Contributed by Ryan Howes
6 Podcasts Therapists Are Listening To
New Perspectives from Comedy to PsychiatryAnyone can derive mental health benefits from listening to podcasts. Therapists talk about six podcasts they're listening to now and how they can help with... Read more
Beliefs and Misbeliefs
Countering the Illusion of Explanatory DepthUnderstanding what's at the root of dangerous misbeliefs like conspiracy theories is the key to countering them. Read more
The Hidden Trauma of Childhood Neglect
What to Make of Too Much of NothingThe way neglect can shape a child’s brain is often misunderstood. Read more
Vienna Pharaon on Family-of-Origin Work
The Importance of Looking back to Move ForwardWith so many newer approaches focusing on here-and-now experiences, are we forgetting about psychotherapy’s foundation of exploring childhood wounds? Read more
Prentis Hemphill: Personal Healing Meets Social Change
How Somatic Therapy Can Create a Just WorldPrentis Hemphill believes justice begins with nurturing authentic, body-based feelings, so people can embody their values and spread them throughout families... Read more
What Story Does Your Voice Tell?
Insights from a Speech CoachWhen we can explore our relationship to our own voice, we can harness one of the most direct paths to authenticity and connection. Read more
Existentialism for a New Era
The Millennial Therapist on Self-CreationSara Kuburic, the Millennial Therapist, invites new clients to take a deep look at age-old existential concerns. Read more
Babette Rothschild on What’s Missing in Trauma Work
Choosing the Tools that Fit Your ClientAuthor Babette Rothschild reminds us that humans have recovered from trauma for thousands of years without our favorite therapy approaches. Read more
An Emotionally Focused Path to Healing Trauma
Accessing the Resource of RelationshipsSue Johnson, developer of EFT, argues that because we’re socially bonded beings, trauma is always about relationships—and relationships are key to healing... Read more
Were You Raised by a Four-Year-Old?
The Impact of Emotionally Immature ParentsAuthor Lindsay Gibson reveals how exploring our parents’ emotional lack of maturity can free us up to become more emotionally mature ourselves. Read more
Enhancing Meditation with Neurofeedback
Innovations in Training the BrainHow can neurofeedback help people tailor their meditation practice to help with their mental health concerns? Read more
The Social Roots of Trauma
Staci Haines on Where Our Bodies, Culture, and Healing IntersectTherapists may feel overwhelmed by how little it seems they can do for clients suffering within large, oppressive systems. Read more
Teaching Kids Resilience through Storytelling
A Conversation with Psychologist and Children's Book Author Amy HowellFor a therapist who writes children’s books, story time provides what might be the most important parenting opportunity of the entire day. Read more
Processing Trauma in a Flash?
A Conversation with Philip ManfieldWith roots in the EMDR protocol, the Flash Technique claims to offer a pleasurable path to processing trauma. Read more
Rethinking PTSD
How Should We Be Defining Trauma?Amid what some are calling "an age of trauma," have we lost sight of what clinical trauma really looks like? Read more
Confronting the Climate Crisis
Helping Clients Face Uncertainty and FearPsychologist Elizabeth Allured is helping therapists and their clients contend with anxieties about the world’s climate crisis. Read more
The Mental Health Gym
An Interview with Emily AnhaltMindfulness apps, thought trackers, CBT courses, and the Uberization of therapy has flooded headlines. But what about psychodynamic or relational approaches... Read more
Breaking the Silence on Postpartum Stress
How Therapists Can HelpAuthor Karen Kleiman argues that postpartum distress is normal—and should be normalized more in our society. Read more
Reframing Complex PTSD
Can Trauma Symptoms Be Assets?Author Stephanie Foo discusses how she and other C-PTSD survivors have learned to adapt and even thrive. Read more
Getting Past You and Me
Cultivating the “Us” in Intimate RelationshipTerry Real is on a mission: leading couples into increased intimacy by moving them beyond a culture of individualism. Read more
Burnout and the Body
Emily Nagoski on Naming the Real EnemySelf-care has long been touted as a panacea for burnout. Emily Nagoski has a different solution. Read more
Total Liberation
A Buddhist Approach to HealingWhat would therapy look like if the focus was on liberating a client from their setbacks, rather than simply diluting their symptoms? Read more
On Turning Pain into Power
An Interview with Dr. ShefaliThe clinician and bestselling author discusses her new book and what it means to "alchemize" pain. Read more
Unhealed Bodies
Looking at Ancestral TraumaResmaa Menakem, author of "My Grandmother’s Hands," discusses racialized trauma and a body-based path to healing. Read more
The Angry Therapist
Transparency as a Therapeutic ToolJohn Kim believes that a therapist’s own vulnerability helps clients feel comfortable enough to bare their own souls—and he practices what he preaches. Read more
Casting a Wider Therapeutic Net
Dr. Joy on Therapy for Black GirlsThe founder of a rapidly growing online community helps young Black women candidly discuss and destigmatize mental health issues. Read more
The Grief We Hold
Loving in the Midst of LossOur soul and our psyche know how to grieve. We don't need to learn it. It's not a technique. What we need to learn is not to avoid it. Read more
Sharing Our Expertise with a Wider Community
Scaling Up Mental HealthPsychologist Ali Mattu is on a mission to bring therapeutic principles to the mainstream. Read more
The Narcissism Trap
Navigating High-Conflict Personality StylesAn expert on narcissism discusses how to help clients get clear about gaslighting and other abuses in their relationships. Read more
Therapy From the Podcast Studio
Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch discuss “Dear Therapists”The therapists and writers have teamed up to produce a podcast that addresses a listener’s problem, provides specific advice, and then checks in to see... Read more
30 Is Not the New 20
Helping Clients Value Their Defining DecadeWhy our 20s are a developmental sweet spot, and what therapists should know about helping clients make the most of them. Read more
Helping Clients in Toxic Relationships
How to Unravel Trauma BondsRyan Howes interviews Laura Copley, licensed professional counselor and owner of Aurora Counseling about toxic relationships. Read more
How Private Practice Can Survive COVID-19
Discovering New Possibilities in a Time of UpheavalDiscovering new possibilities for private practice in a time of upheaval—and planning for more uncertainty. Read more
Listening to Suicidal Clients
How to Get Beyond our FearsA suicidologist opens up about her personal struggles and what actually helps when working with suicidal clients. Read more
Depathologizing ADHD
A VAST DifferenceRather than a curse, Ned Hallowell believes an ADHD diagnosis can be a blessing. Read more
Community Matters
New Possibilities for Mental HealthA passionate advocate for mental health in underserved communities confronts the question, “Why don’t more black people go to treatment, and why don’t... Read more
Research or Reality?
The Flawed Science of PsychotherapyAs academic researchers continue the push for manualized, protocol-driven therapy, a psychodynamic therapist pushes back. Read more
Immigration and Trauma
How Can Therapists Help?How therapists can help the traumatized community of immigrants and asylum seekers. Read more
Terminal Illness and the Choice to Die
What's the Therapist's Role?A number of states have passed legislation giving terminal patients the option of medical aid in dying. What therapists need to know about helping patients and... Read more
Piercing the Illusion of Intimacy
From Symposium Storytelling Evening 2019“Whoops,” I said, thinking this was a lighthearted moment. “Looks like you should’ve gone with that other psychologist.” But Ted didn’t joke back. Read more
A Therapist Switches Chairs
From Clinician to Client to AuthorIn her latest bestselling book, Lori Gottlieb offers an unusually intimate look at her experience as both a therapist and a client. Read more
ACEs and a New Vision for Healthcare
Bringing Therapists and Physicians TogetherWhen it comes to addressing the profound impact of trauma, pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris is calling for primary care physicians and therapists to develop... Read more
Trauma Therapy Meets Theater
An Unusual Program is Helping Vets Rewire from WarTherapists know that words can heal. But what if the words were in iambic pentameter and delivered from a stage? Veteran and professional actor Stephan Wolfert... Read more
Theater as Therapy
Can Shakespeare Heal the Trauma of War?Stephen Wolfert’s De-Cruit program is giving vets a chance to heal the trauma of war in creative ways. Read more
Resisting Matrimania
A Conversation with Bella DePauloAuthor and researcher Bella DePaulo says it’s time to start seeing the growing population of single adults as something more than just people unable to find... Read more
The Suicide Epidemic
What Can We Do?Author and therapist Kay Redfield Jamison explores what we can do to address the suicide epidemic. Read more
Developing Racial Literacy
How to Confront Our Unconscious TaboosHoward Stevenson’s program promotes “racial literacy” through skills that help us confront unconscious taboos and more effectively read and resolve... Read more
Not a Panacea
Therapy and the Limitations of MindfulnessFor Buddhist therapist Mark Epstein, mindfulness is just the beginning. Read more
Art and Trauma
Accessing Creative Paths to HealingA leader in expressive arts therapy explains why it’s increasingly being used to help combat vets find relief from trauma. Read more
When Less Is More
The Art of Minimalizing Our StuffEven as many of us are drowning in material possessions, a new minimalist movement is sweeping across popular culture. Read more
The Rise of Neurofeedback
Technology in the Treatment RoomNeurofeedback has brought a powerful new technology into the consulting room. Read more
The New Frontier in Trauma Treatment?
The Promise of MDMAUsing drugs like MDMA (aka Ecstasy) may be the new frontier of trauma treatment. Read more
Absolutely Fabulous!
Getting Beyond Stereotypes with Teenage GirlsHelping teenage girls navigate the tumultuous terrain of adolescence in today’s world. Read more
Everyday Heroism
A Researcher Noted for Studying the Psychology of Evil Has Shifted His FocusPhilip Zimbardo, the researcher famous for shining a light on our worst authoritarian impulses, has shifted the focus of his work. Read more
Feeling Anxious?
A Longtime Researcher Weighs InHow can you keep on top of the proliferation of anxiety treatments today? Read more
Food and Mood
What Every Therapist Needs to Know about NutritionWhat therapists should know about nutrition and the food-mood connection. An interview with Joan Borysenko. Read more
Point of View: Creatures of Habit
How Do We Change Our Most Rigid Routines?Discover the key to becoming less of a creature of habit. Read more
Introvert Power
Susan Cain Wants to Correct a Cultural BiasSusan Cain, the bestselling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, believes that our world has been ruled by extroverts... Read more
The Five Love Languages
Translating Intention into ConnectionAn interview with the author of The 5 Love Languages, a book that's sold over 8 million copies, explains its remarkable success. Read more
New Technologies for Today’s Practitioners
Using Virtual Reality to treat PTSDThe increasingly accessible and inexpensive technology of virtual reality now enables us to incorporate digital Skinner boxes in our practices that can enhance... Read more
Losing Our War on Stress
It’s time to reconsider our approachPsychologist Kelly McGonigal believes that stress isn’t the public health menace it’s usually made out to be—our compulsion to avoid it is often the... Read more
Destigmatizing Autism
The Future of NeurodiversityAuthor Steve Silberman discusses what it means to view autistic people as individuals seeing the world in a different way, rather than just a checklist of... Read more
Moments of Meaning
Unexpected Lessons from PracticeThree clinicians share stories of challenging cases that show how the most surprising outcomes often have nothing to do with therapeutic brilliance or... Read more
Smart Growth
Developing a mindset for lifeA conversation with motivation expert Carol Dweck on the importance of the “growth mindset” and how to enhance people’s ability to tackle adversity and... Read more
Personality and Habit Change
Are You an Upholder, Obliger, Questioner, or Rebel?In her first book, The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin tried to answer the question “How do I become happier?” With her new book on changing the habits... Read more
Brave New Couples
What Can Science Tell Us about the Changing Face of Couplehood Today?Susan Johnson, developer of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, discusses what the science of love says about what couples can expect when they rebel too much... Read more
The Power of Commitment
Mindfulness Is Only the BeginningDespite its popularity among therapists, mindfulness is only a beginning in the process of change. Read more
Reinventing Couplehood
Intimacy and Commitment in the Age of Consumer MarriageEsther Perel, a couples therapist whose TED talk has had more than 5 million views, believes that it’s time to challenge the mismatch between the romantic... Read more
The Malleability of Memory
Putting Psychotherapy on the Witness StandDuring the false memory controversies of the 1990s, many therapists saw Elizabeth Loftus, one of the most honored psychologists in the history of the field, as... Read more
The Tribal Classroom
Applying attachment theory in schoolsLou Cozolino believes that attachment theory and neuroscience may offer the key to transforming our troubled educational system. Read more
When Talk Isn’t Enough
Easing Trauma’s Lingering ShockPioneering trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk shares his thoughts on the differences between public and private trauma. Read more
Brain Imaging and Psychotherapy
Why is it so controversial?For nearly 20 years, psychiatrist Daniel Amen has led a controversial crusade to make brain imaging an accepted part of psychotherapeutic practice. Read more
The Little Things
Love in the Consulting RoomBarbara Fredrickson’s research on the biology of love and positivity demystifies our ideas about the role of intimacy, connection, and resilience in our... Read more
Emotional First Aid
Looking Beyond the DSMIn Emotional First Aid, Manhattan psychologist Guy Winch provides an instructional manual for handling the bumps and bruises of life. Read more
Grief as a Gift
Carrying on the Legacy of Kübler-RossDavid Kessler has spent his career helping people all over the world deal with death. In the process, he’s learned that—as much as we may resist... Read more
Wearing Your Heart on Your Face
The Polyvagal Circuit in the Consulting RoomPsychophysiologist Stephen Porges’s research on the polyvagal nervous system provides insight into the evolutionary roots of trauma and anxiety, and how... Read more
Talking with God
Religion as a Therapeutic ExperienceAnthropologist and author Tanya Luhrmann explains how many evangelicals experience the kind of support in their connection with God that others find in their... Read more
Is Technology Changing Our Minds?
