Mental Health Decoded with Mordechai

Question 1 – When can you trust your body and your feelings, and when should you be cautious about them? Question 2 – What is Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)? Question 3 – Why does it seem like so many people are being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) today? Question 4 – My 7-year-old daughter does things that really bother me. What bothers me even more is how strongly I...

Question 1 – I often find myself feeling very lonely in my struggles, even though I have a community and people who support me. How do I cope with that sense of loneliness? Question 2 – As both a therapist and a client, I have learned how important good supervision is. How important is quality supervision for therapists? Question 3 – What are your thoughts on using AI, particularly an IFS-style AI...

Question 1 – My child has PANDAS and complex challenges. After years of research and treatment, how do we know what to try next? Question 2 – Should I continue therapy during the summer, switch to Zoom or phone sessions, or take a break? Question 3 – My child's PANDAS labs were not very elevated, but antibiotics helped. How much should symptoms matter compared to test results? Question 4 – How do...

Question 1 – Is it wrong that therapy costs so much when families are struggling financially? Question 2 – Am I traumatizing my 2-year-old by letting him cry at bedtime since the new baby arrived? Question 3 – I ended an unhealthy friendship three times. Now that I am engaged, how do I stop myself from going back again?  

Question 1 – Can we discuss the highly sensitive child book? How do you help a child like this, and is it more nature or nurture? Question 2 – My 10-year-old daughter is very confident, but I have a neighbor her age who is manipulative toward her. She pressures her, excludes her, and tries to control situations to fit her own agenda. How can I guide my daughter in handling this? Question 3 – My pa...

Question 1 – Why are there no more programs on Kol Mevaser? Question 2 – Regarding last week’s program: Why did you recommend not staying with the same therapist for more than two years? Are there ever exceptions? Question 3 – How can I help ground an 11-year-old child who becomes very dysregulated? He says he enjoys getting hyper and making other children hyper. At seudos, he starts throwing thin...

Question 1A: Regarding being in therapy for 5 or 6 years (5-18-26 program 1), what are the exceptions where long-term therapy may still be appropriate or beneficial? Question 1B: When interacting with difficult or complicated people, how can I set limits and say no without feeling hurt or guilty afterward? Question 2: I had a general question about anorexia and how it develops emotionally and psyc...

Question 1: How can I tell the difference between simply feeling down and experiencing depression? Question 1B: I worry that I may struggle in therapy because I tend to be emotionally closed off and may have difficulty opening up. Question 2: How do you know when it may be time to end a friendship? Question 3: I would like a deeper understanding of how a marriage can be impacted when a sibling sep...

Question 1: Someone in my family is viewed as wonderful by the public, but in their personal life they deeply hurt the people closest to them. How can I cope with the anger and resentment I feel toward this person? Question 2: Trichotillomania improved for several months during therapy but later returned. Why might that happen? Question 3: I have a three-year-old who is afraid to use the bathroom....

Question 1: For most of my life, I struggled with low-grade anxiety. After experiencing several difficult life events, I began therapy and was eventually encouraged to consider medication. Thanks in part to your program, I decided to try it, and it has helped significantly. A psychiatrist also helped normalize the experience for me and reassured me that I was not “crazy.” I am on a low dose and fu...

Question 1: My son is in play therapy, with one session for him and one for me each week. What is the parent’s role in these sessions? Are they only about the child, or can they also address my emotions as a parent? Question 2: You encouraged parents to spend quality time with their children, which can be very powerful. What should a parent do when one sibling teases another by saying hurtful thin...

Question 1: A close friend leaned on me emotionally more than I felt comfortable with, and eventually pulled away. Should I reach out to show I care, and how do I manage my feelings of resentment? Question 2: What does play therapy for a child typically look like, and how does it help uncover underlying emotional issues? Question 3: My 14-year-old daughter feels she is always the one reaching out...

