Challenging Cases & Treatment Populations
The Hidden Trauma of Childhood Neglect
What to Make of Too Much of NothingThe way neglect can shape a child’s brain is often misunderstood. Read more
The Amazon Package in Your Waiting Room
Unboxing Anger as a Path to VulnerabilityA client’s anger over his therapist’s environmental choices leads to an important turning point in their work. Read more
3 Tips for Working with Hard-to-Reach Clients
Matching Your Clinical Style with Your Client’s NeedsAre you matching your self-presentation and efforts with your clients' emotional capacity to respond? Read more
"I've Got Nothing to Talk About"
How to Work with Tight-Lipped ClientsWhat do you do when your client comes to session with nothing to say? Longtime experts in the field offer how to get the conversation going. Read more
The Client No One Wants to Treat
What Happens When We Shun Pedophiles in Our PracticesAdvocates are calling on more therapists to consider how they can help people whose inclinations toward minors most of us find abhorrent. Read more
Terry Real on Achieving Breakthrough Results with Difficult Men
Transforming Behaviors by Facing Narcissists, Bullies, and Avoidants Head OnLearn how to work with narcissists, bullies, avoidants and other difficult male clients with leading expert Terry Real. Read more
Covert Narcissism Unmasked
What Are We Really Treating?A covert narcissist’s eagerness to share their suffering can make them feel like ideal clients. And that’s what’s so vexing for clinicians. Read more
Are You A Conflict-Avoidant Therapist?
Harnessing Antagonism in the Therapy RoomFor therapists who shy away from confrontation, harnessing their reactions to an antagonistic client in clinically useful ways may require learning new skills... Read more
Counseling for Adults in Homeless Shelters
Therapy for the StreetsA therapist must abandon his treatment plan to provide mental health services to the homeless population. Read more
When Medication Gets in the Way
Listening, Collaborating, and Helping Clients “Choose Their Own Adventure”"One of my clients takes prescription medication for anxiety and often complains about the negative side effects. I can’t help but feel it’s getting in the... Read more
How Do I Make Therapy Stick?
Creating a Vision, Building Momentum Between Sessions, and MoreSure, your clients may find therapy helpful. But do they find it memorable? How can we get clients to retain all the wonderful information they learn in... Read more
Therapy for People Living with Dementia
Creating Possibilities for Clients and Their FamiliesWith an estimated 6.2 million Americans in need of mental health support tailored to the challenges of dementia, why are so few therapists working with them? Read more
A Feeling of Fullness
Reflections on Therapy with Kids in Foster CareWith plenty of misconceptions about treating traumatized children, one clinician shares why it's a chance to help them share their stories and a personal... Read more
The Narcissistic Client
Four Ways to Break ThroughWhether it's vanity, a failure to take constructive criticism, mistreating family and friends, or lacking empathy for others, clients with narcissistic traits... Read more
Three Myths About Domestic Violence
…And How Social Media is Changing the Way Clients Think About ItBefore talking to your own clients about domestic and intimate partner violence, here are three myths you should know about. Read more
Confessions of a Psychological First Responder
A Different Approach to the Healing CraftA therapist who also provides psychological first aid after critical incidents opens up about his work and shares why it's been the most challenging—and... Read more
Ron Taffel talks with Angela Diaz, Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Center, on how we can tailor our interventions to meet the unique needs of our young... Read more
Is There Meaning in Loss?
Helping Our Clients and Ourselves Navigate Grief WorkMany grief specialists talk about helping clients finding meaning after loss. But often, loss feels meaningless. One therapist working with grieving clients... Read more
My Biggest Challenge as a Therapist
The Hardest Things About PracticeTherapy is hard work. But what are therapy’s biggest challenges, and how do therapists overcome them? Here, five therapists share the clinical challenge that... Read more
The Love Magician
A Therapist Lays Down Her WandThere’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
Activism and Mental Health
A Conversation with Judge Ginger Lerner-WrenNetworker Content Editor Meaghan Winter sat down for a live conversation with Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren, pioneer of America's first mental health court and... Read more
Surrogate Partner Therapy
Crossing Lines or Expanding Boundaries?The debate around surrogate partner therapy. Read more
Community Wisdom
Walking in Balance with Indigenous CulturesNan LittleWalker never formally signed up to be one of my teachers. In fact, I first met her as one of my colleague’s patients. Several years ago, during my... Read more
Editor's Note - May/June 2021
Taking Therapy to New PlacesWhat are therapists doing to expand access to those too often shut out of the mental health system? Read more
The Outcast
A Hard Road to an Unexpected ConnectionHow do you work with a client who intentionally tries to break every rule of therapy, spoken and implicit? Read more
My Angry Client is Getting to Me
Five Clinicians Weigh InMark 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
Stealthy Change, Healthy Change
Three Ways to Practice PresenceDuring my internship after graduate school, I worked as therapist at an intensive out-patient eating disorder (ED) clinic. One of the patients, Amber, was a... Read more
My Nightmare Client, My Greatest Gift
Sometimes Our "Worst" Clients Are Our Best TeachersMy young client, Brian, can reduce even confident mid-life adults to an infantile puddle, one provocative comment at a time. He's a therapist's nightmare... Read more
How Do I Bring Up My Client’s Rigid Perfectionism?
Five Clinicians Weigh InA 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
VIDEO: Handling Microaggressions in Therapy
An Eight-Step Process for Talking About It With Your ClientsLet's say your client lets a microaggression slip during a session. Do you bring it up? Therapist and author Anatasia Kim shares her eight-step process for... Read more