As much as I’d like to, I won’t presume to summarize this soon-to-be-past year in our world, because we each see that world differently. We each experience and live in that world uniquely. And the fields of psychology and psychotherapy are but minor lenses through which to perceive those worlds — and those of our clients.
So, as I look back on some of the events and issues we’ve experienced in 2022 as clinicians, clinical educators, and trainees, and the editorials you’ve contributed around those issues, I’m not surprised by their depth, range, and import.
A constant among the editorials we’ve featured has been a focus on the craft of psychotherapy. Not just the technical aspects of treatment, but the qualities of self that make for a “good enough” clinician — empathy, self-awareness, presence, and a commitment to growth and competence. These qualities, these aspects of self that the clinician brings into the room are often the unmeasurable ones, but are also those that help us to connect with diverse clients. They are the qualities that help clients make meaning of their stories, and when clinical stars align, to make meaningful changes in their lives whether they are experiencing the ravages of depression, battling with anxiety, adapting to situational stressors, or finding a peaceful and perhaps final resting place for ancestral trauma.
Then there were the essays that focused on the business of therapy, those that held a mirror to some of the very real-world pressures that clinicians must address to build their practices, their brands, and their reach. These are the ones that dealt with the benefits and challenges of teletherapy, advertising and branding considerations, and the lure of private equity firms with their singular focus on bottom lines, profits, and valuation.
Our editorials, whether shorter “blogs” or longer, in-depth “articles,” have also addressed some of the more complicated issues that clinicians and clients share as citizens of an increasingly divided local and global society. They aim to make sense of and adapt to the seemingly ceaseless presence of division, anger, disease, and war — all while keeping an eye on the horizon for goodness, connection, and hope.
And then there were our interviews; those opportunities to dive deeply into some of these issues by chatting with thought and practice leaders in the field like yourselves. These conversations highlighted a fascinating diversity of topics, including the proliferation of mental health apps, the realized and un-met promises of neuroscience, the importance of kink-affirming clinical practice, therapy in the digital age, behind prison walls, and even psychotherapy as an act of rebellion.
Quite a litany, of which I am proud and for which I thank YOU and promise more to come in the year ahead. Be safe, stay healthy, remain connected.
Lawrence Rubin, PhD
Editor, Psychotherapy.net
File under: Musings and Reflections
So, as I look back on some of the events and issues we’ve experienced in 2022 as clinicians, clinical educators, and trainees, and the editorials you’ve contributed around those issues, I’m not surprised by their depth, range, and import.
A constant among the editorials we’ve featured has been a focus on the craft of psychotherapy. Not just the technical aspects of treatment, but the qualities of self that make for a “good enough” clinician — empathy, self-awareness, presence, and a commitment to growth and competence. These qualities, these aspects of self that the clinician brings into the room are often the unmeasurable ones, but are also those that help us to connect with diverse clients. They are the qualities that help clients make meaning of their stories, and when clinical stars align, to make meaningful changes in their lives whether they are experiencing the ravages of depression, battling with anxiety, adapting to situational stressors, or finding a peaceful and perhaps final resting place for ancestral trauma.
Then there were the essays that focused on the business of therapy, those that held a mirror to some of the very real-world pressures that clinicians must address to build their practices, their brands, and their reach. These are the ones that dealt with the benefits and challenges of teletherapy, advertising and branding considerations, and the lure of private equity firms with their singular focus on bottom lines, profits, and valuation.
Our editorials, whether shorter “blogs” or longer, in-depth “articles,” have also addressed some of the more complicated issues that clinicians and clients share as citizens of an increasingly divided local and global society. They aim to make sense of and adapt to the seemingly ceaseless presence of division, anger, disease, and war — all while keeping an eye on the horizon for goodness, connection, and hope.
And then there were our interviews; those opportunities to dive deeply into some of these issues by chatting with thought and practice leaders in the field like yourselves. These conversations highlighted a fascinating diversity of topics, including the proliferation of mental health apps, the realized and un-met promises of neuroscience, the importance of kink-affirming clinical practice, therapy in the digital age, behind prison walls, and even psychotherapy as an act of rebellion.
Quite a litany, of which I am proud and for which I thank YOU and promise more to come in the year ahead. Be safe, stay healthy, remain connected.
Lawrence Rubin, PhD
Editor, Psychotherapy.net
File under: Musings and Reflections