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

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Is Artificial Intelligence Bringing Bias into Mental Health Treatment? Oct 21, 2024

Is Artificial Intelligence Bringing Bias into Mental Health Treatment?

Curt and Katie chat about the responsibility therapists hold when they use AI applications for their therapy practices. We explore where bias can show up and how AI compares to therapists in acting on biased information. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about whether therapists or AI are more biased

With the inclusion of artificial intelligence tools into psychotherapy, there is more access to mental health treatment by a larger portion of the world. This course addresses the question “Do the same biases that exist in in-person delivered psychotherapy exist in AI delivered treatment?” at the awareness, support, and intervention levels of mental health treatment.

How is machine learning used in “AI” for therapists?

· There are different types of AI used in mental health, machine learning, neural networks, and natural language processing

· AI can be used for awareness, support, and/or intervention

· There is a potential for bias within AI models

Where can bias come in when AI models are used in mental health?

· Source material, like the DSM

· Human error in the creation

· Cultural humility and appropriateness

Are human therapists less biased than AI models in diagnosis and mental health intervention?

· The short answer is no

· A study shows that ChatGPT is significantly more accurate than physicians in diagnosing depression (95% or greater compared to 42%)

· ChatGPT is less likely to provide biased recommendations for treatment (i.e., they will recommend therapy to people of all socioeconomic statuses)

· There is still possibility for bias, so diverse datasets and open source models can be used to improve this

What is a potential future for mental health treatment that includes AI?

· Curt described therapy practices being like Pilots and autonomous planes, with the ability to provide oversight, but much less intervention

· Katie expressed concern about the lack of preparation that therapists have for these dramatic shifts in what our job looks like

Key takeaways from this podcast episode (as curated by Otter.ai)

· Enhance the training and validation of AI algorithms with diverse datasets that consider intersectionality factors

· Explore the integration of open-source AI systems to allow for more robust identification and addressing of biases and vulnerabilities

· Develop educational standards and processes to prepare new therapists for the evolving role of AI in mental healthcare

· Engage in advocacy and oversight efforts to ensure therapists have a voice in the development and implementation of AI-powered mental health tools

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

Continuing Education Approvals:

Continuing Education Information including grievance and refund policies.

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Why Are So Many Adults Getting Diagnosed with ADHD and Autism? An interview with Dr. Monica Blied Oct 14, 2024

Why Are So Many Adults Getting Diagnosed with ADHD and Autism?: An interview with Dr. Monica Blied

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Monica Blied about adults getting diagnosed later in life with Autism and/or ADHD. We look at why people (especially individual assigned female at birth) are getting diagnoses later in life. We also explore skills, strategies, and accommodations to support neurodivergent individuals in navigating life. We also talk about unmasking and helping adults talk with their family members about diagnosis.

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

In this podcast episode, we look the trend of adults getting diagnosed with ADHD and Autism

During a recent conference, Katie saw Dr. Blied talking about later in life ADHD and Autism diagnoses and loved what she had to say. We figured it was time to talk some more about neurodivergent adults.

Why is there an uptick in adults getting diagnosed with ADHD and Autism?

· There is more information that is being shared on social media

· Therapists and psychologists with ADHD and/or Autism are sharing information more freely

· Increase in diagnoses in children, leading to other family members getting their own assessments

How can therapists support clients who believe they are neurodivergent, but may not meet the criteria?

· Exploring what a neurodivergent identity means to the client

· Provide psychoeducation on some differential diagnosis

· Seek formal assessment for autism or ADHD

What strategies can therapists utilize in working with clients diagnosed as neurodivergent as an adult?

· Confirm and validate experience, normalize

· Somatic exercises to bring clients into their bodies (and out of their brain)

· Executive functioning skills (e.g., using timers and the pomodoro technique)

· Premack principles?

· Use the principle of inertia (start with something small, to get in motion)

· Understand available workplace accommodations (and where assessors and therapists can support in that process)

· Learning how to tease out when skills, accommodations, or self-acceptance are needed

· Support acceptance and unmasking

· Help clients walk through the grief process that comes with diagnosis

· Learn about autistic burnout and the 5 S’s from Dr. Joey Lawrence of Neudle Psychology

· Provide support to clients to talk about diagnosis with their family members

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

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AI Therapy is Already Here: An interview with Dr. Ben Caldwell Oct 07, 2024

AI Therapy is Already Here: An interview with Dr. Ben Caldwell

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Ben Caldwell about the state of Artificial Intelligence in therapy. We look at the “AI Therapists” that are already working as well as how they are being regulated (or not). We talk about how AI therapy chatbots are being received and likely next steps in innovation. We also explore what “human therapists” can do to protect their practices and address the influx of low cost, always available AI therapy.

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

In this podcast episode, we look at the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health

Our friend Dr. Ben Caldwell has been writing some articles on the current state of AI in therapy. We decided this information needed to come to the podcast, so we invited him back on the podcast.

What is the current state of AI in the therapy profession?

· There are chatbots providing “therapy” or mental health support

· Some apps are going the path of becoming registered as a medical device with the FDA, some are staying in the coaching space

Who is regulating AI therapy?

· Licensing boards for “human therapists” may have no ability to regulate the use of the term therapy by apps, medical devices, or “AI therapists”

· State legislators may be the avenue for regulation, but there may not be an appetite to do so

· FDA can regulate apps that get registered as a medical device

Who wants AI therapy?

· Clients or patients will seek out AI therapy as a very cost-effective and available option for mental health support, also AI therapists will not judge clients and will always remember what clients have said

· Insurance providers will see AI therapy as a way to expand networks

· Legislators will likely purchase AI therapy for state and county Medi-caid services as well as support expansion to address mental health shortages

· Basically, everyone wants AI therapy except for human therapists

What are the concerns about AI therapy?

· It is only approximating the relationship between therapist and client

· An AI therapist doesn’t have morals and values, ethics

· The apps are working only from manualized treatments

· It may be only psychoeducation, without current ability for deeper work

What can therapists do to protect their practices now that AI therapy is here?

· Make sure to vet any AI services or applications that you use

· Shift to services that AI therapy doesn’t provide (like diagnosis, or more niche services with children, families, and couples)

· Move to overseeing AI as an adjunct to therapy (i.e., “prescribe” a particular chatbot or AI therapist and check in with clients periodically or when the client is in crisis)

· Work with AI therapy companies to train the AI therapists

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

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Exploring the Danger, Trauma, and Grief for a Palestinian Therapist in the United States: An anonymous interview Sep 30, 2024

Exploring the Danger, Trauma, and Grief for a Palestinian Therapist in the United States: An anonymous interview

As part of a double episode release, Curt and Katie share an anonymous interview with a Palestinian American therapist about their experience in our profession and in the United States both historically and since the attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. We explore what therapists need to know about Palestine, Palestinian culture, and Palestinians in the diaspora. We also identify additional resources for Palestinian therapists in the diaspora.

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

In this podcast episode, we look at the challenges Palestinian American Therapists face in our communities and our profession

We reached out to Palestinian American colleagues to work to get the perspective of these individuals during the last year as well as historically. Due to safety concerns, our interviewee decided to be interviewed anonymously. Curt and Katie share written interview questions and answers on this episode.

What should therapists know about Palestine, Palestinian Culture, and Palestinians in the diaspora?

· There is a rich and complex history for Palestinians, deeply tied to experiences of displacement, resilience, and a strong sense of community

· One of the most significant events in Palestinian history is the Nakba (or catastrophe) which saw the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948. This event has led to intergenerational trauma and collective grief.

· There are generational differences in the Palestinian experience to be aware of

What has the experience been like over the past year, with heightened awareness of Palestine and the conflict in Gaza?

· There has been a heightened sense of dread and the ability to remain invisible or avoid the topic has been taken away

· Safety, even with therapy clients, has been questioned

· Difficulty balancing denouncing the violence committed by Hamas, while also advocating for Palestinian human rights without being branded a terrorist sympathizer

What do therapists need to know about working with Palestinian clients in the diaspora at this time?

· Clients may be reluctant to share feelings about the conflict due to the challenges in doing so without judgment or fear for their own safety

· Therapists need to have an understanding of the conflict and the broader context, to help avoid relying on the emotional labor of the client to educate

· Palestinians are not a monolith (there are religious, cultural and socioeconomic differences, as well as different reasons for emigration), so it is important to see and connect to the client in front of you

How can therapists in the diaspora navigate global tragedies in their homeland?

· Seek and Accept Support: Don’t hesitate to reach out for support from colleagues or professional networks. It’s crucial to have spaces where you can share and process your experiences.

· Engage in Personal Therapy: Utilize personal therapy more actively. Having a space to openly discuss and navigate your identity and feelings can be invaluable, especially when faced with such intense global events.

· Choose Supportive Communities Wisely: Be discerning about the communities and support networks you engage with. Ensure they offer a safe and respectful space for sharing and discussion and be mindful of how public or anonymous these spaces are.

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

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Growing Antisemitism in the Therapy Profession: An interview with Halina Brooke, LPC Sep 30, 2024

Growing Antisemitism in the Therapy Profession: An interview with Halina Brooke, LPC

As part of a double episode release, Curt and Katie interview Halina Brooke, LPC, founder of the Jewish Therapist Collective, about experiences of antisemitism in our profession. We explore the foundations of antisemitism throughout the development and innovation in psychotherapy. We also talk about lived experiences of Jewish therapists of increasing antisemitism since the attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.

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

In this podcast episode, we look at the increase in antisemitism in the therapist community

In a recent article from Jewish Insider, there are stories about increasing antisemitism in the therapy profession, including in online therapist Facebook groups. We decided to reach out to Jewish Therapist Collective founder, Halina Brooke, LPC, to talk us through what has been happening throughout her time as a therapist as well as the escalation of antisemitism in the past year.

Experiences of Antisemitism in the Therapy Profession

· The Jewish Therapist Collective has received an increase in calls from clients who are seeking Jewish therapists after October 7, 2023 due to cultural incompetence from non-Jewish therapists

· Jewish therapists have reported being sidelined or fired from their mental health workplaces due to being Jewish

· Jewish therapy students report being told that their presence is triggering to non-Jewish therapists

· Jewish therapists and counselor have reported losses of peer groups due to antisemitism, including affinity groups for intersectional identities

Antisemitic Incidents Within Therapist Facebook Groups

· Posts targeting “Zionist” therapists have been used to identify Jewish therapists

· There are lists of “Zionist Therapists” that include only Jewish therapists, potentially ones who have not made political statements about Zionism, that “antiracist” groups are suggesting should not receive any referrals due to their status as “Zionists”

· These lists appear to solely be lists of Jewish therapists, without including Christian Zionists or others with Zionist beliefs

What do therapists need to know about Jewish Culture and Identity?

· Multicultural education on Jewish identity in graduate school is insufficient

· There is as much diversity within the Jewish community as there is between the Jewish and other communities

· Halina discusses the historical context of Jewish identity and how often they are not seen as part of the dominant majority

· It is important to seek consultation from Jewish colleagues due to the many nuances and differences

· Even though many of the founders of psychotherapy are Jewish, there is a lack of inclusion of Jewish identity in multicultural courses

What support is available for Jewish Therapists?

· The Jewish Therapist Collective provides community and training

· Halina described the steps that she has taken to hide her Jewishness as well as to find support within the community

Learn more about these resources: jewishtherapists.org

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

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Navigating Religious Trauma, Spiritual Abuse, and Lies About God: An interview with Dr. Jamie Marich Sep 23, 2024

Navigating Religious Trauma, Spiritual Abuse, and Lies About God: An interview with Dr. Jamie Marich

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Jamie Marich about her new book coming out in October 2024, You Lied to Me About God. We explore the impacts of religious abuse, Jamie’s personal story of spiritual trauma, and what therapists can miss when working with clients on these topics. We also dig into the idea that therapists can let their clients down when they don’t do their own internal work, address their bias, and show up effectively.

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

In this podcast episode, we look at the impacts of spiritual trauma on therapy clients

We invited our friend, Dr. Jamie Marich, back on the podcast to talk about her story (and her upcoming book) that deals with spiritual abuse, religious trauma, and the lies that have been told "in God's name" that lead to shame and isolation for many of our clients.

What are the impacts of spiritual abuse and religious trauma?

· Definition of shame as the lie someone told you about yourself

· Spiritual abuse goes deeper because the lies are told in God’s name

· There are big impacts of religious trauma on those in the LGBTQ+ community as well as those who are seeking deep spiritual connection

Looking at the concept of forgiveness within the context of religious and other trauma

· How forgiveness can be helpful

· How forgiveness is weaponized within the church and can be harmful

· Forgiveness is not required, acceptance is a more appropriate goal

How can therapists make sure they are not adding to the harm for clients with religious trauma?

· Do your own work, so you can approach clients where they are

· Be authentic, don’t lie to your clients, but don’t bring it up unless asked

· Seek consultation to enhance your understanding of the client’s situation

· Cultural humility is key, and don’t rely solely on your clients to be the cultural informant

· Do not impose your spirituality on your clients, but be open to discussing spirituality

· Be aware of the power dynamics, so you don’t become the client’s new guru

· Help clients to find their own answers rather than relying on external authority

Other ideas we touched on in this podcast episode

· The importance of critical thinking

· “Therapy cults” that promote adherence to a specific intervention model

· The challenges of folks seeking compliance and righteousness, rather than taking a nuanced approach to topics and deciding for themselves

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

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Do Therapists Lie to Their Clients? Sep 16, 2024

Do Therapists Lie to Their Clients?

