Challenging Cases & Treatment Populations

When working with teens, a therapist must become comfortable with the idea of dealing with power tactics rather than communication skills. Here are four common... Read more

Of all the meaningful sessions that take place in a therapist’s career, what makes certain ones stand out? Sometimes, it’s taking creative leaps in... Read more

Although it’s not usually acknowledged, change in the consulting room goes both ways. Even as they help clients wrestle with their issues, it’s the rare... 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

Back in 1979, I was a young dance therapy intern at St. Elizabeth’s, the country’s first federally operated psychiatric hospital, which opened in 1855. St... Read more

We’ve all seen it happen. Maybe some of us are even guilty of it ourselves. When you get an email from that pesky neighbor, a text message from the boring... 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

Basketball has taught me many lessons. I learned about trust, relationships, and teamwork. I learned the power to regulate feelings. It would shape my... Read more

We all know therapists who seem magically able to establish a powerful sense of trust and connection with even the most distrusting clients. But are there... 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

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

When our clients are facing their own mortality, how can we guide them in a way that's both compassionate and realistic? In the following video, therapist... Read more

In our own small way, the Networker has tried to revive the ancient, tribal practice of storytelling. At our third annual Symposium storytelling event, Kirsten... Read more

The problem with a failure is that one doesn't really understand why one failed. If one did, it wouldn't have been a failure. But I'm not giving up on my... Read more

I made my first appointment with Gloria one autumn afternoon. I needed a still point, a peaceful promontory in the ocean of loud, unrepentant excuses I heard... Read more

In its coverage of race-related discord, the media has fixed on lurid images of violence and destruction without providing much context for understanding the... Read more

John Norcross gives us a clear and compassionate take on reactance—what it is, how it’s different from resistance, and how to begin with each extreme. Read more

Underneath it all, the narcissist is skeptical and frightened. That’s the first thing to remember, according to Wendy Behary, a recognized expert in treating... Read more

In this clip Janina Fisher talks about how years of experience do not guarantee easy clients and how she reacts when faced with a challenging case. Read more

To help depressed clients figure out what they need to heal, mindfulness specialist Elisha Goldstein has developed several effective self-compassion practices... Read more

Courtney Armstrong discusses how she connected with some clients who weren't interested in traditional therapy approaches. Read more

PN Founder Rich Simon talks with Ken Hardy about finding the heroism amongst young clients that helps them survive. Read more

Given their arrogance, condescension, and lack of empathy, narcissists are notoriously difficult clients. The key to working with them is being direct and... Read more

There are some clients who yell at us, manipulate us, go broodingly silent on us, have uncontrollable emotional breakdowns in session, disappear for weeks at a... Read more

With all the recent developments in research, theory, and practice, we have more treatment options to choose from than ever before. Why then do so many... Read more

When we’re spinning our wheels from one session to the next, the key to progress often lies in shifting the therapist-client relationship. Read more

Inevitably, given their history of trauma, many borderline clients will trigger their therapists from time to time. But forgoing the urge to blame these... Read more