Clinical Skills & Experience
VIDEO: Dafna Lender on Harnessing Your Social Engagement System
Strategies for Building the Therapeutic Alliance More EasilyWe all know therapists who seem magically able to establish a powerful sense of trust and connection with even the most distrusting clients. But are there... Read more
My Clients and I Use the Same Dating Apps
Five Clinicians Give Their TakeA therapist recently joined a few online dating apps after finding herself newly single. She's seen several clients come up in these apps, and suspects they've... Read more
VIDEO: Dan Siegel on Embracing the Energy and Creativity of the Adolescent Mind
Why Adolescent Behavior is More Than Just Raging HormonesIn his Symposium address, Dan Siegel challenged some common myths about adolescence and suggested that the aspects of adolescence that can drive us... Read more
My Client Invited Me to a Family Barbecue
Five Clinicians Give Their TakeA therapist recently moved to a new town and discovered that his client's daughter attends the same school as his son. The client recently... Read more
My Client Keeps Checking His Phone! (Part Two)
Five More Clinicians Give Their TakeOur last Clinician’s Quandary received an overwhelming number of responses. Here are a few more that didn’t make it into Part One but offer other useful... 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
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
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
End-of-Session Bombshells
Handling Doorknob MomentsHow to handle end-of-session bombshells therapeutically—and still wrap up on time. 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
Comfort Me
Embracing Grief in a LaundromatConfronting grief in a laundromat. 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
My Client Uses Me in Inappropriate Hypothetical Examples
Six Clinicians Give Their Take on This Tricky Clinical ScenarioA male client uses his therapist in hypothetical examples, which the therapist finds inappropriate. Recently, when they were discussing healthy dating habits... 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
Translating Coaching Into Therapy
The Benefits and the BoundariesClinicians interested in applying coaching skills in psychotherapy believe that working more from a collaborative partnership position—like a personal... Read more
Becoming a Therapist for Each Other
How to Deepen Couples TherapyHow to address one partner’s long-term issues in couples therapy without derailing work on the current relationship. Read more
The Challenge of Helping the People Pleaser
Setting Boundaries Can Be RiskyHelping clients set boundaries can be a risky business, especially when people pleasing has been a lifelong strategy. * Commentary by Courtney Armstrong 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
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
VIDEO: The Hearing
A Therapist Shares Her Most Transformative SessionIn our own small way, the Networker has tried to revive the ancient, tribal practice of storytelling. At our third annual Symposium storytelling event, Kirsten... Read more
VIDEO: Valeria Chuba on Male Sexuality in the Age of #MeToo
Is Male Sexuality Inherently Violent?In the wake of the #MeToo movement, men are reevaluating the way they approach courtship, relationships, gender roles, and love. Their therapists must switch... Read more
Taking on the largely unnamed complexities of the #MeToo movement for men, this issue explores how therapists can help men respond to women’s experiences in... Read more
Silent and Confused
Opening Conversations with Men in the Wake of #MeTooMost men publicly support #MeToo, but privately—very privately, often too privately even to share with their intimate partners—some are disoriented and... 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
The Challenge of the Healing Apology
Highlights from Symposium 2018At this cultural moment of the #MeToo movement, which has heightened awareness of a broad range of transgressions, psychologist and bestselling author Harriet... Read more
Our Myths about Sexuality
Highlights from Symposium 2018Esther Perel called on the Symposium audience to challenge the various myths, especially those about male sexuality, that get in the way of deeper relational... Read more
The New Science of Couples Therapy
Highlights from Symposium 2018In their featured address, the Gottmans explored what research has revealed about the crucial role the brain’s seven different command systems can play in... Read more
My First Client, My Best Teacher
From an Evening of Storytelling 2018A challenging client, who won't speak or swallow, teaches a therapist just starting out how to find her own voice. Read more