What Therapists Need to Know in the Digital AgePsychiatrist and neuroscientist Gary Small on what therapists should know about how technology is altering our brains, for both good and ill. Read more
Finding the Hero Within
Exploring the Link Between Trauma and OppressionKenneth Hardy believes that the experience of trauma is too often unacknowledged by therapists struggling to help troubled minority youth. Read more
The Power of Forgiveness
Cutting the Bonds of ResentfulnessFrederic Luskin has spent the last 20 years studying forgiveness and why achieving it can be so difficult. Read more
Tribal Politics
Moral Issues are at the Heart of ElectionsSocial psychologist Jonathon Haidt offers a perspective on why we vote the way we do that you’re unlikely to have read about in the deluge of mainstream... Read more
Psyche and Soma
How Our Bodies Reveal Our Inner ExperienceFor more than 25 years, Pat Ogden has been at the forefront of developing somatic approaches that can succeed where the talking cure fails. Read more
Irvin Yalom on Psychotherapy as Craft
Looking Back to Move ForwardIn an age when all eyes seem constantly riveted on the Next Big Thing, celebrated therapist-novelist Irvin Yalom takes a different approach. Read more
Mary Pipher on Activism
Applying our Healing Skills in the Wider WorldBestselling author and retired psychotherapist Mary Pipher makes a case for therapists’ having the know-how to become effective social activists---and for... Read more
Igniting Excellence in Psychotherapy
Top performers are made, not bornWhen it comes to achieving excellence, author Daniel Coyle has found a common pattern of focused, guided practice and instruction that leads to success. Read more
Learning How to Learn
Communities of Practice can reveal new paths to excellenceWhile therapists often lead quite isolated professional lives, social-learning theorist Etienne Wenger has shown how a community of practice is perhaps the... Read more
Our Potential for Good
Altruism as an Evolutionary ImperativePsychologist Darcher Keltner believes that underestimating our capacity for altruism does human nature a disservice. Read more
The Alphabet Soup
Diana Fosha on the Convergence in Today’s TherapiesDiana Fosha talks about why so many acronymic therapies—ADEP, DBT, IFS, ACT—resemble each other, and what that says about the therapy field today. Read more
Neil Clark Warren, the founder of the successful matchmaking site eHarmony, talks about what’s necessary to find a good, compatible match. Read more
Red Speak, Blue Speak
The Psychology of Political RhetoricThe work of linguist George Lakoff on the psychology of political rhetoric has become must reading for anyone who wants to understand how candidates get... Read more
Gender and the Brain
Louann Brizendine's Work Stirs New ControversyNeuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine has stirred up plenty of controversy by arguing that men and women have very different brains. Read more
Whatever Became of Feminism?
Harriet Lerner on the Legacy of the Women's MovementPsychologist and bestselling author Harriet Lerner speaks about her body of work and addresses the question of the continuing impact of feminism on... Read more
Telling It Like It Is
Donald Meichenbaum Doesn't Mince WordsLong an acerbic critic of the trendy and faddish, Don Meichenbaum, one of the founders of CBT, is still determined to separate myth from reality in the world... Read more
Embracing Life, Facing Death
An interview with Irvin YalomFor existential therapist Irvin Yalom, even depth-oriented therapy doesn't go deep enough. Read more
Ryan Howes
Ryan Howes, Ph.D., ABPP is a Pasadena, California-based psychologist, musician, and author of the “Mental Health Journal for Men.” Learn more at ryanhowes.net.