The legacies of extraordinary people we’ve lost invite us to embrace the examples they’ve left behind. But how exactly do we do it?

Sharing how Rich Simon impacted our lives—and the field as a whole.

Learning to surf requires awareness, focus, and flexibility—perhaps the most essential qualities for navigating the complexities of life. For some young clients, the ocean is proving to be a powerful co-therapist.

I’m inspired by the courage of the therapists featured in this issue, who are stretching beyond their customary professional roles to apply their clinical skills in new ways. It takes commitment, an adventurous spirit, and often it’s a juggling act. But their common goal—and their passion—is to expand access to those too often shut out of the mental health system.

In working with an Indigenous community, a therapist learns the importance of walking with his clients, not out in front of them.

Will screening peer counselors for empathy create an affordable, effective option for the tens of millions of Americans who can’t access therapy, or perhaps don’t want it?

A movement to integrate trauma-informed care into our justice system aims to decriminalize mental illness and address a foundational cause of mass incarceration.

The process of creating beats and lyrics is rooted in therapeutic practices. At one South Bronx high school, a school social worker has traded the therapy room for the music studio.

The founder of a rapidly growing online community helps young Black women candidly discuss and destigmatize mental health issues.

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?