
First Person
Creative personal essays on life and familyVIDEO: When Our Clients Help Us Overcome Our Greatest Fears
A Therapist Shares Her Most Memorable Clinical ExperienceLynn Lyons shares a moving, often hilarious, story about how her young client helped her become a stronger person and a better therapist. Read more
Welcome to Holland
When Life Takes a DetourWhat do you do when your life’s expectations get turned upside down? Read more
The Shopping Trip
Showing Up Is Its Own RewardSometimes you learn your most important life lessons from the person who most frustrates and disappoints you. Read more
The Freedom Machine
Learning to Leave the NestWhen you’re young, a car isn’t just a car—it can be a freedom machine. Read more
What Basketball Taught Me About Therapy
Learning to Stay in the Game with Challenging ClientsBasketball has taught me many lessons. I learned about trust, relationships, and teamwork. I learned the power to regulate feelings. It would shape my... Read more
The Secret of Getting Through
A Profile of an Impressively Unimpressive TherapistA quick glance a therapist whose young clients rave about her. Read more
The Inheritance
A Father Passes on a Complicated LegacySometimes family legacies can stir up complicated feelings and outright conflict. Read more
The Ayahuasca Experience
Is There a Place for Shamanic Wisdom in Western Psychology?A world-renowned trauma expert shares his personal experience with the power of ayahuasca ceremonies to heal addiction, PTSD, and ingrained patterns that... Read more
Comfort Me
Embracing Grief in a LaundromatConfronting grief in a laundromat. Read more
When Doing Nothing is Everything
Especially with Kids, Learning to Slow Down Is a Precious GiftWhen I got sick, something amazing happened: I let go of my agenda. Poof—just like that. In the process, I learned there’s nothing more important than... Read more
A Journey Through Fire
Surviving When Your Self Is in AshesAt its worst, depression extinguishes your inner pilot light, depriving you of the substrate that makes you feel real. Sufferers complain of living in a fog... Read more
One Enchanted Evening
Some Shocking News Brings Back Tender MemoriesA man learns shocking news via Facebook about an old flame, which brings back romantic memories of his youth. Read more
VIDEO: When Sorrow Mixes with Joy
Martha Manning Shares a Moving Personal Story of Hardship, Hope, and LoveA karaoke performance on a psych ward helps a mother and daughter find a way to reconnect. Read more
VIDEO: David Kessler on Coming to Terms with the End
A Special Storytelling Piece from Our 2018 SymposiumWhen our clients are facing their own mortality, how can we guide them in a way that's both compassionate and realistic? In the following video, therapist... Read more
VIDEO: The Hearing
A Therapist Shares Her Most Transformative SessionIn our own small way, the Networker has tried to revive the ancient, tribal practice of storytelling. At our third annual Symposium storytelling event, Kirsten... Read more
On Idealization
Highlights from Symposium 2018A highlight of this year’s Symposium was iconic therapist Irvin Yalom receiving the Networker Lifetime Achievement Award. In this excerpt from his recent... Read more
Moments of Truth
Stories Told at the End of the DayIn our own small way, the Networker has tried to revive the ancient, tribal practice of storytelling. At our third annual Symposium storytelling event, five... Read more
My First Client, My Best Teacher
From an Evening of Storytelling 2018A challenging client, who won't speak or swallow, teaches a therapist just starting out how to find her own voice. Read more
The Hearing
From an Evening of Storytelling 2018A therapist tries to ride to the rescue of an immigrant client in a desperate situation. Read more
A Complete Life
From an Evening of Storytelling 2018A specialist in grief and dying gets an early lesson on what makes up a full life. Read more
Karaoke on Five South
From an Evening of Storytelling 2018A karaoke performance on a psych ward helps a mother and daughter find a way to reconnect. Read more
The Rescue
Finding the Courage to Let GoA whirlwind romance turns into a troubled relationship. Read more
Living Backward and Forward
In Search of the Stories that Bind UsIn search of the stories that can bind a family together. Read more
Occupational Wisdom
What Therapists Can Teach Us about Growing Old GracefullyDoes being a therapist give us an edge in coping with the inescapable phenomenon of aging? Three prominent psychotherapists—Irvin Yalom, Joan Klagsbrun, and... Read more
Kinship without Connection
Family Means More than Shared DNADoes sharing DNA with a total stranger automatically make him family? Read more
Tough Choices
Decisions that Test the HeartThere comes a time in many families when there’s no choice but to face decisions that test the heart. Read more
When Therapy Takes a Personal Toll
A Therapist Working with Abusers Reaches a CrossroadsI made my first appointment with Gloria one autumn afternoon. I needed a still point, a peaceful promontory in the ocean of loud, unrepentant excuses I heard... Read more
An Awareness of the Soul
What Does It Mean to Really Get in Touch with Yourself?When I was 5 years old, I experienced something that made me feel viscerally, mentally, emotionally, and inescapably connected to everything and everyone... Read more