Clinical Skills & Experience
The Tribal Classroom
Applying attachment theory in schoolsLou Cozolino believes that attachment theory and neuroscience may offer the key to transforming our troubled educational system. Read more
Side By Side
No creative artist is an islandAn investigation of some of history’s most famous creative teams leads to the conclusion that no artist is an island. Read more
The Rise of the Two-Dimensional Parent
Are Therapists Seeing a New Kind of Attachment?We used to think that disordered attachment was the result of early parental neglect or abuse. But today, has a paradoxical mix of parental overinvolvement and... Read more
Getting Unhooked
Connecting with Traumatized Kids Who Push Your ButtonsMost parents “loan” children their adult regulatory system beginning at birth. But developmentally traumatized teens have missed out on this opportunity... Read more
The Power of the Pen in Therapy
Some Journaling Exercises to Enhance Your WorkSome guidelines for bringing the creative power of therapeutic journaling into your work. Read more
What Makes Fanatics Tick?
Exploring the Psyches of People on the FringeA new book investigates the worldview of a range of fanatics who’ve dedicated their lives to holding onto to their antiscientific and antihistorical claims. Read more
Falling in Love Again
A Brief History of Psychoactive DrugsOver the last 150 years, we’ve seen waves of mass infatuations with psychotropic drugs—antidepressants being the latest. While all these drugs are... Read more
Beyond Chemistry
Exploring Our Relationship with Our MedsThe chemical effect of psychoactive meds is only part of their impact. In fact, people often develop complex relationships with the pills they take. Read more
The Meds of the Future
Waiting for the Next Magic PillDoes our growing understanding of the brain and the prospect of further scientific discoveries mean there’s a new generation of magical pills on the horizon? Read more
SSRIs in Perspective
Have They Lived up to Their Promise?After wading through the controversies and contradictions in the research literature on SSRIs, a critic of Big Pharma explains why he thinks these drugs may... Read more
Letting Go of Hate
How to help clients change unconscious responsesMany well-intentioned therapists have suggested that their clients just “let go” of hate, as if it were a heavy load that they could simply drop to the... Read more
When Talk Isn’t Enough
Easing Trauma’s Lingering ShockPioneering trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk shares his thoughts on the differences between public and private trauma. Read more
Neuroplasticity Isn’t Always for the Best
Why Therapists Should Know about the Plastic ParadoxPsychiatrist and author Norman Doidge believes that while the brain has an astonishing capacity for change, brain plasticity doesn’t always work out for the... Read more
VIDEO: Assessing the Unintegrated Brain
How to Change the Brain in TherapyIt’s one thing to throw around the scientific-sounding language of brain science, it’s another to actually develop concrete clinical procedures based on... Read more
Putting the Pieces Together
25 Years of Learning Trauma TreatmentTwenty-five years ago, we believed that helping trauma survivors dig into dark and unspeakable horrors would set them free. But in this new age of trauma... Read more
The Case for Neurofeedback
Rewiring the brain in the consulting roomThe increasing popularity of neurofeedback is based on the growing evidence that a wide variety of psychological disorders can be understood as firing mistakes... Read more
Rush to Judgment
Beware of the ADHD diagnosisPart of the epidemic of misdiagnosed ADHD in young children today results from a failure to understand how trauma often leads to difficulty learning in school. Read more
12 Missteps?
The evidence that AA works is many steps behindThe authors of a provocative new book argue that, despite its sterling reputation, alcoholics anonymous has one of the worst success rates in all of medicine. Read more
Editor's Note - May/June 2014
Trauma, the alluring diagnosis of the therapy profession.No other single condition tests the therapeutic relationship quite so stringently, demands so much from the clinician, or combines so many disparate treatment... Read more
Outside the Box
Bringing Families into Trauma TreatmentIf we don’t open up the one-on-one therapeutic cloister, trauma sufferers may never learn how to engage in the give and take of real-life relationships. By... Read more
When Victims Victimize Others
Some Clients Challenge our Capacity for CompassionMost therapists find it relatively easy to feel empathy for the usual hyperaroused, vulnerable trauma client. But it can be a lot tougher to remain... Read more
VIDEO: Creating Antidote Experiences in Therapy
How to Turn Positive Mental States into Enduring TraitsIn this video clip, Rick talks about how to activate positive mental states and help clients embody them so that they become permanent resources. Read more
Understanding the Dangers of Diagnostic Epidemics
The Most Powerful Psychiatrist in America on Why DSM-5 Is a Step BackwardAllen Frances learned first-hand how, even when motivated by the best of intentions, changes in the “bible of psychiatry” can have large-scale negative... Read more
VIDEO: Like It or Not, DSM-5 Will Affect Your Practice
Martha Teater on One of the Major Changes in DSM-5Whether you’re a critic or a proponent of DSM-5, that fact that it exists and will affect your practice is undeniable. Between several new diagnoses, the... Read more
VIDEO: Letting the Body Lead
Ann Randolph on Truly Embodied EmotionAnn explains how imbuing body parts with feelings can lead clients to more embodied and clarifying emotional experiences than talk alone can provide. Read more
Clarifying Boundary Issues to Strengthen Therapy
Why the Therapy Process Needs to be Free of Boundary Issues to be SuccessfulWe all know that the collaboration between therapist and client is the keystone of therapy. What many therapists may not realize is how much clarifying... Read more
VIDEO: Psychotherapy as Experiential Drama
Jeffrey Zeig on Bridging the Gap between Knowing and RealizingJeff explains the tools he uses to make therapy a true experience—including trance, novelty, and precision in his use of language, and resonant gestures that... Read more
Making Creativity in the Consulting Room Productive
Steve Andreas on the Clinical Mastery of Virginia SatirWhat does inventive therapy look like? We often overlook that for all skilled therapists, there are well-established patterns and techniques underlying even... Read more
Defiance vs. Compliance—Two Faces Of The Reactant Client
John Norcross on Different Approaches that Work with Each ExtremeJohn 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