Skip To Main Content
Elizabeth Bernstein on Muck Rack

Elizabeth Bernstein

Verified
Miami, Miami Beach, New York
As seen in: The Wall Street Journal, MSN, MSN Canada, HuffPost, Nature, The Wall Street Journal (Japan), The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal (China), Yahoo Finance, Barnes and Noble, MarketWatch and
Covers:  relationships. psychology. communication. men and women.
Doesn't Cover: dating apps or websites, tv shows, celebrities
Wall Street Journal reporter. I write a column on relationships & am working on a book for @Simonbooks. I ❤️ people, reading, sailing, scuba & all things ocean.

Get in touch with Elizabeth

Contact Elizabeth, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.

Learn more about Muck Rack

Actions

Share this page

Elizabeth Bernstein’s Biography

Read Full Bio →

Elizabeth Bernstein has been a reporter for The Wall Street Journal for 13 years. For the past five years, she has written a column she created called “Bonds: On Relationships,” about the psychology of relationships. It runs every other week in the Personal Journal section of the paper.

In her column--and in real life--Elizabeth is fascinated (some could say, "obsessed") with the subject of interpersonal communication, especially between men and women.

In 2010, Ms. Bernstein received the Di…

Elizabeth Bernstein’s Journalist Portfolio

See all →
Meet the Marriage Killer

Meet the Marriage Killer

Want to know what ruins more marriages than any other bad behavior? Nagging. (Read my column on it here.)

View article →
When being alone turns into being lonely, there are ways to fight back

When being alone turns into being lonely, there are ways to fight back

How can you prevent alone time from turning lonely? Here's my column on the topic.

View article →
Male-Female Talking Points: How to Speak The Other One's Language

Male-Female Talking Points: How to Speak The Other One's Language

Anna and Mike Peterson recently had dinner at their favorite steakhouse, came home, checked on their teenager…

View article →
The Real Reason Couples Have Sex

The Real Reason Couples Have Sex

For years, Julie Brinton's days have been filled with sippy cups and skinned knees, and the endless push of g…

View article →
How Often Should Married Couples Have Sex?

How Often Should Married Couples Have Sex?

Chris Mower and his high-school sweetheart, Afton, were happy newlyweds. They picnicked in the park, hung out…

View article →
To Charm and Make Friends Fast: Share, Don't Overshare

To Charm and Make Friends Fast: Share, Don't Overshare

Carla Madrigal knew nobody in Seattle when she moved there last year after 38 years in San Francisco. She wan…

View article →

Articles

Are Therapists to Blame for the Rise of Adults Cutting Off Their Parents?

|
By Elizabeth Bernstein Verified
| The Wall Street Journal Verified
Many moms and dads believe that their adult children are getting bad advice—and a growing number of researchers agree. ‘Everything becomes trauma.’ Shoshana Rubli was shocked by her therapist’s advice, given in her second session. But the counselor was recommended by someone she knew and had impressive credentials, so she did as she was told. She cut off all ties with her mother. Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8 Already a subscriber?
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

Are therapists to blame for the rise of adults cutting off their parents?

|
By Elizabeth Bernstein Verified
| MSN Verified
Shoshana Rubli was shocked by her therapist's advice, given in her second session. But the counselor was recommended by someone she knew and had impressive credentials, so she did as she was told. She cut off all ties with her mother. “It was an argument made from authority, so I followed it,” says the 42-year-old freelance marketer. Is it really good therapy to break your mother's heart?
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

Meditation Never Worked for Me, So I Had Harvard Researchers Scan My Brain

|
By Elizabeth Bernstein Verified
| Tovima
Μake us preferred on Google I recently prepared myself for the hardest reporting assignment of my career: sitting still for 15 minutes. I was about to have my brain scanned while I meditated. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences in India, among others, have mapped the brains of people while they meditate and discovered exactly when they calm down: in two to three minutes. Peak Zen, they found, occurs at about seven minutes.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
See all 596 licensed articles (648 Total)

Awards

See all →

New York News Publishers Association

2010 - Distinguished Column Writing Award of Excellence

Won award for best column published in a newspaper in New York state.

New York News Publishers Association

2009 - Feature Writing

Won first-place, with my colleague Nathan Koppel, for a story about a schizophrenic man who killed his mother.

Mental Health America

2009 - Feature Writing

Won first place, with colleague Nathan Koppel, for a story about a schizophrenic man who killed his mother.

American Psychonalytic Association

2007 - Excellence in Journalism

Won award for best story on mental health for the year, for a page-one feature on a young man who killed himself at college and the college's response.

New York Society of Professional Journalists

2007 - Beat Reporting

Won for a series on college privacy issues and mentally ill students

Mental Health America

2009 - Timely Coverage of a Mental Health Issue

Won for a series on college privacy issues and mentally ill students

Education Writers Association

2009 - Feature Writing

Won an honorable mention for a series on college privacy issues and mentally ill students.