Curt and Katie chat about whether therapists are dishonest and whether they should be. We received a request from a listener to talk about the idea that therapists lie to their clients. We look at what types of lies are common, whether lying is expected or acceptable, what to do instead, and how to decide whether you will lie or not in session.

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

In this podcast episode we talk through how, when, and why therapists lie

We received a listener email requesting a discussion on therapist dishonesty and the impact on the therapeutic relationship.

What types of lies might a therapist tell?

· Whoppers (fraud)

· Fibs (untruths that support the clinical work or the therapeutic relationship)

· Omission (concealing facts that impact the client)

· Deflections (bending the truth for therapeutic effect)

· Denial (rejecting reality, with positive and negative results)

Is it good or bad for a therapist to lie?

· Fraud is never okay, and is illegal and unethical

· Fibs may be in the best interest of the client OR could be to protect the therapist (which is human, but not really okay)

· Professionalism, exaggerating/minimizing emotional responses for therapeutic effect, and “social niceties” may be appropriate, but it is important to think about authenticity and whether it will negatively impact the client if they perceive the deception

· If a client is asking for the therapist’s opinion of them, the context of the client’s treatment agreements and their needs, as well as the therapeutic relationship impact whether a therapists will be best served by honesty or deflecting or denying the truth

What can therapists do when they are tempted to lie to their clients?

· Make the decision of whether to tell the truth based on the context of the relationship and treatment goals

· Be more transparent with the client about therapist’s limitations, while also holding hope and accountability to address these limitations

· Work collaboratively with the client to get to the information or treatment interventions that are needed, rather than working by and for yourself.

· If you lie to your client and it backfires, work to make repairs (see our episode on “Should Therapists Admit Mistakes?)

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

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Welcome to Therapist Grad School! Sep 09, 2024

Welcome to Therapist Grad School!

Curt and Katie chat about what the career is like, what is important to know starting out in grad school. We look at what prospective therapists need to know as they enter school, including hard truths and tips for social support. We also talk about what changes are needed in the profession and how students and new therapists can navigate these challenges. We provide suggestions on how to best take advantage of the opportunities in graduate school. We also unveiled a new project for the podcast.

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

In this podcast episode we talk through what the therapist career is like

We decided to talk through what it is like to be a therapist and how to best navigate your grad school education.

What do prospective therapists need to know as they enter grad school?

· Grad school doesn’t cover all that you’ll need to know to be an effective therapist

· Lived experience is valid and definitely informs your work

· It is important to assess what you already know, what you need to unlearn, what interventions you can add to what you already know

· Learning how to be a “safe therapist” is not the same as learning to be a “good therapist”

· Theories and orientations are foundational, but you can’t know them all

· Once you graduate, that’s when you actually start learning how to be a therapist

What can grad school students and new therapists expect regarding needed changes in the profession?

· Changes may happen, but slowly

· There can be times for advocacy to help increase the sustainability of the practice

· You don’t need to worry about getting a job immediately, but you can start working with clients or in the field, if you would like or need to do so financially

· There are a number of students who burnout before graduation, so pay attention to your capacity and self-care practices

What opportunities are important to take advantage of while you are in grad school for therapy?

· Consider taking the hardest or more complex practicum sites to learn how to work with the most challenging populations

· Volunteer to do roll plays and risk making mistakes in your classes

· Make mistakes while you are a student and prelicensed individual to get the supervision and oversight, to learn from these mistakes

What are some hard truths about becoming a therapist?

· The therapy profession is not for everyone

· Not all students will make it through to graduation or to licensure (whether by choice or not)

· Grad schools are not always transparent with how long it will take to get through the program, whether you will have support in getting a practicum site

· The entry level jobs in the field may not pay very well (i.e., some are at or only slightly above minimum wage)

· There is a risk of becoming disillusioned by the state of the world and the profession

What are the social elements of becoming a therapist?

· If you’re only friends and socializing with therapists, your view of the world may become more limited

· There can be echo chambers, especially around social justice topics within mental health

· Having friends who are therapists, so you can have the validation and understanding of other therapists

· Socialization can be too focused on alcohol-forward events. It is important to find other ways to socialize to avoid the risks of substance abuse and dependence, especially as therapists are held to a higher standard through licensure

· Take responsibility for self-care/self-maintenance

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

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Are Therapist Conferences Elitist? An interview with Linda Thai, LMSW Sep 02, 2024

Are Therapist Conferences Elitist? An interview with Linda Thai, LMSW

Curt and Katie interview Linda Thai on her experiences as a conference attendee, keynote speaker, and educator. We discussed the need for more accessible, community-centric, and culturally humble education as well as how to more effectively share knowledge. The limitations of traditional educational models (which Linda calls the Continuing Education Industrial Complex) are discussed as well as how conferences can be exclusive or elitist. We explore how to best access continuing education and take advantage of all types of educational opportunities.

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

In this podcast episode, we look at how privilege and elitism show up in therapist conferences.

Katie recently took one of Linda Thai’s courses and was fascinated by the way that she was able to make an engaging virtual course. We reached out and requested she share her wisdom with us and we found ourselves talking about the nature of continuing education.

Why should therapists attend (or not attend) mental health conferences?

· If you understand what type of conference you are attending and take advantage of that opportunity (to learn, build community, or something else) attending mental health conferences can be beneficial to therapists

· There can be an inherent elitism in conferences, both in who is able to comfortably attend as well as who can participate as speakers or in supporting conferences

· Continuing education can also have bias and privilege white (typically female) therapists, especially those who have been in private practice for many years.

· Conferences are often events designed to inspire and create community, the learning experiences may not be as deep as therapists need to truly get what they need as clinicians

What are the primary concerns in continuing education for mental health professionals?

· What qualifies as continuing education seems limited (i.e., lived experience is discounted as valid education)

· There is a bureaucracy within continuing education approval that makes it difficult for speakers and conference hosts to be able to allow for interactivity and emergence within the workshops

· Too often the same speakers are elevated and there is a need to center lived experience and marginalized voices to co-create collective learning and liberation

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

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How Much is Too Much? Thoughts on therapists being too branded, niched, and political Aug 26, 2024

How Much is Too Much? Thoughts on therapists being too branded, niched, and political

Curt and Katie chat about the delicate balance between authenticity and influence in therapy, with a focus on avoiding bias and discrimination while still being real people. We also navigate the challenges of political discussions in therapy, emphasizing the need to balance political awareness with client needs and goals.

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

In this podcast episode we explore the risks of bringing too much of your own beliefs into your work as a therapist

We have been rethinking the conversations we’ve had about blank slate and the Brand Called You. We look at the risks of being too branded or niched, or too political. We also talk about what might be more beneficial for clients, without losing the work toward authenticity and real connections as therapists.

Do therapists bring too much of themselves into their work?

Curt and Katie did a CE presentation and then an episode called the Brand Called You, which talks about how to create personal branding as a therapist to refine who seeks you out for therapy
When you bring yourself into the therapy room, you want to assess for bias and discrimination
If you’ve advertised a specific type of treatment or, especially, a specific type of outcome, you may be unduly influencing clients who may not know if that outcome is right for them

How can therapists be “political” without just talking politics or inappropriately influencing their clients?

Therapists can successfully navigate political discussions in therapy to benefit clients.
It is important to distinguish between political in therapy (systemic pressures, opportunities, access) vs pushing viewpoints (talking about politics, biased)
Discussions about the limitations of resources or systemic pressures are political
Conversations about voting for a particular party would be talking politics
Helping clients to look at things from a different viewpoint may be helpful, but only if you assess your own bias and the client’s readiness
It can be challenging to be a political therapist, clients may feel uncomfortable or resistant to discussing political issues in therapy

What can therapists do to balance branding and authenticity with effective client care?

Tailor your client sessions to their needs and perspectives and values
Consider providing additional referral resources for clients whose goals do not directly align with a therapist's specialized approach.
Evaluate whether strongly branding oneself risks prioritizing showing one's values over directly addressing what clients are asking for in therapy.
Assess the efficacy of your treatment for the client in front of you.
Make sure even clients who resonate strongly with a therapist's approach are empowered to think critically and come to their own conclusions.

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

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How Can Therapists Help Politically Divided Families: An interview with Angela Caldwell, LMFT Aug 19, 2024

How Can Therapists Help Politically Divided Families? : An interview with Angela Caldwell, LMFT

Curt and Katie interview Angela Caldwell, LMFT about family therapy for politically divided families. We explore what therapists get wrong when working with these families as well as what works better. Angela talks us through the goals for family therapy, how to move families from trying to convince each other to understanding each other better, and the importance of distress tolerance and finding ways for families to survive, even when members strongly disagree with each other.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how therapists can work with politically divided families

During the run up to the 2024 US presidential election, we are seeing more and more political division, even in families. We reached out to our good friend Angela Caldwell, LMFT, to talk through how therapists can support families during this challenging time.

What do therapists get wrong when working with politically divided families?

· Therapists inaccurately agree with families that the goal is either communication skills or getting consensus

· The goals for family therapy are increasing tolerance for differing opinions and sustaining relationships even when you disagree

How can therapists address the societal messages that negatively impact relationships?

· Modeling holding affection while disagreeing on viewpoints

· Hold sacred that everyone in the room has come to their viewpoint honestly

· Focus on the why for the positions people take

· Listen for and mark trigger words to help “opposing party” to stay with the explanation of viewpoint

· Soften the relationship through understanding

What can therapists do if clients feel frightened of the beliefs of their family members?

· Explore perspective and increase clarity on the real anxious feelings

· Find common ground related to hopes for the world

· Work on distress tolerance with the anxious feelings

· Hold the moment of anxiety and then move to reassurance (i.e., that the relationship can survive opposing viewpoints)

What does the work of family therapy look like with politically divided families?

· Set reasonable expectations

· Make sure to give pep talks

· Plan and promise for the next session before ending the previous session

· Personal connection between sessions (like short texts)

· Don’t play “gotcha” when someone is wrong

· Set ground rules at the beginning of therapy related to showing source material for viewpoints

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/

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Beyond Being a Therapist is Hard Work: Curt and Katie respond to listener feedback Aug 12, 2024

Beyond "Being a Therapist is Hard Work": Curt and Katie respond to listener feedback

Curt and Katie received feedback on a recent episode, Don’t Let Tik Tok Fool You: Being a therapist is hard work, an interview with Anita Avedian and Sandra Kushnir. We talk through the feedback that the perspective was too one-sided (primarily from the employer angle) and that it was too much in support of the status quo. We share our perspectives as well as how big of a challenge we’re facing as a profession to become sustainable.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about the challenges of making the therapy profession more sustainable

We received a lot of feedback about our episode with Anita Avedian and Sandra Kushnir. We decided it was worth addressing the feedback directly and continue the conversation.

Why is there a tension between experienced and new mental health professionals?

· The “necessary” tension between those who support what is and those who advocate for what should be

· Supervisors or managers who reinforce what has been seen to be unsustainable in the field

· New clinicians coming in and advocating for things to be better and more sustainable

· The challenge with innovating when the system has burned someone out

What are the primary challenges in the therapy profession in 2024?

· Burnout

· Lower pay (that is not keeping up with inflation)

· A workload that seems unsustainable, especially to newer clinicians

What can therapists do to improve their profession?

· Read Saving Psychotherapy by Dr. Ben Caldwell

· Look for opportunities to reimagine the field, by looking at other sectors (or disruptors in the field like technology)

· Support advocacy efforts through unions, professional associations, or lobbying legislators

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

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What is Working Now in Online Marketing: An interview with Katie Read Aug 05, 2024

What is Working Now in Online Marketing: An interview with Katie Read

Curt and Katie interview Katie Read on how the economy has shifted and what works for marketing has shifted. We look at how things have shifted since the pandemic and what therapists can think about now for their therapy and online businesses. Katie gives us simple strategies and clear insights on what isn’t working anymore and what to do instead.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how therapist marketing must shift post-pandemic

Katie Read has been doing research into what is working in marketing for service providers. We thought we’d ask her back to talk about how the shifting economy is impacting therapists.

How have the shifts in the economy changed business for therapists?

· After the pandemic, people stopped having time for “personal growth”

· Therapy is seen more as a luxury

· People have lost patience for content marketing (like a very long webinar)

· Potential clients are more likely to pay for services for a specific, acute pain point, rather than non-specific pain points or personal growth

· Big Tech is coming into the space and becoming competitors

· TikTok has changed attention spans, so we must market in shorter, more concise bullet points

What strategies can therapists use to improve their businesses?

· Assess the market and identify specific niches that are harder to treat by big tech

· Capture attention by speaking directly to where it hurts, in bullet points and visuals

· Identify problematic expectations, for example meeting someone when they are in crisis and then keeping them for personal growth (rather than expecting them to seek out personal growth work)

Do therapists need to have a big social media presence?

· Many people have been successful selling their services without a big social media following

· If you don’t enjoy social media, you don’t need to spend time on it

· If you enjoy social media and have fun creating compelling content, it can be hugely helpful

· If you aren’t interested in doing social media, one option is the static 9 grid on Instagram

How can therapists get a more specific niche?

· Understand that your niche may evolve over time, so go for what you know now

· Look at what lights you up

· Explore you own story to identify what you’ve learned and what you can share

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

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What to do when supervision goes bad? A guide to supervision ruptures and repair Jul 29, 2024

What to do when supervision goes bad? A guide to supervision ruptures and repair

Curt and Katie chat about what to do when there is a loss of trust in supervision. We explore what has already been researched (and the limitations there). We also look at what can make ruptures more likely, different types of ruptures, and how supervisors can mitigate the risk of rupture and then repair when ruptures inevitably happen. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about how to address ruptures in clinical supervision

Clinical supervision has the potential for errors and requires management from the supervisor to acknowledge, deal with, and repair from mistakes that could rupture the supervisory alliance. This workshop helps to identify the types of ruptures that can occur and offers a strategy on how to deal with them so that they are no longer a problem.

