Bill McDonald's Newsletter: 'Paying Attention'

What Makes Couples Marriage Counseling in MI Work When Partners Feel Stuck?

Marriage problems rarely improve when two people keep trying to win the same argument. The work begins when the therapist protects the relationship itself and actively manages the conversation with structure and neutrality. In my experience, couple’s marriage counseling in MI works best when I stop sorting out who is right and start identifying the pattern that keeps both of you locked in the same conflict. The first shift is not dramatic. It is steadiness. The conversation becomes guided instead of chaotic. Why Do Couples Feel Stuck Even When They

Read More »

My monthly newsletter, “Paying Attention,” was launched in April, 2007.  Each one contains thoughts and ideas that occur in the general areas of psychology, culture, or other matters that come from the interface between my work and the rest of the world. They may also contain news and information about myself, and new areas of my work, study and research.

Subcribe to the Monthly Newsletter: ‘Paying Attention’

Whether you are a client or not, you can always benefit from some free monthly words of wisdom:

All Newsletters

The Space In-Between

This recently came to my awareness when I realized that frequently in Christian liturgical language, God is named as “Maker of heaven and earth.1” Initially

Calling My Name

What’s going on when someone speaks your name? Sometimes I’ll ask a client about their name. “Where does it come from?” The question itself assumes

Breaking Bread

Backstory I have a vivid memory of the occasion when I first fell in love with what I’ve ever since called “real bread.” It was

An Antidote to Despair

Hope At the turn of the year, I heard many comments from friends and clients, that we have just come through a most difficult year

The Medicine Inside

Backstory You will note from the date at the end of this December Newsletter, that I am very late to write for this month. I

Run toward the Roar

There’s a story that comes out of Africa – that I’ve heard told a number of times – which is often the case with important

The Bells of Nuremberg

Backstory When preparing my August Newsletter, recalling as a 27 year old foreign exchange Summer in Nuremberg (southern Germany) a long forgotten memory emerged, that

Mosquitoes and Telemarketers

On the Church Sign in front of St. Jude’s Church in Fenton, our Priest-in-Charge added a few months ago, “Wish Noah had Swatted Those 2

Otto Pitzke’s Scar

Backstory In the Summer of 1958, before my Senior Year in high school, I had the privilege of being chosen as a Summer exchange student

A New Way to Pray – Boldly

OK, for this one I’m putting on my semi-religious/spiritual writer’s hat. First, some backstory. My father was a Methodist minister.  My mother the daughter of

A “Third Thing”

This concept has been bouncing around in my head for a number of years, with no memory where it came from.  I believe it was

Fenton Counseling & Therapy | Bill McDonald, LMSW