The Modern Therapist&#8217;s Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy

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Family Therapy: Not Just for Kids - An Interview with Adriana Rodriguez, LMFT Sep 18, 2023

Show notes

Family Therapy: Not Just for Kids - An Interview with Adriana Rodriguez, LMFT

Curt and Katie interview Adriana Rodriguez, LMFT about the tendency of therapists (even Marriage and Family Therapists) to avoid working with couples and families. We talk about the challenges in working with groups rather than individuals, how to identify the most appropriate treatment unit, and the benefits of working with adult families. We also discuss the importance of assessing power, privilege, intersectionality, and global context when working with both individuals and families.

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

In this podcast episode, we look at relationship therapy

Our friend, Adriana Rodriguez is returning to the podcast to talk about therapy for relationships, including couples and adult families.

Why do therapists avoid working with families and only work with individuals?

· There seems to be an aversion to working with groups rather than individuals

· Avoiding overstimulation and conflict

· Concerns about a lack of training

· Not seeing adult family therapy as a typical treatment unit

· Insurance and the medical model suggest that treatment is for an individual

· Individualistic society of western culture

How can a therapist identify the most appropriate treatment unit?

· Making sure to recognize that everyone has people that impact them

· Working to identify the context and root causes of current concerns

· Gathering the people around for accountability and vicarious healing

· Identifying intergenerational transmission of trauma and of gifts

What can therapists do to support their clients most effectively?

· Understanding the systems within which clients move

· Looking at privilege, power, marginalization, and intersectionality

· Understanding what is typically missed in treatment: that the system needs to be addressed before change can really occur

· Looking for opportunities to engage family members in treatment

How can therapists better understand adult families?

· Move away from compartmentalizing couples or family work

· More in-depth genograms, with more context and self-reflection

· Looking at how we interact with our clients and how we interact with the systems

· Eco-map – the context around the client

· Timeline – historic events happening during your client’s life around them

· Incorporating accountability and compassion

· Increasing understanding and compassion before inviting in the family members into session

· Recognizing that many cultures have a strong focus and value related to family and honoring that in their healing process

· Helping families and couples come together as “team” members rather than opponents

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Modern Therapist Reflections on Preventing a School Shooting Sep 11, 2023

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Modern Therapist Reflections on Preventing a School Shooting

Curt and Katie chat about an incident within Curt’s practice. We look at how therapists are called upon to make challenging risk assessments. We look at threat to other assessments including threats of serious violence. We explore the therapist’s experience during these intense risk assessments and the tasks that follow. We identify action steps for trauma informed support.

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

In this podcast episode we explore a therapist’s role in preventing a school shooting

Recently, Curt was called upon to make an intense risk assessment that required administrative steps to prevent threats of violence. We thought it would be helpful for other modern therapists to understand the experience from a therapist’s perspective, so we can support each other and get the support we need.

What is involved for therapists to complete risk assessments for threats to self and others, including threats of serious violence?

· Both harm to self and others assessments are indicated

· How to determine whether a homicide assessment is appropriate

· Calming the situation, decreasing dysregulation

· Understanding plans and current thought processes

· Going through the protocol related to duty to warn, including calling law enforcement and the school

What is the experience of a therapist during and after an intense risk assessment?

· Deep mindfulness

· Goal driven conversation (toward safety planning)

· Frustration and overwhelm related to required reporting to law enforcement

· Having to switch gears for the next session

· Potential rupture and loss of client

· Trauma response, anger, frustration

What kind of support is important for therapists when they have responded to threats of a school shooting?

· The question of “how are you doing” is less effective in these crisis situations than “what are you going through?”

· Using a trauma informed approach to provide adequate, planned support

· The tendency of therapists to compartmentalize that requires more attention from colleagues than others facing these types of crisis situations

· Plans and best practices for managing these types of incidents

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Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/

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Why Do Therapists Feel They NEED to be Coaches? An Interview with Jo Muirhead Sep 04, 2023

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Why Do Therapists Feel They NEED to be Coaches? An Interview with Jo Muirhead

Curt and Katie interview Jo Muirhead about the increasingly common trend of therapists becoming coaches for other therapists. We talk about what coaching actually is, mistakes therapists make when pursuing coaching, how therapists can identify if someone is a good (or bad) coach, problems with some coaching for therapists, and how therapists can future-proof their business (rather than turning to coaching for the answer).

