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.

A pervasive sense of shame makes many of us feel unworthy of human connection. Why the shame? Because in this perfectionistic culture, most of us believe we’re “not good enough." Professor and acclaimed TED speaker Brené Brown says that some people have escaped the shame trap. How? They let themselves be vulnerable.

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.

Helping hyperaroused clients learn to manage overwhelming emotions is like helping them steer a ship in stormy waters, says therapist and mindfulness practitioner Linda Graham. Here, she breaks down her "ABCs" approach to helping clients retake the wheel.

If we spend too much time preoccupied with our clients’ symptoms, we’re likely to miss important clues to their hidden strengths. I’ve learned that turning a symptom into a client’s ally can transform the whole experience of therapy for both the therapist and client.

What can we do to do to address the overwhelming anxiety in our lives right now? What can we do to be kinder to ourselves, to be in a better position to effect positive change, as therapists and as human beings? Physician, trauma expert, and bestselling author Gabor Maté offers his perspective.

Given the confluence of challenges we’re collectively facing these days, developing resilience has become more crucial than ever. We now need to ask, how can we not just bounce back, but bounce forward, to new possibilities, new perspectives, and new strengths?

Some clients in quarantine with their families report a constant feeling of being out of control. That danger lurks around the corner of every family interaction, and it’s part of the picture most of us aren’t reading about.

Life in quarantine is testing our relationships with family members and romantic partners. It's also impacting our nervous system, says therapist Deb Dana. She explains what Polyvagal Theory can teach us about re-regulating our nervous system, developing more self-compassion, and working through these tough moments.

A therapist is offering teletherapy during the coronavirus pandemic, and it's working well for most of her clients. But her anxious client Sam has repeatedly said that their video sessions aren’t effective because he doesn’t feel grounded when she's not physically in the room with him. Here, five therapists share how they'd boost the impact of their teletherapy sessions with anxious clients like Sam.