Anxiety & Depression

Between Two Worlds

Trauma Treatment on the Edge
Marcela Ot’alora G.

A clinician accustomed to treating trauma in her private practice is also an investigator of an MDMA-assisted psychotherapy research project. From this dual... Read more

As a researcher and outspoken advocate for therapeutic innovation, Bessel van der Kolk has been as influential as anyone in shaping the landscape of trauma... Read more

The Ayahuasca Experience

Is There a Place for Shamanic Wisdom in Western Psychology?

A world-renowned trauma expert shares his personal experience with the power of ayahuasca ceremonies to heal addiction, PTSD, and ingrained patterns that... Read more

Chronic Pain Reconsidered

A New Role for Therapists

Only one percent of patients suffering from acute back pain have a significant structural abnormality in their back, and a remarkably low percentage of back... Read more

A Playful Path to Attachment

A Mother and Adopted Daughter Learn to Bond

Through games that encourage small moments of laughter, a struggling mother and her adopted daughter learn a different way to bond. Read more

The Suicide Epidemic

What Can We Do?

Author and therapist Kay Redfield Jamison explores what we can do to address the suicide epidemic. Read more

VIDEO: What to Do When Your Client Cries

Making Tears Your Therapeutic Ally

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

VIDEO: How Symptoms Reveal the Path to Growth

IFS Developer Richard Schwartz on Befriending the Inner "Protector"

Often, our attitudes toward anxiety symptoms are misguided, says Richard Schwartz, the originator of Internal Family Systems. By understanding responses... Read more

VIDEO: Why Not All Mental Health Problems Are Psychological

Minding the Body Means More Than Just Taking a Pill

Most therapists recognize that physiological processes hugely influence emotion and behavior. But according to psychiatrist Robert Hedaya, too many tend to... Read more

3 Concerning Messages about the Netflix series “Insatiable”

…And 3 Ways to Talk about Them with Your Clients

There’s been a lot of outcry from mental health professionals, doctors, parents, and people who’ve suffered from eating disorders about the trailer for the... Read more

VIDEO: Why We Need to Talk with Psychiatrists

How Being “On Call” Keeps Kids from Falling through the Cracks

According to therapist Ron Taffel, author of Breaking Through to Teens, kids who need the extra boost from medication need their therapists to go the extra... Read more

The Girl in the Railroad Pajamas

Lost Children and the Failure of Empathy

As a psychologist and a mother, I’m haunted by the children of immigrants we’ve all been reading about, stolen from their parents and callously detained... Read more

We may look back on June 2018 as a tide-turning moment in public awareness of severe depression for reasons virtually all of us hate. In this issue, we... Read more

In the Shadow of Depression

How Can We Manage to Stay Well?

Most clinicians know that if a person has suffered one bout of serious depression, he or she is much more vulnerable to another one. But most therapists still... Read more

A Journey Through Fire

Surviving When Your Self Is in Ashes

At its worst, depression extinguishes your inner pilot light, depriving you of the substrate that makes you feel real. Sufferers complain of living in a fog... Read more

The New Psychiatry

The Rise of Natural Mental Health

Increasingly, psychiatrists are recognizing that offering medications as the primary treatment of depression for years and years is simply not working... Read more

The Labels We Use

When It Comes to Addiction, Sometimes a Diagnosis is a Client's Best Motivator

The labels we use to describe clients’ behaviors have important therapeutic implications. Sometimes using the word addiction and explaining its neurological... Read more

VIDEO: When Sorrow Mixes with Joy

Martha Manning Shares a Moving Personal Story of Hardship, Hope, and Love

A karaoke performance on a psych ward helps a mother and daughter find a way to reconnect. Read more

VIDEO: David Kessler on Coming to Terms with the End

A Special Storytelling Piece from Our 2018 Symposium

When our clients are facing their own mortality, how can we guide them in a way that's both compassionate and realistic? In the following video, therapist... Read more

Changing Our Contract with Life

A Therapist's Story of Battling Chronic Pain

This is the story of one of the most turbulent storms in my personal and professional life. After the storm, I learned there’s something about healing from... Read more

What Really Heals and Awakens - Symposium

Highlights from Symposium 2018

Weaving together Buddhist philosophy and storytelling, clinical psychologist and spiritual teacher Jack Kornfield explored the nature of therapeutic... Read more

A Complete Life

From an Evening of Storytelling 2018

A specialist in grief and dying gets an early lesson on what makes up a full life. Read more

Karaoke on Five South

From an Evening of Storytelling 2018

A karaoke performance on a psych ward helps a mother and daughter find a way to reconnect. Read more

Taken Over

Breaking the Spell of Obsession

A therapist struggles to help an obsessive client with whom she develops an unusual preoccupation. Read more

VIDEO: How to Think Scientifically about Medications

Why Having a Hypothesis Works for the Non-Medical Therapist

Despite the increasing popularity of psychiatric meds as the go-to remedy for everything from seasonal depression to social anxiety, drugs are often not the... Read more

VIDEO: Why Anticipating Relapse Is Our Best Defense Against It

How to Mobilize the Client’s Support System

It’s always cause for celebration when depressed clients nears the finish line of treatment, feeling energized, empowered, and more content with their life... Read more

Tuning into Attunement

How to Harness Your Social Engagement System

We all know people who have the magic touch when it comes to relating to others. They can instantly connect with strangers and put people at ease without even... Read more

From Weight to Well-Being

The Challenges of Treating Binge Eating Disorder

Although binge eating disorder is more prevalent than anorexia and bulimia, many people still don’t get the help they need for it. Read more

Learning to Look at Anxiety in a New Way

The Two Truths About the Nature of Anxiety Disorders
Graham Campbell

Anxiety disorders are a means of keeping the external world at bay. Anxiety keeps new ideas and information out of a person's awareness. It saves overloaded... Read more

The Therapeutic Relationship, Revisited

A Man Discovers a Safe Guide, and a Real Person, in His New Therapist
Stephen Lyons

By Stephen Lyons - My work with Sara began in an uninspiring, windowless, downtown suite that she shared with another therapist. But before long, my therapy... Read more