September/October 2021

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Editor's Note

Livia Kent

As the culture’s sanctioned authorities on mental health, therapists are still widely expected to be equanimous in the face of inner turmoil. So, outside of their own therapist’s office, many fear coming out about their own serious troubles—even in front of colleagues. Oddly enough, shame and its loyal sidekick, secrecy, still loom large in our field. The heartening news is that it’s beginning to change.
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A painting of a person sitting on a bed

When Therapists Struggle with Suicidality

Releasing Ourselves from Stigma and Shame

Stacey Freedenthal

Many therapists wrestle with the same problems we help our clients tame. But the myth that therapists are masters of their own mental health makes it especially shocking when one dies by suicide. Read More
An illustration of an eye with tears

Borrowed Tears

A Therapist Reclaims His Buried Past—and Upends His Practice

David Treadway

When a therapist finally confronts his tendency to dissociate, his work takes a life-changing turn. Read More
An illustration of hands forming a circle

Helper Syndrome

When Are We Enough?

Gabor Maté

Is the problem of compassion fatigue that we get tired of being compassionate toward others—or that we aren’t being compassionate toward ourselves? Read More
Lights in a speeding car's windshield

Confessions of a Racing Mind

My Silent Battle with OCD

Erica Turner

A clinician with OCD stands up to stigma. Read More
A messy bed

First, Make the Bed

A Gentle Path through Depression

Michele Weiner-Davis

In the throes of depression, a therapist searches for a magic bullet. Read More
Someone holds a packet of pills

The Ambivalence Trap

Liberating Ourselves from the Pursuit of Perfection

Linda Gask

A psychiatrist questions taking her own medicine. Read More

Extra Feature

Two people in bed hiding under the covers

Love After Lockdown

What Follows Togetherness Overload

Tammy Nelson

For some couples, staying home together during COVID improved their sex lives. But many have reported the opposite experience. Now that re-entry is here, what are they to do? Read More

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