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Phil Stutz and Barry Michels

About

Based in Los Angeles, Phil Stutz is a psychiatrist and Barry Michels is a psychotherapist.

Recent Posts
The Body in Summer
We live in a consumer culture that defines everything as a product. This even applies to the seasons of the year. Summer is sold to us as a time when we can shed the responsibilities and pressures we normally bear. But there’s something else we shed for the summer – our clothes. And for many of us this is a humiliating experience.
Willpower
Remember Vinny? He was the stand-up comic introduced in an earlier blog: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-tools/201205/dying-laugh. Vinny was so scared of asking for help he hid in the minor leagues of comedy. Using the Reversal of Desire, he learned to conquer avoidance and take his career to a whole new level. After that...
What Drives a Kid to Bully
Recently I saw the heartbreaking documentary “Bully.” The film tells the stories of five children, ranging in age from 11 to 17, who are harassed physically and emotionally. In two cases the abuse was so bad it drove the children to commit suicide. When I left the theater, I couldn’t stop thinking about the film.
The Parent Trap

Every morning Marcie would repeatedly tell her 6-year-old son Evan to get dressed for school. And every morning she would walk into his room to find Evan lying half-naked on the floor, one unlaced shoe on, daydreaming. What was his problem?

Every morning Marcie would repeatedly tell her 6-year-old son Evan to get dressed for school. And every morning she would walk into his room to find Evan lying half-naked on the floor, one unlaced shoe on, daydreaming. What was his problem?

Real Authority

In my last post (#10 The Shadow) I described the expressive power you unleash when you form a bond with your Shadow. The next step is to learn how to form that bond and how that act forms the basis of a tool that will bring you confidence when you most need it.

In my last post (#10 The Shadow) I described the expressive power you unleash when you form a bond with your Shadow. The next step is to learn how to form that bond and how that act forms the basis of a tool that will bring you confidence when you most need it.

The Shadow

You may be lonely, but you are never alone. Inside each of us is a second self, another being.

You may be lonely, but you are never alone. Inside each of us is a second self, another being.

Writer's Block

I see a lot of writers in my practice and every one of them has gotten blocked at one time or another. It isn’t hard to figure out why. Imagine sitting in a room by yourself trying to create a whole new world populated with entertaining and original characters. Now imagine doing it day after day. It’s lonely, difficult work.

I see a lot of writers in my practice and every one of them has gotten blocked at one time or another. It isn’t hard to figure out why. Imagine sitting in a room by yourself trying to create a whole new world populated with entertaining and original characters. Now imagine doing it day after day. It’s lonely, difficult work.

Talk About the War

I could tell Elizabeth was a worrier before she opened her mouth: she had a haunted look and wrung her hands together so compulsively I thought the skin would come off.

I could tell Elizabeth was a worrier before she opened her mouth: she had a haunted look and wrung her hands together so compulsively I thought the skin would come off.

Profiles in Courage

I’ve never understood why psychotherapy doesn’t deal with courage. Ask anybody what qualities they’d like more of and courage will be high up the list. Yet, like the rest of us, therapists tend to see courage as some sort of mythic power.

I’ve never understood why psychotherapy doesn’t deal with courage. Ask anybody what qualities they’d like more of and courage will be high up the list. Yet, like the rest of us, therapists tend to see courage as some sort of mythic power.