According to psychoanalytic theory, emotional disconnection can be dangerous. When people deny their innermost negative feelings, instead of protecting themselves from their impulses, they may be doubly in danger of acting out on them. If powerful feelings are repressed, they may burst out in a less controlled fashion at another time. Although this is a gross oversimplification, it can be understood via a simple metaphor of a boiler that has a safety valve. If the pressure builds up, it can be released in a controlled manner

The proper and meaningful study of Midrashim is in general a vastly unexplored area of learning. In addition, Midrashim are a great opportunity for reaching all students, intellectually and emotionally. Unfortunately, Midrashim are often relegated to the status of Jewish fairy tales told to entertain children without any thought being given to their deep meanings.

From time to time we encounter parents who are under a combination of psychological stressors such as mental health difficulties, sholom bayis challenges, financial stress, and personal temperament that makes it highly inadvisable for them to have more children. However, sometimes because of what could be misdirected laced piety, these parents continue to have more and more children, causing damage to the children and to themselves.

There are some people in the course of their 12 step work who find connecting to G-d via kneeling to be an important part of their recovery. There is a degree of cultural inhibition regarding kneeling for Jewish people, as this is not our customary form of worship. Below is an analysis of the pertinent halachic issues.

Everyone has an opinion about what makes a good marriage. However, one researcher took a novel approach to figuring out what really works. Instead of making up ideas and then testing them, John Gottman set out to observe couples and study what communication styles the successful couples had and what defective patterns where present in the unhappy couples. He invited couples to

"He just not a mensch", said his Rosh Yeshiva, using this one statement to explain everything. "I don't know if you can do anything for such a person." When we hear statements such as that, our hearts sink. You know it's going to be a difficult treatment process when even the fellow's Rosh Yeshiva is not able to say anything positive or optimistic about him.

The matter of shidduchim is challenging for everyone involved. Feelings of insecurity and anxiety can run amok. Will you find the right person for you child? Is your family good enough? Is anyone good enough for your child? When a family enters into the shidduch world, it is a culmination of years of chinuch, and most likely, generations of family emotional process. Though marrying off a child should be a great joy, it also is highly stressful.

Published in the Jewish Press, March 24 - Section F3

We all are aware that the complete freedom, anonymity and access offered by the internet presents a major temptation and require constant vigilance. However, most people do not realize the extent of the problem or the numbers of individuals living double-lives, feeling tormented and wracked by guilt and shame from their on-line activities. Most people think that perhaps there is a small percentage of deeply troubled individuals who are drawn into various immoral and improper behavior. They do not think that their neighbor, their child's rebbe, their spouse and any other normal-looking, upstanding and apparently healthy individual could be plumbing the depths of a nether-world filled with intensely sexual and perverse imagery or engaging in cyber relationships.

Borderline Personality Disorder is an emotionally painful and debilitating mental illness that wreaks havoc on the lives of individuals, marriages and families. Its main symptoms are extreme emotional states, stormy interpersonal relationships and self-destructive or violent behavior. However, these same individuals can be charming, passionate and highly intelligent with compartmentalized areas of super functionality, so it can be