Posts by Griffin Hansbury

In the New Yorker magazine, Lena Dunham tells the story of her time in therapy: “One evening, I see her on the subway, and our interaction, warm but disorienting, inspires a poem, the last lines of which are ‘I guess you are not my mother. You will never be my mother.’” Read the whole essay here.

From the NY Times: “It took Sebastian Zimmermann, a psychiatrist on the Upper West Side, 13 years to produce Fifty Shrinks, a book of portraits depicting ‘therapists in their natural habitats.’” My favorite quote from the slideshow comes from Martin Bergmann: “I have been an analyst for more than fifty years and I still find it astounding…

From an article by Michael S. Roth on the enduring importance of Freud’s ideas: “Questions about what desires are being satisfied extend from the political to the personal (and back again). What desire is the war against terrorism really satisfying? Why do police departments in small towns want to acquire big tanks? Why are some straight people…

Science shows: “By writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events, participants were significantly more likely to have fewer illnesses and be less affected by trauma. Participants ultimately spent less time in the hospital, enjoyed lower blood pressure and had better liver functionality than their counterparts.” Just 15 minutes a day can make a difference. The…

More research and writing is coming out in support of daydreaming, that aimless mental activity that happens when you’re not using your brain for Facebooking or playing a video game or watching TV. When you try to multitask, says Daniel Levitin in Mother Jones, “your brain starts to produce cortisol—the stress hormone. And you do not…

Many people want to focus on the “power of positive thinking,” believing that if you keep your thoughts upbeat and happy, you’ll be in a better state of mind and move towards achieving your goals. But more and more research is emerging that says that is simply not so. Forcing yourself to be positive proves…

“Psychosomatic” has become a dirty word, but the psyche (mind) and the soma (body) are most certainly connected and act on each other. There is no one without the other. While it’s always important to rule out serious medical conditions with a doctor, psychotherapy that takes the body into account, along with the mind and…

The Book of Life on the “secret problems of other couples” and the work of Canadian photographer Chloë Ellingson: “Our sense of what a ‘good enough’ relationship looks like is unfairly biased. We need to help ourselves by having a more accurate, informed picture of normal relationships. In an abstract, light way we know that all…

Scientific research has long shown the benefits of expressive writing–the private kind of writing done to express emotions, not to please readers. Now, reports the New York Times: “researchers are studying whether the power of writing — and then rewriting — your personal story can lead to behavioral changes and improve happiness. The concept is based…

Couples counseling isn’t just for romantic partners anymore. It’s also helpful for business partners. Recently, the New York Times profiled Ilan Zechory and Tom Lehman, two founders of Genius.com, and discussed how couples therapy is helping people who work together in business relationships. “Counseling has become a popular way for young technology entrepreneurs to work out their…