A sexless marriage. While it’s not something you’d want necessarily participate in, experts estimate that nearly 15 to 20 percent of American couples aren’t being intimate regularly. It’s a very rare marriage in which both spouses are happy with a no-sex policy, says Israel Helfand, marriage counselor, sex therapist, and member of the American Association…
Imagine your office is nestled inside a rustic 1850s farmhouse at the end of a winding gravel road. Your suite contains a woodburning stove, oak walls, and hardwood floors. Just outside your window are acres of graceful trees. Farm animals provide sustenance and sometimes even facilitate a therapeutic moment. For Clinical Member Israel Helfand and…
Living, learning, and loving is the overall theme that has found its home at the Danbury Counseling Center for Couples and Parents. The uniqueness of the center is the thrust of having a male-female team working together to help individuals or couples solve problems. “We rented an apartment and converted it to an office.” Dr.…
From wilderness weekends that include drum beating, mask making and tugs-of-war, to meetings where poetry and intimate feelings are shared, the men’s movement has arrived in Connecticut. The movement, spurred by best-selling books like Robert Bly’s “Iron John” and Sam Keen’s “Fire in the Belly,” is leading to a psychological revolution, say psychotherapists of both…
To Dr. Israel Helfand, hazing practices recently brought to light in the ranks of the University of Vermont’s hockey team are a natural thing. It’s not a healthy thing, mind you, but the practice of older players putting new recruits through a series of humiliating steps is not about power. It’s about the need for…
What does it mean to be a man—not just legally, but ethically, morally, emotionally, and spiritually? How does a young person today come of age in our fast-paced, info-overloaded, materialistic, and highly technical American culture? And most important, what role do adults play in helping boys assume the mantle of manhood? We recently asked a…
As hard to believe as it may seem amid splitting up CD collections and hiring lawyers, there is (sex) life after divorce. And when you’re ready to take your friend’s, your mother’s, or your therapist’s advice and “get back out there,” there is much to discover about yourself, your body, and, well, the act itself.…
Couples Retreat: There is a new movie and then real life with retreat experts Israel Helfand and his wife, Cathie Helfand. Traveling to a remote place can help loved ones rekindle their relationship. Couples struggling with their relationships have long traveled to faraway destinations to try and mend their wounds. And this weekend such trips are…
(LifeWire) — Rob Siegal made a mistake shortly after he married his wife Jen in 2002. Experts say you can be a supportive listener without giving your spouse solutions to their problems. Experts say you can be a supportive listener without giving your spouse solutions to their problems. When she started complaining about her boss, the…
In her best-selling book, “The Female Brain” (Broadway, 2007), Dr. Louann Brizendine cites some conventional wisdom from sex therapists about foreplay. “For women, foreplay is everything that happens twenty-four hours preceding [sex]. For men, it’s everything that happens three minutes before.” Regardless, of what your exact foreplay time frame is, it’s something that cannot be…