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

In this podcast episode, we look at the therapist-coaching-other-therapists trend

We’ve received feedback from listeners that they are overwhelmed and disillusioned by some of the business coaching available for therapists. We reached out to our friend, Jo Muirhead, to talk through the current landscape and how therapists can find (and be) better business coaches.

What is coaching?

· Coaching is working with someone to help them become the person, professional, etc. they would like to be

· A Coach is someone who helps you with your mindset or helps you with how you think

· Coaching is not training

· Mentorship

What are mistakes that therapists make when pursuing coaching for themselves?

· Unreasonable expectations

· Lack of implementation support

· Seeking out lots of free consultation (versus paid consultation)

How can therapists identify whether someone is a good or bad coach?

· You need to know how you learn, so you can find someone who matches your learning style

· Coaching should make you feel uncomfortable

· Understand whether you’d like a done with you approach versus a done to you or for you type of program

· Avoid people who focus only on themselves and what they’ve accomplished versus helping you find the right path

· Find someone who can help you think (not tell you what to think)

What are some problems with coaches who work with therapists?

· They create a program based on a single success

· They believe that they have to tell people what to do

· Marketing practices, manipulation

· Urgency as a tactic works, but can feel manipulative at times

· Fake friending is not effective and pretty awful

· Failing to deliver on promises

· Becoming a business coach because they are tired of listening to peoples’ pain

· If you’re too tired to be a therapist, don’t coach

· There is a problem with their relationship to work

· Needing coaching clients rather than identifying best match clients

How can therapists future-proof their businesses?

· We need to listen to the experts who are focusing attention on how the business is advancing

· Understand that we’re not “fit for purpose” based on the changes in the industry

Stay in Touch with Curt, Katie, and the whole Therapy Reimagined #TherapyMovement:

Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Creative Credits:

Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano https://groomsymusic.com/

Humor in Psychotherapy Aug 28, 2023

Show notes

Humor in Psychotherapy

Curt and Katie chat about the benefits and challenges of using humor in the therapy room. We look at the research exploring how humor is used, potential risks, and best practices. We work to infuse humor, even as we take our therapeutic humor pretty seriously. This is a continuing education podcourse.

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

In this podcast episode we talk about how therapists can best work within treatment teams

Anecdotal evidence suggests that humor can have positive effects on therapeutic relationship development and as a skill that can be used for interventions. Concerns that humor may be used incorrectly or be potentially harmful make many clinicians wary of utilizing humor in therapy and empirical research is in its infancy about how it can be used effectively. This podcast episode explores the themes of therapeutic humor, which populations might present with different humor styles, and cultural considerations when using humor.

What are the beneficial uses of humor in therapy?

· Authenticity versus rigidity

· Serious versus humorous interactions

· Irreverence in DBT

· Humor must come from within your own personality, it is not something that is teachable

· Within the relationship and the therapeutic alliance, humor can increase connection

· Using humor as a therapist can address power imbalances

· Opportunities to challenge beliefs and shift behavior with a lighter touch

· Diffusing situations, gallows humor, and moving on from challenging situations

What are the risks of using humor in therapy?

· When clients don’t understand the humor, it can cause iatrogenic harm

· Confusion on the intent of humor

· Confusion regarding the connection fostered by humor (i.e., could be seen as seduction)

· Humor can be a distraction or a way to deflect from the therapeutic work

· Humor can be seen as reinforcing power imbalances, especially when the client sees the humor as an insult, criticism, or the therapist putting the client down

· Clients may not be able to give feedback on their reactions to humor

· Self-deprecating or self-pitying humor is not recommended in therapy

What is in the research on using humor in therapy?

· Not a lot of research

· Research on humor in therapy is usually done with western therapists and clients

· It is important to understand the different cultural impacts on humor

· There is research on the 7 stages and themes of humor within therapy

· Assessing the use of banter in therapy

· Identifying whether aggressive humor can improve outcomes in therapy

· Misapplication of humor as confrontation versus using it for facilitation

How can therapists use humor effectively in therapy?

