Dr Eric B. Litwack is an online psychotherapist


What attracted you to become a therapist?

I have always felt a strong need to help others, and I have an endless fascination with the human mind.


Where did you train? 

At the Bowlby Centre in London (UKCP). I have also taught psychoanalytic theory to trainees.


Can you tell us about the type of therapy you practise? 

I am an attachment-based psychoanalytic therapist. We believe that in order to understand the mind, one must look at core attachment styles and their development in childhood. 

When combined with the psychoanalytic insight into general unconscious processes, we can understand the past in order to accept reality in the present and move towards a better future.


How does psychoanalytic therapy help?

Attachment-based psychoanalytic therapy helps clients to understand the profound roots of their concerns, and the continual repetition of harmful patterns of thinking and emotion. This applies across the board. For example, addiction can best be processed and surpassed by understanding its roots, and the harmful role that it plays in people’s lives.


What sort of people do you usually see? 

I work with a wide range of clients. Recently, I have been dealing with many young adults seeking greater balance and insight into their situation, and addiction. 

This pattern relates more to social trends than to my choice as a therapist; I have attained good results with all kinds of people.


Have you noticed any recent mental health trends or wider changes in attitude?

There is greater acceptance of the legitimacy of psychotherapy in society. This is good in light of the fact that society, and much of the world, is plagued by information overload, insecurity, and a wide range of threats to humanity. By improving our own mental health, we make a good start towards improving the world.


What do you like about being a therapist?

I believe that it is one of the best ways to reduce human suffering and promote good social relations. I also like setting my own hours, and working into the evening, being somewhat nocturnal. 


What is less pleasant?

You need resilience and emotional courage to deal with the sadness of it all. The fact that I am a philosopher as well as a psychotherapist has helped to put the human condition into broad perspective. 


How long have you been with Welldoing and what you think of us?

I have just started on Welldoing. It appears to be a fine organisation.


What books have been important to you in terms of your professional and personal development? Do you ever recommend books to clients?

A short and partial list, that I do recommend to clients:

Psychotherapeutic:

The John Bowlby Trilogy on attachment

The Freud Reader (Editor: Peter Gay)

John Bowlby and Attachment Theory (Jeremy Holmes)


Fiction:

Narcissus and Goldmund (Hermann Hesse)

The Lost Weekend (Charles R. Jackson)

1984 (George Orwell)

I also recommend psychologically insightful films, like ‘The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit’, ‘A.I. Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘About Schmidt’.


What you do for your own mental health? 

Meditation, mainly.


You are a therapist in Hastings. What can you share with us about seeing clients in this area?

I now work entirely online, with clients from many different areas.


What’s your consultation room like?

It’s my home office—for online therapy. I make sure to dress well enough—that’s what the clients see!


What do you wish people knew about therapy?

First and foremost: it’s a great and natural process to own, and nothing to avoid or feel shame over. Secondly, it’s one of the best investments that you can make over the course of your lifetime.


What did you learn about yourself in therapy?

My required training analysis taught me about the complex origins of some of my challenges in life, and how to own, contain, and move beyond them. 

I am a strong believer in self-forgiveness and the value of autonomy, because of this.


Contact Eric here

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