Psychotherapy Process
Explore the dynamics and stages of the psychotherapy process, from the initial client assessment to the therapeutic interventions that promote healing. This section provides insights into the complexities of therapeutic relationships and strategies to enhance treatment effectiveness.
272 articles found
The “Good” and the “Bad”: Identity-Based Transference and Countertransference in Co-Led Group Therapy
Co-leadership, in which two clinicians jointly facilitate a therapy group, is a widely used and valued format in group psychotherapy (Rabin, 1967; Yalom & Leszcz, 2005). Advantages of co-leadership include the ability to have dual points of view within the group, divide clinical roles, model healthy interpersonal relationships for members, and the ability for a […]
Kainaz Patravala, PsyD
November 3, 2026
Humanistic Therapy for Young Adults Diagnosed with Bipolar 1 Disorder
Introduction As noted in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5-TR Edition (5th ed., Text Rev.; American Psychological Association [APA], 2022), bipolar disorder is diagnosed on a continuum ranging from cyclothymia to bipolar 1 disorder. Bipolar 1 disorder is a form of bipolar illness characterized by the manifestation of a manic episode that […]
Michael Pica, PsyD
October 31, 2026
When the Record Becomes the Treatment: Psychotherapy, Documentation, and the Clinician’s Double Bind
The 2026 Lindsay Clancy trial has placed mental health treatment under unusually intense public scrutiny. Testimony and cross-examination have raised questions about assessment, diagnosis, medication management, continuity of care, telehealth, documentation, and what clinicians recognized or failed to recognize before a catastrophic outcome. Those questions matter. Yet the case is most useful to the profession […]
Limor Ast, LMFT
October 28, 2026
When the Map Becomes the Territory: A Model of Interpersonal Meaning-Making
Abstract Interpersonal experiences do not speak for themselves. We observe what another person does, but we still must make sense of what that behavior means. We remember events while also reconstructing their meaning, and information learned later through conversation, context, or subsequent events can become part of how we understand the original experience. Research in […]
Emily Williams, MA
October 26, 2026
The Subjective Side of Objectivity: The Person Behind the Therapist
If you ask a surgeon why they became a doctor, you will probably hear a story about a grandmother having heart surgery, a brother fighting cancer, or a childhood spent in and out of hospital waiting rooms. No one asks the surgeon whether their grandmother’s bypass will make them feel shaky in the operating room. […]
Shoshana Twersky, PsyD
October 19, 2026
Dancing with Clients: When Helping Becomes Something Else
Internship Like many therapists I know, I began my internship in grade school. I grew up in a dysfunctional family. Dad was an alcoholic; Mom was depressed. While they were together, they fought. After they divorced, their illnesses intensified. My childhood was anxious and confusing, like swimming in water with a strong undertow, always at […]
Steve Hauptman, L.C.S.W.
October 5, 2026
Identifying and Intervening with Patients Who Have Been Choked During Sex
Within the past decade, a growing number of adolescents and young adults have engaged in sexual choking or strangulation (SC/S; Sharman et al., 2025). Although it is normalized among many young people, the practice poses risks to their health and safety. Sexual asphyxiation, or “choking” (the latter being a popularized term), is actually “strangulation” because […]
Maria Turkson, Ph.D. + 1 more
September 29, 2026
The Family That Never Arrives: An Integrative Framework for Attachment, Ambiguous Loss, and the Ghost Family
A woman receives a warm text from her mother. Hope fills her heart. Maybe this time we can talk honestly. The woman changes all of her plans and contacts her mother ready to repair years of distance. The conversation remains pleasant until she mentions something painful. The words barely make it into the air before […]
Emily Williams, MA
September 9, 2026
Digital Therapeutics and Mental Health Apps: What Should Therapists Know?
In this day and age, the vast majority of our therapy clients have smartphones. Many clients are using, or at least monitoring, their phone nearly constantly throughout the day. Clients use their phones for entertainment and social media, but also practical daily living tasks like communication, navigation, checking their finances, and even monitoring their physical […]
Noel Cooper, PsyD
September 9, 2026
The Moment Before the Intervention: What Informs a Therapist’s Next Move in Complex Trauma Treatment
The client enters the office and begins the ritual. The shoes come off, the blinds get tilted down, the lamps get adjusted, the phone goes face-down on the coffee table, the clock gets turned away. The therapist watches quietly. Over time, these small acts have become how this client crosses into the therapeutic space, whether […]
Shoshana Twersky, PsyD
September 7, 2026
When Love Hurts: Acute and Post-Traumatic Attachment Activation
Adults frequently present for psychotherapy in acute distress following the actual or threatened loss of a romantic partner. For some, betrayal, rejection, infidelity, breakup, or divorce can destabilize a significant relationship, along with one’s source of coregulation and sense of self. Unlike bereavement, these losses involve withdrawal by a still-living attachment figure, which sustains hope, […]
Shannon L. McIntyre, Ph.D.
August 11, 2026
Psychotherapy Snippet
I’m not sure how I got myself entangled in these ropes. He beckons me with kindness in his eyes, maintains respectful distance. No doubt it’s a ploy. I creep ahead, both gloves raised. He waits barehanded, one elbow on the turnbuckle. Still compelled, my next foray is simple desperation. Clinching smoke, I jab in vain. […]
Christopher Scribner, PhD, MFA
August 7, 2026