Professional Development

A therapist is ready for a new challenge, a new context in which to put their clinical skills to work. Here, five clinicians offer practical guidance on... Read more

If you could go back in time and give advice to yourself as a beginning therapist, what would you say? Worry less? Train harder? Practice more self-care... Read more

As experts in any field will tell you, the secret to honing your craft is practice, practice, practice. But a little advice doesn’t hurt either. Here, four... Read more

As 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

A great deal of what therapist's learn comes from experience, trial and error, and hours upon hours sitting across from clients. Five seasoned therapists share... Read more

What does it mean, exactly, to have a professional calling? When does it develop? How does it evolve as we live and grow? As these personal accounts show, a... Read more

A therapist is offering teletherapy during the coronavirus pandemic, and it's working well for most of her clients. But her anxious client Sam has repeatedly... Read more

No person is an island. And surely enough, no therapist hones their craft without a lot of learning and inspiration from others. Three clinicians share the... Read more

As any therapist will tell you, self-care is an integral part of our work. When we take care of ourselves, we take care of our clients. But what does... Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically shifted how almost every therapist works nowadays, in ways both expected and unexpected. Although we’re all in this... Read more

What is a turning point, exactly? And how do you know when you've reached one in your career as a therapist? Whether it's a devastating illness, or a few... Read more

Part of our lives is being a therapist, but it's not the whole thing. Now and looking beyond coronavirus times, how do we make sure we're doing the things we... Read more

As a therapist, I've always liked to work a certain way, in person, face to face in my cozy office. But when the coronavirus hit and I repurposed a guest... Read more

What are the signs that it’s finally time for a therapist to stop seeing clients? Read more

Of the thousands of meaningful sessions that take place in a therapist’s office, certain ones stand out. During the Networker Symposium's evening of... Read more

A therapist is working with a couple in which one partner is clearly disengaged in therapy. She shows up and says she’s interested in improving the... Read more

A new client who survived a harrowing car crash is going through a deep depression. When she recounts her story, her therapist feels unusually affected, as if... Read more

A therapist reflects on a key lesson from his long career: clients don’t necessarily need new answers to their questions—they need new questions. Read more

What horsemanship can teach us about making sure our clients feel seen, heard, and helped. Read more

A client sees his perfectionism as an advantage, even though it ramps up his anxiety, exacerbates his sense of shame, and keeps him living a very rigid life... Read more

Sandra has been struggling with depression for many years. A psychiatrist has prescribed her an antidepressant, but she’s told her therapist she doesn’t... Read more

In 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

Our offices don’t make people well, but they extend an invitation. They provide a comforting consistency in the midst of hard, often unsettling work. So a... Read more

Although it’s not usually acknowledged, change in the consulting room goes both ways. Even as they help clients wrestle with their issues, it’s the rare... Read more

At the 2016 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, Bill Doherty offered his take on how psychotherapy can reassert its cultural relevance by deepening its vision... Read more

Back in 1979, I was a young dance therapy intern at St. Elizabeth’s, the country’s first federally operated psychiatric hospital, which opened in 1855. St... Read more

Therapists who grew up in the communities of color they serve often have the social capital and particular wisdom to better understand clients’ core needs... Read more

Recently, a therapist has found herself losing steam. She mentally checks out when clients are talking, and constantly feels exhausted. She worries this... Read more

What’s the best way to open and close therapy? It’s a question with many answers, but depending on your client, a particular... Read more

Fourteen-year-old client Tyler’s parents brought him to therapy because they say he rarely engages with classmates or teachers, isn’t interested in... Read more