Author Archives: jamesmatter

About jamesmatter

Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) in private practice in San Francisco. I work with adults, adolescents, and couples, with focus on substance use and abuse and co-occurring disorders (having both a mental illness and an addiction).

Grief and Depression…

Posted on March 24, 2018

Are not the same. I remember a client once saying that she had broken up a longstanding relationship and her parents were worried about her becoming depressed. She was, in fact, on antidepressant medication and had been having problems. However … Continue reading →

Posted in Depression, Emotions, Feelings, Grief, Sadness, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Therapists Are Not Thought Police

Posted on February 26, 2018

After yet another school shooting, some conservatives  are calling for better mental health care. What they really mean is that mental health providers should be on the lookout for potential shooters & should then intervene to prevent them. Consider this … Continue reading →

Posted in behavioral health, mental health, Violence | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Three Ways to Change

Posted on January 26, 2018

(Apologies to readers for the quick updates– it’s very hard to proofread one’s own work, and I spotted a couple of typos. Probably didn’t spot some others.) I have reflected on many occasions that the therapist’s job has a lot … Continue reading →

Posted in behavioral health, change, cognitive therapy, mental health, Therapy processes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Light Therapy for Bipolar Depression

Posted on November 27, 2017

Sorry to have been MIA for so long.  As some who follow the blog may remember, I am trying to keep my promise to focus on original content, but this news item on bipolar depression looked too significant to pass up, especially … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Feelings About Feelings

Posted on October 20, 2017

Some time ago I noticed a common problem, or perhaps I should say problem about problems, that many clients shared– People would be down on themselves for being depressed, or angry with themselves about their anger problems, or would worry … Continue reading →

Posted in Depression, Emotions, Feelings, happiness, mental health, Recovery, Renewal, Sadness, spirituality, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Save That Relationship!

Posted on October 3, 2017

Just took a quick peek at a piece from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_to_do_when_you_hate_the_one_you_love?utm_source=Greater+Good+Science+Center&utm_campaign=9536544767-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_07_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5ae73e326e-9536544767-51254567 and wanted to excerpt  my favorite part, as follows: So how do you increase understanding during conflict? Here are seven suggestions for how to think and act to do so. … Continue reading →

Posted in arguing, behavioral health, communication, Couple communication, Couples and relationships, fighting | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Posted on September 11, 2017

Did you know about National Suicide Prevention Week? I must confess that I didn’t, except for the fact that I work in an environment that raises awareness about things like this.  In fact, NAMI has expanded it to National Suicide Prevention … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment