Whether it's vanity, a failure to take constructive criticism, mistreating family and friends, or lacking empathy for others, clients with narcissistic traits can be incredibly frustrating to work with. Here, four therapists offer their takes on making the work a little easier.

A therapist specializing in trauma treatment in the wake of human-made and natural disasters shares what she's seeing in her work with survivors of the war in Ukraine.

Doing therapy with older adults poses unique challenges and opportunities. Here, five therapists who work with elderly clients share the best practices they've learned over the years, as well as the "hidden gifts" this unique population has to offer.

I’ve been finding a particular short meditation practice helpful in supporting my clients during this period of sadness, loss, and exhaustion. It’s more gentle than many traditional breath practices of meditation, which can be difficult for people to do, even during good times. Here's how it works.

Even the best therapists rely on advice from peers. In the spirit of building community, we're introducing Clinician's Quandary, a new forum where you can weigh in on how you'd handle a particular clinical quagmire. Here's this month's Quandary.

Therapy can be serious, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for a joke here and there. Here, clinicians share how they used humor to help clients dispel negative self-talk, build stronger relationships, realize what’s really important to them, and walk through life a little easier.

During the pandemic, many of us have realized how convenient teletherapy can be for us and our clients. But is the flexibility of teletherapy leading to more casual behaviors that take away from the therapeutic process? Do therapists need to set new boundaries with clients to ensure that online therapy is effective?

I practiced for almost fifty years, and just retired with a feeling of satisfaction. Here’s what I’ve learned in my journey to contentment. These are my tales from the trenches.

We all make mistakes. But oftentimes, it’s the mistakes that help us grow the most, personally and professionally. Here, three therapists share their stories about the learning experiences, recalibrations, and “happy accidents” that helped make them the knowledgeable, capable clinicians they are today.

Encouraging anxious clients to face their fears is widely accepted as the gold-standard approach for treating anxiety-related disorders, including OCD. But a growing body of research suggests that our emphasis on habituation can undermine the real goal of exposure therapy. 

Our last Clinician’s Quandary on helping clients—and ourselves—navigate grief work received an overwhelming number of responses. So many, in fact, that we’ve decided to make it a two-parter. Here are four more of our top responses.

When the pandemic first struck, I was concerned about its impact yet able to handle the anxiety about infection pretty well. After all, managing anxiety is my stock-in-trade ability. But two years later, what I feel most of the time now is anger, so I’ve been using my anxiety management skills to figure out what exactly is going on with me.

Everyone deserves a space where they’re fully seen and heard, so it’s critical that therapists who don’t identify as people of color are knowledgeable, empathetic, and compassionate when addressing race, racism, and identity in the consulting room. Here’s a ten-point framework for developing greater cultural competency.

For a few years now, I’ve worked with groups around the world to address collective trauma. Our focus is usually on something that had happened elsewhere and in the past: never had I imagined that, with the advent of COVID, I’d find myself so deeply entrenched in an immediate and ongoing collective trauma. One group of men, with whom I’d been working for many years, was particularly affected.

Many people assume that an open relationship will cause jealousy in both partners. Historically, it has been assumed that pair-bonded individuals who are attached in a “healthy” way are sexually exclusive, and that exclusivity is an indicator of the success of their romantic pairing. Therefore, jealousy should be a hallmark of a successful relationship. Instead, research has found that some pair-bonded partners experience positive feelings instead of jealousy when they open their relationship

What can we do in the face of our current crisis? There are no clear answers or easy fixes. As providers, we must endeavor to do what we teach our patients: in an out-of-control situation that we cannot change, we can only control how we respond to our own fear and trauma, and, for us therapists, that also means the secondary trauma we experience as a result of our work.

Many grief specialists talk about helping clients finding meaning after loss. But often, loss feels meaningless. One therapist working with grieving clients isn't sure how to help them conceptualize loss or work through it. Here, five therapists offer advice, explaining how they do grief work—with themselves and their clients.

Therapy is hard work. But what are therapy’s biggest challenges, and how do therapists overcome them? Here, five therapists share the clinical challenge that tested them, frustrated them, continues to stump them, and made them the therapists they are today.

Andrew has started showing symptoms of OCD. He’s struggled with anxiety for a while, but the pandemic seems to have been a tipping point for him. His therapist, who works in a rural area and doesn't specialize in treating OCD, doesn’t have many options for referrals and isn't sure how to help. Five clinicians share how they'd handle the situation.

A therapist is ready for a new challenge, a new context in which to put their clinical skills to work. Here, five clinicians offer practical guidance on finding rewarding projects.

Social-emotional learning isn’t entirely new, but as more districts emphasize the curricula in the wake of COVID, confusion from parents appears to be on the rise. And in some communities, parents are doing much more than weighing this new reality: they’re staging entire revolts.

A therapist feels her sessions are getting a little dry and is looking for a way to bring play and humor into the work. Five therapists share how they do it in their own practices.

What practical guidance can you offer a therapist whose personal grief is so deep that she's finding it hard to stay present for clients? Six clinicians weigh in.

The loss of roles, structure, and purpose that accompanies retirement may trigger a late-life identity crisis. As clinicians, we need to assist clients in asking a deeper question: “Who am I now?”

A client has a lot of regret about past decisions he’s made, and although his therapist has talked with him about them at length, the client still can't seem to move on. Here, five therapists offer effective, creative ways of helping clients like these work with regret.