Question 1: A 12-year-old girl is being raised only by her father. She comes to my house from time to time, and I try to give her attention and support. Because of her upbringing, she seems to crave a lot of attention, often in immature ways. Should I still give her attention through those immature behaviors? Comment 2A: I wanted to thank you for the chizuk you gave to stay-at-home mothers on Kol...

Question 1: I have a lot of mixed feelings about unconventional therapy. I recently heard about kinesiology, and I was wondering if you could help me better understand how it works. Question 2: My wife had a baby two months ago and recently returned to work. She is finding the transition overwhelming and feels she is missing out on bonding with the baby. She also does not feel comfortable in her w...

Question 1- What is the role as a parent to their daughter when they see that their son is struggling with alcoholism and behaving in a very narcissistic way? Question 2- I have a 10-year-old child who is afraid to go to many places. She is comfortable going to the grocery store down the block or to a neighbor’s house on the block, but she refuses to go to other places. What can we do to help her?...

Question 1- I have a relative who has dementia along with several physical ailments. He needs to be tied to his wheelchair for safety, and he often feels depressed and frustrated. What advice is there for helping calm him and making him feel more valuable? Question 2- I would like to raise a question about awareness and faith. As a bochur I struggled with many mental health challenges, and therapy...

Question 1- I’ve been to therapy in the past for a few years and didn’t see much improvement. I felt like I did the work on an intellectual level, but it stayed in my mind and didn’t really affect my emotions or my heart. Should I consider starting therapy again? Question 2- What is the role of a dating coach? My relative is seeing a dating coach, and she said the coach advised her not to pursue a...

Question 1- Before Yom Tov I had to call Hatzalah. Now every time my children see me on the phone, they ask if I am calling Hatzalah. What can I do now to reassure my children? Question 2- I have been involved with someone since she was 13 years old. She was bullied growing up. Today she is married, on medication, and continues to go to therapy, yet she still often talks about that bullying story....

Question 1- When I go into the therapy room, I often forget what I wanted to discuss. I freeze up because I feel like I have too much to say and not enough time to say it. Question 2- I’m commenting about the previous program regarding the sister-in-law whose in-laws are complicated. I’m in a similar situation where my mother-in-law calls me and cries about one of her couples, saying that she does...

Question 1 – Thank you for this program. I am now a year out of therapy and this has become a support for me. My 9-year-old son is the biggest boy in his class and says other boys are making fun of him. How should I support him without making the situation worse? Question 2 – How can you help a teenager change a decision when you believe they are making a poor choice? Can a parent force the change...

Awareness 1: I feel very nervous asking a question on the radio because I stutter; I can speak easily with family, but with strangers it’s an ongoing struggle— I want to create an awareness to not let your disability hold you back.  Question 2: Feedback to a caller about IFS journaling: she shared that she started at a very low place about two years ago and has seen growth; Q: I see progress in th...

Question 1: How do you deal with being bullied, or if a child is being bullied? Question 2: I am trying to understand the process of transference therapy; it is very difficult, and I am having a hard time with it. Positive Feedback 3: This program has changed my life—I now understand people better, even those I previously struggled to get along with. Question 4: I am a retired bubby, and due to he...

Question 1 – In IFS, does the process always require tuning into bodily sensations? Question 2 – How would you explain vulnerability, and how can a person learn to express it? Question 3 – Last year before Pesach, MW mentioned the three F’s—fight, flight, and freeze. How might those responses show up during the stress of Pesach cleaning? Question 4 – Many people say it is healthy to be vulnerable...

Question 1 – I went through a situation 26 years ago, and now many of those feelings are resurfacing. I feel an urge to speak to that person again. I recently married off my youngest child three weeks ago and became a widow at a young age. Why might these old feelings be coming up now? Question 2 – When I am in relationships with people who are complicated or struggling, I often resent them and th...

Question 1 – What type of therapy is most effective for someone struggling with misophonia? Question 2 – I see a therapist who has not been consistent with keeping the scheduled session times. She does not offer a make-up time when the cancellation is inconvenient for her. I feel hurt and unimportant. How should I approach this situation with her? Question 3 – I went through a major crisis and rel...