What is the focus within the research base on clinical supervision?

· Most of the research on supervision is focused on clinical supervision without a consideration of the employment element of the relationship

· There is not a lot of research on supervision, much less ruptures in supervision

· Much of the research has been from the supervisee perspective, but that is shifting

· Without supervisors being involved in research, there is a risk of supervisors dismissing it

What can make ruptures more likely in supervisory relationships?

· Power differential within the clinical supervision relationship may lead to supervisees feeling unable to talk about mistakes that supervisors make

· Expectations of safety and confidentiality that are not discussed or are assumed to be greater than they are, with a lack of transparency

· Supervisors are responsible to address ruptures, but may not know about them

· Supervisors can fall into risk management and punishment or not allowing supervisees to do anything that may challenge their skill level

What can supervisors do to avoid supervisory ruptures?

· Acknowledge the fallibility of both the supervisor and the supervisee

· Supervisors share when they don’t know something and learn what they need to learn to support their supervisee

· Understanding the impact of each perspective on expectations (i.e., supervisors in agencies are also impacted by the expectations that they have on them from their own supervisors)

· Identify confrontation versus avoidance rupture risks

· Being more transparent on the process of supervision and about the supervisor’s competence and emotional responses

· Understanding and assessing for cultural ruptures, microaggressions, etc.

Can supervisory ruptures also happen based on actions of the supervisee?

· Yes!

· Supervisees can misunderstand their role and not complete what is expected of them

· Supervisees can fail to develop as a clinician

· Supervisees may ask peers rather than their supervisor for what to do and do the wrong things

How can supervisors repair the ruptures that happen in clinical supervision?

· Setting the stage for the most positive supervisory experience

· Cultural humility

· Pause, Consider, Reflect, Act (C.E. Watkins, Jr.’s work)

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

Continuing Education Information including grievance and refund policies.

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

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Should We Stop Badmouthing Evidence Based Practice? An interview with Jessica Tappana, LCSW Jul 22, 2024

Should We Stop Badmouthing Evidence Based Practice? An interview with Jessica Tappana, LCSW

Curt and Katie interview Jessica Tappana, LCSW about evidence-based practices (EBPs). We talk about what EBPs actually are and how to implement them in clinically sound and ethical ways. We look at what therapists usually get wrong about EBPs and what they can do to improve their practice.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how Evidence Based Practices work in the real world

Jessica is a long-time listener of the show and a good friend of ours and has been talking with us about how we have spent too much time bad-mouthing EBPs. We decided it would be good to hash out the ideas around “manualized treatment” and how you can actually bring yourself as a clinician into the work, even when using these interventions that are backed by science.

What are Evidence-Based Practices?

· Using well-researched interventions

· Using the expertise of the clinician

· Understanding the needs of the clients

What should therapists know about evidence-based practice?

· There is room to implement EBP without full adherence

· Contrasting “eclectic” from “meeting a client where they are” and pulling from other evidence-based interventions

· The ways that EBPs are trained and studied (due to funding sources) lead to strict adherence

· How you teach or implement the EBP can be unique to the clinicians

· Contrasting fidelity of the model with adherence to model

· You can bring yourself as a therapist into the room AND provide evidence-based interventions

· Training and supervision is more challenging when you are not seeking strict adherence

· It’s important to have time to practice therapy outside of sessions with clients

What data or assessments should therapists use with Evidence Based Practices?

· Feedback informed care (e.g., FIT)

· Assessments of depression or anxiety consistently to see progress

· Screening tools and measurement to track progress

· It is important for clinicians to believe in and use the data collection

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

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Two Years In: Is 988 Actually Helping People Facing Mental Health Crises? Jul 15, 2024

Two Years In: Is 988 Actually Helping People Facing Mental Health Crises?

Curt and Katie check back with the now two-year-old program and identify what’s working and what’s not with the crisis hotline. There is data that it is 98% but there are also concerns that have been raised. We look at reports of data sharing without transparency, increases in police involvement and involuntary hospitalization, and inconsistently (and potentially inadequately) trained hotline workers. We also explore what therapists can do to support clients who might need this resource.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about what is work and what is not working with 988

Katie became concerned about data use and how well 988 is working after seeing some articles from Mad in America. Curt and Katie thought it would be good to dig a little deeper into what is actually happening with this newer crisis hotline.

What are concerns being raised about 988 at this point?

· Data sharing with a lack of transparency

· Different definitions of confidential and confidentiality

· There is not really a guarantee that you can remain anonymous

· Increase of involuntary hospitalization and police involvement

· Lack of infrastructure and lack of local resources to manage crisis response

· Callers may be routed to the call center nearest to their area code, not current location

· Not advertising 988 in high population areas because they will get calls no matter where their community members are due to their area codes

· Training of the hotline workers is inconsistent and may not be sufficient

· Lack of funding to make improvements and develop new resources

What are the risks when someone calls 988?

· The call center staff may not have training to deal with the caller’s issues

· Responses on the call line may be overly focused on psychoeducation

· Lack of time for each caller (without assurance that callers get time to talk through the concerns that led them to call)

· There is a possibility that there will be responses that are truly unhelpful to the caller

· Incarceration or involuntary hospitalization

· Inconsistent follow up if calls are dropped or callers disengage

What should therapists be aware of as they navigate 988 at this time?

· They are reporting a 98% success rate, so this is a resource worth considering

· Make sure your clients understand what to use 988 for

· Help your clients to assess the risks and benefits of calling

· Work to increase the transparency about data sharing, confidentiality and anonymity

· There is advocacy needed to improve 988 as a resource

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/

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Don’t Let TikTok Fool You – Being a Therapist is Hard Work: An interview with Sandra Kushnir, LMFT and Anita Avedian, LMFT Jul 08, 2024

Don’t Let TikTok Fool You – Being a Therapist is Hard Work: An interview with Sandra Kushnir, LMFT and Anita Avedian, LMFT

Curt and Katie interview Sandra Kushner and Anita Avedian about how the therapy business works now. We talk about how the profession and those who are entering it has changed over the years. We look at what new therapists can expect when they join a group practice, pushing back against some of the broadly held misconceptions of what it is like to be a therapist today.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about what new therapists can expect when entering the field

We invited Anita Avedian and Sandra Kushnir to come talk about their latest endeavor: a course called Degree to Practice.

What are the misconceptions new therapists have about what it looks like to work as a therapist?

· There is a difference between desired caseload and the capacity to earn money and hours toward licensure

· Expectations don’t seem to be realistic and seem to be impacted by conversations about burnout

· These expectations are being set by grad school, social media, coaching programs

· There doesn’t seem to be an understanding about what it takes to build a practice and what group practice owners are doing to create these workplaces

· Therapists will need to learn how to work with clients that they are not comfortable with

· Developing expertise is essential for attracting clients – be the best at what you do

· Part of developing expertise is learning how to address higher risk with all clients

What can therapists expect when they join a group private practice?

· The best group practice owners will have transparency and clarity around expectations

· Often there will be a minimum caseload (Sandra and Anita both require a minimum of 20 clients per week)

· There is an overhead for each therapist, so therapists will not earn the full amount they are charging

· Insurance or sliding fee practices will need to pay therapists less than private pay practices due to the income available

· In many private practices, it will take some time to build a caseload, which means that it will take time to gain consistent income

· Some group practices will teach you how to run your own practice, some will just provide a space for doing clinical work

· Looking at practical limits as “task conflict” rather than “relational conflict” – for example, pay is a factor of the business’ needs and capacity, not a personal evaluation of someone’s worth

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

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No Cap: It’s Time to Glow Up Your Teen Therapy Skills Jul 01, 2024

No Cap: It’s Time to Glow Up Your Teen Therapy Skills

Curt and Katie chat about how to work effectively with teen clients. We look at what adults often get wrong about teens as well as how therapists can develop real relationships with their teen clients. We also look at the differences that can show up in how you do therapy with teens.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about effective therapy with teenaged clients

Curt and Katie have both specialized in working with teens at different points in their careers and figured they should share what they’ve learned to support other therapists who’d like to work with teens.

What do therapists (and caregivers) get wrong about teenagers?

· You won’t reach teens if you treat them like behavioral problems to solve

· It is helpful to show teens that they will be listened to, rather than just subject to whatever their parents or caregivers want them to do in therapy

· Therapists can seem less authentic if they try to be “the cool therapist”

What is needed in an effective therapeutic alliance with teen therapy clients?

· Identifying what the teen needs from the therapist (e.g., confidant, older sibling, parental type)

· Authenticity is key as teens will often see through it if you’re not

· Defining boundaries of the relationship

· Looking toward client autonomy

· Showing stability and constancy

· Encouraging safety and agency

· Being a trusted, consistent adult

What are differences in therapy with teens and adults?

· Having caregivers involved in schedule and decision-making, having a huge impact on teens

· Therapy for teens is often a relationship where identity can be tested

· Therapists can be an outside voice for both teens and adults, but teens may need this more

· Caregivers are more likely to be a part of treatment for teens

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

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More Than Cogs in the Machine: Bringing trauma-informed principles into the workplace Jun 24, 2024

More Than Cogs in the Machine: Bringing trauma-informed principles into the workplace

Curt and Katie chat about trauma-informed workplaces. We explore what a trauma informed workplace is, why it is important to implement, and how best to do so. We also explore some practical challenges to creating a trauma-informed workplace and ideas for how to handle these challenges. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about how to create a trauma-informed workplace

People affected by trauma are expected to perform in the workplace, but often have difficulty with environments that treat them as replaceable. This can lead to employee underperformance, burnout, and turnover in the workforce. Healthy interactions with the workplace can help both the individual and corporate performance. This workshop addresses principles and practices that allow for employers to create a trauma informed workplace.

What is a trauma-informed workplace?

· Remembering that all workers are human

· Collaboration and encouraging autonomy for employees

· Acknowledging that trauma exists for everyone

· Trauma is addressed in the workplace (e.g., mitigating secondary or vicarious trauma)

· 4 R’s of Trauma can give guidance to how to identify and respond to trauma

· Supportive policies go beyond self-care

· There is a systemic mechanism to support staff and improve

· Based in trust and trustworthiness

What are the risks of not having a trauma-informed workplace?

· Lower employee productivity, lower quality work

· Higher levels of burnout, absenteeism, presenteeism

· Recreating past traumas when we’re not aware of the dynamics in play

How can therapists create and benefit from a trauma-informed workplace?

· Create supportive policies and procedures

· Evaluate how well trauma informed principles are being implemented

· We discuss an evaluation tool for this purpose

· CTIPP Toolkit (Campaign for Trauma Informed Practice and Policies)

· Acknowledge shared humanity

· Creating connection and collaboration between team members

· This may be something that needs to be repaired or built within a workplace that has problems

· Understanding how to build, sustain trust, and effectively take feedback and implement it

· Transparency and accountability

What are some challenges in implementing a Trauma-Informed Workplace?

· Very challenging conversations needing repeated repair

· Avoiding conversations about trauma

· Digging deeply into emotional life of employees (i.e., with the potential of HR violations)

· Practical limitations to what employers can provide to their employees

· Us versus them mentalities and not seeing opportunities to collaborate

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

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.

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

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Pursuing Happiness as a Therapist: An interview with Stevon Lewis, LMFT Jun 17, 2024

Pursuing Happiness as a Therapist: An interview with Stevon Lewis, LMFT

Curt and Katie interview Stevon Lewis, LMFT, about how he makes his career more sustainable. We look at his current philosophies around low effort, alignment, and fun. We also explore how he was able to initially able temper his expectations, work through misaligned paths, and pivot when needed. Finally, we talk about what it looks like behind the scenes to pursue a number of different revenue and marketing streams.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how to make a sustainable therapy career

We invited Stevon Lewis back to talk about creating a sustainable career, even if it means pivoting and rebuilding your career or your brand.

How can you build a positive and sustainable career as a therapist?

· It’s important to assess your performance, your level of happiness, etc.

· Don’t be afraid to pivot

· Assess if you are working too hard or are misaligned with the work

· Determine whether your unease is due to lack of skill or misalignment

· Frame assessment based on practical evaluation versus moving to “I’m a failure”

When can you actually make choices that serve you better as a therapist?

· Initial career choices may not be as ideal as one would like

· It is important to temper your expectations to your current situation

· Many therapists start in community mental health and may not be able to choose who we see and what we do

· Be flexible and open to working with less than ideal clients, identify the learning opportunities

· There is a ramp up and a building up of a caseload and career that takes time

· Understand that pivoting is part of the journey because we don’t know what we’re good at or what we’re going to like

How do therapist influencers work effectively?

· There can be a lot of effort behind the scenes

· Delegating and contracting out elements of the work can be helpful

· Efficiency is important to be able to do a bunch of different things to be successful

· Stevon talks about how he does his “low effort” version of social media posting and interaction

· Looking at the minimum effort for maximum result

· Accept doing what you need to do to get the results you would like (not comparing to all others)

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

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On The Move: How Run Walk Talk Therapy Reshapes Mental Health An interview with Sepideh Saremi, LCSW Jun 10, 2024

On The Move: How Run Walk Talk Therapy Reshapes Mental Health An interview with Sepideh Saremi, LCSW

Curt and Katie interview Sepideh Saremi, LCSW, on her therapy model, Run Walk Talk. We look at the practicalities and clinical benefit of including movement (specifically running and walking) in therapy. We talk about the principles of movement as method, movement as modulator, and movement as metaphor.

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

In this podcast episode, we explore running in a therapy session

We invited Sepideh Saremi to talk about how she works as a therapist. She started running and walking with her clients in 2014 and is now teaching other therapists how to effectively bring these types of movement into therapy.

How does it work to add running or other forms of movement to therapy?

· Movement as method (nuts and bolts, practicalities)

· Movement as modulator (addressing the nervous system)

· Movement as metaphor

How can a therapist explain running or walk and talk therapy to a client?

· The purpose of running or walking in therapy is not for the cardio benefits

· Running and walking in therapy can help clients to connect to self and therapist

· Run Walk Talk can also make therapy more accessible for some clients

What are the practicalities and benefits of running in a psychotherapy session?

· Running at a conversation pace

· Paying attention to the physical interaction

· Creating an embodied experience

· Assessing pace and self-care

· Mindfulness and awareness

· How to address confidentiality

· Using the environment clinically

· The benefits of being outside

· The relational elements are important in this type of therapy

· Handling liability when working with clients outside and movement

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

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What Can Therapists Do About the Loneliness Epidemic? Jun 03, 2024

What Can Therapists Do About the Loneliness Epidemic?

Curt and Katie chat about loneliness as a presenting problem in therapy. We explore the misconceptions about loneliness and how therapists often go to fix the problem rather than understand the problem. We also look at the clinical considerations, including gender differences, the impact of Covid-19, and the changes in how people socialize. Finally, we identify treatment strategies to support individuals struggling with loneliness.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about how therapists support clients who are lonely

There is a loneliness epidemic that is coming into the therapy room a lot and we’ve heard from clients, colleagues, and friends that the first response is “fix it.” We don’t think that’s the strongest move, so we dive into how therapists can more effectively support individuals who are lonely.

What are misconceptions about loneliness?

· It is a normal human feeling and doesn’t always need to be fixed

· Loneliness is not always related to major depression

· Loneliness is not the same as isolation, nor is it the same as solitude

What are considerations related to loneliness and socialization?

· The impact of Covid-19 on individuals and on socialization

· The changes in how people socialize in the modern age

· Cognitive distortions when one socializes

· Attachment wounds and differences in how people relate to others

· Gender differences in connection and expectations about roles in relationships

How can a therapist explore with a client their relationship with loneliness?

· Looking at what people need when feeling loneliness

· Exploring how understood and seen one feels within their relationships

· Sorting how one can get their needs met with what is available to them

What are the practical considerations needed to address loneliness?

· Identifying ways to connect with others that fits into time and money parameters

· Going beyond similar interests and how to find people to truly connect with

· Exploring coping skills, rejection sensitivity, and self-confidence to set one up for success

· Looking at how to test new experiences, fail and rebound or succeed and build

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

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When Doing “No Harm” Isn’t Good Enough: Bringing beneficence to your clients May 27, 2024

When Doing “No Harm” Isn’t Good Enough: Bringing beneficence to your clients

Curt and Katie chat about ethics again. We look at how therapists decide what is beneficial for clients. We also contrast the concept of “beneficence” (doing good) versus “nonmaleficence” (doing no harm). We specifically explore how to identify when something is in the therapist’s interest versus the client’s interest as well as what therapists can do when clients hold harmful, untrue beliefs. This is a law and ethics continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about how therapists do good, beyond “do no harm”

Therapist healthcare ethics are often taught from the perspective that the professional’s role is to “do no harm” when providing treatment to clients. Lost in the teachings is that therapists have other obligations to address when providing treatment. This workshop focuses on examples of bringing the principle healthcare ethic of beneficence to therapy to help determine “doing good” for the client’s benefit.

What is beneficence in the context of psychotherapy?

· Do what is good for the client and for treatment

· “For the benefit if the client”

· Comparing this with the idea of non-maleficence (“do no harm”) which is don’t do bad things, but also try to prevent bad things from happening

How do therapists decide what is “good” for their client?

· Assessing the risk of overtaking client autonomy and becoming paternal or parental

· Balancing all of the core ethical principles and putting them in context for the unique situation for each client

· Looking at whether therapist self-disclosure is in the benefit of the client

· Identifying what is therapeutic and beneficial

· Making sure that therapists move beyond what is comfortable (and not “harmful”) to something that may be less comfortable (and more beneficial)

· Looking at who therapists choose to work with, balancing therapist self-care and self-protection with what is beneficial to the client and society

What are specific concerns to consider when deciding whether a therapist is working for the benefit of the client?

· Therapy dogs (are they certified and registered, is it in the treatment plan)

· Contact between sessions initiated by the therapist (who is the contact for? What does the treatment model say about this type of contact?)

· Have a thought process and document that thought process when deciding what to do as a therapist

What can therapists do when clients hold distorted beliefs?

· Identify: Do the distorted beliefs that the client holds cause (or could cause) harm?

· Understand: What laws or ethics are relevant to whether the distorted belief should be addressed?

· Get client consent (or not) to talk about the distorted belief and potentially change the course of therapy

· Is it necessary to discuss the belief at this time?

· What countertransference issues could impact the efficacy of the conversation with the client?

· Will the conversation be helpful and potentially change the client’s view?

· How will the conversation change the course of therapy?

· Does the therapist have appropriate expertise and training to address the distorted belief?

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

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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.

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

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Is Seeking an “Abundance Mindset” Toxic? May 20, 2024

Is Seeking an “Abundance Mindset” Toxic?

Curt and Katie chat about abundance and scarcity mindsets, looking at what the research actually says about these often-used terms. We explore the dangers of how the abundance mindset is often weaponized against entrepreneurs (like private practitioners) in how they think and how much they should pay for coaching services. We also look at the role of privilege in how these mindsets are often talked about. Finally, we explore what might be better to focus on instead: practical or growth mindsets as well as wise mind.

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

In this podcast episode we talk the dangers of striving for abundance mindset

We’ve heard a lot of people in a lot of different settings talk about the ideas of abundance and scarcity mindsets. We see some problems in how these concepts are used within popular culture.

What does the research say about scarcity and abundance mindsets?

· When you have scarce resources, you will work to protect yourself and avoid death

· There is research done on actual “scarcity” that is being inaccurately applied to people who do not have scarce resources (like some of the coaches and entrepreneurs who use this term)

· People who have more resources think more abundantly (the finding is correlational, not directional)

What are the dangers of the “abundance mindset?”

· The unrealistic nature of “thinking” your way out of poverty or practical challenges (without the reality of action)

· The blaming the victim that can happen when someone is having trouble reframing their situation more positively

· Weaponizing “abundance” to imply that you are sabotaging your practice

· Using “abundance” as a sales tactic

What should therapists do instead of “being abundant?”

· A strategic or problem-solving mindset

· Learning practical strategies to do the work necessary

· Allowing time to grow into the vision of your practice

· Growth versus fixed mindset

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/

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How to Navigate Shifts in the Mental Health Field and Your Career Path: An interview with Dr. Melvin Varghese May 13, 2024

How to Navigate Shifts in the Mental Health Field and Your Career Path: An interview with Dr. Melvin Varghese

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Melvin Varghese about how he’s navigated his career path. We look at a life changing event that helped him to get perspective on what is most important to him. We also explore practicalities of prioritizing personal life as an entrepreneur.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how to prioritize your personal life while having a successful career

We invited our friend Melvin Varghese back to the podcast to talk about how he is navigating shifts in the profession and his life.

What do therapists get wrong when creating their career?

· Doing too much and not doing things deeply enough

· Shifting too quickly when things get hard

· Failing to look at season of life issues when planning your business

· Having trouble defining success based on what is resonant to oneself

How can therapists prioritize themselves and sustain a therapy career?

· Pace yourself based on your own life story, not a mentor’s or the “shoulds” from the profession

· Be willing to “fail forward”

· Pushing back against “curated authenticity” and look at how to be real, with boundaries

· Aligning career with morals and values

· Focus on “decades over days”

· Sustainable content creation

What are Melvin’s predictions about the future of the profession?

· Authenticity and real conversations will succeed where AI posting will not

· Finding content platforms where effort compounds over time

· Discovery platforms leading to relationship-deepening platforms

· Navigating a lot of tech and insurance companies

· People have less discretionary money, so diversifying your income is valuable

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Are Therapy and Coaching All That Different? May 06, 2024

Are Therapy and Coaching All That Different?

Curt and Katie chat about the differences between coaching and therapy, for a second time. We look at some common myths (and how coaches continue to share this misinformation). We also look at how therapists can effectively incorporate coaching into their therapy sessions, with client consent. Finally, we discuss the challenges inherent in coaching and in therapy, and why therapists may feel they need to choose one or the other.

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

In this podcast episode we talk the differences between coaching and therapy

We’ve come back around to exploring coaching. We look at the differences, the pros and cons, and what therapists can incorporate into therapy.

What are the differences between coaching and therapy?

· There are no regulations for coaching

· Therapists are limited to providing services where they are licensed or have practicing privileges

· Coaching is often more directive (but therapy can be directive as well)

· Coaching has flexibility to work outside of session (although therapists can do coaching calls and more experiential work)

· Therapy often requires “medical necessity,” and can treat more serious concerns

· There are sometimes different structures between how therapy and coaching are set up (i.e., coaching has more room for asynchronous courses)

· There is a false story that therapy always looks at the past or sees clients as broken

What parts of coaching can therapists incorporate into therapy?

· Therapists can use a more directive, coaching style, even though not all therapists do

· Therapists, within a treatment agreement, can (and should) hold clients accountable and have more specific goals

· Lived experience informing the work

· Marketing with specificity and focused expertise

Why do therapists feel they need to choose between therapy and coaching?

· It is more complicated to provide different services to your clients

· There is a potential for dual relationships and the rules are different within coaching

· The need for informed consent can hinder some of the other types of services that fit into coaching

· Coaching is for the “worried well” whereas therapy can include folks with deeper issues

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Are You Too Burned Out to Work? An ethical assessment of therapist burnout and impairment Apr 29, 2024

Are You Too Burned Out to Work? An ethical assessment of therapist burnout and impairment

Curt and Katie chat about the ethics of working while burned out. We look at what burnout is, how it develops and what the impacts are on clients and treatment outcomes. We also explore individual and systemic strategies to mitigate the risks of burnout. This is a law and ethics continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about therapist burnout

So many therapists complain that they are burned out, but then continue to work. Is this ethical? In this continuing education podcourse, we explore what therapist burnout is, how therapists get burned out, potential impacts on the therapeutic work with clients, and when (and whether) it moves into the threshold of unethical behavior. We talk specifically about what makes a therapist impaired and how therapists can assess their own capacity to ethically care for their clients. We also look at how to respond to signs of burnout appropriately. Finally, we dig into systemic concerns that lead to burnout and who really is responsible for a therapist’s burnout and potential impairment.

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What Therapists Need to Know About Menopause and Perimenopause: An interview with Dr. Sharon Malone, MD Apr 22, 2024

What Therapists Need to Know About Menopause and Perimenopause: An interview with Dr. Sharon Malone, MD

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Sharon Malone, MD, author of Grown Woman Talk, about menopause and perimenopause. We explore the mental health impacts as well as the differential diagnosis when assessing a woman over 40 who might be experiencing this phase of life. We also talk about what good treatment can look like, including discussing the debate about hormone therapies.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about mental health impacts of (peri)menopause

After Katie was diagnosed with perimenopause, she began looking for sources of information on this seldom-talked-about phase of women’s lives. She found Dr. Sharon Malone’s work and was so excited that she agreed to come on to talk about menopause and perimenopause as well as her new book, Grown Woman Talk!

What is perimenopause and menopause?

· Life stages for women in midlife and beyond

· Hormonal shifts (not just dropping, but inconsistent through

· Remodeling of the brain

· Perimenopause is not short, it can be up to a decade

· Too often women think they can power through, but it can and should be treated

What are the psychological impacts of perimenopause and menopause?

· Feeling different or more emotional due to hormonal shifts during up to a decade prior to menopause (when hormones drop)

· During perimenopause there is an uptick in depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, late onset ADHD, rage, brain fog

· Perimenopausal mood and psychological changes may be better treated by hormones than by typical psychotropics

· The differential diagnosis should start with ruling out perimenopause for any woman 40+

What does good perimenopause treatment look like?

· The most effective treatment of perimenopausal symptoms is estrogen or menopause hormone treatment

· Too often, women get individual symptoms treated by individual specialists rather than a more global impact of hormone imbalances

· Hormone treatments can potentiate antidepressant (synergistic effect) for mood concerns

· We also address the concerns related to hormone treatment (the study was misrepresented)

· Women should be armed with the questions to ask and collaborate and agree on treatment with their doctors

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Conscious and Trauma-Informed Leadership: An interview with Kelly L. Campbell Apr 15, 2024

Conscious and Trauma-Informed Leadership: An interview with Kelly L. Campbell

Curt and Katie interview Kelly Campbell about her work with leaders. We explore the ways in which trauma can impact leaders, their teams, and their organizations. We also look at what trauma-informed leadership coaching can look like, including overarching goals for trauma-informed and high conscious leadership.

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

In this podcast episode, we explore trauma-informed leadership

While writing her book, Kelly Campbell reached out to Curt and Katie to connect with a previous interviewee, Dr. Sidney Stone -Brown. We loved that she is talking about trauma-informed leadership, so we invited her to come on the podcast to talk with us about it.

What is trauma-informed leadership coaching?

