Professional Development

Therapists should not only be aware of their prejudices toward higher-weight clients, but should commit themselves to challenge those attitudes as well. Read more

As the man responsible for the previous edition, the foremost critic of DSM-5 is perhaps the last person you’d expect to trash this latest, biggest version. Read more

Lynn Grodzki shares about speaking with audiences about your therapy practice and how to leave your audience wanting more. Read more

Most clients have automatic habits of thinking, feeling, and verbalizing experiences that imprison them in a world of gray sameness. How do we help them... Read more

Changes in the habitual attitudes and behaviors that shape our lives rarely happen as the result of psychological epiphanies or emotional catharsis. Most... Read more

Some people can drink to excess for years without experiencing the negative consequences that can destroy their lives. So when does someone cross the tenuous... Read more

When routines and habits become as lifeless as the manner in which one brushes one’s teeth, when the choreography of one’s existence resembles a... Read more

The expectation of a full caseload of clients who don’t question the length or expense of treatment belongs to a former age. Like it or not, therapists who... Read more

What do you say to potential clients when they first call you or come in for a consultation? We may resist the idea, but in this initial phase, therapists face... Read more

Unless DSM more firmly joins the march toward biological psychiatry, it’s going to be left behind by NIMH. Read more

Peer consultation groups offer all kinds of rich possibilities for learning and collegial support---as long as you set them up properly. Read more

The pioneers in our field—Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls, Salvador Minuchin, and others—all recognized that they were providing... Read more

Wonder if Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man ever needed couples therapy? What might a family therapist say about the sibling rivalry of the Super Mario Bros? It’s time... Read more

There are advantages to integrating an in-depth understanding of traditional therapy with a more coaching-oriented style—but therapists shouldn't lose sight... Read more

A therapist from a working-class background finds himself on a surprising mid-career journey into the belly of 21st-century capitalism as an executive coach. Read more

While the “empty chair” was once identified as a popular Gestalt therapy technique, for many therapists today, faced with empty appointment hours... Read more

You never get a second chance to have a first session, so make the most of it. Read more

What if you could predict how well a client would respond to psychotherapy? What if a simple test could tell you whether a patient needed psychodynamic therapy... Read more

The American Psychiatric Association is scheduled to publish the much-delayed fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) by May 2013. With... Read more

With nearly eight million Americans affected by the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and tens of thousands of troops returning from military... Read more

- Mental health systems under stress - The timing of trauma treatment - The revolt against DSM-5 Read more

A modest proposal about how to get out of your cubbyhole, enliven your conversations with others in the field, and experience a new kind of professional... Read more

Emerging from their monastic little cells, 3,000 psychotherapists had a schmooze-fest celebrating the power of face-to-face connection and joined forces to... Read more

Therapists usually enter the field because they’re drawn to it and have innate capacities to do the work. But whether they excel depends largely on their... Read more

We all have stories about the bureaucracies that stifle clinical creativity and seem to exist primarily to generate meaningless paperwork. Here’s a tale... Read more

A close-up look at a 20-year, multinational study that captures the heart of therapists’ aspirations—and perhaps the soul of our professional identity. Read more

That first session with a new client can be crucial to the success or failure of treatment. Read more

While many therapists like to trust their intuition, research shows how often "gut instinct" can lead us astray. Read more

"I realized that I'd never succeed as a therapist here unless I loosened up my customary boundaries between my professional and personal selves." Read more

A tipping point has been reached in the impact that psychotherapy research results, no matter of interest only among a small circle of academic, are going to... Read more