Clinical Skills & Experience

Clearly, therapists must always respond with empathy, understanding, and attuned clinical expertise to clients’ suffering. But the theme of this issue is... Read more

As therapists, we’re taught to be master detectives who methodically investigate our clients’ symptoms in search of a “culprit”—the source of their... Read more

It used to be an axiom for clinicians that therapeutic conversation and politics don’t mix. But in this high-stakes presidential election, some therapists... Read more

Could eliminating blocks in couples therapy be as simple as learning where to tap? Read more

When it comes to eating disorders, therapy can be a matter of life and death. Read more

Today, with all the presumed advances therapists have made in reducing mental suffering from previously untreatable conditions, is there a solution, a cure, a... Read more

It’s now clear that much of what therapists do for people suffering from OCD actually worsens the problem. Providing empathic reassurance, rational... Read more

OCD in children can operate like a kind of cult leader, demanding acceptance of an extreme view of a perilous reality and offering solutions that can’t be... Read more

How Kübler-Ross’s stage model of dealing with loss can help grieving clients heal. Read more

Sometimes there’s no need for a detailed assessment of a client’s entire life history and their family relationships, especially when the desired outcome... Read more

An young woman with autism celebrates a very special night. Read more

What do the rules of comedy have to do with the practice of psychotherapy? More than you think. Read more

An interview with the author of The 5 Love Languages, a book that's sold over 8 million copies, explains its remarkable success. Read more

The brain endlessly churns out predictions about what will happen next, and when it comes to therapy outcomes, these expectations matter. Read more

At this year's Symposium, we invited veteran therapists to tell their true stories of their “most unforgettable session,” and those stories are the focus... Read more

Of all the meaningful sessions that take place in a therapists's career, what makes certain ones stand out? We asked six widely respected clinicians to tell... Read more

At a time in which our society seems immersed in a toxic stew of fear and anger, this year's Symposium provided a celebration of human values and ideas that... Read more

Have you ever wondered if some men in your practice are simply unable to listen, connect, and empathize with their partners? According to Pat Love, it’s more... Read more

An innovative way of working with people who are hypersensitive to criticism. Read more

A school counselor’s patient work with a sad, uncommunicative young boy demonstrates what a difference just being there can make. * Commentary by Janet... Read more

The increasingly accessible and inexpensive technology of virtual reality now enables us to incorporate digital Skinner boxes in our practices that can enhance... Read more

It’s long been the conventional wisdom among couples therapists that if couples fix the emotional issues in their relationship, their sexual lives will... Read more

Therapists need to be prepared to go against the conventional clinical wisdom in helping later-life recouplers and stepfamilies handle the unique challenges... Read more

Toward the end of her life, a woman turns back the clock by performing the goofy ballet of her youth. Read more

This March, poet, storyteller, and philosopher David Whyte—this year’s Symposium keynoter—returns to Washington DC to share his wisdom. Whyte specializes... Read more

Traumatic experiences are often the root of athletic and other kinds of performance blocks. Read more

Author Steve Silberman discusses what it means to view autistic people as individuals seeing the world in a different way, rather than just a checklist of... Read more

A son remembers a distant father and the bittersweet ritual that bonded them. Read more

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

The pioneers who birthed couples and family therapy never paused to scienti cally study the relationships they treated. Now, after systematically observing and... Read more