· Recognizing that past traumas can impact how someone leads a group

· Identifying impacts of trauma on a client’s ability to perform the tasks of leadership

· Working to shift dynamics within leaders (and their teams) based on impacts of past trauma

What are the common impacts of trauma on leaders and their leadership skills?

· People-controlling behaviors (like micromanagement)

· People-pleasing behaviors (like not holding people accountable)

· Lack of trust

· Impostor Syndrome

· Attrition of employees

· Lower profitability (as a lagging indicator)

What is the goal for trauma-informed leadership?

· High conscious leaders

· Vulnerability and trust

· Healing the impacts of trauma on the workplace

· Refraining from people-controlling or people-pleasing behaviors

· Modeling a new way of being to shift the company culture

· Self-advocacy, clear boundaries, and improved communication

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Is It Worth It? Analyzing return on investment for your therapy practice Apr 08, 2024

Is It Worth It? Analyzing return on investment for your therapy practice

Curt and Katie chat about different types of return on investment (ROI) for a therapist in private practice. We look at what therapists often get wrong when deciding how to invest their time, money, or energy. We also give some ideas of what can be more effective in getting the highest ROI (of all types) for your therapy business and career.

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

In this podcast episode we talk return on investment

In response to last week’s episode on managing your money, we had additional ideas on the concept of a return on investment.

What are the different types of return on investment that therapists have in their practice?

· The financial ROI of money in versus money out

· How much time spent versus the benefit to your practice and yourself

· The amount of energy spent (or saved) or the type of energy you have available at different types of day

· Connections made while networking and how they can be valuable to a therapist (e.g., referral sources, friends, support system, business collaboration)

· Learning and expertise, continuing education

· Enjoyment and fun

· Supporting mission, vision, and/or values, legacy

What do therapists typically invest time, money, or energy in, that don’t have a good ROI?

· Saying yes to everyone and every opportunity

· Going to networking with only financial ROI (getting referrals for your therapy practice) as a goal

· Insufficient marketing (i.e., not staying consistent through enough touch points before someone refers or signs up as a client)

· Not assessing return on investment for the different types of activities you perform for your practice

· Getting additional certifications without a clear ROI for your practice

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Don’t Forget to Pay Yourself and Other Money Planning Strategies: An interview with Carla Titus Apr 01, 2024

Don’t Forget to Pay Yourself and Other Money Planning Strategies: An interview with Carla Titus

Curt and Katie interview Carla Titus, Fractional CFO about what therapists get wrong when budgeting for their private practice. We explore financial strategies to maintain a viable business as well as how you can grow your business responsibly. We talk about making sure to pay yourself first, then set up a rainy-day fund, and follow that with saving additional extra funds for hiring or new services before you scale.

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

In this podcast episode, we explore what therapists need to know about financial planning for their business

Curt and Katie talk with Carla Titus about financially planning for your business. We look at common mistakes as well as how you can grow while still paying yourself.

What does financial planning look like for a therapy practice?

· Managing cash flow

· Understanding the Return on Investment for new ventures

· Running the numbers on costs and revenue, the gross margin

· Calculating the profitability of adding clinicians or trying new programs

· Working to get a total profit margin of 10-20%

· Creating a reserve fund and saving profit to reinvest, when needed

Common Mistakes therapists make when financially planning for their practice

· Not paying attention to their expenses

· Not tracking cash flow (i.e., not getting billables timely and having expenses that are due before you have the money on hand)

· Therapists often avoid looking at numbers

· Scaling before you have another reserve of money to fund it (2-3 payroll runs for a new employee for example)

What should therapists do before hiring a clinician into their private practice?

· Save money from profit to reinvest into the business

· Making sure you have your rainy-day fund prior to adding additional funds to float a new person as they get up to speed

· Make sure you’re able to pay yourself while bringing on the new hire

· Order of priority: pay yourself, save for a rainy-day, then save for scaling

How can a therapist manage their “money,” even when they are just starting out?

· If you’re taking out a business loan or grant, have a plan for how you’re going to use that money

· Focus on revenue generating ideas to be able to get money and/or pay back loans

· Expenses should also have a high return on investment for the business longevity and the bottom line

· Try to avoid shiny object syndrome

· Know the expectation of the outcome for the money you are spending (for example on marketing)

· Evaluate outcomes and course correct when needed

· Beware the sunk cost fallacy

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An Expert Witness Weighs in on Therapist Malpractice: An interview with Dr. Frederic Reamer Mar 25, 2024

An Expert Witness Weighs in on Therapist Malpractice: An interview with Dr. Frederic Reamer

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Frederic Reamer about his perspective as an expert witness opining on therapist conduct. We talk about the three types of cases he sees (mistakes, challenging decisions, and misconduct) as well as what therapists can do to protect and set themselves up for success.

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

In this podcast episode, we share an expert witness perspective on therapist mistakes

Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Frederic Reamer about how therapists can get in trouble as well as what an expert witness does when evaluating these therapist mistakes.

What do Expert Witness do for cases involving therapists?

· Evaluate malpractice and standard of care

· Opine on whether therapists have acted appropriately in their role as professionals

· Reviewing records, reports, depositions, and testifying on trial

What are the different types of cases that are brought against therapists?

· Good people making mistakes

· Challenging ethical dilemmas (i.e., making a decision that is not wrong, but leads to a bad outcome)

· Misconduct (e.g., having sex with clients, inappropriate dual relationships, impaired therapists)

How can therapists set themselves up to avoid getting sued or licensing board complaints?

· Appropriate documentation

· Consultation with colleagues or supervisors (and document this consultation)

· Have sufficient malpractice insurance

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Are You Burned Out or Are You Bored? Mar 18, 2024

Are You Burned Out or Are You Bored?

Curt and Katie chat about another type of burnout, “bore out.” We explore the difference between burnout and boredom. We talk about what might be unique to therapists’ jobs that would lead to boredom. We also dig into how dissociation can show up as either burnout or boredom. Finally, we share ideas on how modern therapists can mitigate some of the impacts of burnout, boredom, and vicarious trauma.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about both burnout and “bore out”

Katie has been feeling a little bit bored lately, so she decided to do some research on what might be happening. She uncovered a concept “bore out” which seems to be the opposite of burnout, but with similar consequences. We decided to dig into this topic to see what therapists can do to try to avoid (or address) burnout.

What are the differences between burnout and boredom?

· Burnout is overstimulation to the point of running out of energy

· Boredom is under-stimulation to the point of lack of creativity and stagnation

· Burnout is a pretty common topic, but “bore out” never really took off

· People more likely to leave a job due to boredom

What are the types of boredom that therapists face?

· Clinical boredom (repeated stories, lack of progress)

· Repetitive clinical work (due to niche, evidence-based practice)

· Notes and documentation are frequently described as boring

· Trauma therapists may become cynical

· Vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and moral injury

· Desensitization and disengagement of vicarious trauma can feel like boredom

· Dissociation may also be part of this disengagement

What can therapists do to address boredom?

· Clinical consultation and your own therapy

· Professional development and continuing education

· Refreshing your knowledge and bringing new techniques into session

· Adequate stimulation to get work done

· Doing things in small doses

· Reframing things to make them more positive (not “onerous” or “boring”)

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Seeking Purpose Beyond Accomplishment: An interview with Kasey Compton Mar 11, 2024

Seeking Purpose Beyond Accomplishment: An interview with Kasey Compton

Curt and Katie interview Kasey Compton, LPCC, on her new book, In Search of You. We explore her journey of healing and what it was like to put that healing into a public space. We also talk about Kasey’s challenges with being bullied in her home town due to the choices she has made (getting divorced and then choosing a same-sex relationship) and how her “hard head” has helped her to get through it all. She also shares some ideas for therapists in their own healing journeys.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how even successful therapists may need their own healing journey

Curt and Katie talk with Kasey Compton about her new book, In Search of You: When Doing More Isn’t Doing It Anymore.

What is “In Search of You” about?

· Kasey wrote a book while going through therapy about her healing process

· Looking at moving away from accomplishment and toward making meaning

· Getting to a place of self-love

· Using Kasey’s stories she wrote during therapy, in real time

How can a high achiever, people pleaser, or “seeker” move toward self-love?

· Understanding the relationship between love and accomplishment (or lack of relationship between these two)

· Understanding the difference between authenticity and vulnerability

· Shifting one’s relationship with shame

What is it like to heal in public?

· Coming to terms with vulnerability

· For Kasey, her hometown is religiously conservative who were very judgmental about her stages of healing (including her divorce, a new relationship with a woman, and now writing this book)

· Putting on emotional armor in unsafe places

· Finding community support

· Moving forward with boldness and self-acceptance

· Detaching from outcomes

How do these lessons apply for therapists?

· Taking a holistic, full person look at who you are professionally

· Using a timeline to understand ourselves and how our lives have impacted us

· Doing our own work with a therapist or through journaling and doing a timeline

· Finding balance

· Moving away from self-sacrifice as a mechanism toward accomplishment

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When Your Clients are Wealthy and Well Known: An interview with Dr. Holly Daniels, LMFT Mar 04, 2024

When Your Clients are Wealthy and Well Known: An interview with Dr. Holly Daniels, LMFT

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Holly Daniels about working with high profile clients. We talk about the lifestyle factors (like isolation and dehumanization) that come with celebrity as well as the differences when working with famous and powerful people who bring in more common concerns like relationship challenges. We also explore the skills and trustworthiness required to be able to succeed with these clients.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about what it’s like to work with the rich and famous

Curt and Katie asked Dr. Holly Daniels to talk about her work as a therapist, relationship coach, and consultant for the wealthy and well-known.

What is it like working as a therapist or a coach with the wealthy and well-known?

· Seeing the isolation and the reality of their lives

· Making sure to avoid being swept up in the fame

· Understanding the countertransference tendencies (to agree, to be critical)

· Don’t get sucked into aligning with them if it isn’t in their best interest (everyone around them agrees with them)

· Don’t join the power struggle when clients become very dismissive

· Therapists must be emotionally very boundaried and logistically very flexible

· When people are this wealthy or well-known, they have to be very cautious and they have a very high bar related to trust – therapists need to know how the difficulty with trust impacts the relationship

· Allow the client to bring the public information into the session, don’t assume their response to what is in the news

How can therapists support clients who have an influential public persona?

· Separating your personal self from your public persona

· Looking at these two selves as related, but not the same

· Helping clients to let go of public approval or hate as related to who you are

· The commodity is the public persona, not you

What are the family systems and relationship concerns that come with fame?

· There is a closed, isolated bubble where there can be a lot of enmeshment

· There are different challenges and dynamics unique to being part of a famous person’s life

· Looking at the full family system, including the kids

· Feeling guilty for having mental health concerns because they have so much

· It is important for therapists not to bring in their own political or social agenda

· People dehumanize famous people

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When Your Client is a Little Bit Famous: The unique needs and perspectives for working with content creators in therapy Feb 26, 2024

When Your Client is a Little Bit Famous: The unique needs and perspectives for working with content creators in therapy

Curt and Katie chat about the unique needs that content creators (youtubers, podcasters, onlyfans performers) bring to session. We look at the development stages of being a creator, what exactly a “content creator” is, pros and cons (for mental health) of being a content creator, and how therapists can work more effectively with these folks. We also talk about the safety concerns and ways that therapist scan support content creators in protecting themselves. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about therapy with content creators

Content creators and influencers have their own sets of mental health challenges. Therapists working with content creators have many factors to consider when it comes to the particularly unique influences that this occupation has on a person’s mental health. This workshop explores how content creation, streaming, and parasocial relationships affect the mental health and worldview of creators in ways that are both similar and different to other types of performers.

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://moderntherapistcommunity.com/podcourse/

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Continuing Education Information including grievance and refund policies.

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The Power and the Peril of Pop Psychology Feb 19, 2024

The Power and the Peril of Pop Psychology

Curt and Katie chat about pop psychology. We look at what it is, how it influences society, the dangers of leaving it unchecked, and how therapists can support their clients in navigating through all the different self-help content. We also challenge the use of Enneagram and Myers Briggs as “identity” and talk about using pop psychology as a starting point for conversation rather than taking it all at face value.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about the dangers of pop psychology

Curt has had a bee in his bonnet about pop psychology and the potential harms of watering down psychology for the public. We decided we’d take a critical look at what’s out there, including self-help, business, and news content that may be harming the public.

What is pop psychology?

· Researchers sharing their findings through popular media using lay language

· Applied psychology – practical self-help created by psychology practitioners geared toward improving your life

· Targeting people with mental health concerns to decrease suffering – may be created by people with lived experience and is self-help in the place of therapy

· Applying psychology to other realms (like business or sales, spirituality)

What are concerns with pop psychology?

· Overemphasizing the importance of specific pop psychology principles and claiming these things as identity

· Not going back to the evidence base or looking at who the authors are (is it their research or is it a good storyteller who is extrapolating)

· The impact of the audience on which stories or psychological findings are shared

How does Malcolm Gladwell fit into this conversation about the dangers of pop psychology?

· He was enamored with the “Broken Windows” theory of policing and his writings influenced the use type of policing in New York (including Stop and Frisk)

· He ignored the criticism of these policies, like the racial bias that was seen

· He chose not to write about policies that were working to decrease the over prescribing opioids

· He has not recognized the influence on those who read his work

What role can therapists play in supporting our clients around pop psychology?

