One of my best friends is a skilled storyteller. During our internship year, she would regale the staff of the counseling center with tales of suspicious occurrences surrounding Area 51, the “secret” government location where UFOs are purportedly stored and studied. She would wax on about mysterious sightings and disappearances with oratory inflections akin to […]
Despite our best efforts as therapists or supervisors, some clients will fail to improve while in treatment. A significant amount of research has been conducting seeking to identify the client, therapist, treatment, and process variables associated with client change. A number of methods have been developed to decrease the number of clients who stay the […]
Lately I’ve been thinking about therapist authenticity. Since moving to private practice three years ago I have worked primarily with adult survivors of childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Due to years of chronic violence during developmentally important periods, clients’ life experiences are typically characterized by an insecure (often disorganized) attachment style, a chronically activated […]
What is BDSM? BDSM is an acronym that refers to Bondage & Discipline, Dominance & Submission, or Sadism & Masochism between consenting adults. It may be considered a practice, a lifestyle, an orientation, and a subculture. However, many people may engage in BDSM practices while not identifying with this label. Other terms you may hear […]
As the multiracial population is vastly growing in the United States (Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011), it is important to know about the unique experiences that affect multiracial people, as these can arise in psychotherapy or during casual interactions in the clinic or office. Multiracial people are racially and culturally diverse and identify with two […]
Jeremy Holmes (2014) offers here a book, rich with the wisdom of an experienced clinician, that celebrates the imagination as an essential component of the psychotherapeutic process, using examples from literature to provide insight into important aspects of clinical work. He argues that literature and psychodynamic therapy share an “aesthetics” based upon a “paradoxical combination […]
The release of the Hoffman Report several weeks before the APA convention immediately precipitated worried conversations about what it meant for our Association as well as about appropriate responses going forward. Many psychologists were concerned simply with understanding what had happened and what it meant; some quickly moved to propose answers (among the many thoughtful […]
Informed by the author’s 37 years of clinical experience with transgender individuals, this article presents an introductory model for clinicians who provide depth psychotherapy to this population. The author points out that primary concerns of transgender individuals in psychotherapy are often the same as most people; yet developing their transgender self without the “mirroring” from […]
When Early Career Psychologists (ECPs) are asked what they want from the professional organizations to which they belong, the answer almost always includes “mentorship.” Yet, mentoring programs can be difficult to get moving off the ground. Perhaps one reason for this is that while it sounds simple in theory, mentorship is actually a complicated endeavor […]
As the family play therapy session drew to a close, my young patient, Madison*, began to begrudgingly return the dollhouse to its usual orderly state and place the simplistic wooden figures back into their bedrooms with care. I remember smiling and playfully nudging Madison to action while patiently listening to a brief, but passionate, protest […]