· Assess jokes and humorous interactions from the lens of it being for the benefit of the client

· Focus on “reading the room,” so you’re not using humor inappropriately

· Connecting and affirming your understanding of the client’s experience

· Balancing activities in session (business time versus fun time)

· Using humor as a diagnostic tool

· Addressing ruptures or potential ruptures caused by humor

Receive Continuing Education for this Episode of the Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide

You can find this full course (including handouts and resources) here: https://learn.moderntherapistcommunity.com/pages/podcourse

Continuing Education Approvals:

Continuing Education Information including grievance and refund policies.

Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Creative Credits:

Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano https://groomsymusic.com/

How Therapists Can Deal with the Crisis of the Week Aug 21, 2023

Show notes

How Therapists Can Deal with the Crisis of the Week

Curt and Katie chat about a typical dynamic that can happen in therapy sessions, namely the “crisis of the week.” We look at how this dynamic comes up and what therapists can do to deal with it more effectively. We identify both clinician and client factors and suggest strategies to improve therapy sessions.

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

In this podcast episode we explore how therapy can get stuck responding to the crisis of the week

During one of our Patreon coffee hour/Q+A sessions, we got a request from a patron to talk about how to navigate client sessions that were mostly focused on worrisome incidences from the week, rather than on treatment goals.

What is “Crisis of the Week?”

· When therapy gets stuck with only talking about what has happened in the week

· Crises take precedent over treatment goals

· There are also biases in how this topic has been brought up during training or supervision for early career clinicians

How do therapists determine whether the “crisis of the week” conversations are helpful

· If conversations are repetitive or there is little progress made, these conversations are likely not helpful

· “Crisis of the week” can be conversations from clients and (for kids) their parents

· If the conversations align with treatment goals, they are more likely to be helpful

How can therapists mitigate the concerns related to “crisis of the week”?

· Making sure to talk about the therapy and determine whether the treatment goals are appropriate for the client

· Providing structure on how to work on therapy goals can help make therapy more effective

· Making sure that you’re hearing the client and then redirect to treatment goals or the client’s hopes for therapy

· Making sure that everyone is on the same page with how the treatment progresses

· Insight into why there is a tendency to go to the crisis of the week

What are the clinician factors in getting stuck in a “crisis of the week” conversation?

· Feeling uncomfortable with structuring therapy

· Allowing the client to lead, when they are not ready to do so

· Potentially not taking responsibility for the session due to laziness, burnout, or other concern

· Therapists not clarifying expectations early enough in treatment

What are the client factors in getting stuck in a “crisis of the week” conversation?

· Clients are fearful and potentially using a decoy issue to avoid discussing a more relevant

· Clients may be having a trauma response that leads to speaking about safer topics

· Clients are not yet comfortable enough with the therapist to dig deeper

· Clients do not have the skills to manage the topic

· Cultural factors could impact communication and expectations

What conversations can therapists have with clients related to avoiding crisis of the week?

· Setting up structure for sessions

· Addressing the relational elements related to attachment and getting to the clinical work

· Identifying how to address it when “crisis of the week” happens

· Determining how best to start your session with each client

Stay in Touch with Curt, Katie, and the whole Therapy Reimagined #TherapyMovement:

Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Creative Credits:

Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano https://groomsymusic.com/

Making Sense of Insurance Billing and Client Referral Services for Therapists Aug 14, 2023

Show notes

Making Sense of Insurance Billing and Client Referral Services for Therapists

Curt and Katie chat about a lot of the different services that therapists can sign up for to provide therapy. We talk about Alma, Headway, TalkSpace, BetterHelp, etc. We also look at what therapists should consider when deciding which service to sign up for (or whether they should).

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

In this podcast episode we explore therapist insurance referral services like Alma and Headway

We’ve been asked to weigh in on insurance referral services like Alma and Headway. We explore the different things to consider when choosing a service to sign up for.

What client referral services should therapists sign up for?

· Betterhelp and TalkSpace models do not include insurance billing and pay therapists very little. We do not recommend therapists sign up as providers on BetterHelp and TalkSpace.

· Alma, Headway, and other similar models get therapists credentialed, bill insurance, etc.

· These services are very different and there are a lot of choices for therapists to make

What are questions therapists should consider when deciding which therapist referral service to sign up for?

