Lionel Shockness – BoulevardSentinel.com

Getting Comfortable with Uncertainty

03/28/202007/26/2021 126232 Comments

To try not to let fear and worries dominate your day, we offer these comments from Lionel Shockness, psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker.

Ask Lionel: Mixed Feelings in the Fight Against Homelessness

11/03/201807/26/2021 4465

At dinner the other night, my wife, Wanda, my son and I were taking turns reviewing the day’s events. Wanda, said she was feeling terrible about her handling of an earlier incident. Wanda had started the day as she always does, with a morning ritual that includes a daily affirmation. This particular morning, she had […]

Ask Lionel: Heal the Past, Improve the Future

07/28/201807/26/2021 3489

I recently received an email from a reader, a 47-year old man about to turn 48, asking for advice. With his permission, the email is summarized below, followed by my reply. The man reported deep loneliness from never having had a girlfriend. He said he had sought help from counselors to no avail. “I am […]

Ask Lionel: What Growing Older Has Taught Me About Being Young

04/29/201807/26/2021 3654

I recently told my physical therapist that until he brings it up, I often forget I have arthritis. The dreaded autoimmune disorder has very slowly taken residence in various parts of my body, occupying it as though it had squatter’s rights, but on days when I’m pain free, I feel like I did 30 […]

Ask Lionel : Compassion or Anger? Conflicting Emotions About Homeless People

04/01/201807/26/2021 38771 Comment

Witnessing the plight of the homeless is heartbreaking. But on days when the concerns of my life require my full attention, I can find myself becoming irrtated and then mad at the people in tents, on the sidewalks and offramps, or living in cars and RVs. One day I wish I could save them and […]

Ask Lionel: When the Drug Epidemic Hits Home

03/13/201807/26/2021 39611 Comment

When I first entered the field of mental health in the early 1990s, I worked as an in-patient drug counselor in New York City. I led men’s groups for recovering drug addicts and alcoholics. At the time, crack cocaine was killing people, destroying families and communities, and straining our systems of health, justice and law […]

Ask Lionel: Fearlessness in a Time of Fear

02/07/201807/26/2021 36341 Comment

My 11-year old son’s school hosted a day of service on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January. Current events cast a shadow on the event. President Trump had just tweeted that the Dreamers program was “probably dead.” Immigration agents had launched new raids. I read a news story about a Latino father of three […]