Clinical Skills & Experience

Escaping the Rut of Regret

Five Creative Approaches to Letting Go

A 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

A Simple Practice for Finding Light in the Dark

Helping Kids Remain Calm When the World Seems Scary

Given the wildfires, Covid variants, hurricanes, droughts, earthquakes and periods of social unrest that abound these days, the world can feel like a scary... Read more

Activism and Mental Health

A Conversation with Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren

Networker 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

To Take Notes or Not to Take Notes?

When a Valuable Tool Becomes a Distraction
Psychotherapy Networker

When a therapist begins to sense that her in-session note taking may be distracting her clients and impeding their work together, she begins to wonder whether... Read more

To Interrupt Anxiety, Try Singing

An Interview with Margaret Wehrenberg

Over 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

Unhealed Bodies

Looking at Ancestral Trauma

Resmaa Menakem, author of "My Grandmother’s Hands," discusses racialized trauma and a body-based path to healing. Read more

I’d Rather Clean the Toilet than Write Progress Notes

Making Peace With An Essential Task

Writing progress notes doesn’t have to be a bore. Read more

Surrogate Partner Therapy

Crossing Lines or Expanding Boundaries?

The debate around surrogate partner therapy. Read more

Confessions of a Racing Mind

My Silent Battle with OCD

A clinician with OCD stands up to stigma. Read more

I know this experience will give me more knowledge to help others—that’s how I have to reframe it. As I’ve recovered, I’ve felt how strong and... 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 Struggles

Despite our best intentions, sometimes our problems grow so big that they slam into our work—and the result can be surprising. Read more

Helper Syndrome

When Are We Enough?

Is the problem of compassion fatigue that we get tired of being compassionate toward others—or that we aren’t being compassionate toward ourselves? Read more

Borrowed Tears

A Therapist Reclaims His Buried Past—and Upends His Practice

When 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 Shame

Many 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

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

Erv Polster on How Aging Changes Therapy

Learning to Embrace the Flow of Relationship
Erv Polster

PSYCHOTHERAPY NETWORKER: You’re 95 now and have been retired from practice for 20 years, so you have an unusually broad perspective on how therapists... Read more

Aging Courageously

…And What Many People Who Struggle with Aging Have in Common

PSYCHOTHERAPY NETWORKER: Do you think that your experience as a therapist has given you any special insight into the challenges of... Read more

Irvin Yalom on the Possibilities of Aging

The Rewards and Challenges of Being an Older Therapist

As each of us grows older, we can try to embrace the full possibilities of aging, even alongside its challenges. That’s a genuine gift for our clients as... Read more

The Breaking Point

Supporting Fragile and Separating Couples
Julia Mayer

As clinicians, we need to keep alert to the struggles couples have had during the pandemic and find ways to support those who couldn’t hold together. Read more

The Pager Incident

From Therapeutic Stagnation to Growth

When therapy stagnates, sometimes it takes a mistake to catalyze change. Read more

Strengthening Personal Boundaries

The Bioenergetic Approach

Asserting boundaries sometimes means confronting painful loss, but in these cases, helping them reinforce their boundaries has led to greater satisfaction. Read more

Navigating the Rift

A Therapeutic Rupture and the Art of Repair

After being insulted by a difficult client, this therapist doesn't know how to proceed. Here, seven clinicians weigh in. Read more

This week, the Networker's assistant editor, Chris Lyford, sat down for a live conversation and Q&A with hip hop artist and therapist, J.C. Hall. Read more

Becoming a Yoga Therapist

Joanne Spence on Trauma-Informed Practices

Joanne Spence, a social worker turned yoga therapist and author of "Trauma-Informed Yoga: A Toolbox for Therapists," talked to Psychotherapy Networker about... Read more

Grief Anniversaries

Acknowledging Loss a Year Later

It’s critical for clinicians to recognize anniversary reactions. When clients describe their experiences as depression, we naturally think of solutions like... Read more

Wisdom, or Yesterday’s News?

The Older Therapist in the Younger Practice

An older therapist is beginning to feel insecure about their age and is considering whether to dive into new trainings or retire. Five clinicians offer advice. Read more

Close to Home

When the Problem You Treat Becomes Your Problem Too

A couples therapist is going through an emotionally wrenching separation from their partner and finding it hard to treat clients. Five clinicians offer advice. Read more

A Cacophony of Opinion

Can We Trust "Expert" Judgment?

Why is it that two or more experts in a given field can look at identical case histories and data and come up with broadly differing assessments and... Read more

The Angry Therapist

Transparency as a Therapeutic Tool

John Kim believes that a therapist’s own vulnerability helps clients feel comfortable enough to bare their own souls—and he practices what he preaches. Read more