Dear Colleagues,

In celebration of the Networker’s 30th anniversary, we’ve been taking some time to reflect on the past three decades: what have we been doing as a magazine? As a community? As a field? Where are we going?

Back in January, we asked subscribers to contribute their personal stories about how the magazine has influenced their development as therapists and as people. We wanted to know if there were any specific issues or articles that had a significant impact, led to an interesting experience, or really, anything that readers wanted us to know.

We were so honored by the responses that came pouring in, and would like to post some of these responses (many in an abridged format) here. We’d love to hear more, too. If you’re a subscriber of the magazine, we’d love to provide you with another opportunity for response and comments here.

If you’re not a magazine subscriber but still a part of the Networker community—a webcast participant, a Symposium attendee, or just a fan in general—we want to hear from you, too. How has the Networker community impacted you? And an even larger question, if you’ve gotten a chance to read our March/April issue on “Is Therapy Getting Better?”—what do you think? Where do you think this community, and the wider community of mental health professionals, is headed?

-Rich Simon

I don’t remember how I learned about the Family Therapy Networker in the early 80s. But I had started to be a subscriber when the news about our family’s repatriation to Greece, my husband’s country of origin, hit us. I myself am originally Swiss.

Ever since, the Networker has been my lifeline. Waiting for it to arrive every other month has become an implicit pattern of my “being in time”. And, of course, I devour it within a few days from cover to cover.

My longtime favorites were Frank Pittman’s film columns. He interwove the description of the movies with his memories and experiences: what a delight!

I admire Rich Simon and his steadfast team for their continuous excellence and enthusiasm for what they are doing. Although I am little by little reducing my caseload and getting out of the professional persona, I cannot quit subscribing for the Networker. Thank you.
Nora Charitos

I’ve been doing my psychologist bit just a little longer than the magazine and have been with you well before you dropped the ‘family’ name. I’ve often wondered if I should ask for royalties from your journal as I’ve encouraged more psychologists, psychology and psychiatry students that I contact to subscribe as it’s the only journal that keeps me current with the expanding trends in ‘therapy land’ without the scientific fluff that I can dig out from other journals, when necessary. Thanks, long may you inspire.
Neil Mulholland
Edmonton, Canada

I’m old. I have been doing therapy longer than the Networker has been alive. But I still read the Networker cover to cover every month. It keeps me aware. It often speaks to my heart. I feel like its readers are my community.
Happy Birthday.
Beth Jelsma
Rochester NY


Psychotherapy Networker is a great magazine and an incredible support, stimulus, beacon and homage to all those of us “doing the work on the front lines” as I often hear therapists say.

What stands out most to me is the yearly embodiment of the magazine’s spirit, the gathering of the tribe—the Symposium. When I think “Symposium,” a montage of images flows through my brain:

Dozens of red roses filling the lobby of the historic Shoreham and familiar faces of the courteous staff year after year.

When our house burned down one February and in March, I was refunded my tuition and still welcomed to attend.

The friend fighting cancer, who was offered the same beautiful courtesy...just in time for her to get enough CEs to keep her license, as she’d been too ill to do anything but try to survive.

The fun of watching first-year attendees stand up when told to by Richard Gonzalez... the facial expressions of slight apprehension (“He’s going to make us—what?—DANCE?” turning to joy, “Look! I’m dancing!”)

The Psychotherapy Networker and the Symposium make me extremely proud to have answered the call to become a therapist.
In gratitude and pride,
Mia Mantello
Lincolnville, Maine

I really have been positively impacted by the holistic and realistic work you have done on ethics. It can be such a scary subject and you have made it real with real life ways to deal with things that are not black and white. Thank you!
Mary McGill
Portland, OR

I can’t believe it’s been thirty years already! Thirty years of your life and mine, and I owe you SOOO much as a person and as a clinician. I started reading the magazine before I was a therapist, but deeply involved in Jungian psychology and spiritual development. I came to one of your conferences, where I appreciated the sense of humor, a new, life affirming way of looking at various ‘deep issues’ and I think that’s where I first heard David Whyte reading his poems.

‘Thank you’ is absolutely not enough. I hope I can look forward to many more years in your company—even if one day I’ll stop practicing, I still hope you’ll be there to keep my brain in good shape.
All my best to the whole team,
Anne Warman
Pasadena, CA

I’ve been reading Psychotherapy Networker for the last 20 years and I keep telling my master’s in counseling students that yours is the one publication (besides The New Yorker) that will give them the most useful articles to read for their professional development.
Irle Goldman
Newton, MA

I have been enjoying the Psychotherapy Networker for some years now. I greatly appreciate this avenue of connection with a large community of psychotherapists, particularly because the Networker consistently addresses the larger cultural contexts of our work. Some specific examples include:

I discovered Terry Real and his Relationship Empowerment Therapy and as I read his initial article, I could see all the pieces I’d been gathering through years of working with couples weaving together into a more complete tapestry!

The articles on mindfulness, the Interpersonal Neurobiology work of Dan Siegel, and other articles on brain science have helped me to get current in this inspiring part of our growing field.

I often see parents who are struggling in the face of intense cultural pressures. The articles by Ron Taffel and his work with the new adolescence have been helpful to me and many parents. Bill Doherty’s articles on couples counseling and family time pressures have helped me address cultural contexts.

I feel grateful for the Psychotherapy Networker and look forward to the continued growth of our community. Happy 30th Anniversary!
Mary Ann C. Holtz

I’m very grateful to the Psychotherapy Networker for helping my marriage—and for helping me to become a better therapist and marriage counselor. I’ve attended the Symposium many times, and I’ve been reading the journal for many years. Thanks to the Networker, I’ve learned from many wonderful researchers and clinicians. Thank you to all of these wonderful teachers and mentors.
Happy 30th to the Networker!
Richard Loebl

During graduate school, I was reading books, chapters, and research articles in the journals and loving every minute of it. But when I happened upon Family Therapy Networker, I was fascinated. Here was a journal that added interesting graphics to the thought pieces that therapists had written about the world of family therapy. The articles were well written and covered subjects that were immediately interesting.

One article which meant so much to me was “Don’t Look Back” by Richard Schwartz. It expertly presented the validity of what I call “developmental personology” and the type of therapy that works to ameliorate it. It gave me hope that I, too, could someday become a therapist who would be able to take clients into their pasts to heal the old wounds so that they might become happier, healthier people.

Thank you, Psychotherapy Networker, for 30 years of great work.
Cedric Wood
Dallas, TX

Eight years ago, I took a job as Director of Advising and Counseling for a community college. Although I had earned a Master’s degree in Counseling in the 1980’s and a certificate in Gestalt Therapy in 2004, most of my experience was in the field of career development for colleges. I needed to quickly ramp up my counseling skills and knowledge to be able to adequately address the many issues that students bring to college counseling centers today. Fortunately, I received a postcard in the mail advertising the Networker and decided to give it a try. Since then, the Networker has been the guiding force in my development as a counselor/therapist.
Melissa Barnes

You are doing a wonderful job and as a psychologist of 24 years, I am very appreciative. Thank you and the best to the entire staff in all the days ahead.
Bob Barram