Sessions with Bob and Lena: A Podcast

“Sessions with Bob and Lena” is a podcast with monthly episodes ranging from 30-40 minutes in length. Although we will explore a wide variety of topics related to psychology and wellness, our focus will be on relating: how we relate in the world individually and collectively with the goal of helping to create conscious, intentional […]

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Positive Outcomes of Group Therapy: Corrective Recapitulation

The roles we play in our family are familiar and indelible. You know what role you assumed; your birth order may well have played a part in the familial roles you adopted. Roles serve to stabilize or defend against flaws in the family. Returning home for the holidays, adult kids slip back into old roles, […]

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Positive Outcomes of Group Therapy: Altruism

Fundamental to the human condition is the desire to help others when they are in trouble. People struggling with interpersonal relations, overwhelming life events, ongoing negative circumstances or self-concept tend to focus on their own difficulties and hesitate to reach out to help those in need. Group therapy offers the members opportunities to provide assistance […]

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Choose Today: Shame and Fear or Authenticity and Intimacy?

In the early years of our marriage, my husband Jason and I used to get stuck frequently in the same frustrating interaction. “We need to talk about our relationship” I would announce to him out of the blue, with urgency and anxiousness in my voice. “I’m feeling disconnected.” How do you imagine he would respond? […]

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Positive Outcomes of Group Therapy: Universality

Clients may enter group therapy with the preconceived idea that they are alone with their problems and that others do not share similar difficulties. While this is true to some extent, the disconfirmation of their uniqueness may be a powerful sense of relief. That is, clients learn that they are universally similar to one another. […]

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Positive Outcomes of Group Therapy: Imparting Information

The inevitable exchange of information in a group setting helps members get from one day to the next. Twelve Step groups focus on the “One Day At A Time” approach to facing personal hurdles. Group members share behaviors that make it possible to stay in the present. Psychoeducational groups offer members the opportunity to reflect […]

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Positive Outcomes of Group Therapy: Instillation of Hope

Recently, I came across a piece by Kovie Biakolo entitled Why Hope Matters on one of my favorite inspirational sites, Thought Catalog. Kovie says, “…that is where hope comes in – believing that though I don’t know the answers, that they do exist and that whatever happens, though I don’t know the reasons, happens for […]

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We Need Mindful Relationships

You may be familiar with the healing properties of practicing mindfulness. Thirty years of research has shown that it increases our ability to relax, reduces pain, increases energy, improves self-esteem and helps us cope more effectively with stress. But how often do we practice mindfulness in our relationships? Mindfulness is giving full attention to the […]

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Is Your Relationship “Woke”?

I met with a couple recently who spent the greater part of their session dialoguing about a topic they considered trivial. “Wow, I can’t believe we spent all that time talking about that…” she expressed. However, the structure of the Imago Relationship Dialogue they utilized had revealed several underlying emotions and hurts as well as […]

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Three New Women’s Groups Beginning This Fall

The Imago Center’s Hayley Hoffman will be leading three new Women’s Groups beginning this fall. Women in The Second Chapter of Life [su_row] [su_column size=”1/4″] [/su_column] [su_column size=”3/4″] Women who identify as any or all of the following may be interested in a psychodynamic group therapy experience: 20-something to 40-something, curious about how you got […]

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