Challenging Cases & Treatment Populations

When therapy goes wrong, it’s typically because we’ve entered our clients’ trance, joining them in their myopic misery. Once there, our job is to break... Read more

As therapists, we typically assume that a person suffering from severe anxiety is eager and motivated to receive the help we offer. But we should never naively... Read more

Few cases offer as eerie a therapeutic challenge as a suddenly noncommunicative child, lost in a dissociative shutdown. Read more

A new breed of therapist believes that it’s disrespectful not to say to clients displaying obnoxious, selfish, or self-defeating behaviors what... Read more

Do childhood trauma and a chaotic family environment cause adult borderline personality disorder (BPD)? Common clinical wisdom says yes, but new results are... Read more

Psychologist Philip Zimbardo knows a thing or two about tough guys. In 1971, his notorious Stanford prison experiment, originally planned for two weeks, had to... Read more

Men with anger problems are generally highly reluctant clients who come to our offices only because they’ve gotten “the ultimatum” from their wives... Read more

Often clients come to therapy to resolve ambivalence or because they can’t make up their minds. But sometimes, the problem is that they’re too certain... Read more

An understanding of the unconventional ways people demonstrate resilience is important in helping us avoid pathologizing clients and stop believing there’s... Read more

Sometimes conversation isn’t the best way to communicate with clients. There are times when therapists must go beyond the words. Read more

Down for the count, a therapist again discovers that even the most hopeless sessions can have a positive outcome if you stay with the process. Read more

That first session with a new client can be crucial to the success or failure of treatment. Read more

What to do when your teen clients give you the silent treatment. Read more

Once skeptical about the value of regularly seeking client feedback, therapists at a public agency become true believers. Read more

Is it appropriate to bring up the use of subtly racist language in a session, even if it doesn’t deal with the client’s presenting issue? Always, says one... Read more