Anxiety & Depression
Rage Rooms
Stress Relief’s New Darlings?Are rage rooms a passing fad? Or a symptom of a larger issue? Read more
A Therapist's 40-Year Learning Curve
Maybe the Hard Way Is How We Learn BestOver 40 years, a long-term client gives a therapist an opportunity to recover from clinical mistakes and apply new frameworks and modalities. Read more
Escaping the Rut of Regret
Five Creative Approaches to Letting GoA client has a lot of regret about past decisions he’s made, and although his therapist has talked with him about them at length, the client still can't seem... Read more
On Turning Pain into Power
An Interview with Dr. ShefaliThe clinician and bestselling author discusses her new book and what it means to "alchemize" pain. Read more
To Interrupt Anxiety, Try Singing
An Interview with Margaret WehrenbergOver the last year and a half, therapists have been pushed to the limit listening to clients worry, ruminate, grieve, and suffer in magnified ways. And we’ve... Read more
The Physics of Vulnerability
And the Courage to Show UpBestselling author Brené Brown’s opening keynote address ignited the Symposium audience with its call to take risks and have the courage to be vulnerable. Read more
Hanging Out with Dick Van Dyke
A Lesson in Stepping UpAn encounter with a superstar teaches a young woman about courage. Read more
The Ambivalence Trap
Liberating Ourselves from the Pursuit of PerfectionA psychiatrist questions taking her own medicine. Read more
First, Make the Bed
A Gentle Path through DepressionIn the throes of depression, a therapist searches for a magic bullet. 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
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
Vulnerable Together
Therapists Share Their Own Mental Health StrugglesDespite our best intentions, sometimes our problems grow so big that they slam into our work—and the result can be surprising. Read more
Borrowed Tears
A Therapist Reclaims His Buried Past—and Upends His PracticeWhen a therapist finally confronts his tendency to dissociate, his work takes a life-changing turn. Read more
When Therapists Struggle with Suicidality
Releasing Ourselves from Stigma and ShameMany 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
Editor's Note: September/October 2021
Who Heals the Healers?Many therapists fear coming out about their own mental health struggles, even in front of colleagues. The heartening news is that it’s beginning to change. Read more
The Pager Incident
From Therapeutic Stagnation to GrowthA decades-long therapeutic relationship shares some of the same elements as a marriage of similar length: the commitment to stay, the ups and downs, the... Read more
Grief Anniversaries
Acknowledging Loss a Year LaterIt’s critical for clinicians to recognize anniversary reactions. When clients describe their experiences as depression, we naturally think of solutions like... Read more
The Year of Canceled Plans
Coping with Loss as DisappointmentAs all of us in the United States move into the coming months, a full year into COVID life, our personal losses will come into focus. If we don’t process... Read more
The Myth of Infallibility
A Therapist Comes to Terms with a Client’s SuicideWhen it comes to coping with suicide deaths, we therapists need to let go of our superhero expectations. Read more
Dispatches from the Yellow Brick Road
A Journey Through Delusion and BackA 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
Casting a Wider Therapeutic Net
Dr. Joy on Therapy for Black GirlsThe founder of a rapidly growing online community helps young Black women candidly discuss and destigmatize mental health issues. Read more
Evoking the Inner Artist: May/June 2021
How to Replace Discomfort with CreativityVulnerability, doubt, fear, and uncertainty—feelings most people try to avoid—are essential to cultivating creativity. Read more
Loving Ourselves Into Safety
Resilience and Strength in Perilous TimesA 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
Hip Hop Therapy
The Healing Power of Giving Kids the MicThe process of creating beats and lyrics is rooted in therapeutic practices. At one South Bronx high school, a school social worker has traded the therapy room... Read more
Access for All
Tackling Therapy’s Biggest ChallengeDenise is slumped in her chair, declaring that she’s not a believer in therapy. A middle-aged, Indigenous, transgender woman, she’s heard too many bullshit... Read more
Facing the Waves
Therapy in the Surf CircleLearning to surf requires awareness, focus, and flexibility—perhaps the most essential qualities for navigating the complexities of life. For some young... Read more
On the Death of My Friend
A Reflection on Bipolar Disorder and SuicideHelping our community understand the suicide of one of modern psychotherapy’s most cherished public figures. Read more
The Grief We Hold
Loving in the Midst of LossOur soul and our psyche know how to grieve. We don't need to learn it. It's not a technique. What we need to learn is not to avoid it. Read more
This issue's practice tools to use with clients right away. Read more
Reflections on Rich
Friends Celebrate His Life and LegacySharing how Rich Simon impacted our lives—and the field as a whole. Read more