Sarah Jofen-Miller, Clinical Psychologist

10/05/2021

Been reading more intensely than usual this month because of all the holidays. Recently (and not so recently - always actually!) been into therapist memoirs, patient memoirs, and well written case studies. Seems like the therapy experience has gotten a lot of ink lately and is a trending genre. As a therapist, I generally find these books to be both entertaining and educational, as well as the tiniest bit voyeuristic (not that thats a bad thing). Basically, well worth my time! These are a few from my collection. What are you reading? What do you think of this genre of book? What should I add?

01/10/2021

Sign the petition for interstate reciprocity!

There are several reasons why counselors need the ability to get a national license, not one that ends at the state border. 1) Mental health needs are going to skyrocket in the aftermath of the pandemic. Creating an agile, responsive, national force of mental health workers that can respond to menta...

01/01/2021

Live webinar approved for Psychologist CEU credits!! DV is a required psych CEU topic in NJ

Core Competencies in Domestic Violence: Treatment Struggles, Differential Assessment and the Self of the Therapist FULL Day Webinar! January 5th, 2021 10:00am-4:45pm EST By Lisa Goodman-Twerski, LCSW   This Full Day Webinar provides a total of 6 CE Credits. The cos...

12/17/2020

https://nefesh.org/workshops/psychologists/login

11/25/2020

Beautiful, moving words from Meghan Markle

Perhaps the path to healing begins with three simple words: Are you OK?

10/02/2020

Thoughts and prayers for Chrissy Teigen and John Legend as they mourn the loss of their baby boy.

Sharing their experience of grief is an incredibly strong and brave contribution to the whole community of parents who’ve been through similar losses. Thank you for allowing us in.

Grieving for their son as openly as they share other experiences is a public service for families who have suffered similar losses — and outsiders trying to understand.

03/29/2020

Some wise words for managing your anxiety during this crisis

You can let anxiety consume you, or you can feel the fear and also find joy in ordinary life, even now.

03/27/2020

The world is different. And the question on everyone’s mind is about when things will return to normal.

But normal is a construct. And we can reconstruct what OUR normal looks like. Keep the good. Discard what wasn’t working and we don’t want to have back. Examine our values and realign them with our priorities. You can be the change. Create a new normal. A better one.

03/25/2020

A lovely essay that will help frame these last weeks. Keep in mind that grief comes in waves. There are moments that we are fine and others that we might feel as if we are drowning. The waves can be overwhelming but breathe.. in and out, in and out.. this too shall pass.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a collective loss of normalcy.

03/23/2020

Let’s talk .

Last week, I was a holdout. While some of the people I work with were fine switching to phone/video sessions, many still preferred to come into the office. To be honest, I much prefer it too, and was happy to take proper precautions and go about business as usual. But this week, I conceded. It’s no longer right to see clients in person. The city is on lockdown.

So.. now that I’ve fully made the transition, let’s talk about what this means. Are you getting less value for your money? Is your session less effective? Honestly, it depends. There are some clients who transition seamlessly. They don’t miss a beat. There are even parts about the setup that they enjoy or appreciate. There are other clients for whom it’s not perfect, but it works well enough. And then there are those who really need PRESENCE that can’t be duplicated in quite the same way without being together in the same place. Even in that circumstance, imperfect therapy may still be better than no therapy.

Still, I’ve been surprised about which clients could easily transition and which clients it just didn’t work quite as well for. If you are unsure, I urge you to give it a try. You might not mind it as much as you think. You might actually like it. Or it might be good enough. Or better than nothing. These are extraordinary times. Extraordinary.

Teletherapy is not a placeholder until we can get back to our “real” work in the office. Much wonderful work can be accomplished even under what feels perhaps less than ideal circumstances at first. Try it and tell me what you think. Would love to hear about your experience!