By Lauren Dockett - Many therapists know their way around family systems. But what if they could create three-dimensional experiences to help clients shed the pain of lingering traumas that can get passed down through generations? As research into the epigenetics of trauma develops, a reporter looks into an unusual approach to healing.

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.

Feelings of awe can have strongly prosocial effects and provide us with an existential and lasting sense of calm. Building our capacity for awe could not only benefit us now in this state of shared crisis, but be a lasting gift of healing through all of life’s challenges. 

By Lauren Dockett and Rich Simon - By questioning some of the fundamental premises of traditional marriage, couples therapist Esther Perel has become, at least for the moment, psychotherapy’s public face and most quotable voice. But what is she saying that’s so intriguing and makes her stand out from all the other relationship experts our field produces?

By Lauren Dockett - When sex becomes fraught or painful, fear and worries can overtake this important source of pleasure. But clinicians and clients are embracing a nonmedical solution: mindfulness practices that cultivate sexual self-understanding, desire, and pleasure in the bedroom—and the effects are mind-blowing.

By Lauren Dockett - Peter Levine is the originator of a form of body psychotherapy called Somatic Experiencing (SE), a captivating but sometimes puzzling approach. Instead of asking questions about events that might elicit pain, Levine focuses on the body, zeroing in meticulously on what’s happening in the moment. Here's how it unfolded with his patient, TJ.

Psychotherapy Networker’s Lauren Dockett speaks with influential art and expressive art therapist Cathy Malchiodi about the broadening of her her field, how talk therapists can incorporate the arts to help clients connect and express, and why her work resonates so well with trauma clients.

Psychotherapy Networker’s Lauren Dockett speaks with Judith Matz about the paradigm shift she’s helped design around dieting and weight stigma.

In the following interview, ecotherapist Patricia Hasbach explains how practitioners can address the rise in eco-anxiety and depression.

By Lauren Dockett - In 2017, the American Psychological Association published a guide to the psychological impact of today’s grim environmental realities on clients and communities, and says therapists should expect to deal with increased levels of eco-anxiety, depression, fatalism, suicide, PTSD, and aggression as natural disasters increase. Their advice? Let clients acknowledge their sorrow and fears, and then help them find empowerment through action.

The pandemic has created an emotional petri dish for kids and parents who are stuck in place, terribly stressed, and feeling alone. How are families supposed to survive—much less thrive—under these unprecedented, pressure-cooker conditions?

In the days after George Floyd’s murder, and amidst their work to address gang-related trauma and violence, a white therapist and her Black cofacilitator wrestle with the nuances of privilege and relationship.

Canadian physician Gabor Maté believes that addictive behaviors are woven into the very fabric of our materialistic society.

The push in popular culture to raise awareness about mental health means more and more people are seeking help. With resources limited, often where they’re needed most, some therapists are touting a range of ultrabrief therapies as crucial to expanding the field’s reach and impact. But can such short interventions really make a difference?

What if a park bench was your waiting room, and nature your co-therapist? A growing group of practitioners, who stroll with their clients not just every once in a while, but for most every session, see special benefits in conducting sessions outdoors.

Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have legalized medicinal or recreational marijuana, or both. But sizeable protests against legalization are emerging, often aided or helmed by psychiatrists concerned by the drug’s potential effects on young people.

For decades, Bert Hellinger and his Family Constellations approach have been a lightning rod for controversy. But the latest research on epigenetics and the multigenerational impact of trauma have given new credibility to some of the underlying principles of this work.

Body psychotherapy, once shrouded in controversy, has gained growing acceptance in the wider field. So how do these popular bottom-up approaches actually work?

The #MeToo movement has returned the field to many of the issues feminists raised decades ago. This time, however, there’s a new focus on avoiding us-versus-them thinking and exploring the great terra incognita of couples work—the inner world of men and their vulnerability. *Includes an interview with Esther Perel.

Dire climate reports and grim environmental realities are generating a new kind of eco-anxiety. What can therapists do?