-
Interpersonal Process: A Therapist’s Framework for Healing Attachment
Someone recently asked me why they needed to know about the interpersonal process. There seemed to be a misunderstanding that the interpersonal process is only focused on building rapport, ... Read More
-
Remembering We Are Human Can Strengthen the Therapeutic Relationship
I will never forget the first time I felt like I had really failed a person I was providing therapy to. It wasn’t an error in thinking. I wasn’t being hard on myself. I really did mess ... Read More
-
Cultural Competency and C-PTSD: Why Therapists Can Never Know Enough
Complex posttraumatic stress, known as C-PTSD for short, is the result of prolonged series of traumatic experiences at the hands of someone the victim has a personal relationship with. ... Read More
-
When the Helper Needs Help: Experiencing Stigma at Another Level
Growing up, I always thought I would be a nurse. I knew I wanted to help people, and this remained my career plan until I went to visit my childhood best friend, Myra, who was in nursing ... Read More
-
How Therapists Can Grow Beyond Cultural Competence
Cultural competence is the standard set for the mental health profession that deems a person able to effectively work with individuals from diverse backgrounds. However, cultural competence, ... Read More
-
Coming of Age in Divisive Times: The Power of Fantasy and the Arts
The specific era in which a person begins to bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood doesn’t matter, relative to one prevailing fact: it is difficult. Volumes of the world’s ... Read More
-
How Broaching Can Help Strengthen the Therapeutic Relationship
I was recently talking to a colleague about the topic of therapist self-disclosure and when it’s appropriate to reveal versus withhold certain details regarding personal information. ... Read More
-
Wielding Power Wisely: Can Normalizing Sexuality Help Stop Abuse?
Like a megawatt flashlight, #MeToo is uncovering a long-standing and pervasive shadow world where role and rank power have been used for illicit sexual gain. Women are coming forward in ... Read More
-
Ethics Check: Realigning with the Values of the Healer’s Heart
As mental health professionals, we are bound by a professional code of ethics. We likely had to read this code at some point in graduate school and then study it again carefully in preparation ... Read More
-
Repairing a Broken Whole: A Transpersonal Approach to Healing
It’s the middle of the afternoon, and you are in a large hotel in Prague, Czech Republic. Guided by the stimulating aroma of freshly brewed coffee, you follow your nose past reception ... Read More
-
For Therapists: Coping with the Suicide of a Person in Therapy
The first person I ever worked with in therapy, when I was a graduate student at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Danville, Illinois, died by suicide. While my supervisor and fellow ... Read More
-
Consensual BDSM versus Abuse: Guidelines for Couples Therapy
You consider yourself an open-minded therapist. As such, you feel ready to accept and understand almost anyone who walks through your office doors, whatever concern or issue they bring ... Read More