· Talk with our clients about what they are reading and use it as a starting point

· Bring the evidence-based science into the conversation

· Help them to create a unique, tailored plan for your client to use what works for them

· Correcting misinformation (e.g., the stages of grief)

· Putting out content that is accurate

· Staying current on what is being talked about in popular media

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Is AI Really Ready for Therapists? An interview with Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey Feb 12, 2024

Is AI Really Ready for Therapists? An interview with Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey of QA Prep about her assessment of the AI tools available for therapists. We chat about the high expectations many clinicians have for note writing tools (and whether these expectations are really reasonable right now). We also look at what therapists are getting wrong when starting to use these tools, exploring some concerns related to HIPAA compliance and who is actually putting together these tech tools.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about the development of AI tools for therapists

Curt and Katie asked Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey to come on and talk about what she thinks about AI for documentation.

What are therapists getting wrong about AI?

· Therapists believe that AI can do their notes, but it is often a lot of work and/or is an expensive application is required

· There is a choice when using a free platform and/or an untrusted platform is that you are either writing an insufficient note or adding PHI, which causes you to break HIPAA

· AI for notes takes a very long time due to how slowly they process the information as well as your need to review and edit each note

· Some platforms are claiming to be HIPAA compliant and are not

What are the different ways that AI works to provide documentation?

· AI listens to the session and/or you upload the recording or a transcript

· You enter the information on what happened in the session and AI writes the formal notes

What do therapists need to know about an AI platform before using it?

· Checking for actual HIPAA compliance versus a false statement about HIPAA compliance

· Understand how it is telling you to use the software

· Do they give you a BAA?

· The pricing is relatively similar to an EHR - $10-$40 per month

· This is not an electronic health record or practice management system

· Some of the AI applications do not have access to the diagnosis, assessment, treatment plans, so you will have to insure that you prove medical necessity and demonstrate the clinical loop

Are these AI platforms really ready for therapists?

· The tech experts are taking care of data security

· Many companies are still figuring these things out

· All of the platforms Maelisa tested created fake elements of sessions (i.e., put things in the notes that did not happen)

What else can therapists use AI for?

· Creating templates for progress notes (i.e., not for a specific client, no PHI)

· Creating resources for clients

What do therapists need to do for their clients if they are using AI?

· You must inform your client that you are using AI (informed consent)

· AI is experimental, so it must be optional for your clients to opt in

· You must insure that the platform is actually secure and HIPAA compliant

· Ethics codes aren’t really saying anything, but some statements could be coming out soon on the ethics of how to use AI with or for clients

What do therapists need to know about AI?

· It is very new and changing constantly

· This is going to happen, so we need to understand and participate in this transition

· New resources will be created through AI

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Are Therapists to Blame for Ineffective Workplace Wellness Programs? Feb 05, 2024

Are Therapists to Blame for Ineffective Workplace Wellness Programs?

Curt and Katie chat about a recent New York Times article that claims that individual mental health interventions are not effective in the workplace. We explore that and other studies on workplace wellness programs, looking at what is ineffective, what actually works, and what roles therapists can play in improving outcomes for employees (and employers). We also take a quick look at the ethical or moral questions therapists face when being paid to do these programs.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about a recent study on workplace wellness programs

In a recent New York Times article, they talked about a study that shows little efficacy of workplace wellness programs in the UK. We decided to dig deeper into the research and see what therapists need to know when signing on to provide these programs.

What does the research say about workplace wellness or individual-level mental health interventions on outcomes for employees and employers?

· People in these programs are not better off than people who are not

· Some desired outcomes (health markers, absenteeism, job performance) are not significantly better

· Some positive clinical and employment outcomes from actual mental health programs

· Individual solutions don’t solve systemic problems

What are the dynamics at play in employee well-being?

· Things that do work: more compensation, more say in how their work looks

· The difference between convenience and work-place wellness

· Typically, organizations are not assessing efficacy of their own wellness programs

What is the therapist role in workplace wellness?

· We know that many of these programs are ineffective – should we still continue to do them?

· How should consumers of these products and programs inquire about efficacy or even completion?

· Should therapists be concerned about whether people complete their course or find benefit from it?

· Understanding what resources are available (and being encouraged to use them) may help folks to better benefit from them (as extrapolated from Curt’s undergraduate research)

What can clinicians do to support actual workplace wellness?

· Don’t co-sign on the idea that the onus is on the individual to fix the system

· Provide actual mental health interventions for mental health needs

· Facilitate conversations about systemic problems and solutions

· Support positive interventions for individuals that are doable and effective

· Exploring the ethics of providing these programs

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/

When Your Client is a Super Fan: Exploring parasocial relationships and their effects on mental health Jan 29, 2024

When Your Client is a Super Fan: Exploring parasocial relationships and their effects on mental health

Curt and Katie chat about parasocial relationships. We talk about what parasocial relationships (and break ups) are, who is most likely to engage in these relationships, and the positive and negative impacts of these one-sided relationships. We also look at how to use these relationships within therapy. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about parasocial relationships

People develop relationships with celebrities, TV personalities, and others in the public eye. But do therapists assess the impact these relationships have on their clients and their mental health? This episode explores the ways that clients interact in one-sided relationships, the mental health benefits and drawbacks to engaging in these relationships, and ways for therapists to assess the potential impacts on client mental health and behavior.

How can parasocial relationships show up (and be utilized) in therapy?

· How to help clients identify appropriate role models

· Using parasocial relationships as practice for social relationships

· Ask what content clients are consuming to identify what messages they are receiving

· Get very direct: ask about all of the content they regularly consume

· Look especially at the content or influencers talking about things relevant to their presenting problems

· Explore how clients with social anxiety are interacting with potential parasocial relationships

· Staying abreast of news stories related to parasocial objects

· Listening for certain types of unhealthy messages (like toxic masculinity)

· Helping to expand your clients’ critical thinking and influences in their lives

· Understanding why they are choosing these relationships and the meaning they are making from them

· Using these relationships as practice or places to seek self-awareness and insight, especially related to identity and values

· Grief work when there are parasocial breakups

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

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/

What Is It Like To Be a Medicare Therapist? An interview with Gabrielle Juliano-Villani, LCSW Jan 22, 2024

What Is It Like To Be a Medicare Therapist? An interview with Gabrielle Juliano-Villani, LCSW

Curt and Katie interview Gabrielle Juliano-Villani, LCSW, about what it looks like to take Medicare. We talk about common myths and what the actual experience is like. We also explore the business case for taking Medicare and why (and how) therapists can grow their practice by opting in as a Medicare provider.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about taking Medicare as a therapist

Curt and Katie asked Gabrielle Juliano-Villani, LCSW to come in to talk about what it is like to take Medicare as a therapist.

What is involved in being a Medicare provider?

· Clientele on Medicare include elderly and disabled

· There is a huge need to clinicians to take Medicare

· You will get a lot of referrals – Gabrielle filled up her caseload and made 6 figures in her first year in private practice

What types of clinical expertise is necessary for therapists who take Medicare?

· Loss of independence and aging issues

· Grief and loss

· Chronic health conditions and illnesses

· Loss of mobility

· Dementia and cognitive issues

· Family dynamics and estrangement

· Understanding later in life logistics

· Caregiver concerns

What are the business or day-to-day elements of taking Medicare?

· Referral sources are medical doctors, care managers, and other therapists

· Website content designed with caregiver or family member in mind (who would be searching for the services)

· Sorting through Medicare and Medicare Advantage (i.e., commercial insurance Medicare replacement) plans – clients don’t know the difference between Medicare and Medicare Advantage

· Ask to see all of their insurance cards to identify what coverage they have:

o Bill Medicare directly for patients with Medicare – you are a Part B provider (outpatient) – you will get 80% from Medicare and the other 20% from the patient, a supplemental plan, or Medicaid

o Bill the commercial insurance plan for Medicare Advantage patients (like regular insurance billing)

· Audits are not common and are navigable with good notes and ability to make corrections

· Audits are more likely if you’re doing unusual billing practices

· The application process is probably the most challenging part of taking Medicare

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/

What Can Therapists Do When They Get a Life-Threatening Diagnosis? An interview with Patricia Ravitz, LMFT Jan 15, 2024

What Can Therapists Do When They Get a Life-Threatening Diagnosis? An interview with Patricia Ravitz, LMFT

Curt and Katie interview Patricia Ravitz, LMFT, on how she navigated her pancreatic cancer diagnosis as a therapist. We talk about what happens when a therapist must take time away from their practice without notice, what therapists can do to navigate seeing clients while in treatment, and how you and your clinical work can change when you’re facing mortality. We also talk about support and resources.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how therapists can manage their practice when facing a potentially life-threatening diagnosis

Curt and Katie asked their dear friend, Patricia Ravitz, LMFT to come talk about how she handled her practice after getting a cancer diagnosis.

What happens when a therapist must suddenly take time away from their practice for medical treatment?

Determining how long will be needed to take time off (if that can be predicted)
Identifying how to notify patients and what to share with patients
Understanding whether you can have these conversations with patients (or not)
Choosing a method for notification
Consulting with a colleague who can help with notification and/or follow up

What can therapists do to continue to see clients while in chemotherapy?

Assessing your response to chemotherapy and when you might be able to work
Identifying days that you typically are able to be present and focused for your clients
Determining who you can effectively see as a therapist and who you need to refer out
Scheduling therapy around your treatment schedule as well as their clinical needs

How might your clinical work change when you’re facing mortality as a therapist?

The reality of the precariousness of life can impact the sense of urgency
Sorting through what each client wanted to hear about or needed to talk about
Focus and sharpening the therapy, moving away from complacency
The emotions and care from the clients to the therapist
Processing the relationship in a different way

What kind of support or resources should therapists use when facing a challenging diagnosis?

Personal support, therapy, consultation groups
A professional will
Understanding how this impacts other relationships and how you look at the world
These types of experiences transform how we operate

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/

Want to Fix Mental Health Workforce Shortages? Speed up the Licensing Boards: An interview with Dr. Ben Caldwell Jan 08, 2024

Want to Fix Mental Health Workforce Shortages? Speed up the Licensing Boards: An interview with Dr. Ben Caldwell

Curt and Katie interview Benjamin E. Caldwell, PsyD, about licensing board inefficiencies leading to incredible delays in folks getting licensed. We talk about the impacts of paperwork processing delays as well the inadequate infrastructure of most licensing boards. We also explore policy and individual options to mitigate or address these problems.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how the mental health workforce shortages are exacerbated by licensing boards

Curt and Katie decided to invite Dr. Ben Caldwell back onto the podcast to talk about how licensing board inefficiencies are exacerbating mental health workforce shortages.

Impacts of delays of paperwork processing on clients and clinicians

· Delays of folks increasing income as a licensed clinician

· Lack of mental health clinicians in the work force

· Prospective clinicians dropping out of the process to become licensed due to the time and financial burden

Licensing board infrastructure is often inadequate to get individuals licensed timely

· Computer systems that licensing boards use are not typically modern

· The contracts for streamlining processes are often restrictive to specific systems or to how quickly these improvements can move

· There is little that is automated, but rather includes manual entry which is inefficient and introduces opportunities for error

What are potential solutions for the pervasive inefficiency found in licensing boards?

· Scanning and using optical recognition software for applications and counting hours

· Contracting with private technology companies that are already gathering this data

· Finding automated systems that are set up properly from the beginning to minimize training needs

· Legislation to put pressure on state licensing boards to update computer systems

· Hiring more people to take on these tasks

· Using financial reserves to improve systems

· Mitigating the effects of the delays on the workers (i.e., being able to take required exams for licensure while accruing your hours)

· Simplifying processes wherever possible (i.e., less buckets of hours with minimum and maximum hours that need to be met)

· Simplifying applications to make them more understandable for both applicants and reviewers

· Policy analysis related to the rules – boards make the inaccurate assumption that if a rule exists it must be good

· Using the legislative process to hold licensing boards accountable for not getting through applications timely and potentially even giving folks provisional licenses while waiting for the application to be reviewed

What can individual therapists do to address the delays in processing licensing paperwork?

· Be as clear as possible in applications and communication to the board to decrease confusion

· Don’t apply for licensure early (i.e., before requirements are completed)

· Show up to board meetings and let the licensing board know that delays are a huge problem

· Advocate with your professional org and/or to your legislators

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

CAMFT’s Medicare Corner (for CAMFT members)

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/

REPLAY Structuring Self-Care Jan 01, 2024

REPLAY - Structuring Self-Care

We’re still on vacation, but wanted to share another one of our favorite episodes with all of you. We start with a quick reflection on the episode and what we’ve learned since it originally aired. Today’s replay is of Episode 141: Structuring Self-Care. We talk about structuring self-care into your business practices. We look at how to incorporate self-care best practices into the way you build your work day. We also talk about common challenges to taking this advice. You can find the original show notes and transcripts here: Structuring Self-Care.

REPLAY Therapists Are Not Robots: How We Can Show Humanity in the Room Dec 25, 2023

REPLAY - Therapists Are Not Robots: How We Can Show Humanity in the Room

We’re on vacation, but wanted to share one of our favorite episodes with all of you. We start with a quick reflection on the episode and what we’ve learned since it originally aired. Today’s replay is of Episode 255: Therapists Are Not Robots: How we can show humanity in the room. We talk vulnerably about how we have managed some pretty challenging life crises while also being therapists. You can see the original show notes and transcripts for episode 255 here: Therapists are Not Robots.

