A therapist ponders the power of intuition in psychotherapy, and the pathways it can open up in session.
Queer Couch for the Straight Girl
Queer therapist, Mark O'Connell, describes therapy with a heterosexual woman client, and how claiming his queerness, rather than playing a role of "expert," helped his client create a new story for her life.
The Multiple Languages of Therapy
A multilingual therapists shares about the complexities of inhabiting so many lingual “selves”–and its challenges in therapy.
Robert J. Lifton on Political Violence, Activism and Life as a Psycho-Historian
Famed psychiatrist, psycho-historian, writer and activist Robert J. Lifton talks about being a witness to an extreme century, combining scholarship with activism, the psychology of violence, and the next great threat to the planet: climate change.
Bad Therapy: When Firing Your Therapist Is Therapeutic
Therapist Charlotte Fox Weber describes an agonizing 5-year therapy as the client of a cold and withholding therapist, and the lessons she learned about what NOT to do with her own clients.
Afflicted with Affect
Deb Kory shares her revelations working with women labeled “over-emotional” by the men in their lives, and where she’s come to believe the pathology truly lies.
Look at me!
Many people struggle to fully meet their therapist’s eyes the beginning. Particularly those who are shy or introverted. The warmth, care, interest or love that we may perceive in a therapist’s compassionate gaze may seem “too much” or even unbearable for many who missed or never received it from their original caretakers. Rachel was my first therapy client totally unable to tolerate the eye contact during a session. The first time we met, this lack of eye contact made me sense her…
House Call Revival
Welcome to my house. We had been meeting for a month already, but this was the first time Nick connected from his flat for our weekly online psychotherapy session. Because of our time difference—I am based in Europe, and Nick lives in the US, we were usually connecting during his early morning hours. I was by now fairly familiar with his work surroundings: a small office cubicle, neon lights, grey doors shut tight. This time everything was different, and Nick looked younger and…
The Socially Awkward Therapist
Everybody knows: therapists are all crazy. Right? Where did this idea come from? For some of us, perhaps it’s our social skills. Some therapists can come off a bit . . . well . . . awkward in social situations. Perhaps you know a Socially Awkward Therapist (SAT)? SATs even find each other off-putting. I had a SAT friend who was talking about another therapist friend. “She’s unsettling.” He shrugs. His eyes drift down and to the right. I catch the glance. I automatically…
The Imprisoned Brain: Psychotherapy with Inmates in Jail
Sudhanva Rajagopal, a clinical psychology graduate student, ponders our animal nature as he relates the poignant complexity of working with inmates in jail.