Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW-R, QCSW, DCSW

December 3rd, 2018

Dear Therapist: One of our children is obsessed with death. He is 6 years old and is constantly asking questions about it. He asks us when we will die, when bubby [Grandma] and zaidy [Grandpa] will die, etc. It used to be kind of cute when he planned for our demise, but recently he has been getting much more serious about it. He has been worrying more and has been waking up with "bad dreams" in middle of the night. We try to b …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW-R, QCSW, DCSW

July 18th, 2019

Dear Therapist: As everyone not living under a rock is aware, there has recently been an outbreak of measles in the frum [orthodox Jewish] community. While most of you are not medical doctors I was hoping you can help me from a psychological perspective. How can it be that something like vaccines that are considered safe and necessary by 99.9 percent of the medical community and somehow people have a cramp in their head against it? How …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW-R, QCSW, DCSW

February 7th, 2019

Dear Therapist: I have always struggled in several areas such as concentration, inability to complete projects, and too much talking. I have read articles about this and some seem to suggest that this is about anxiety while others indicate that it is ADHD related. How do I differentiate between these two possibilities?   Response: There are many symptoms that can apply to various disorders. Sometimes it can be difficult to ascertain which pr …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW-R, QCSW, DCSW

July 31st, 2019

Dear Therapist: What qualifies something as an addiction? My brother plays video games all day. Does that make him an addict? My mother shops all day. Is she addicted to shopping? It seems like the word addiction gets thrown around a lot these days but when is it really a true thing and when is it just an excuse for continuing behavior that you don't want to stop? I get that cigarettes, alcohol and the like are considered addicting but are we to …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW-R, QCSW, DCSW

December 3rd, 2018

Dear Therapist: I am currently involved in a medical crisis (I was diagnosed with an illness, but we are not sure how serious it is yet). I need to get a lot of opinions from doctors and make choices regarding my treatment. I have never really been an assertive person but now I am really lost. Everyone has an opinion, I have no idea what to do and the doctors are talking over my head. It seems that if I don’t push I don’t get answered …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW-R, QCSW, DCSW

February 7th, 2019

Dear Therapist: I often experience what seem like dramatic mood changes. One day I'll wake up with loads of energy ready to take on the world and the next I will sit in bed trying to convince myself to get out of bed. I am sometimes full of joy and optimism and other times just retreat into myself. My friends joke that I am "bipolar." I asked my doctor about it and his response was something to the effect of, "We all have our ups and downs" and t …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW-R, QCSW, DCSW

May 14th, 2013

I don't believe that anyone can reach the peak of true self-esteem. We all view ourselves externally at least to some extent. The goal is to reduce externally based feelings about ourselves and to increase those intrinsically based. Some people will focus on building self-esteem so as to reduce or eliminate depressive or anxious feelings. Others can continually work toward an increasingly better sense of self. The great irony of self-esteem is th …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW-R, QCSW, DCSW

June 25th, 2018

Dear Therapist: Thank you so much for your insightful column each week. I gain a tremendous amount from your suggestions and advice. I am hoping that you can guide us. We...have a wonderful almost 10-year-old son; he is a fantastic kid, smart, conscientious, studious, well-behaved, bright...The problem is that he likes to eat and has been steadily gaining since 5 years old. First it was 10 pounds, then 20, and now more each passing year. At almos …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW-R, QCSW, DCSW

May 16th, 2019

Dear Therapist: Today I am a married woman with a family and have friends...but as a child, I didn’t have any friends. When I was with classmates and when I would try to interject with a comment my comment would go unnoticed. I only made friends after I finished school and started working. When I bump into people I knew as a child, such as classmates, I become terrified and start to shake and the unbearable pain that lays deep down inside m …
0 comments

Author: Yehuda Lieberman, LCSW-R, QCSW, DCSW

March 27th, 2019

Dear Therapist: I am a 19-year-old boy...When I introduce myself to new people I turn red in the face. This is something that I feel I can't control as much as I prep myself before. This is extremely embarrassing. Can you please explain why this happens and how I can deal with it?   Response: I well understand your concern. It’s humiliating to be overtly embarrassed. It’s one thing to feel a little uncomfortable; it’s quite …
0 comments