I’m going to use the example of a new patient, Cheryl (not her real name), who came to see me this week. I always start my meeting with any new patient with the question: “What are you doing here? What do you want?

A while back, some of you asked for a book referral list, and I subsequently began the project of putting one together. As I mentioned at that time, I rarely utilize bibliotherapy in my private practice. For complex reasons having to do (in large part) with fostering unconscious processes and communication in psychoanalysis and analytically informed psychotherapy, referring patients to self-help books is generally not complementary.

Thank you so much for your interest and for all of your wonderful comments! There is so much to say about interior design, so we’ll have lots to discuss in the coming months. To start, let’s begin with trying to organize the house with children, which I realize can be a daunting task!

A simple solution is to provide your kids with a cubby system for their toys and things. Start with a shelving system or a bench and add storage baskets.

Wait — it gets better.