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Browse published articles attributed to William Berry, with full-archive search.
As many people in recovery have probably heard, (and often ignored or debated) it is detrimental to early recovery to become involved in romantic relationships. This article will discuss some of the reasoning behind the often-proposed suggestion “no relationships for the first year.” Perhaps ...
According to the most recent statistics, the divorce rate, often quoted (even by this author in psychology classes) as 50% of marriages, is actually closer to the low 40 percentile. (Divorce Rate: It's Not as High as You Think, By Dan Hurley, The New York Times, April 19, 2005). But that does not negate the fact that the United States has the highest divorce rate in the world per capita. The fact that so many American marriages end in divorce leads to the question is marriage an outdated institution? I think the answer is dependent on some of your personal variables.
There is a lot of discussion these days about the legalization of substances, especially marijuana. These discussions and articles focus on how it might improve the economy, to decriminalization resulting in fewer deaths and a drop in the growth of HIV cases, to medical benefits of marijuana. You might expect someone who witnesses the difficulties and occasional devastation that substances cause to be firmly against legalization. This is not necessarily the case.
When I first decided to write an article about relapse prevention, I felt anxious about what to include or exclude. I initially thought about all the material I have on relapse prevention, and how I could integrate it into one article. The truth is, I consider everything I do in treatment as ...
There have been a lot of sports figures in the news recently as a result of drugs. Most recently, Alex Rodriguez has been accused of steroid use. This was a major story as he appeared to be one of only a handful of “clean” baseball heroes of recent times. Just prior to the Rodriguez scandal was ...
In 1956 the American Medical Association labeled alcoholism as an illness, and in 1966 upgraded the identification to a disease. In professional circles today alcoholism is viewed as one form of addiction. Most therapists and treatment centers view addiction through the disease model. Yet the ...
It seems the more experience I gain in the field of psychotherapy, the more clients I interact with, the more I live my own life, the more I believe the attempt to inappropriately control events is at the core of unhappiness. The use of control is paradoxical: we believe taking control will ...
Many people who enter treatment for addiction recovery are taken aback by the spiritual concepts normally associated with a recovery program. Others initially welcome the spiritual aspects, returning to a religious belief system they once were familiar with, as it instills a sense of hope for ...
“What we call normal in psychology is really a psychopathology of the average, so undramatic and so widely spread that we don’t even notice it ordinarily.” This is a quote by Abraham Maslow, the theorist who gave us the idea of the hierarchy of needs (once your basic needs are met you begin to ...
It is no secret that maintaining spiritual peace or balance in these tough economic times can be difficult. Fear, anxiety, and worry are pervasive emotions in those around us, in those we work with, in those we are close to. But there is a way to keep your spiritual equilibrium. Having the ...
Recently we have had several clients present for psychotherapy treatment who are court stipulated to a drug program because of drug charges. Of course this is no surprise. But what is surprising is the level of charges and the clients we are seeing. For example, one of our clients could be ...
These days you can’t turn on your television without sitting through a pseudo therapy session. From the trendsetter Dr. Phil to Tony Soprano’s “shrink”, to new series like HBO’s “In Treatment,” and reality TV series “Intervention” and “Celebrity Rehab,” psychotherapy has become home ...
Whenever I tell others that as a therapist I teach anger management, the response is often similar. They usually range from “really, you teach anger management?” to the sarcastic, “yeah, that’s appropriate” followed by some laughter. Once in a while I get a more enlightened response suggesting I ...
According to statistics for first marriages listed as “very happy,” there has been a decrease from over half in 1976 to a little more than a third in 1996. I recently attended a conference where the presenter stated “half of marriages end in divorce, while another third of the remaining are ...
Originally this article was entitled “Being Happy.” But “Being” seems more appropriate. We are caught in an endless strive to be happy. We want to increase our pleasure and decrease our negative emotions. This article will discuss ways to accomplish this, while at the same time not neglecting ...
Choosing the right clinician for your needs is a complicated matter. There are some simple steps to begin heading in the right direction. It is important to understand your needs and what you are looking for. There are several different types of clinicians in the helping profession. I want to ...
These days you can’t turn on your television without sitting through a pseudo therapy session. From the trendsetter Dr. Phil to Tony Soprano’s “shrink”, to new series like HBO’s “In Treatment,” and reality TV series “Intervention” and “Celebrity Rehab,” psychotherapy has become home ...
It seems the more experience I gain in the field of psychotherapy, the more clients I interact with, the more I live my own life, the more I believe the attempt to inappropriately control events is at the core of unhappiness. The use of control is paradoxical: we believe taking control will ...