What Do Therapists Need To Do About Medicare? Opting in or out for 2024: An interview with Joy Alafia, CAE Dec 18, 2023

What Do Therapists Need To Do About Medicare? Opting in or out for 2024: An interview with Joy Alafia, CAE

Curt and Katie interview Joy Alafia, Executive Director of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, on the journey for MFTs and Counselors to become eligible to be Medicare providers. We look at the high-level tasks that every therapist needs to take. We also talk about the decision-making process for whether you should opt in or opt out, providing some basic guidance and resources on the steps you need to take now.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about MFTs and Counselors becoming Medicare Providers

Curt and Katie have spent hours in advocacy efforts for MFTs and Counselors to become Medicare providers through their past involvement in the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT). And it’s finally gone through! We asked Joy Alafia to come join us to discuss this journey as well as what therapists need to do now that we’re eligible to be Medicare providers. We answer the following questions and have a step by step guide in our show notes at mtsgpodcast.com:

What was the process for MFTs and Counselors to be included in Medicare?

Now that Marriage and Family Therapists and Counselors are eligible to bill Medicare, what do we need to do?

What do therapists need to do if they would like to Opt In to provide Medicare services?

What do therapists need to do if they would like to Opt Out of billing Medicare?

What should therapists consider when deciding whether to take Medicare?

· Clinical specialty – if you work with folks 65 and older or with disabled folks, you will want to strongly consider taking Medicare as these clients are typically eligible and would like to use their insurance

· Access – if you have the ability (i.e., space in your caseload) to see Medicare patients, there is a huge need for providers who accept this insurance

· Credibility – there is increased credibility as a provider when you are able to take Medicare

· Rates – check out what the rates are for the areas where you see clients. To do so, look for your locality on the Physician Fee Schedule and multiply the rates by 75% if you are a masters level provider. If the rates are sufficient, you will consistently get clients and will consistently get paid. If the rates are not sufficient for your business, you will want to consider opting out and remaining private pay for these clients.

· Documentation requirements – the documentation requirements are similar for most insurance plans, especially Medicaid. If you’re able to keep clean, efficient documentation, this should not be a deterrent for taking Medicare

· Billing complexity – you will want to make sure to take trainings available (see below) to understand how you will need to bill this insurance plan and/or hire a biller who does

· Consistency and recession-proofing your practice – Medicare is known to pay consistently and provide a lot of clients for your practice. As the population ages, this will be a larger and larger portion of the folks seeking mental health services. You may want to consider taking Medicare.

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together LOTS of resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)

CAMFT’s Medicare Webinars

A TON of other Resources can be found on our website at mtsgpodcast.com.

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/

How Can Therapists Take a Real Vacation? Dec 11, 2023

How Can Therapists Take a Real Vacation?

Curt and Katie chat about how therapists can take extended time away from their therapy practices. We talk about how to budget time and money for vacation as well as what therapists need to have covered when they’re gone. We also look at how to mitigate foreseeable risk and manage continuity of care.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about how therapists can get time away from work

We’ve heard too many people talking about the challenges of taking time off when you’re working as a therapist.

How can therapists budget for time off?

· Determining fees based on time you’re actually working (i.e., charging more or determining number of weekly sessions based on when you can be away)

· Scheduling based on diminishing the number of actual missed sessions (i.e., scheduling vacations when your clients are on vacation and/or taking long weekends and moving clients within the week to take partial weeks off)

What do therapists need to cover when they go on vacation?

· Clinical coverage within your practice or with colleagues

· Identify when you’re on-call and how you navigate that within your vacation

· Supervision coverage planning

· Understanding when you can respond to clients or supervisees (i.e., being in wise mind)

· Safety planning with clients, including coverage plan and/or when you’re available

How can therapists mitigate the clinical risks for taking longer vacations?

· Determining when you should stop taking new clients before a longer vacation

· Teaching your clients to be okay without you

· Flexibility on when you take time away and how to take time away from the office

· Planning for foreseeable risks

· Homework or other resources

What does a hybrid work vacation look like?

· Virtual work as needed

· Creating times/spaces for clinical sessions and follow up

· Make sure you have sufficient wifi or cell reception and privacy

· It’s important to make sure you get downtime and aren’t constantly working

Why is it important to take time off when you’re a therapist?

· Getting rejuvenated and living life

· Working to prevent burnout

· Renewed sense of energy within the profession

· Our job is to talk about pain and suffering and there is so much pain and suffering in the world, so it is important to get restorative breaks

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/

Religious Trauma and High-Control Religion: An Interview with Anna Clark Miller, LPC, LMHC Dec 04, 2023

Religious Trauma and High-Control Religion: An Interview with Anna Clark Miller, LPC, LMHC

Curt and Katie interview Anna Clark Miller about religious trauma. We explore what religious trauma and high-control religions are. We look at common mistakes therapists can make when working with religious trauma survivors as well as what therapy and healing can look like for these folks.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about religious trauma and high-control religion

We were interested to learn more about how therapists can support religious trauma survivors, so we reached out to an expert, Anna Clark Miller, to share her wisdom.

What is religious trauma?

· Complex trauma over a long period of time

· Impacts to the nervous system

· Traumatic beliefs about religion and the after life

· Following rules and conforming to a religious group’s idea of how someone should live

What mistakes do therapists make when working with religious trauma survivors?

· Therapists becoming the client’s new spiritual authority

· Clients using therapy to tell them how to think and live

· Clients need to own themselves and their own minds, not work to please the therapist

What does healing after leaving a “high control” religion look like?

· The loss of so much, including social support, identity, etc.

· Complex PTSD healing

· How will I fit into the world? How will I talk with people?

· Building hope for someone who is needing to completely remake their life and identity

· The client needs to create a sense of safety within themselves

· You can’t “rip off the Band-Aid” with leaving a high control religious group

· Helping clients with their judgment around their emotions (starting with observation before judging if it is good or bad)

· Working with clients to examine their beliefs (over time)

What is included in the treatment for religious trauma survivors

· Noticing one’s body

· Exploring and reimagining healthy relationships

· Identity work

· Deconstruction of topics based on what the client is thinking, feeling, etc.

· Addressing spiritual bypassing

· Not just “mindfulness” due to concerns about secular psychology

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/

How Much Autonomy Do Therapy Clients Deserve? Balancing client autonomy with therapist skill Nov 27, 2023

How Much Autonomy Do Therapy Clients Deserve? Balancing client autonomy with therapist skill

Curt and Katie chat about client autonomy. We look at what patient autonomy is and what therapists need to understand about this very complex topic. We explore how therapists can overstep or abdicate their role in supporting their clients in making decisions. We also look at what true informed consent is and the dimensions of client autonomy. This is an ethics continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about client autonomy

Therapists are faced with balancing their professional knowledge with the needs and desires of clients. At the core of this issue is the principle ethic of client autonomy. How much autonomy do therapists need to give clients? What do therapists do when clients don’t have the capacity for autonomy in the first place? This workshop explores the considerations that therapists must face when balancing the needs of clients with professional mental health services.hen

What is patient or client autonomy in mental health?

· Clients making decisions about their treatment based on solid information and an understanding of that information

· There is a debate related to whether we defer to clients’ decisions no matter what versus standing in the role of professional therapist

What do therapists need to understand about client autonomy?

· There is a lot of complexity and nuance related to therapist responsibility as professionals versus when therapists can become too paternalistic

· There is a not a lot of discussion within the ethics codes related to client autonomy, they are usually in the preamble, so it is more important while also be less discussed

· Freedom (or liberty) to make choices versus agency (or capacity) to understand the choices

· Therapists need to clarify for clients the options and make sure they can make informed decisions

How is informed consent related to client autonomy?

· If clients don’t know what their therapists are doing, do they have client autonomy?

· Evaluation of whether someone has the capacity to make treatment decisions can be impacted by bias, but is the role of the therapist within the mental health treatment

· We don’t want to equate autonomy with autonomous decision-making

Dimensions of client autonomy and the therapist’s responsibility

· Decisional dimension – being able to plan and make decisions about their mental health treatment

· Executive dimension - being able to follow through on the plans made

· Therapists need to be able to step forward and provide additional support to clients to bring them back to autonomy or hold a line in treatment that will and will not be offered

· Informed dimension - understanding the difference between informed consent and informed assent and being able to give instructions ahead of time if have a mental health crises

· Looking at a “Mental Health Advanced Directive” – one example is the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (see the resources section in the show notes).

Paternalism and client autonomy

· Not all “paternalism” is wrong – when clients are unable to care for self, they may need some paternalism to be able to be safe or get the treatment that they need

· Asymmetrical versus libertarian paternalism is discussed

· The importance of understanding your own bias and how the way you frame options can be manipulative

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

Continuing Education Information including grievance and refund policies.

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/

What’s Confidential and What’s a Secret? Navigating “No Secrets” Policies Nov 20, 2023

What’s Confidential and What’s a Secret? Navigating “No Secrets” Policies

Curt and Katie chat about no secret policies. We look at what they are, what needs to be in these policies, how to navigate secrets in therapy, the importance of these policies in relational therapy, and the complexity of “no secrets” when working with kids and teens.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about no secrets policies in therapy

In our continuing efforts to touch on all the topics that therapists need to know about, we decided to dig deeply on no secrets policies.

What is a no secrets policy?

· Typically, these types of policies are created for relational therapy

· “No secrets” means that the therapist will not keep a secret that is clinically relevant from a member of the treatment unit, even when someone contacts the therapist outside of session

· This policy needs to be understood by all the members of the treatment unit

How can therapists navigate secrets in therapy?

· If there is communication outside of therapy, it is important to hold the boundaries within your no secrets policy

· Flexibility related to when and how secrets are shared (versus rigidity and immediacy)

· Explicit discussion around exceptions of the “no secrets” policy related to intimate partner violence

· It is important to have a clinical evaluation of when and how the secret is shared into the treatment unit and whether the secret is clinically relevant to the treatment unit

· Clarify the treatment unit and clinical orientation to sort through what needs to be in your secrets policy

· Determining how not to be triangulated by members of the couple or family

What needs to be in a therapist’s secrets policy?

· Clear guidance on who is included in the treatment unit

· What secrets will be kept or not kept (e.g., intimate partner violence)

· How secrets will be handled as they come up

· Assessment of the capacity of each member of the treatment unit to participate in these conversations about confidentiality and secrets

What about no secrets when you’re working with kids and teens?

· Clarity on the treatment unit (individual kid or family, etc.)

· Identifying how confidentiality is held for kids and teens

· Working with the kids and teens to plan for disclosure to caregivers

· For parents of young/school-aged children, there may be work to help caregivers to disclose information appropriately over time (thus the therapist holds the secret for a period of time)

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/

Is This My Stuff? How therapists can sort through countertransference: An Interview with Dr. Amy Meyers, LCSW Nov 13, 2023

Is This My Stuff? How therapists can sort through countertransference: An Interview with Dr. Amy Meyers, LCSW

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Amy Meyers on countertransference. We talk about what countertransference is, how therapists typically struggle when working in the transference and countertransference, how the profession’s relationship to countertransference has changed, and what therapists can do to better understand themselves. We also talk a bit about the blank slate.

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

In this podcast episode, we look at countertransference

We’re talking about a topic we haven’t touched on yet: countertransference. We are joined by an expert in countertransference, Dr. Amy Meyers, LCSW

What is countertransference?

· Beyond self-awareness and understanding oneself

· We have experiences and make them our own and expect people to respond to me in the same way as others have in the past

What do therapists struggle with when addressing transference and countertransference?

· When therapists don’t know themselves well enough, they will not be able to identify when countertransference is coming up

· Therapists will often avoid conflict or put too much of themselves in the room without full assessment

· Therapists misunderstand the utility of countertransference and try to avoid it

· Simplification of the blank slate. Dr. Meyers’ understanding is that it is avoiding unintentionally putting your emotions in the session, which gets in the way of clients’ projecting emotions on the therapist (transference)

How should therapists be taught to use countertransference?

· Looking at how you feel about the interactions with your clients and your feelings about your clients as individuals

· Treating therapists as human beings with emotions and explore how their humanity interacts with their work with their clients

How has the field changed its relationship with countertransference?

· People have moved into quicker therapy and more manualized treatments

· There is less focus on longer term, relationship based treatment rather than tools and strategies

· Supervisors and trainers are less focused on training therapists in this element of the work

What can therapists do when they become aware of their countertransference reactions

· Considering other options rather than what is familiar

· Using the relationship in therapy as a corrective emotional experience

· We discuss a couple of case examples to explore how to work with countertransference with real clients

· Sorting out what is self-disclosure versus use of self in session and how are each can be helpful

· Go to therapy

· Go to supervision

· Learn and read more about countertransference

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/

Decolonizing Therapy: A Movement - An Interview with Dr. Jennifer Mullan Nov 06, 2023

Decolonizing Therapy: A Movement - An Interview with Dr. Jennifer Mullan

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Jennifer Mullan about decolonizing therapy. We discuss what it means to decolonize therapy and the importance of doing so, as well as the challenges therapists face when they are looking to decolonize their practices and incorporate cultural and community healing. We also explore rage, the tendency to pathologize big emotions, and the impact of historical trauma.

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

In this podcast episode, we look at what it means to decolonize therapy

Over time we’ve talked with innovators who are pushing back against the status quo and the medical model. We were so excited to dig more deeply into Decolonizing Therapy with Dr. Jennifer Mullan.

What does “decolonizing therapy” mean?

· Looking at accessibility to therapy and how lack of access impacts individuals

· Decolonizing therapy doesn’t work for everyone, especially folks in the global majority and/or who have the most need

· The way that therapy is practiced is not sufficiently addressing the mental health crisis

· Shifting therapy to include cultural healing practices, community healing and support

· Moving the “blame” for poor mental health away from the individual to the individual’s context

What can therapists do if they would like to decolonize their own therapy practice?

