Leon F Seltzer PhD

About

Leon F. Seltzer, Ph.D., holds doctorates in both English and Psychology. Formerly an English professor at Queens College (CUNY) and Cleveland State University, he now lives in Del Mar, California, where—until October of 2020—he maintained a general private practice with clinical specialties in anger, trauma resolution (using EMDR and IFS), couples conflict, compulsive/addictive behaviors, stress control, and depression.

The author of The Vision of Melville and Conrad, he has also written numerous articles on literature and psychology. He is best known for his professional guidebook Paradoxical Strategies in Psychotherapy, which describes a wide array of seemingly illogical but powerful therapeutic interventions. These counter-intuitive techniques have helped therapists resolve difficult individual and marital/family problems when more straightforward methods have failed to do so.

Now retired from his clinical psychology practice, his professional work is limited to personal, professional, and corporate consultations.

Finally, his 580+ posts on Psychology Today have received over 53 million views.

Books by Leon F Seltzer PhD

Recent Posts

When a Major Conflict With a Friend Is Unresolvable

The only way to fix a friendship gone sour is to assertively discuss your wary feelings about it—and if that can’t work, you’d be well-advised to leave it.

“Civil War”: Action Flick or Wake-Up Call?

Review: The film’s carefully mapped-out confusion seems to reflect director Alex Garland’s key point--war, civil or international, ultimately blurs crucial moral distinctions.

Does Your Partner Really Want to Control You?

Here are six ways that the actual motives of your partner’s frustrating, overbearing behavior may—contrary to your conclusions—have little or nothing to do with their intent.

Parents, Scared Children, and Accidental Emotional Abuse

The common tendency for parental caregivers to look at things judgmentally represents the greatest hindrance to effective, more caring, and more humane parenting.

How Parents Can Gaslight Their Children

However invalidating their parents’ response may feel, a young child—assuming their parents have superior knowledge—is apt to doubt the authenticity of their personal experience.

The Evolution of Lying: As We Mature, so Does Our Lying

As children grow older, their lying becomes more knowing and more sophisticated. And their reasons for lying become more varied and increasingly similar to their parents'.

The Unpredictable, Borderline Mother Can Handicap Growth

The uncontrollable mood swings and the indiscriminate intensity of a borderline's emotions may be involuntary, but they still do a number on their children.

Why Silence in a Relationship Isn't Golden

The undeniable realities of social communication should convince us that the maxim to avoid saying anything “not nice” requires far more qualification than the saying suggests.

4 Benefits of Remaining Calm When You’re Criticized

The benefits of accepting criticism all relate to the chance to reevaluate the possibly false assumptions or erroneous conclusions you mistakenly may have made.

Five Powerful Solutions for Neediness

To change obsolete programming, you have to become aware of it, and you have to be sufficiently incentivized to break free of psychological defenses.