· Can I actually use these platforms?

· How quickly am I credentialed and how many different panels can I sign up for?

· Will this service get me clients?

· How many clients are they going to get you?

· Are the insurance benefits checks accurate?

· What does customer service look like?

· What are the rates they pay therapists?

· Is there a minimum number of clients you’re expected to see?

· What benefits are included for therapists (like CEs, group meetings, EHR, etc.)

· What do you want your practice to look like?

· What purpose will this platform serve for my practice? For example, are you wanting to get more clients or are you wanting to add insurance billing capacity (or both)?

Concerns about digital therapy platforms and insurance referral services

· The tendency for things to change as startups grow

· Privacy concerns from app-based therapy apps (like BetterHelp and TalkSpace, etc.)

· Systemic impacts of tech companies negotiating with insurance companies instead of therapists

· Most are set up as 1099 businesses versus W2 employee models and seem to skirt some labor laws and put liability on the therapist

Stay in Touch with Curt, Katie, and the whole Therapy Reimagined #TherapyMovement:

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Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano https://groomsymusic.com/

Choosing Yourself as a Therapist: Strategies to address burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma, An Interview with Laura Reagan, LCSW-C Aug 07, 2023

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Choosing Yourself as a Therapist: Strategies to address burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma

Curt and Katie interview Laura Reagan, LCSW-C, of the Trauma Therapist Network. We engage in real talk about burnout and compassion fatigue. We look at why therapists are especially susceptible to burnout, what therapists can do to take care of themselves, and what systems we can set up to try to avoid burnout and compassion fatigue. Laura also shared some ideas for group practice owners who want to support their clinicians.

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

An Interview with Laura Reagan, LCSW-C, Trauma Therapist Network

Laura Reagan, LCSW-C is an integrative trauma therapist who owns a group psychotherapy practice in the greater Baltimore area. Laura also hosts Therapy Chat and Trauma Chat Podcasts, and she founded Trauma Therapist Network in 2021. Laura trains trauma therapists around the world in using bottom-up therapy methods and accessing their highest selves while doing meaningful psychotherapy work for sustainable careers.

In this podcast episode, we take a deeper look at therapist burnout work

We’ve spoken many times about burnout and compassion fatigue. We decided to revisit this important topic with our friend, Laura Reagan.

What do therapists need to know about “burnout” and “compassion fatigue?”

· Burnout isn’t necessarily us not wanting to work, but feeling that the world will fall apart if we aren’t there for our clients

· Not paying attention and ending up losing our clients’ trust

· You forget you have agency

Why are therapists at particular risk for burnout?

· Our stuff coming up and not being there for ourselves

· Not metabolizing our own trauma triggers

· Getting dissociated and numb due to our compassion fatigue and moral injury

· There are different levels of risk based on developmental stages

What can therapists do to take care of themselves?

· Identify whether there is space for experiencing emotions as well as being present for clients

· Step away when needed, even when that could mean stopping see clients

· Exploring other options to take care of yourself financially

· Learning to choose yourself

What can therapists do to prevent deep burnout and compassion fatigue?

· Being in tune with yourself and your body

· Paying attention to your responses to a client session, day, week

· Understanding what is happening inside yourself to identify what you need to be well

· Making sure to move in between sessions to recalibrate your nervous system

· Being in community while also working to stay in connection with yourself

· Specific suggestions for group practice owners

Stay in Touch with Curt, Katie, and the whole Therapy Reimagined #TherapyMovement:

Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Creative Credits:

Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano https://groomsymusic.com/

Building Your Treatment Team in Private Practice: Essential Networking Skills for Therapists Jul 31, 2023

Show notes

Building Your Treatment Team in Private Practice: Essential Networking Skills for Therapists

Curt and Katie chat about treatment teaming, especially for clinicians in private practice. We look at the benefits of a treatment team, how to effectively create an interdisciplinary treatment team (including some networking skills), the qualities of a strong team, and the practicalities for therapists to collaborate effectively in treatment teams. This is a continuing education podcourse.

