Therapist Mistakes & Breakthroughs
Every therapist makes mistakes, from misread moments and misalliance to conflict avoidance. Therapeutic missteps are painful, but they can also offer profound opportunities for learning more about ourselves and our craft. The most transformative moments often emerge from the vulnerability and willingness to acknowledge when we don't have answers. Honest examination of what we consider our greatest failures can lead to our largest breakthroughs, deepening clinical wisdom in unexpected ways. These articles share candid stories of stuck moments, self-blame, stalled progress, and surprising breakthroughs. Learn more from seasoned clinicians about turning missteps into opportunities.
If a client can't stop talking about the plot twists of a banal TV show, should you try to change the clinical channel? Read more
For therapists, doing something they love that challenges them—independent of their work with clients—can bring balance to their practice. Read more
Lofty visions of our capabilities as therapists can fuel us early in our careers, but at some point, we have to reckon with the reality that we can’t help... Read more
A seasoned therapist discovers that the willingness to be a beginner again can sometimes have more value for clients than polished expertise. Read more
Follow these tips to harness your reactions to antagonistic clients in direct, clinically useful ways. Read more
A therapist must abandon his treatment plan to provide mental health services to the homeless population. Read more
Unfortunately, there's no playbook for beginning and ending therapy. So how do you make first and last sessions not only less awkward, but memorable and... Read more
When clients cry in therapy, should you pass the tissues? And what do you say? One clinician worries his clients might interpret passing tissues as him rushing... Read more
Three therapists share their stories about the learning experiences and “happy accidents” that helped make them better clinicians. Read more
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... Read more
Most therapists struggle with guilt and self-blame related to their work. Thankfully, there are ways to leverage these feelings so we can grow from them. Read more
Over 40 years, a long-term client gives renowned trauma therapist Janina Fisher an opportunity to recover from clinical mistakes and apply new frameworks and... Read more
Seeing clients through the COVID-19 crisis has shown us not only that psychotherapy can be effective outside the traditional frame—complete with an office... Read more
Despite our best intentions, sometimes our problems grow so big that they slam into our work—and the result can be surprising. Read more
When therapy stagnates, sometimes it takes a mistake to catalyze change. Read more
It’s every therapist’s nightmare: stalling out. Whether your client is boring you or progress has hit a wall, here’s how to get out of the rut. Read more
Week after week, a client’s sessions focus on her issues with her partner. Her therapist thinks couples therapy would be tremendously helpful, but the... Read more
The therapist’s office is a zone of creative adventure and unpredictability, where the most powerful moments often come out of the blue. Read more
When a challenging clients brings out our true inner colors. Read more
Mark has anger issues, and his therapist finds herself getting extremely reactive when he loses his temper in therapy. Five clinicians share how they'd proceed. Read more
When working with teens, a therapist must become comfortable with the idea of dealing with power tactics rather than communication skills. Here are four common... Read more
Sara had been attending weekly therapy for three months. Her therapist thought they'd developed a strong bond, but Sara has missed her last two sessions. Her... Read more
“Whoops,” I said, thinking this was a lighthearted moment. “Looks like you should’ve gone with that other psychologist.” But Ted didn’t joke back. Read more
"Night after night, I’d wait for my father to shout, 'Who’s it gonna be, folks? Who’ll be the lucky girl to come on down and ride the elephant... Read more
We’ve all seen it happen. Maybe some of us are even guilty of it ourselves. When you get an email from that pesky neighbor, a text message from the boring... Read more
When therapy goes wrong, it’s typically because we’ve entered our clients’ trance, joining them in their myopic misery. Therapy typically hangs on your... Read more
A young introvert in college learns to embrace her temperament as a gift, rather than a problem. Read more
Many times, when clients cry, clinicians feel an urge to rush in and “fix things” that aren’t broken, which can actually make things worse. Watch as Jay... Read more
A therapist struggles to help an obsessive client with whom she develops an unusual preoccupation. Read more
A challenging client, who won't speak or swallow, teaches a therapist just starting out how to find her own voice. Read more
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