Mind Body Dynamic Psychotherapy

01/29/2026

Human suffering is not a personal failure, nor merely a psychic conflict. It is often a sane response to insane conditions. Any therapy, theory, or spirituality that forgets this risks becoming another form of violence, however well-intentioned.

01/15/2026

I’ve been noticing something lately.

In many relationships, especially more traditional ones, there’s a familiar move when a partner's behavior is named.

“No one is perfect.”
“Lower your expectations.”
“I know I have my limits.”

On the surface, these sound reasonable. Even humble.

But often, they function as an exit from responsibility.

Because what’s rarely addressed is not imperfection, but who carries the consequences of it.

When one person regularly drops the ball, disengages when frustrated, or shrugs and moves on… and the other quietly absorbs the missed appointments, the unfinished tasks, the emotional and logistical cleanup, something important is happening.

Expectations have usually already been lowered.
Reliability has already been adjusted for.
The system has already adapted.

So the request to “lower expectations” again isn’t about realism.
It’s about asking someone else to stretch further so change isn’t required.

This isn’t about being good or bad.
It’s about impact.

And about whether we’re willing to let our limits cost the people we love.

So the question I’m sitting with is this:
Who is actually carrying the weight of “no one is perfect” in your relationship?

—Eric

01/06/2026

01/01/2026

Take it easy this year. You woke up, you got dressed, you ate, you wished some people in your life a happy new year and some people in your life wished it to you. You might doing better than you think. ❤️😊

12/15/2025

For me, the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's) tend to turn my attention inward. A built-in time of year for reflection. Of course, reflection does not need to wait for the holidays, and yet something about this collective time of year renders it more, bringing it front and center to my mind.

I practice something called Naikan. It's not a well-known practice. It has become a form of Japanese Psychotherapy based on more formal Buddhist practice, but has none of the Buddhist trappings, which makes it an incredibly accessible and portable practice.

Naikan, an inward-looking practice, uses three questions to guide your reflection. You can learn more about it here.
https://www.mindbodydynamictherapy.com/naikan-request

During this time, I am not just using it for daily reflection, but I expand it into looking back over the last year.

The basic three questions are:
1) What have I given to (be specific)?
2) What have I received from (be specific)?
3) What troubles and/or difficulties have you made for (be specific)?

I go into more detail about the daily practice in the free webinar!

A big part of this practice tends to generate healthy GUILT! Yup, guilt is often overlooked and or seen as a problem affect, but in truth, feeling it (remorse) helps you remember the part of you that cares deeply.

Structured Naikan Self-Reflection Practice webinar Original with Sign up box

11/21/2025

Meet Joey Tran!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRK2xwxETJA/

11/20/2025

Our new show, Delightfully Disheveled: because life and love are messy!", is coming soon!

Join me, Dr. Sid(aka grandpa, who can sleep anywhere at any time), and friends.

To be notified when the show and episodes are posted, just sign up here.
https://www.mindbodydynamictherapy.com/signup

11/13/2025

The Myth of the Perfectly Attached Adult

(And Why It’s Hurting Us)

Somewhere along the way, secure attachment stopped being a simple way to understand how we got shaped and turned into something people feel they are supposed to achieve. It became a lifestyle. A personality makeover. I hear people talk about it the way they talk about clean eating or whatever the latest minimalism trend is. As if you can tidy up your past and suddenly come out as this perfectly attached adult who never gets triggered or clingy or distant or confused. It makes no sense. And honestly, it is making people feel worse.

Once you start treating attachment theory like a moral scorecard, you fall right back into the same patterns that created the insecurity in the first place. You start striving again. You start performing. You start imagining that somewhere out there is a level of “secure” you can finally reach and then life will become smooth and manageable. Almost like a psychic insurance policy. But that is not how human beings work. Attachment is not something you earn by doing enough self work. It is something that forms through history, through your nervous system, through the actual relationships you are in today.

And if you look closely, the chase for perfect security is often just another way to avoid yourself. Another way to manage your feelings instead of meeting them. Another way to stay in control instead of allowing real contact.

11/10/2025

Men and Addiction: The Crisis We Still Don’t Talk About

Increasingly, men are struggling today.
Some are reaching out for help. Many are not.

While some of the old stigma around men’s mental health has eased, a new kind of pushback has taken its place.
Public conversations about masculinity have become so charged that many men retreat further. They worry that their pain will be dismissed, misunderstood, or turned into another argument about what kind of man they should be.

The result is silence. And silence still kills.

One in five men met criteria for a substance use disorder last year.
Thirteen percent had an alcohol use disorder.
Men die from overdoses two to three times more often than women.

Behind those numbers are real lives—men who feel cut off, ashamed, or unseen. Some keep working. Some drink. Some disappear behind a screen. Most never admit to how lonely they really are.

You cannot outwork grief. You cannot outperform emptiness.
The men I see are not broken. They are tired of carrying pain alone.
And beneath that exhaustion is longing—for connection, honesty, and a life that feels real again.

We need a new way of speaking about men’s suffering. One that is neither defensive nor ideological, but deeply human.

11/06/2025

T for Thursday, T for Team spotlight.
I am delighted to introduce you to Henry Yuen.

Henry is particularly drawn to working with trauma, life transitions, relationship challenges, identity exploration, and issues of self-worth.

You can check him out here!

Questioning who you are, who you love, or how to live more authentically — while feeling unsure where you’ll be accepted?

11/04/2025

So many men are just so used to wearing a mask that they neglect & ignore the one wearing it.