Author: Michali Friedman, LCSW

January 12th, 2019

There are three sources in Sefer Bereishis (Genesis) that give shape, color, and meaning to our understanding of a marital relationship.  There is “Al kain yaazov ish es imo v’davak b’ishto,” which instructs man to leave his parents for the purpose of linking to a wife.  Man is also given what is arguably the first mitzvah in the Torah of peru u’revu, the commandment of bringing children into this world.&nb …
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Author: Michali Friedman, LCSW

July 26th, 2017

"I've got serious body image issues."  "I avoid looking at myself unclothed in the mirror."  "When we go out together, I feel insecure with how I look." These statements are made by real people and all the time.  According to body image expert and author James Claiborn, the media is heavily responsible for our physical insecurities, imposing unrealistic expectations on what is the ideal body for both men and women. Media itself, ho …
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Author: Michali Friedman, LCSW

July 2nd, 2018

Dear Michali, My kallah and I are getting married in six weeks and as excited as I am to get married I have some concerns.  I don’t know if it’s just the stage of engagement, but my kallah seems to be on a daily shopping spree, spending more money than what we would have together after the wedding and this is a big issue for me.  As it is, money will be tighter than what she grew up with and her current spending habits make …
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Author: Michali Friedman, LCSW

August 21st, 2017

Deciding to go to a therapist takes incredible courage as we often find ourselves needing to overcome the stigma of it or other people's opinions of it in order to take the plunge.    As Viktor Frankl emphasizes in his book Man's Search for Meaning, what helps us make difficult choices is knowing 'the Why.'  Why are we doing what we are doing, what is the meaning behind our motivations and choices.   So why start sex therapy? …
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Author: Michali Friedman, LCSW

December 5th, 2017

Healthy parents want their children to surpass them.  Biologically we are primed to take this evolutionary initiative to strengthen our genetic codes for the next generation.  We achieve this through a variety of parenting techniques that hone our children’s skills and abilities and diminish their weaknesses.  Discipline is one of the most widely used techniques that can be effective in decreasing negative behaviors whil …
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Author: Michali Friedman, LCSW

July 24th, 2017

The idea of therapy has long been discussed, criticized, recommended, stigmatized, and debated.  Add to it the concept of sex and all the thoughts and feelings on the subject intensify.   As much as we societally celebrate our freedom, including our sexual freedom, talking about sex can still feel awkward and uncomfortable at best and intolerable at worst.  It's simply taboo.   So let me use this blog post to address some ques …
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