I begin this article being very clear that I am not a lawyer and I do not look at cases or tragic situations within families from the perspective of evidentiary evidence. As a Clinical Psychologist I observe behavior, actions and narrative to get underneath the story that is unfolding before me whether in my practice or as a media psychologist. I have been working with victims of trauma and sexual abuse for over 2 decades. My experience and...

Can John Mayer’s insensitive comments in Playboy and his apology on Twitter help you teach a life lesson to your teens? John Mayer used the N-word in a Playboy interview. He also objectified women and pretty much just sounded like a big-time jerk in general. One particularly offensive quote reads: I come on very strong…. That’s why black people love me…. Someone asked me the other day, “What does it feel like now...

During the “twenty-year wedding anniversary” episode of “Sister Wives,” the pain that wife number one, Meri, was feeling was palpable. This was caused by Kody Brown, her husband, showing his giddy affection for young wife number four, Robin, who is just joining the family. Meri has been married to Kody for twenty years. “Sister Wives,” the TLC series that is shining a spotlight on the polygamist culture...

In her People Magazine interview, Elin Nordegren shared that she had no idea that her husband, Tiger Woods, had been having sex with more than 20 women in the past three and a half years. She also said that the word “betrayal” doesn’t begin to describe what her feelings were when she found out about her husband’s infidelities. I have worked with couples wherein one of them claims to have had no idea that the affairs were...

After years of working with victims of domestic violence, it’s clear to me when I listen to the tapes of Mel Gibson apparently berating ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva (the mother of his child) that we are dealing with a classic domestic-violence situation. The abuser (Mel) has lost power and control over his victim (Oksana), and he continues to verbally abuse and threaten her to regain control. In the latest tapes, he is treating Oksana...

The Sunderland family has found themselves in a firestorm — or, more accurately, a big storm in the Indian Ocean that could have taken the life of their daughter, Abby. They have been criticized by many people for allowing and encouraging their 16-year-old daughter to try to break the record for being the youngest person to sail around the world. I believe that enabling a minor to voyage alone for months in hostile seas (especially...