Relationships
The Rescue
Finding the Courage to Let GoA whirlwind romance turns into a troubled relationship. Read more
How To Stop Couples Conflict Before It Even Starts
...And the Five Life Factors That Contribute to Intensifying Anger ArousalTherapy often involves entirely too much talking about new skills the client should put into place, but not enough rehearsing. Just as exposure training... Read more
Consensual Nonmonogamy
When Is It Right for Your Clients?In past decades, the only alternatives to involuntary celibacy in a relationship were affairs or divorce. But more and more therapists are recognizing... Read more
VIDEO: Helen Fisher on the Truth about Adultery
Match.com's Scientific Advisor Weighs InIn a world of new and emerging norms about commitment, intimacy, the right to personal happiness, and open relationships are there also new patterns? Has the... Read more
VIDEO: Julie Gottman on When Partners Get Flooded
What Works in Couples TherapyThe hallmark of John and Julie Gottmans’ work is taking the rare step of actually observing the broadest sample of couples they can find, rather than relying... Read more
VIDEO: Stepfamilies: Great for Parents, Grief for Kids?
Patricia Papernow On The Double-Reality New Stepfamilies FacePatricia Papernow, an expert in working with stepfamilies, helps us understand the fundamental issues and unique hurdles most stepfamilies must navigate. Read more
Broken Heart Syndrome
Can It Run in the Family?Can broken hearts run in a family? Read more
VIDEO: Combining Trauma Treatment with Family Therapy
Making Sure Treatment Sticks Outside the Therapy RoomFar too often, trauma survivors appear to progress in therapy and then go home and fall right back into the same old patterns of negative emotion and... Read more
VIDEO: Julie Gottman on Making Couples' Life Dreams Come True
The Importance of Creating "Shared Meaning"According to renowned couples therapist Julie Gottman, one of the main predictors of a romantic relationship's success or failure is how well partners can... Read more
Is It Possible to Divorce Well?
Three Buddhist Practices for Helping Partners Split AmicablyThree simple steps from Buddhism to help hostile spouses cultivate a spirit of nonviolence, generosity, and compassion toward their ex-partners. Read more
VIDEO: Janet Edgette on Getting Real with Kids in Therapy
The Perils of Being Too EmpathicWe all want to build strong relationships with our clients, but when working with adolescents, don’t overdo the empathy, says therapist Janet Edgette... Read more
VIDEO: When One Partner Wants Out
Discernment Counseling for the Mixed-Agenda CoupleIn at least 30 percent of couples who come to therapy, partners enter the consulting room with different agendas---one wants a divorce, the other wants to save... Read more
Inside Hookup Culture
Are We Having Fun Yet?On college campuses across the country, hooking up has all but replaced traditional, old-school dating rituals. With its rawness and frantic incoherence... Read more
The Sex-Starved Marriage
Practical Tips for Closing the Desire GapIn a sex-starved marriage, one spouse longs for more physical touch or sex than the other, sometimes placing the marriage at risk of infidelity and divorce. Read more
Transforming Sexual Narratives
From Dysfunction to DiscoveryTherapists too often ignore the importance of the longstanding, often unconscious stories that partners carry with them into their sexual relationship. Helping... Read more
Lessons from the Love Lab
The Science of Couples TherapyThe pioneers who birthed couples and family therapy never paused to scienti cally study the relationships they treated. Now, after systematically observing and... Read more
VIDEO: Overcoming Barriers to Self-Compassion
Tim Desmond on Self-Compassion in TherapyIn this video, Tim walks us through his process for engaging a client who’s resistant to self-compassion. It’s a great step-by-step example that will give... Read more
Putting Clients with Asperger's Syndrome on the Path to Success
How Adding Brain Science to Therapy Normalizes Living with Asperger'sAdults with Asperger's syndrome often behave as if they were confused actors walking onto a stage and being the only ones who don't know the lines or the plot... Read more
We’ll Never Be Here Again
Stopping to Listen on a Late-life PassageJim and I just celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary by taking a trip to the Pacific Northwest. We travel differently than many of our friends, avoiding... Read more
Brave New Couples
What Can Science Tell Us about the Changing Face of Couplehood Today?Susan Johnson, developer of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, discusses what the science of love says about what couples can expect when they rebel too much... Read more
Addressing Race Therapeutically in Black Relationships
Testimonials from the 2015 Psychotherapy Networker SymposiumToday I attended a workshop called “Working with Black Couples: Overcoming Myths and Stereotypes,” led by Dr. Christiana Awosan. Being an African American... Read more
VIDEO: Men and Intimacy
A Relational Approach to Helping Male ClientsAccording to Patrick Dougherty, the biggest problem men have in psychotherapy isn’t that intimacy and the language of emotion is such foreign territory, but... Read more
Larger than Life
Marianne Walters Was Family Therapy's Foremost FeministMarianne Walters didn't invent a brilliant new therapeutic paradigm, publish a large and magisterial body of research, or establish her own unique school of... Read more
Reinventing Couplehood
Intimacy and Commitment in the Age of Consumer MarriageEsther Perel, a couples therapist whose TED talk has had more than 5 million views, believes that it’s time to challenge the mismatch between the romantic... Read more
VIDEO: After Infidelity: Focus on the Feelings, Not the Facts
How Understanding the Desires HelpsWhat’s the true nature of your feelings for your lover? An honest answer to that question is what a therapist needs in order to help a couple decide how to... Read more
Rocking On!
From grief to rebirthA daughter marvels as her mother goes from grief to an exuberant rebirth. Read more
It Takes One to Tango
You Don't Need Both Partners to Do Couples TherapyYou don't need both partners to do couples therapy; working with individuals isn't impossible, it's just based on different premises. Read more
Passionate Marriage
Helping Couples Decode the Language of Their SexualityHow couples behave in bed is a remarkablv authentic expression of their emotional connection-or lack of it. Read more
Side By Side
No creative artist is an islandAn investigation of some of history’s most famous creative teams leads to the conclusion that no artist is an island. Read more
VIDEO: Beating Relapse to the Punch
How to Preempt Anxiety RelapseBefore David Burns wraps up therapy with recovered clients, he makes sure they’re well prepared for relapse. In this brief video clip, he breaks down the... Read more










