Anderson Family Therapy

12/11/2025

Cut off does not work.

11/19/2025

Cuddling can actually save your life.

11/19/2025

Did you know that cuddling isn’t just sweet—it’s neuroscience. When you hold someone you trust, your body gets flooded with oxytocin, the bonding hormone that lowers anxiety and creates a sense of emotional safety. At the same time, cortisol—the stress hormone—drops, which helps improve sleep, mood, and even your immune system. Cuddling also boosts serotonin and dopamine, the same pathways many antidepressants target, which is why a long hug can feel like your whole nervous system is rebooting. On top of that, warm touch activates the vagus nerve, slowing your heart rate and telling your brain, “You’re safe.” Humans literally co-regulate through physical closeness. Cuddling is biological nourishment. If you haven’t been held in a while, your body feels that. We’re wired for connection, not isolation. If you’re married, cuddle with your partner. It’s the best pathway for intimacy and even your health.

11/18/2025

The quickest way to sink a good marriage is to withhold intimacy when your partner is asking for it. I’ve seen great marriages fall apart because of this pattern. When your partner reaches out for intimacy, turn toward them. It takes only minutes. Don’t let turning away become the first step toward a broken home.

09/08/2025

Oh Bessel Van Der Kolk! This story is just sad. Earlier, Gabor Mate did something similar. These so-called "trauma therapists" are creating trauma. Be careful of the rising antisemitism in health care. Jewish clients are seriously at risk in our communities in finding a good professional. Here's the story:

Students arrived at the Omega Institute, a spiritual retreat center in New York, expecting to learn about trauma and neuroscience from the renowned psychiatrist and trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk, author of “The Body Keeps the Score.” Instead, he veered into politics, comparing Israelis to N***s. When a Jewish woman in the audience spoke up, explaining how offensive his comments were to her as the descendant of Holocaust survivors, he doubled down, and his wife Licia Sky, who was leading the event with him, defended him. Multiple attendees walked out, and one woman screamed in pain. But the Omega Institute did something few universities have done: it immediately condemned van der Kolk’s remarks as antisemitic, apologized to attendees, and made it clear he will never teach at Omega again. Although he initially apologized, he has now retracted his apology and is threatening to sue the Omega Institute for libel if they don’t retract their condemnation of his antisemitic remarks. Leah Silver, LCSW

10/08/2024

The person you refuse to forgive holds the most influence over your life.

09/04/2024

There are 6 assumptions that you want to have to improve communication with others and your partners.
1. No one knows what you want or need.
2. Don't read minds: Ask!
3. Use words, not behaviors.
4. Be clear on your goals.
5. Consider timing, intensity, and other factors.
6. Assertiveness is not a guarantee.
These are assumptions that I've found very helpful integrating with clients and my life and has drastically improved my own communication.

08/08/2024

07/26/2024

Powerful.

05/07/2024

True acceptance means meeting the situation as it is without trying to negotiate a deal.

04/12/2024

“Treatment needs to reinforce behaviors that work in life and not allow clients to practice behaviors in treatment that do not work in life.“

Lane Peterson on Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

02/18/2024

The worst readers.—The worst readers are those who behave like plundering troops: they take away a few things they can use, dirty and confound the remainder, and revile the whole

Marks of a good writer.—Good writers have two things in common; they prefer to be understood rather than admired; and they do not write for knowing an over-acute readers. 

~Nietzsche