Dr. Robert Heller

Happiness and Well-being

According to the recent PBS Special, “The Emotional Life”, the key to happiness and well-being are good relationships with family, friends and lover(s). Relationships seemed to trump, work, money and health. I found the portion on “attachment” or bonding to parents very interesting. Infants brought up in institutions without much “physical touch” seemed to have lots of problems in adjusting early on in life and this continued into adolescence and adulthood.

The good news was that intervention in the form of counseling and therapy was mostly helpful to people in improving their relationships, behavior and adjustment to a wide range of problems and challenges.

In my own clinical practice, I have found methods like EMDR, hypnosis and cognitive-behavioral therapy useful in overcoming long standing problems encountered early on in life.

Former tennis great Andre Agassi’s new autobiography, “Open” should more appropriately have been titled, “Closed”. Closed is how Andre was for most of his life. Although depressed, confused and conflicted for long periods of time, he apparently suffered silently. (more…)

I have been using hypnosis with my clients for many years. More recently, I have used it with some of the elite junior tennis clients I work with and have been very pleased with how well they have responded and how quickly the suggestions have transferred to their match play. (more…)

One day after catapulting from obscurity to international fame as the giant killer of the top women tennis players in the world at the US Open, young 17 year old Melodie Oudin has a bombshell dropped on her: her father is divorcing her mother for sleeping with Melody’s long time coach! (more…)

As I listened to the commentators extolling the “mental toughness” of the latest young superstar at the US OPEN tennis championships, the 17 year old from Georgia, Oudin, I asked myself what does it really mean? I think it boils down to the idea that if you don’t have “expectations” that you “have to or are supposed to win”, you can concentrate more fully on the task at hand and play your best. (more…)

A recent article in a popular tennis magazine talks about the misuse and abuse of the injury and time out rules to “stall” as a tactic to recuperate physically and to distract an opponent who may be playing well and on a roll. (more…)