Matt Casper
MFT
Free
Emotional Intelligence and Psychotherapy Expert
Matt Casper Quick Facts
- Main Areas
- Personality Psychology, Relationships, Creative Blocks, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
- Best Sellers
- "Bubba Under Pressure: An Emotes Book About Happiness", "Jumpi Goes To Camp: An Emotes Book About Fear", "Cant Loses His Cool: An Emotes Book About Temper Tantrums."
- Career Focus
- Licensed Psychotherapist
- Affiliation
- www.mattcasper.com
Matt Casper, M.A. MFT; Matt is a licensed Psychotherapist with a private practice in Los Angeles, Califo ia (offices in Beverly Hills and Silver Lake). He graduated cum laude from Duke University where he studied personality psychology, comparative religion and film. While studying at Duke he spent 6 months in India researching and writing the paper, “In Search of The Sacred Center: Ritual, Art and Architecture as means towards experiencing the Self.” He received his master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from the Califo ia Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology and Psychoanalysis and has worked with a diverse population including individual adults, teens and children as well as with groups and couples. Matt has been involved with the Maple Counseling Center, a non-profit counseling clinic, as well as with the Julia-A Singer Therapeutic School where he worked with children who fall somewhere on the Autism spectrum and has served as a supervisor for teenagers at TEEN LINE, a hotline and website that provides teen-to-teen outreach for teenagers facing emotional challenges.
Matt is also the author of a series of books for children--"The Emotes!" These characters can be experienced through books, comics and therapeutic toys to help children learn to accept, express and manage their emotions in a fun and engaging way.
Free Articles & Book Excerpts
Free Audio & Video Samples
Matt Casper Books
Articles by this expert
SelfGrowth articles and saved writing connected to this expert.
Article
Managing and Accepting Anger in Ourselves and in Our Children
Anger seems to be one of the primary emotions with which most people consistently struggle. Anger can be an extremely SCARY emotion for an individual to feel…it is powerful and therefore difficult for people to HOLD. “Holding” in the psychological sense means the ability to tolerate an emotion and allow for the actual feeling of it. Children have temper tantrums. They get angry…sometimes really angry! This can be a problem if a parent doesn’t set limits on this expression.
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Accepting Fear In Ourselves And In Our Children
Children who are easily frightened are scared of more than the boogey man in the closet or the three-eyed monster under the bed. These monsters are “projections” of emotions that children hold about themselves and the world--emotions that children are scared to feel. These scary feelings are the fuel that creates the fantasy of scary monsters. We all have the capacity for scary feelings such as anger, envy, shame and sadness. Often, because these emotions are frightening, we push them deep down into ourselves. These feelings become part of our internal “shadow”.
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The 'Temper Tantrum' : An Expression Of Loss
Frustration can sometimes look like anger, but this emotion is just a little bit different. The underlying foundation of frustration is loss. As a child develops, they begin to realize that life is made up of choices, and when a choice is made, the option that was once available to him or her is gone. This situation breeds frustration.
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Identity vs. Role Confusion: Fostering Self-Exploration In Children
When a child is born, he or she is instantly met with the challenge of discovering their own identity and role in the world. Immediately, a period of inquiry and experimentation begins – an attempt to discover how the planet works and how to survive upon its surface. As a child begins to explore this planet, and the life that is just beginning, many questions arise and “experiments” are conducted at a rapid pace. “What happens if I put my toe in my mouth?” “What happens if I cry?” “What happens if I close my eyes?
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The DOs and DONTs of Handling Temper Tantrums
THE DOs AND DON’Ts OF HANDLING TANTRUMS • DO keep your cool. Kids are very good at sensing your feelings. The more frustrated you feel, the more frustrated your child will become. Take control of the situation, and your child will feel more safe and secure. • DO be empathic. Try and have some understanding of the difficulty of not being able to do or have something. Everyone has had such moments. • Do NOT punish.
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Helping Your Children To Handle Change
Change can be very difficult for children. Facing new situations means a new set of unknowns and therefore a new set of fears. Your job as a caregiver is talk with your children and allow them to find the courage to face their fears. Be respectful and empathic of your child’s experience while also allowing them to maintain self-control and independence. Here are some tips on helping your children handle new experiences. • Provide a calm and consistent home environment for your child—a place where they can “check in” and feel safe.
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Supporting Your Active Child
An overly rambunctious and active child can be a challenge to any parent. Every child has the tendency to display hyperactive behavior, and it’s therefore important that every parent understands how to best handle this behavior when it appears.* Hyperactivity and restlessness is the result of a child that is easily bored and who has difficulty with concentration. This does not mean that there is anything “wrong” with the child, it simply means that they have an active and stimulated mind—a mind that can sometimes feel cluttered and unorganized.
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Sensitivity In Children: A Need For Containment And Reflection
An emotionally sensitive child needs to be seen and heard. It is the feeling of being alone and abandoned that creates in a child a heightened sensitivity to often painful emotions such as sadness and fear. The world feels like a very scary and lonely place for a child who is not secure in feeling attached to people who love and care for them. These children need empathic listening and communication that assures them that they are loved and that their feelings are valid. It can be very difficult for a parent to see a child in an emotionally sensitive state.
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Websites & resources
SelfGrowth-published websites, downloads, and contributor profile websites connected to this expert.
Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from Matt Casper
"I feel that psychotherapy is a collaborative experience, and that we participate in a jou ey together. The therapeutic relationship provides opportunities to examine past and current relationships with others and with the Self."
"What I value most about therapy could be described with these concepts:
Authenticity. Empathy. Mindfulness."
"I believe that we as humans are very skilled at denying feelings that are scary or difficult. Problems occur when these repressed or denied feelings are projected out onto others or into destructive patterns of behavior and negative thought processes."
"I believe in the power of the “here and now.” By observing and reflecting upon what occurs within a session, we are able to examine and work through the deeper conflicts that occur in your life outside of therapy. By becoming mindful of the feelings and experiences that occur in the safe, contained space of the therapy room, light is shed upon deeply rooted impulses, losses, wants and needs that are often denied and locked in the shadows of the psyche."
Contacting Matt Casper
How to get started
To learn more about me and my work, you might visit:
To learn more about the Emotes program, you might visit:
Other highlights
The Emotes Program can be experienced through a wide range of products including:
*Vinyl action figures
*Books
*Comics
*Plush Toys
*"How Are You Feeling Today?" Posters and Magnets
*Web Content: Short videos, games, activities and articles