Clinician's Quandary

A therapist is offering teletherapy during the coronavirus pandemic, and it's working well for most of her clients. But her anxious client Sam has repeatedly... Read more

Clinicians weigh in on how to keep therapy work on track during the telehealth sessions. Read more

Marcia's therapist has switched to doing teletherapy. But as a single mother of two adolescent girls all quarantining in a small apartment, sessions have... Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically shifted how almost every therapist works nowadays, in ways both expected and unexpected. Although we’re all in this... Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically shifted how almost every therapist works nowadays, in ways both expected and unexpected. Although we’re all in this... Read more

A therapist finds her client attractive and says their conversations sometimes border on flirtatious. She says she'd never act on these feelings, but worries... Read more

Mark has anger issues, and his therapist finds herself getting extremely reactive when he loses his temper in therapy. Recently, he called her “a joke” and... Read more

A therapist is working with a couple in which one partner is clearly disengaged in therapy. She shows up and says she’s interested in improving the... Read more

A new client who survived a harrowing car crash is going through a deep depression. When she recounts her story, her therapist feels unusually affected, as if... Read more

A client sees his perfectionism as an advantage, even though it ramps up his anxiety, exacerbates his sense of shame, and keeps him living a very rigid life... Read more

Sandra has been struggling with depression for many years. A psychiatrist has prescribed her an antidepressant, but she’s told her therapist she doesn’t... Read more

A new clinician is working with a client who’s expressed some suicidality at times. She's worried about him and thinks it might be a good idea to have him... Read more

A therapist recommends exercises like journaling prompts and guided mediations that she feels would benefit her clients between sessions. Although they seem... Read more

Recently, a therapist has found herself losing steam. She mentally checks out when clients are talking, and constantly feels exhausted. She worries this... Read more

Sara had been attending weekly therapy for three months. Her therapist thought they'd developed a strong bond, but Sara has missed her last two sessions. Her... Read more

Diedre was widowed about three years ago, but was excited to tell her therapist about a man she's started dating. She's very happy. As her therapist heard... Read more

Fourteen-year-old client Tyler’s parents brought him to therapy because they say he rarely engages with classmates or teachers, isn’t interested in... Read more

Raisa is a sophomore in high school, and tells her therapist that the girls in her class are bullying her with insults like “slut” and “whore.” Her... Read more

A therapist works from his home office, which means clients sometimes observe elements of his personal life. He's had clients ask about his electric car... Read more

Mark and his wife, Nicole, have been in couples therapy for almost six months. But Mark recently requested an individual session, where he revealed he recently... Read more

Asha recently gave her therapist a homemade necklace, which he accepted, thinking it innocuous enough. Now, she brings it up almost every session... Read more

Should you do when your client is behind on their session payments? Five clinicians weigh in on this Clinician's Quandary. Read more

A therapist recently joined a few online dating apps after finding herself newly single. She's seen several clients come up in these apps, and suspects they've... Read more

A therapist recently moved to a new town and discovered that his client's daughter attends the same school as his son. The client recently... Read more

Our last Clinician’s Quandary received an overwhelming number of responses. Here are a few more that didn’t make it into Part One but offer other useful... Read more

Sometimes during sessions, Jonathan checks his phone for emails or updates, even though his therapist has asked him not to. She suspects Jonathan's... Read more

A male client uses his therapist in hypothetical examples, which the therapist finds inappropriate. Recently, when they were discussing healthy dating habits... Read more

Diane has just announced she intends to move overseas to marry a man she recently met online. This raises an alarm for her therapist, but he's unsure about... Read more