The Larger Conversation

Ideas that stretch our cultural perspectives
Article April 8, 2025

Do I Have to Forgive to Heal?

Examining the Role of Forgiveness in Trauma Recovery

What does it mean to forgive, anyway? And do trauma survivors really need to forgive their abusers in order to heal? Read more

Article March 17, 2025

Body Grief

How Do We Trust Our Changing Bodies?

In the wake of a chronic illness, a body image advocate challenges toxic narratives about what it means to have a healthy body. Read more

Article March 7, 2025

The Wilderness Therapy Controversy

Lifelong Trauma or Lifesaving Treatment?

An unflinching look into a shadowy corner of the for-profit troubled teen industry: wilderness therapy. Read more

Article March 7, 2025

Parenting a Neurodivergent Child

Scenes from a Long, Lonely Journey

A mother’s lonely quest to help her undiagnosed Autistic child leads her on a wild goose chase for solutions. Read more

Article March 7, 2025

Unlearning Behaviorism

The Mindshift of PDA-Informed Care

Tried-and-true behavioral strategies have been failing spectacularly in households with Pathologically Demand Avoidant children. Helping PDA families feel safe... Read more

Article March 7, 2025

What is Faceblindness?

When Brain Architecture Impacts Therapy

Therapists tend to assume all their clients can visualize safe places and past experiences. But some can’t! Read more

Article March 7, 2025

Inside The PDA Safe Circle

Supporting Vulnerable Nervous Systems in Chronic Distress

Vulnerable nervous systems that are in chronic distress require a unique approach to understanding and creating a felt sense of safety. Read more

Article March 7, 2025

The Transgender Community in Crisis

Confronting the Political Erasure of Trans and Nonbinary Identities

The impact of a series of executive orders targeting trans and nonbinary people has been immediate and devastating. How can therapists help? Read more

Article March 7, 2025

Healing a Lifetime of Neurodivergent Trauma

Accommodation, Validation, and Autistic Attunement

For many Autistic people, the trauma they carry is a result of society treating them like broken neurotypicals. Neuro-affirming care begins with providing... Read more

Article March 7, 2025

Autism and Disordered Eating

What You May Be Missing and Misdiagnosing

The overlap between autism and eating disorders is poorly understood, even by many eating disorder specialists. Read more

Article March 7, 2025

Neurodiverse Couples Therapy

The Truth about Relationships through a Neurospicy Lens

Couples therapy was designed for neurotypical people—yet we know that neurodivergence is everywhere. How can we better identify, help, and support... Read more

Article March 7, 2025

Today's Autism and Teens

Grappling with Identity, Belonging, and Self-Acceptance

When it comes to teens who’ve found belonging and understanding in the autism community, our job is more about validating than diagnosing. Read more

Article March 7, 2025

Forging a Multicultural Identity

How to Move from Isolation to Fusion

How can we help our clients work through the inner torment of trying to occupy two cultural identities at once when they don’t fully feel they belong to... Read more

Article March 3, 2025

"I Want to Be a Good Mom"

Normalizing Post-Partum Ambivalence in Therapy

Given our culture's incessant messages about the joys of motherhood, it's critical for therapists to help new moms to speak openly and honestly about their... Read more

Article February 5, 2025

Pulling Our Teens Back from Internet Addiction

A Family's Nightmare Search for Help

A family confronts the reality that parents alone are ill-equipped to protect their children from online dangers. Read more

Article January 23, 2025

Can True Love Be Designed?

Transforming How We Experience and Express Love

Discover two models of love and how distinguishing between them can help therapists support clients in designing a conscious relationship. Read more

Article January 13, 2025

9 Top Apps Therapists Recommend to Clients

From Mindfulness to Your Natal Chart

Discover the top therapist-recommended apps to improve your mental health and well-being, including an app that rates mental health apps! Read more

Article January 10, 2025

Breaking the Cycle of High-Functioning Codependency

When Helper’s High Goes Too Far

Many therapists believe their intense care and concern for clients is a form of selfless love. Maybe it’s time to rethink that. Read more

Article January 10, 2025

The Beauty of Longing and Melancholy

Susan Cain Celebrates the Sensitive Client

"Bittersweet" invites us to better understand and celebrate the wistful, sensitive people in our lives—and in our therapy practices. Read more

Article January 10, 2025

The Sacred Work of Heartbreak

Relinquishing the God-like Fantasy of Love

In a society where most people spend more time on dating apps than in places of worship, the pursuit of a romantic partner has become a holy quest. Read more

Article January 10, 2025

5 Therapy Trends to Watch in 2025

The Future of Diagnosis, Trauma Treatment, Psychedelics, and More

These hot takes from Steve Hayes, Nadine Burke Harris, Ruth Lanius, and others will keep you informed and prepared for what's changing in the field of... Read more

Article January 10, 2025

The Spiritual Therapist

Healing and the Secular Priesthood

Most therapists don’t shy away from discussing charged topics like sex and drugs. But religion and spirituality? That’s a different story—one that a... Read more

Article January 10, 2025

Listening as the Ultimate Spiritual Act

From Passive Process to Active Practice

How do we change our habit of defensive listening and make emotional presence our practice? Read more

Article November 26, 2024

Easing the Pain of Political Polarization

What Do We Worship as Therapists?

Being in relationship with those who are different from us can be difficult, but it’s what we need to build bridges that support connection and unity. Read more

Article November 11, 2024

4 Things Therapists Should Consider About Political Polarization

Maintaining Client Trust in a Divided Nation

Unless we want to let down our clients and lose public trust, therapists need to figure out how to navigate a politically polarized world. Read more

Article November 7, 2024

Saving No-Fault Divorce

What's at Stake for Women in Abusive Marriages?

The current political push to eliminate no-fault divorce is dangerous, particularly for women in abusive relationships. Read more

Article November 7, 2024

When Your Client Goes to Family Court

The Truth about Documenting Sessions

How you document sessions with clients in emotionally abusive relationships can either help or harm them in family court. Read more

Article November 7, 2024

Male Abuse Survivors

Bringing a Fuller Picture of Suffering to Light

Why aren't we doing more to support male survivors of intimate partner violence? Read more

Article November 7, 2024

Just because a relationship isn't physically violent doesn't mean emotional abuse won't turn violent. Read more

Article November 7, 2024

Healing the Covert Narcissist

When Early Trauma Meets Entitlement

Entitlement, the characteristic that best indicates when coercive control is narcissistically driven, makes treating perpetrators challenging—but not... Read more

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