of trauma.

I've included mindfulnes training in my counseling practicefor many years. It works.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

Why Do Breath Practices?

2013-08-19T07:34:00.001-04:00

One of the most frequent recommendations I make to clients suffering from any of the anxiety disorders is to deepen their breathing.

A recent article in Forbes, Breathing and Your Brain: Five Reasons to Grab the Controls, by David DiSalvo, is an excellent summary of why and how this advice makes sense and works.

DiSalvo also talks about the history of relaxation breathing in the United States. Its popularity and the understanding of its usefulness are largely thanks to the ground-breaking work of Herbert Benson in the 1970s when his book The Relaxation Response was first published. That it is still in print speaks for itself.

A current book I highly recommend is The Healing Power of the Breath, by Richard Brown, MD, of Columbia University and Patricia Gerback, MD, of NYU, Like Benson's work, their teachings are well-validated. The book comes with a CD to guide your
practice.

Try different methods until you find what's best for you. I try all these things myself before I recommend them. They work.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Counseling

The Importance of Body Language

2013-08-05T07:30:00.000-04:00

Great TED video on body language by Harvard Associate Professor Amy Cuddy.

We all use our right hemispheres to read body language and derive information from what we detect. Some of what is covered in this fascinating talk is:

Many familiar body language expressions are universal and have persisted across thousands and thousands of years.
Power dynamics are expressed non-verbally - and we recognize what's being communicated.
If you change your body language, you can change not just how you are perceived but probably also how you think and feel about yourself - and how you participate in life. Cuddy's research has shown that adopting a high power body position causes hormonal changes such as an increase in testosterone.

Well worth watching - and you'll have the opportunity to do a two-minute experiment on yourself.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Psychotherapy in New York City

College Drop Outs and Depression Risk

2013-07-22T07:52:00.000-04:00

This psychotherapy blog was born in February, 2011. Today, I was inspired to look back and see which posts were the most popular.

Posts on depression have in general gotten the most views, and this one from August, 2011, on college student depression risk is one of the top two or three, so I thought I should put it up again. If there's that much interest, there must be that much need for help. Here it is:

A Michigan State University study published this year in the Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process identified depression as the number one reason college students drop out of school.

More than 40 percent of college students fail to get a Bachelors Degree within six years of entering college. Think about how many young people that translates to...

Since depression is generally very treatable, identifying it as a major cause of dropping out is important. Early intervention could change the course of these students' lives.

Usually counseling services are available to students on campus, with referrals out if longer term treatment is needed. Aerobic exercise, meditation, and medication can also help.

Catherine Boyer
Psychotherapy for Change

Which is Better for You, Walking or Running?

2013-07-08T07:45:00.000-04:00

The answer is... it depends on what your goals are. Read more in this New York Times article by Gretchen Reynolds, Turtle or Hare? It Depends. The article lays out the results of a very large study - 37,000 plus people - and a 19 person study. Reynolds illuminates which health aspects are better served by running and which by walking.

I'm doing both, and you may decide to, too.

What is this doing on a psychotherapy blog? It's here because it's important information, and because exercise has also been positively linked to mental health.

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Counseling

Romancing the Wind

2013-06-17T07:22:00.001-04:00

This is an under six-minute video that begged to be shared. It might just be impossible to not feel good watching it. It's a kite ballet performed to the Flower Duet from Lakme by Delibes.

Wonderful, isn't it?

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

How Can We Understand Contradictory Research?

2013-06-03T07:29:00.002-04:00

Dr. Ben Goldacre gave a funny and important talk on TED called Battling Bad Science. It's about 14 minutes long.

What you'll get from watching it is a much more balanced way to respond to the contradictory information we get about what we should do, eat, avoid, etc., in order to stay healthy.

You'll also learn about some of the tricky things pharmaceutical companies do in how they design their clinical trials. And what they leave out.

Useful, right?

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
Upper West Side Psychotherapy

Does Exercise Help Sleep?

2013-05-13T07:52:00.001-04:00

The answer is yes. Anyone who suffers from insomnia knows how miserable it can be, but this Northwestern University study showed that exercise can improve sleep.

Participants in the study exercised in either two 20-minutes sessions four times a week or one 30-40 minute session four times a week. The period of the study was 16 weeks.

Compared to the control group, which participated in activities such as classes or museum lectures, the group that did the aerobic exercise reported that they went from being "poor sleepers" to being "good sleepers." They also reported other benefits, including less symptoms of depression.

Whenever a new client starts psychotherapy, exercise and sleep are two of the things I ask about. If the client suffers from depression or anxiety - both of which can cause poor sleep, and both of which can be made worse by poor sleep - I usually recommend some form of aerobic exercise. (Of course, the person needs to know they're medically okay for exercising.)

It's important to pick a form of exercise you like. If you hate running but love dancing... just dance to fast music!

Catherine Boyer, MA, LCSW
New York City Psychotherapy