I prescribe socializing to my therapy patients heres which generation is worst at it

Humans are social creatures.Which is why, not so long ago, socializing was something that people did naturally without giving it a second thought. In the era of the smartphone, however, many people need to make a conscious effort to socialize — and you might even need a therapist to “prescribe” it to you. Dr.

Kathryn Smerling, a psychotherapist and the author of “Learning to Play Again: Rediscovering Our Early Selves to Become Better Adults,” often finds herself doing just that. “Prescription of socialization is always an integral part of any therapy session,” she told the Post.“I do prescribe socialization very often.”Since “therapy in its nature is a collaborative process,” how she goes about doing that varies and depends on the needs of the patient. “If I sense that a person’s pain is associated with loneliness, we will go through an exercise in which we actively explore practical ways to make their life more satisfying,” she said.

“This always starts with building relationships.I encourage them to start small and make little changes.”She might, for example, encourage one of her patients to take their dog to the park where they can strike up a conversation with minimal pressure.

Or she’ll suggest they join a group based on one of their hobbies or a skill they’ve always wanted to learn. There are no rigid mandates; rather, she works with individuals to develop practical strategies for increasing their social interactions.“We don’t necessarily set specific goals, but we leave each session with a ‘game plan’ to see how things go until our next session,” she said. It’s a process of experimentation, analyzation, and elimination. “One of the things you always do as a therapist is you do constant check-ins so that you build a cache of feedback — and if certain things don’t work, you eliminate them and make a change,” Smerling explained.  Subscribe to our Post Care emails, delivered weekly! ...