First Person

Four simple ingredients will become bread, whether you do everything right or not. The result may not be perfect, but it doesn’t have to be. Read more

Children need an adult who provides safety, attunement, empathy, acceptance, and boundaries. Can a sibling be the next best thing? Read more

Sometimes the road to connection involves a painful separation. Read more

There’s magic in therapy—all types—the most astonishing of which only happens when you stop trying to put on a flawless show. Read more

When becoming a therapist feels like part of our genetic makeup. Read more

Over 40 years, a long-term client gives a therapist an opportunity to recover from clinical mistakes and apply new frameworks and modalities. Read more

As a family therapy trainee in the 70s, it was easy to feel like part of a larger revolution. Read more

An encounter with a superstar teaches a young woman about courage. Read more

A psychiatrist questions taking her own medicine. Read more

In the throes of depression, a therapist searches for a magic bullet. Read more

A clinician with OCD stands up to stigma. Read more

I know this experience will give me more knowledge to help others—that’s how I have to reframe it. As I’ve recovered, I’ve felt how strong and... Read more

When you do the work that we do, it’s important to find ways to take care of yourself. You can’t always carve out lots of time to devote to self-care, but... Read more

Sometimes, trying to stay calm under pressure sets you up for dealing with it in isolation. It feels counterintuitive to head toward vulnerability. That was my... Read more

It isn’t easy to learn self-care. Sometimes, you need to go through a fiery furnace to arrive at a place of centeredness. Read more

Despite our best intentions, sometimes our problems grow so big that they slam into our work—and the result can be surprising. Read more

When a therapist finally confronts his tendency to dissociate, his work takes a life-changing turn. Read more

Many therapists wrestle with the same problems we help our clients tame. But the myth that therapists are masters of their own mental health makes it... Read more

Finding solace after the death of an absent father. Read more

A terrifying journey shows just how much psychotic delusions are embedded in the unquestioned essence of a person’s thinking—as true as ocean, ground, and... Read more

What functions do illusions serve for our clients? Some may be harmful, but there might be occasions when the benefits of self-deception justify the costs. Read more

When our kids no longer need us to be problem solvers, what do we become? Read more

A cancer diagnosis, while devastating, can be a powerful teacher. Through the fear and anxiety, we can discover how to reliably calm ourselves and ask for... Read more

What are therapists doing to expand access to those too often shut out of the mental health system? Read more

Funny and flagrantly caring in a way the muttering writers and editors around him can only marvel at, Mike’s long been the company’s warmest heart, always... Read more

Rich Simon's enduring impact on our field are what we’re celebrating in this issue—and there’s so much to celebrate it could easily fill a bookcase of... Read more

Helping our community understand the suicide of one of modern psychotherapy’s most cherished public figures. Read more

Every decade, on the anniversary of the Networker, Rich reflected on the trends and trajectories he’d witnessed in the field. This piece tells the story, in... Read more

Sometimes the act of describing something vague or giving it a name dispels the vagueness and makes it come alive. “Naming something” was probably Rich’s... Read more

In his Editor’s Notes and Symposium speeches, Rich always told a story, one that drew from his own life while capturing a collective momentum in the field... Read more