July/August 2021

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Editor's Note

Livia Kent

In the therapy field, especially, we tend to view self-deception as a path to any number of bad ends, like a sense of failure when reality collides with fantasy, or making ill-begotten choices. Of course, illusions do carry these hazards, and plenty of others! But as science journalist Shankar Vedantam argues in our lead piece, perhaps we need to widen our lens beyond what’s true or not, and ask what function an illusion is serving. What are the consequences? Might there be occasions when the benefits justify the costs?
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An illustration of a goldfish wearing a shark fin

The Lure of Self-Deception

Exploring How It Serves Our Clients

Shankar Vedantam

To create a world that produces the best in us, we must certainly be informed by reason, rationality, and science, but we must also deploy the aspects of our minds that are prone to storytelling, symbols—and even self-deception. Read More
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The Fox and the Hedgehog

Flexibility and Focus in the Therapy Room

William Doherty

As a therapist, is it better to adapt an eclectic approach or specialize in the one you believe in most? Perhaps the answer isn’t as simple as it seems. Read More
A teenager takes a selfie

You Can Do Anything

The Outsized Dreams of Adolescents

Martha Straus & Kevin McKenzie

What if we stopped looking to modify the unique functioning of the teenage brain—delusional though it may be at times—and did more to foster the creative and generative aspects of an adolescent’s alternative worldview? Read More
An illustration of two heads in silhouette filled with stormy weather

The Magic Dial

Reframing Cognitive Distortions

David Burns

Beyond identifying the distortions in negative cognitions, how can we help clients understand that negative thoughts and feelings aren’t the result of what’s wrong with them—but what’s right with them? Read More
A collage of a person walking through a doorway with a large eye inside

Dispatches from the Yellow Brick Road

A Journey Through Delusion and Back

Martha Manning

A terrifying journey shows just how much psychotic delusions are embedded in the unquestioned essence of a person’s thinking—as true as ocean, ground, and sky. Read More
The reflection of a screen in a person's glasses

Conspiracy Theories in the Therapy Encounter

Conspiracy theories might be considered a dangerous kind of delusion. So how do you address them when they show up in the therapy room? Read More

Extra Feature

A person sits on a hill at sunset

The Myth of Infallibility

A Therapist Comes to Terms with a Client’s Suicide

John Sommers-Flanagan

When it comes to coping with suicide deaths, we therapists need to let go of our superhero expectations and support one another as dedicated, fallible professionals and human beings. Read More

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