I once ran into Ben Afleck at an airport, literally. After realizing I’d crashed a movie set as I rushed to catch a flight, I whirled around in a panic and took him out with my oversized backpack. This was over 25 years ago, and I still remember the stitching of his well-fitted suit, how shockingly tall he seemed when he stood up, and how kind he was as I bumbled an apology. Even now, I get a thrill when I recount this interaction (however awkward and momentary) with a Hollywood celebrity.
But there’s something even more thrilling about interacting with a therapist celebrity, the people we revere not for their fashion sense and acting talents, but for their clinical acuity and field-shaping innovations. Whether they developed an approach we use every day with our clients or wrote a pivotal text we clung to for dear life in our graduate programs, they likely loom large in our imaginations.
As we gaze upon their names writ large in the books lining our office shelves, we may wonder, What are they like at dinner parties? Do they indulge in fancy coffee drinks? Are they aloof? Do they laugh easily? Do they check in with their most vulnerable inner parts at night? Or just scroll through their phones until they pass out? After all, despite their names being as much a part of our clinical and even cultural lexicon as any technique they created, they’re still human! They may emanate a certain godlike glow, but that’s probably a result of standing beneath bright stage lights as often as they do—those things are hot.
Psychotherapy Networker’s annual Symposium is a little like being on the therapeutic red carpet. For 49 years, we’ve hosted everyone from Virginia Satir and Jay Haley to Irv Yalom and Brené Brown. Many of these pioneers of modern therapy come back year after year, decade after decade. And each time they do, we ask them: What are you thinking about now? What should the field be talking about today? What do we need to be figuring out together?
Unlike my run-in with Ben Affleck, the run-ins people have at the Symposium are deeply meaningful and often touch their hearts and minds in unexpected ways. Yet this issue of the magazine isn’t a ploy to get you to the Symposium next year (or to see a Ben Affleck movie, for that matter). This is our invitation to experience some of the most meaningful moments that happened at this year’s event, with some of the premiere thought leaders in our field.
Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive catalogue of every noteworthy connection or every inspiring presenter. There were many more moments, with many more speakers, than we can possibly capture here. It’s a taste—an offering from the heart we hope will touch yours.
Livia Kent
Livia Kent, MFA, is the editor in chief of Psychotherapy Networker. She worked for 10 years with Rich Simon as managing editor of Psychotherapy Networker, and has collaborated with some of the most influential names in the mental health field on stories that have become widely read articles and bestselling books. She taught writing at American University as well as for various programs around the country. As a bibliotherapist, she’s facilitated therapy groups in Washington, DC-area schools and in the DC prison system. In 2020, she was named one of Folio Magazine’s Top Women in Media “Change-Makers.” She’s the recipient of Roux Magazine‘s Editor’s Choice Award, The Ledge Magazine‘s National Fiction Award, and American University’s Myra Sklarew Award for Original Novel.
