This past weekend two stories surrounding the National Football League (NFL) hit the news. The first story: according to a study lead by Segal Group, about one in four NFL players are likely to end up suffering dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease or other cognitive impairments during their lifetime. The report highlights the violence and the dangers associated with professional…
American society is a violent society. Rates of homicide and other violent death in the United States dramatically exceed those of other industrialized, high-income nations. Our violence is a product of living in an environment that breeds racial and ethnic discrimination and conflict, abuse of women, children, elders, and the poor, labeled as “weaker” members of our society. The results…
Brazilian writer, theologian, philosopher and psychoanalyst Rubem Alves died on Saturday, July 19, 2014 in Campinas, Brazil. Alves was 80 years old and is better known as one of the pioneers of liberation theology. Liberation theology is an intellectual movement that interprets Christian theology through the eyes of the oppressed and the marginalized. Rubem Alves published numerous works on liberation…
The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is well underway. Studies document that playing a sport helps both one’s body and mind. Research further shows how participating in sports, especially ones requiring complex movements like soccer, can also improve your brain function at work or school, through the release of BDNF – brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Further, there is a positive relationship…
The movie Her and the recent NY Times Review article entitled A Revolutionary Approach to Treating PTSD, send a common message, although perhaps not at first. Having watched the movie recently and reading the article during Memorial Day weekend, along with what we at the Critical Therapy Center have learned about treating trauma survivors, one message seems to be clear…
The issue of sexual assault on college campuses has been in the spotlight this week, as the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault launched a new informational website, NotAlone.gov, highlighting the problem. Despite significant progress for women and girls, women still face the highest rates of dating violence and sexual assault. As Jody Raphael’s book Rape…
Last week Iraq veteran, 34-year-old Army Specialist Ivan Lopez, moved through three buildings at Fort Hood military base in Texas where he systematically opened fire with a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. Sixteen people were wounded in the attack. Mr. Lopez left three dead bodies before he turned his gun to his own head and pulled the trigger. This was the second…
This Sunday’s New York Times Magazine featured an article entitled The Scientific Quest to Prove Bisexuality Exists, written by Benoit Denizet-Lewis. The story examines the work of the American Institute of Bisexuality, while discussing the issue of bisexuality as an identity. The article addresses issues related to bisexuality, and hopefully, when reading it, it will also generate more questions than…
Today is International Women’s Day! The wonderful weather in New York City seems to agree that today is indeed a day for celebration — celebration of women around the world and the women in our lives. It is a celebration for the feminist movement, or the women’s liberation movement for all its successes. The women’s liberation movement has effected change…
On Friday evening, while looking out of our office windows we saw the Empire State Building illuminated red on celebration of Valentine’s Day. Irresistibly, inevitably, our thoughts turned to a seemingly simple philosophical question: “What is Love” Attempting to share with you some reflections on love, we dedicate this love note to everyone who dares to love… “For one human…