Client Relationship
"I Just Want Your Advice!"
Four Top Responses to a Common Client PleaIf there’s ever been a professional stance that we thought most therapists shared, it’s that therapy is not about giving advice. And yet, how many times... Read more
So You Want to Be Your Client's Friend
Two Therapists Discuss a Clinical TabooJoin the conversation between two therapists as they discuss the longing for friendship in the therapy room. Read more
Building Rapport with Victims of Narcissistic Abuse
Don't Shame Your ClientsWatch this clip of Dr. Ramani explaining how to help your clients who are survivors of narcissistic and build trust. Read more
I Want to Be My Client's Friend
A Taboo Longing in the Therapy RoomHow far is friendship from the special type of closeness we call the therapeutic relationship? Read more
Weighing Your Clients’ Needs Against Your Own
The Ethics of Handling Your Personal CrisisWhat are the ethics of carrying on with your regular practice when dealing with an ongoing personal crisis or medical emergency? Read more
Preparing for the End of Therapy
A Walk into the UnknownRegardless of your expertise or advanced degree, client terminations can derail you at any time. So why don't we do a better job of planning for them? Read more
One Foot Out the Door
Six Ways to Address Impending Premature EndingsEnding therapy is tough. But a client leaning out of therapy midway through treatment? That’s a whole other pill to swallow. Here, six therapists share how... Read more
Reducing Client Dropout
What Makes a Difference?How to build a therapeutic relationship from the first session that keeps clients coming back. Read more
Debunking Myths About Aging
The Benefits of Therapy for Older AdultsSome older people sink into states of depression, apathy, or agitated irritability, but emotional distress in this population is too often seen as part of an... Read more
The Narcissistic Client
Four Ways to Break ThroughWhether it's vanity, a failure to take constructive criticism, mistreating family and friends, or lacking empathy for others, clients with narcissistic traits... Read more
The Inheritance of Loss
A Therapist and Client Grieve TogetherWhile grief can be a familiar creature that lives inside us, we often treat it as a stranger Read more
The Playful Therapist
7 Clinicians Share Their Best StrategiesIn this collection, master therapists share how they’ve used humor in ways that both enliven and enrich the work of therapy. Read more
When Therapists Encourage Family Cutoffs
Are We Helping or Harming?Today’s culture of therapy both reflects and contributes to our nation’s ever-growing embrace of individualism—for better and, sometimes, for worse. Read more
Close to Home
When the Problem You Treat Becomes Your Problem TooA couples therapist is going through an emotionally wrenching separation from their partner and finding it hard to treat clients. Five clinicians offer advice. Read more
The Fox and the Hedgehog
Flexibility and Focus in the Therapy RoomAs a therapist, is it better to adapt an eclectic approach or specialize in the one you believe in most? Perhaps the answer isn’t as simple as it seems. Read more
The Outcast
A Hard Road to an Unexpected ConnectionHow do you work with a client who intentionally tries to break every rule of therapy, spoken and implicit? Read more
How Can I Safely Reopen My Practice?
Five Clinicians Weigh InAs parts of the country start to open back up from COVID-19 lockdown measures, a therapist worries about the risk of seeing clients in person again. Five... Read more
VIDEO: Esther Perel on Our Shared Trauma
Navigating the "Parallel Process" Covid-19 Has CreatedIn the midst of covid-19, therapists and clients are sharing many of the same anxieties. As a therapist, how do you talk about it? In this clip from her 2020... Read more
Two Scoops of Vanilla
“I think I broke my therapist”When a challenging clients brings out our true inner colors. Read more
A Technophobic Therapist and COVID-19
United in UncertaintyIn the last few weeks, as the specter of contagion has rapidly grown more ominous with each news cycle, an unthinkable professional reality has emerged for... Read more
VIDEO: The Power of Predictability
The Cornerstone of a Strong Therapeutic AllianceProviding familiarity and predictability is one of our greatest tools in therapy, and can provide much-needed comfort to clients who aren't used to it... Read more
Meet You in McGinnis Meadows
Lessons in AttunementWhat horsemanship can teach us about making sure our clients feel seen, heard, and helped. Read more
VIDEO: What Keeps Clients Coming Back?
The Power of TransparencyIn today’s Information Age, therapy clients are more informed—and have greater expectations up front—when it comes to the look and feel of therapy... Read more
Confessions of a Former People Pleaser
The Radical Act of Rethinking Your BoundariesI used to view boundaries as a fancy way of dressing up rejection, incompetence, and selfishness. But after a decade of working as a couples counselor, I've... Read more
My Client Ghosted Me
Five Clinicians Give Their TakeSara 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
Should I Keep One Partner’s Secret in Couples Therapy?
Five Clinicians Give Their TakeMark and his wife, Nicole, have been in couples therapy for almost six months. But Mark recently requested an individual session, where he revealed he recently... Read more
VIDEO: Peter Levine's Somatic Tools for Self-Soothing
Creating a Path to Client IndependenceOften, traumatized clients find that they become dependent on their therapists to help them handle their extreme emotional states. But according to Peter... Read more
My Client Keeps Checking His Phone During Sessions
Five Clinicians Give Their Take on This Tricky Clinical ScenarioSometimes during sessions, Jonathan checks his phone for emails or updates, even though his therapist has asked him not to. She suspects Jonathan's... 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
Taken Over
Breaking the Spell of ObsessionA therapist struggles to help an obsessive client with whom she develops an unusual preoccupation. Read more