Clinical Practice & Guidance

The promise of the community mental health movement of the 1960s, providing high-quality psychological and social services to poor families, remains unfullled... Read more

Brain science offers powerful guidance for freeing clients from the distress triggered by disturbing implicit memories. Read more

IFS founder Dick Schwartz believes a genuine state of self-compassion entails a journey into multiple parts of yourself that may include the good, the bad, the... Read more

The new emphasis on the transformative power of trauma can be a template for false assumptions about the “gift” of suffering and the meaning of recovery. Read more

The therapist's job is to help client couples close one door and open another. Read more

Fifteen years ago, psychotherapist Jeffrey Kottler never imagined he’d be stuffing nine duffel bags full of antibiotics and suture kits for a return trip to... Read more

Many walk into the therapist's consulting room exactly at the moment that they have been stripped to the core of their being. While not at the physical... Read more

Jessica, a counselor in her mid-30’s, works at a large, public mental health clinic in a major metropolitan area. Her workday begins early, the alarm... Read more

A critic of one of our central cultural obsessions goes too far Read more

Shame is an emotion that isn’t healthy. Unlike guilt–which causes remorse for something you did wrong–shame can cause someone to feel as... Read more

While the number of people in psychotherapy keeps declining, surveys reveal that potential clients would still rather talk to a therapist than fill a... Read more

It’s time we address the psychological toll of the daily bombardment of information that permeates our lives. Read more

To stay relevant in a changing world, we need to address the engagement styles of today’s prospective clients. Read more

Irv Yalom explores what it means to be honest with a client in session, even when that means processing your clients' fears of your death. Read more

Seven myths about meditation for clinicians to ponder. Read more

When an adult is in your consulting room, it’s understandable if you use adult language and logic. But at certain points in the healing process, you may need... Read more

Over several thousand years, different cultures around the world have discovered how to nurture the seed of a specifically human capacity for mentally stepping... Read more

Anxiety attacks anything and everything in a person's life. Sometimes the targets are the mundane activities that others take for granted. At other times, it... Read more

Therapists aren't supposed to discuss personal problems, or even acknowledge having any. While preaching congruence, who among us has never pretended fondness... Read more

According to Eugene Gendlin, legendary originator of Focusing, exploring thoughts on the body can lead us to a new kind of wisdom. Read more

 A few decades ago, when young therapists like myself watched Salvador Minuchin, Virginia Satir, Carl Whitaker, or other leading lights, it was like... Read more

While widely acknowledged to be the most empirically supported therapy ever invented, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is often criticized for being too... Read more

Because depressed clients repeat the same thoughts, feelings, and experiences over and over again, successful treatment breaks clients out of this trance. Read more

You don't need both partners to do couples therapy; working with individuals isn't impossible, it's just based on different premises. Read more

How couples behave in bed is a remarkablv authentic expression of their emotional connection-or lack of it. Read more

We've become so focused on keeping children safe that we exaggerate the dangers they face despite the fact that they’ve never been safer. Still, no amount of... Read more

Some guidelines for bringing the creative power of therapeutic journaling into your work. Read more

A therapist shares about handling a client when attraction pushes the boundaries. Read more

In this brief video clip, Mary Jo explains why bringing the family into therapy should be our first stop when treating trauma. Read more

In this brief video clip, Richard explains how trauma survivors can have a dialogue with the damaged inner parts—the “Exiles”—by first consulting their... Read more