Keith Russell Ablow
Keith Russell Ablow is a psychiatrist in Lynn, Massachusetts. He writes a column on psychiatry for the Washington Post.
— From September 1993Psychotherapy And The Status Quo
Early in therapy, a young woman I treated for depression described her ideal relationship with a man. “If I had my way,” she said, “I wouldn’t do a thing, except clean the house and talk on the phone. He would make all the decisions. He would pick where we go, what we do, who we see.”
September 1993Hidden Clues
I did not begin training as a psychiatrist with an open mind. As strange as it might seem for someone beginning a career based on insight, I had resolved not to change. I was frightened that my personality might be pasteurized by the process, that forces would make of me a blank slate on which others would feel free to write their life stories.
April 1993Homeless, But Not Crazy
Shortly after 1 a.m. recently, on-call in the psychiatric emergency room of a Boston hospital, I was asked to evaluate a homeless man, and in the process I confronted the limits of my professional empathy.
March 1993Delicate Business
One of my patients recently informed me that she had decided to charge for sex. After many affairs with men who had proven untrustworthy, she was abandoning her search for a genuine relationship.
August 1992Buried Stories
The idea that a person’s past could unconsciously and dramatically influence the present used to make me smirk.
March 1992Request a free trial, and we’ll mail you a print copy of this month’s issue. Plus you’ll get full online access — including 50 years of archives. Request A Free Issue