By Martha Straus - My young client, Brian, can reduce even confident mid-life adults to an infantile puddle, one provocative comment at a time. He's a therapist's nightmare. But he’s also the universe's gift to me. He measures my commitment to the work, to him, to my ideas about therapy, to my best self.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) has allowed therapists to awaken the capacity for deep self-healing within even their most troubled clients. In this video clip from his 2015 Symposium keynote, Richard Schwartz, the originator of IFS, explains the transformative power of connecting with our wounded inner parts.

By Daniela Gitlin - When clients drop “bombshells” in the last few minutes of a session, it can be hard to end on time. Here's a framework for not only handling these unexpected moments, but welcoming them.

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By Chris Lyford - A client sees his perfectionism as an advantage, even though it ramps up his anxiety, exacerbates his sense of shame, and keeps him living a very rigid life. He brushes off his therapist every time she brings it up. Five therapists weigh in with how they'd respond.

By Gracy Obuchowicz - In my years of working with myself and my clients around self-care, I’ve learned that there is no such thing as perfect self-care. Instead, I’ve found authentic self-care, which is anything but perfect.

In this clip from his Networker Symposium keynote address, Jack Kornfield shares how to embody a fuller spiritual wisdom in your work with clients to heal difficult emotions, create calm focus, and connect deeply with others.

According to physician and author Gabor Maté, too many healthcare professionals take a biological, individualized approach to treating mental health issues, like anxiety, depression, and addiction, that fails to account for myriad environmental factors. In this clip from his Networker Symposium keynote address, he makes the case for a more expansive form of care.

By David Flohr - With my ParentCircle therapy model, I help parents find a “place of their own,” where they can learn about themselves and their children, get active support, and slowly be reminded of their natural connection with other adults.

By Ryan Howes - In the following interview, New York Times columnist and author Lisa Damour gives us a glimpse at the map she’s developed for both therapists and parents trying to help teenage girls make their way through the treacherous, often bewildering landscape of adolescence in today’s world.

Alicia Muñoz - Boundaries bind. They limit, stop, and inhibit. But they also free people up to be themselves. In couples where one partner is a people-pleaser, things can get even more complicated.

Let's say your client lets a microaggression slip during a session. Do you bring it up? Therapist and author Anatasia Kim shares her eight-step process for having a conversation with clients when this happens.

By Maria Isaacs - When you're a parent, the fundamental goal of a good divorce is simple yet challenging: children must experience their parents as a working partnership that reliably nurtures and protects them, regardless of how estranged the parents may be. Here are eight ways to help this process along.

By Patrick Dougherty - In the sea of trauma that surrounds us in our daily lives and in our offices, self-care is a life jacket. But collective trauma needs a collective response. Being part of a group of therapists dedicated to talking about vicarious trauma and sharing their own experiences is more than a life jacket—it's a human lifeboat, one with more resilience than we could ever generate alone. 

Stephen Porges, originator of the Polyvagal Theory, transformed the way we understand the underlying mechanisms of traumatic response and how safety, caring, and trustworthiness are conveyed unconsciously. Here, he explains how to spot healthy connection in the body.

By Dafna Lender - The kinds of interventions that are most effective with children are based in play. Play is a remarkably powerful therapeutic tool, backed up by cutting-edge research, and teaching families how to apply it at home can bring about profound systemic changes.

By Lauren Dockett and Rich Simon - Over the years, physician Gabor Maté has challenged his audiences to stop asking “why the addiction?” and start asking “why the pain?” Here, he explains his view of how addictive patterns of behavior are rooted in alienation and emotional suffering.

When he introduced Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction to the West, Jon Kabat-Zinn transformed the way we regard the Self, and the psychological ailments that befall it. In this video clip from his 2015 Networker Symposium Keynote, he explains the transformative power of mindfulness in clinical work and your own life.

Sandra has been struggling with depression for many years. A psychiatrist has prescribed her an antidepressant, but she’s told her therapist she doesn’t like the “idea” of meds and doesn’t take them regularly. He's not sure how best to explore the issue with her. Five clinicians share how they'd proceed.

By Jennifer Freeman - We humans are not separate from nature, we are nature. Leaving behind the sense of grim, pressured responsibility that can accompany our climate crises, how extraordinary if we, with our clients, become part of the collective who are creating a counter-tsunami of responsive love for our exquisitely beautiful earth.

By Wendy Maltz - The explosion in porn use has happened so fast that many therapists have been caught unprepared. And despite the increase in the number of people suffering from serious consequences of habitual porn use, few therapists feel comfortable and confident addressing porn-related concerns.

By Dafna Lender - When difficulties arise between parent and child, most therapists naturally focus treatment on the child. But the parent–child bond is a two-way street, and parents come with their own history. In these situations, I can often find ways to help parents and children connect through attachment-based games that involve elements of silliness, movement, and surprise.

What keeps clients coming back? Lynn Grodzki—psychotherapist, business coach, and author—encourages therapists to be proactive in helping clients understand what to expect from the therapy process. This might seem simple, but it requires clear communication at two critical junctures.

By Jeff Nalin - October is National Bullying Prevention Month. As a father and a clinical psychologist working with teens, I’ve seen the shape of bullying change over the years. The old stereotypes around bullies and those they torment no longer fit the bill. So, as incidents of bullying continue to rise and shift shape, it’s important for clinicians to understand the how we can work effectively with bullied teens and their parents.

By Jerome Price and Judith Margerum - When working with teens, a therapist must become comfortable with the idea of dealing with power tactics rather than communication skills. Here are four common errors that therapists commonly make with teenagers, and how to avoid them.