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

In this podcast episode we talk about how therapists can best work within treatment teams

Clients are often best served by a robust treatment team. Specific diagnoses (like Eating Disorders or Serious Mental Illness) require treatment teaming as a best practice and many others are best served when you are collaborating with the other health and wellness professionals in your clients’ lives. Creating and working within treatment teams in private practice creates a unique challenge. How do you find these professionals and how do you best work with them? The meetings in the hall in treatment centers and agencies can’t happen when you’re at your own office or working virtually. What can modern therapists do? This episode will explore the importance of treatment teams, how to identify who belongs on your treatment teams, and the essential networking skills to create these important relationships.

We answer the following questions:

What do treatment teams look like in private practice?

What are the benefits of treatment teams, especially for lower acuity cases?

How can therapists create treatment teams when they are in private practice?

How do therapists vet the people they are meeting with?

What are the qualities of strong treatment teams?

How can therapists collaborate effectively with other professionals in private practice?

Receive Continuing Education for this Episode of the Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide

You can find this full course (including handouts and resources) here: https://learn.moderntherapistcommunity.com/pages/podcourse

Continuing Education Approvals:

When we are airing this podcast episode, we have the following CE approval. Please check back as we add other approval bodies: Continuing Education Information including grievance and refund policies.

CAMFT CEPA: Therapy Reimagined is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LPCCs, LCSWs, and LEPs (CAMFT CEPA provider #132270). Therapy Reimagined maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Courses meet the qualifications for the listed hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. We are working on additional provider approvals, but solely are able to provide CAMFT CEs at this time. Please check with your licensing body to ensure that they will accept this as an equivalent learning credit.

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

*The full reference list can be found in the course on our learning platform.

Stay in Touch with Curt, Katie, and the whole Therapy Reimagined #TherapyMovement:

Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Creative Credits:

Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano https://groomsymusic.com/

Revisiting SEO and AI – Ethics and best practices: An Interview with Danica Wolf Jul 24, 2023

Show notes

Revisiting SEO and AI – Ethics and best practices: An Interview with Danica Wolf

Curt and Katie interview Danica Wolf, COO of Simplified SEO Consulting, on the basics of SEO and how AI is being used in marketing. We look at best practices and ethics for both SEO and AI. We also talk through the potential pitfalls and cautions in the current state of AI for marketing.

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

An Interview with Danica Wolf, MSW, Simplified SEO Consulting

Danica is a not-so-secret strategy nerd who loves coffee and conversations about all things entrepreneurial. Especially when helping professionals are ready to dive into the world of ethical marketing strategies that actually work. As COO of Simplified SEO Consulting, Danica gets to spend most of her time helping therapists and other mental health professionals build the business of their dreams with dream clients who are already searching for them. As a birth business owner, former trauma advocate, University instructor, and single mom, Danica knows how important it is for busy practice owners to get the info they need quickly with action steps to implement right away.

In this podcast episode, we return to our discussions about SEO and AI

We’ve talked with caution about AI for your therapy practice but thought it would be helpful to talk to a marketing pro about effective ways to consider AI for your practice marketing. We also look at SEO best practices.

What is SEO? What are best practices for on-page optimization?

· Search Engine Optimization

· Using keywords and content to get better ranked on Google

· Content needs to be specific and aligned to ideal client

· It is important to use ethical practices in your SEO

What are the best practices for making marketing activities more efficient?

· We talk about ways that AI is being used for marketing, including cautions and best practices

· Google wants to see original content and wants folks to identify that AI has been used

· There may be a google penalty for using AI generated content

· When using AI for writing, make sure it actually sounds like you, you are editing it, and is accurate information

· A better strategy with AI is using thoughtful prompts, your own examples, etc. as well as re-prompting and iterating on the content

· Always check and read through things before putting anything on your website

· Accessibility and simpler language (e.g., 3 am trauma brain)

What are some good resources for writing content?

· Jasper.ai

· Copy.ai

· Previous recommendation was originality.ai (which has had problems recently)

· https://hemingwayapp.com/

What are concerns with using AI for your business at this point?

· There is a shift in how AI content is being viewed, so initial dopamine hits may be leading you down the wrong path

· You will need to be able to keep up with the evolution of AI, not just use it as a shortcut

· It needs to be done strategically, intentionally, and ethically

Stay in Touch with Curt, Katie, and the whole Therapy Reimagined #TherapyMovement: