Empathy | scottwoodtherapy

Browsing All Posts filed under »Empathy«

Is He/She Worth It?

July 27, 2020

Way back in 1983, Billy Joel released an album titled “An Innocent Man.” The title track was a ballad in which the singer is committing to being a safe and healing person for a woman who has been badly wounded from past relationships. Essentially, he recognizes that how she guards herself in the relationship is […]

Stargirl: Empathy and Compassion

March 24, 2020

Like most everyone else in the country, I have been hanging out at home for the last week and a half. Who would have thought that being a responsible citizen would mean not leaving the house unless forced? On the same day, I saw on TV a news segment on the increase in gun sales […]

The Good Place – Part 1 – Soulmates

November 27, 2019

Spoiler Alert: I am going to talk about Season 4, Episode 9 of The Good Place which aired last week. To give some context, I also need to discuss what has come before. If you are one who does not want to know anything about a show before you see it and think you might […]

Whose Relationship Violations are Worse?

July 17, 2019

How do you rate the following violations of love and trust in a relationship? Number the following from 1-12 with 1 being the most egregious betrayal. ____ One night of sex with a stranger. ____ An emotional affair with a coworker. ____ A secret bank account. ____ Not showing up when your partner has a […]

Admitting Fault: Strength or Weakness

June 5, 2019

I generally am not crazy about publicly sharing stories where I did something foolish, but here goes anyway. A few months ago, I backed into another car while pulling out of a parking space at my office. It is an awful feeling when you feel that bump against a vehicle you didn’t know was there. […]

Four Responses

April 8, 2019

A client shared with me about their family of origin’s hopes of having a meeting with their father to try to reconcile from the siblings’ experience of childhood abuse. In helping my client set expectations, I offered that there were four possible tacks that dad could take. I think these are fairly universal when trying […]

Pass Her the Kleenex Already!

February 26, 2019

Therapists always have tissue in the room. When you sort of make people cry for a living you need to have it within the client’s reach. One thing I often observe with couples is the situation wherein the wife starts to cry and the Kleenex is sitting on the other side of the husband. I […]

Déjà vu (All Over Again)… or What Am I Missing Here?

May 1, 2017

And I feel like I’ve been here before. And you know, it makes me wonder what’s going on down under. David Crosby (Déjà Vu). Do you remember 8 track tapes (or before that 4 track)? Back in the 70’s, they used to make these audio tapes cartridges. They sounded pretty good (for analog) but were […]

James Bay Meet Murray Bowen

August 8, 2016

“Why don’t you be you and I’ll be me?” James Bay, Let It Go Marriage and family therapy is a profession that has only been around for about 50 years. Prior to that, mental health practitioners solely focused on individual dysfunction. Most of the early theorists for marriage and family therapy were psychoanalysts who had […]

A Therapist Looks at Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Part 2 – Finn

December 23, 2015

SPOILER ALERT. As with my last post, I must forewarn you that I am going to give away some of the plot for the film. If you haven’t seen it and don’t want to know, read no further. Let me offer some philosophical questions for consideration. Is empathy something we learn or is it inherent […]