Being there for your kids - Life Choices that Change Who You Are

Episode Date: October 4, 2026

Lots of life choices chang who we are. Where to go to school. Who to marry. Having children. Add to the list your choice to get started in counseling or psychotherapy. In this podcast I share tips about what to include in finding an effective therapist. I also identify how mentalligent psychotherapy (MPT) utilizes components that help you get unstuck and then begin to soar. Check it out at The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life, my new book on amazonbooks.com. Follow this link: https://a.co/d/0dxH5xOL Blessings, Dr. Jon

Hi, I'm Dr. John Robinson, and this is Teachable Moments. Let's talk about getting started with psychotherapy. What are the most difficult decisions you've had to make in your entire life? Your preferred schooling, getting married, having a baby, these decisions actually change who you are and the course of your life. Add this next one to the list, getting started with psychotherapy. Even in today's world, where there is little stigma about starting psychotherapy, most people are a little twitchy about it.

First of all, very few of us wake up one morning and say, You know what? I need to be in therapy. Well-intentioned friends and relatives usually see something and ask, Are you all right? After a telling discussion, they add, Have you ever thought about talking to someone? You know, therapy. Others don't feel like they have a choice.

I swear to God, I'm divorcing you if you don't get some help. Bob, I don't know what's gotten into you, but if you want to continue in my employ, you better find a way to fix it. Effective psychotherapy is in fact life-changing. Here are some tips about finding a good therapist and making positive changes in your life choices. First, the doctor-patient relationship is most important. How does he greet you on your first appointment?

Do you feel comfortable? At ease. Is he a good listener? Does he explain how he works? Is the office both engaging and professional? Be sure to look him up. What is his online presence? Is he star-reviewed?

Ask your friends and confidants for their opinions. The research shows that 80% of the effectiveness of therapy is based on the doctor-patient relationship, and only 20% is based on a bag of tricks that he may bring to the table. Feel good about to connect. Second, how does he interact with you during your session? Back in the day, therapists were taught to say little and let you get it all out. Not much help there. Nowadays, effective therapists have a plan, share their strategy with you,

and help you find ways to reach your stated goals. It's a lot of listening, prompting, planning, encouraging. In my 43 years of clinical practice, I developed mental intelligence psychotherapy called MPT, the strategic and elegantly woven matrix of mindfulness, positive psychotherapy, and cognitive behavioral interventions. I also help patients flesh out relevant data for their healing process by their completing the multimodal life history questionnaire.

my first behavioral prescription. Subsequently, I offer many behavioral prescriptions that by design kept the healing juices flowing between sessions. Keeping a therapeutic journal, writing letters that don't get sent, trying out behavioral changes that we first practiced during sessions, all such strategies to help patients escape their stuckness and learn how to soar on their healing journey. For more tips on developing effective psychotherapy, by my new book, The Healing Journey, Overcoming adversity on the path to the good life on Amazonbooks.com. If my comments here stir questions of your own, contact me through my website at www.org for my kids.com or email me at John Robinson 0.0 at bell-south.net. I'm Dr. Jonathan C. Robinson, licensed clinical psychologist and author of Teachable Moments,

building blocks of Christian parenting, and my new book, The Healing Journey, Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life. Blessings, Dr. John. Teachable Moments, Building Blocks of Christian Parenting is available online at AmazonBooks.com and in local and national bookstores. More on Dr. Robinson at TMC-P-I-N-C.com.