Anxiety & Depression
Between Two Worlds
Trauma Treatment on the EdgeA 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
Learning to Bear the Unbearable - September/October 2018
How MDMA WorksAs 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 TherapistsOnly 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 BondThrough 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 AllyMany 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 PillMost 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 ClientsThere’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 CracksAccording 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 EmpathyAs 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 AshesAt 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 HealthIncreasingly, 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 MotivatorThe 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 LoveA 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 SymposiumWhen 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 PainThis 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 2018Weaving 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 2018A 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 2018A karaoke performance on a psych ward helps a mother and daughter find a way to reconnect. Read more
Taken Over
Breaking the Spell of ObsessionA 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 TherapistDespite 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 SystemIt’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 SystemWe 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 DisorderAlthough 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 DisordersAnxiety 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 TherapistBy 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