· Make sure you are doing your own work and have support while working in the role of healer

· Identifying and accepting that all individuals have social, political and other frames that come in with them to the therapy room

· Unlearning and embracing new knowledge, being okay with not knowing

· Looking at historical trauma and colonization as core attachment wounds

· Understanding how historical events impact your clients (and yourself)

· Looking at how historical trauma is transmitted directly and indirectly

· Learn in community

· Rethink diagnosis

What can therapists get wrong when they are working to decolonize their therapy practice?

· Struggling to see where compliance can conflict with the needs of clients at times

· The impact of diagnosis on clients (especially behavioral diagnoses frequently given to Black and brown boys that often lead a child into the school to prison pipeline)

· Not understanding larger concepts around what is political and big questions like why are people poor?

· Deflecting questions from clients as being clinical material rather than understanding that clients are seeking a human connection

· Holding to firmly to rigid “rules” around attendance and coming on time, for example

How can therapists work with rage and other big emotions?

· It’s important to recognize that we are not receiving sufficient education around rage

· It is important to understand what rage and what it is not

· Grief, shame, and trauma lead to rage

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

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Should Therapists Admit to Making Mistakes in Therapy? Oct 30, 2023

Should Therapists Admit to Making Mistakes in Therapy?

Curt and Katie chat about what therapists can do to effectively navigate their own mistakes in the therapy room. We look at what constitutes a mistake in therapy, the types of mistakes that therapists make, and considerations on how to address mistakes. This is an ethics continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about how modern therapists can navigate making mistakes

When therapists make mistakes, clients can prematurely terminate treatment or fail to meet their goals. Most research on effective therapy looks at factors that minimize the therapist’s tendency to make mistakes, rather than what to do when they happen. However, focusing on the effectiveness of handling mistakes is one of the factors that clinicians can actually control. This workshop focuses on how effectively handling mistakes made by therapists and the mental health system can lead to better outcomes for clients.

What should therapists do when they make a mistake?

· Looking at the humanity of the therapist

· It is important to define what is actually a mistake

· Looking at where mistakes can happen within treatment

· Mistakes can be defined based on the definition of success

What types of mistakes do therapists make in therapy?

· Incorrect or mismatched treatment without adjustment

· Treatment failures happen for many different reasons – what is a mistake versus a work in progress?

· Mistakes can be based on the individual client or therapist factors and the focus of the therapist in the therapeutic work and relationship

When should therapists admit mistakes?

· Consideration of whether admitting the mistake will harm the client

· Going beyond “non-malfeasance”

· Exploring how clients like to handle a mistake

· Paying attention to therapist’s own preferences or bias

· Understanding when and how to take responsibility for what you’ve done as a therapist

· Avoiding the impact on the client that they believe that they have made the mistake

· Making sure therapists are resourced when they engage in this process

What are the systemic errors in mental health treatment?

· Taking a global view to therapy can allow for seeing the other elements and systems

· Recognizing the limits of what therapists can do to solve clients’ concerns, including due to agency policies

· Harm caused by the profession and professional associations (statements made, research completed, etc.)

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

Continuing Education Information including grievance and refund policies.

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

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Is BPD a Genuine Diagnosis or a Dismissive Label? Oct 23, 2023

Is BPD a Genuine Diagnosis or a Dismissive Label?

Curt and Katie chat about whether (or not) Borderline Personality Disorder is a useful diagnosis. We look at the difficulty in differential diagnosis, the huge overlaps with other diagnoses, and the harm caused by misdiagnosis and dismissal of these clients. We also explore whether BPD is just complex PTSD in disguise. We don’t come to total agreement, but we get a little bit closer on how we can move past the harmful elements of the BPD label.

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

In this podcast episode we explore the diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder

After reading an article that suggests that there is no clinical utility to the BPD diagnosis, we decided to dig into whether or not BPD is a diagnosis worth using. We struggled to get this episode recorded as we started from a place of deep disagreement. We were able to get to a helpful conversation, we think.

Why is Borderline Personality Disorder controversial?

· It is heterogeneous

· There are a lot of rule outs and overlap with other diagnoses

· There may not be clinical utility in using this diagnosis

· There is bias and judgment related to having this diagnosis

· There is a lot of harm from misdiagnosis

What are the problems and challenges in diagnosing “BPD?”

· Overlap with autism, psychosis, complex or chronic trauma and others

· Must look at the causes rather than solely the symptoms

· The ongoing complexity of how trauma interacts with other elements of a person’s experience and personality make it hard to tease out what is really going on

How is Borderline Personality Disorder distinct from Chronic PTSD?

· First you must understand the relationship between PTSD and Chronic or Complex PTSD

· A theory is that Chronic PTSD has more relational avoidance than BPD

· Another theory is that BPD has an absence of sense of self, which CPTSD does not

· There is literature that shows that not all patients with BPD have trauma history

Should BPD remain as a recognized diagnosis in clinical practice?

· We’re still not sure and don’t completely agree

· At the very least, it needs to be renamed

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/

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Dealing with “Therapy Doesn’t Work” Oct 16, 2023

Dealing with “Therapy Doesn’t Work”

Curt and Katie chat how to engage with people who doubt the efficacy of therapy. We look at how to address general skeptics, mandated clients, hesitant prospective clients, and uncertain longer-standing clients. Spoiler alert: validation, understanding, and coming back to the relationship go far.

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

In this podcast episode we explore how to talk with folks who don’t believe in therapy

In response to a Reddit thread asking how therapists can respond when someone says they don’t believe in therapy or that therapy doesn’t work.

How can therapists respond when someone says, “therapy doesn’t work?”

· Therapy is not for everyone

· Validating concerns

· Work to understand their previous experiences in therapy

· Acknowledge problematic elements in therapy

How do you approach clients who are mandated or forced into treatment?

· Working with resistance

· Going back to the relationship and shared goals

· Meeting client where they are

What can therapists do when parents don’t believe in therapy for their kid?

· Understanding fear or concerns

· Joining and building rapport

· Exploring their goals for their child

· Seeking engagement and involvement

· Don’t throw evidence-base at them

· Explaining how therapy works for kids

· Avoiding defensiveness on the part of the therapist

How can you explain therapy to a hesitant client considering therapy for the first time?

· Validation of fears and concerns

· Acknowledging challenges in coming into therapy

· Identifying what would be most helpful to address in therapy

· Trying to break through preconceived worries about it not working

· Exploring how to find a good match

· Describing what therapy can look like

· Explain that therapy might not be the only answer (e.g., coaching, social work, meds, etc.)

The importance of being able to describe what therapy is like with you

· Curt’s suggestion of having a casual conversation with a colleague to describe what your therapy look like

· Know how to describe your approach to people who don’t know what therapy is

· Not every client is best for you

· Focusing on the relationship you will provide to the client

What are the options for talking with long term clients who are doubting therapy?

· Use the concerns clinically

· Validating concerns

· Coming together related to expectations and goals

· Acknowledging when therapy isn’t working

· Reframing incremental progress

· Therapists seeking consultation and supervision, so these conversations don’t feel painful

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

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Is Your Therapist Website ADA Compliant? An Interview with Anita Avedian, LMFT Oct 09, 2023

Is Your Therapist Website ADA Compliant? An Interview with Anita Avedian, LMFT

Curt and Katie interview Anita Avedian, LMFT about her recent experiences related to an ADA complaint on her website. Anita shares with us how she has navigated this lawsuit and what she’s learned about ADA Compliance for websites. We also talk about the predatory lawsuits on small businesses in California and the benefits of becoming ADA compliant for therapists.

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

In this podcast episode, we look at what therapists should know about ADA compliant websites

Our friend, Anita Avedian, LMFT, just went through a legal complaint related to her website. It was found to not be ADA compliant, meaning that she had to pay some fines and update her website. She wanted to share what she learned, so we thought – let’s bring this conversation to the podcast!

What is needed for a website to be ADA compliant?

· Images have to have alt text

· Videos have to have closed captioned at 95% accurate

· Videos need both closed captions and transcripts

· Contrast colors need to be far enough apart for visibility

· Appropriate font sizes

· Buttons and navigation system have to be ADA compliant

· You cannot have PDFs on your website, you must have documents

· When you are cited, you have to make corrections and keep it up

What goes into an ADA compliance lawsuit against a website (including therapist websites)?

· There are predatory lawyers who are seeking out noncompliance to open lawsuits with small businesses

· There are thousands of lawsuits

· Your liability insurance doesn’t cover these claims because it is considered discriminatory

· Oftentimes you don’t know that you’re being sued

· There is not an opportunity to make corrections, you are fined and must make corrections immediately

· There is usually oversight and monitoring for 5 years

How can therapists make their websites more accessible?

· Accurate transcripts and closed captioning for videos

· Making sure that you are at least 95% compliant by doing a free scan

· Using some of the resources listed in the show notes on our website at mtsgpodcast.com (in the resources section)

· Having a deep scan to identify how close you are to compliance

· Making sure that your web developers know how to make your website ADA compliant

· There are attorneys to help with this process and can provide training on how to make a website ADA compliant

· Side benefits of improved SEO and Google standing

· There isn’t currently a widget to make your website ADA compliant and website themes and templates do not have these requirements built in structurally

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

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We Answer the Question: Is EMDR a Pyramid Scheme? Oct 02, 2023

We Answer the Question: Is EMDR a Pyramid Scheme?

Curt and Katie chat about an episode of Very Bad Therapy that asks the question, Is EMDR a Cultish Pyramid Scheme. This is our response to that question. We talk about what EMDR is, common misconceptions of the model, the concerns with people doing EMDR poorly, and the benefits of this model. We also talk about clinician factors that impact whether someone can do EMDR well.

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

In this podcast episode we explore EMDR

We decided to respond to an episode of Very Bad Therapy. Curt is an EMDR clinician and consultant in training, so he wanted to respond to the criticisms of EMDR that were brought forward in that episode as well as a related article in The Therapist magazine.

What is EMDR?

· Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

· The mechanism of action is hard to study due to not being able to cut open the brain

· EMDR is a well-defined 8-stage protocol

· The “greatest hits” of other theories put together

What are the misconceptions related to EMDR?

· “It’s expensive,” but the training (which is intensive and comprehensive) breaks down to $35 per CE – a usual and customary rate for continuing education

· There is an argument that the only things that are different from other theories are the eye movements or bilateral stimulation, but it is more of an integrative model

· “EMDR” is manualized and only taught in one way – which is not true. There are a number of stages in the protocol that are taught very differently and there is more nuance

· The criticisms about EMDR may be related to clinician factors, not necessarily model factors

What are the concerns with people doing EMDR poorly?

· Only getting the EMDR certification to be marketable

· Not doing EMDR soon enough and forgetting the model

· Lack of confidence that leads them to revert back to theories they are comfortable with

· Not fully learning the theory and trying to use it outside of the model

· Clinicians with less training or less experience may struggle to adapt the model to complex trauma or relational trauma

What are the benefits of EMDR?

· Intensive training with deliberate practice being built into the certification

· Consultation and support in learning the model

· Strong research base for single incident trauma

· For stronger or more experienced clinicians, there are uses of EMDR for complex trauma and/or transdiagnostic purposes

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

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Your Modern Therapist Ethics Questions Answered: Digging into the mail bag to identify how to behave ethically in modern times Sep 25, 2023

Your Modern Therapist Ethics Questions Answered: Digging into the mail bag to identify how to behave ethically in modern times

Curt and Katie discuss tricky ethics questions we’ve received from listeners and colleagues over the years. We look at dual relationships, documentation, therapists in the public eye, fee setting, and when (and whether) we should report each other to the board. This is a law and ethics continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we answer complex ethics questions from modern therapists

Too often in groups of therapists, you’ll hear confusing situations being described as “unethical” or illegal without any other explanations. Big feelings about complex situations often lead to therapists avoiding them all together. We dug into our listener mail bag (and gathered our own questions) to sort through more complicated and modern questions that don’t often get talked about in grad school or ethics courses. We discuss dual relationships, documentation, therapist performers and influencers, fee-setting, and our responsibility to correct each other. We look at ethics codes and the philosophy behind ethical decision-making to sort through complex situations.

What do therapist ethical codes say around less typical dual relationships?

· Ethical codes do vary, so it is important to look at your own code

· We must avoid harmful dual relationships

· It is important to address foreseeable concerns

· Concerns related to muddying the mechanism of change (the relationship)

What is actually required in therapist documentation?

· Electronic documentation is recommended, but probably not required

· We need to accurately reflect what is happening in therapy

· Diagnosis may not be required if you’re not using insurance and don’t need to prove medical necessity

How can therapists show up in public spaces?

· Therapists can have public personas and will need to navigate how what is public may impact the therapeutic relationship

· Therapists can be influencers – you want to make sure you’re aware of how it is impacting your brand and relationships with your clients

· How you interact with your clients around your public persona becomes very context dependent

What are the special rules for therapists setting fees?

· You have to come to an agreement with your client on your fee before services start

· Looking at sliding scale, pro bono expectations

· There are so many interpretations on what is expected by your ethics

· We cannot take advantage of clients

What is a therapist’s responsibility when they believe another therapist has done something wrong?

· There is a strong recommendation in most ethics codes to go to the other therapist first

· It is difficult to get proof and/or get actual records and be able to release them

· There are potentials for confidentiality breaches if therapists move forward with concerns

· Supporting clients to report concerns if it comes up in session

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://moderntherapistcommunity.com/podcourse/

Continuing Education Approvals: Continuing Education Information including grievance and refund policies.

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/

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

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

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/

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

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

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/

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

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

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://moderntherapistcommunity.com/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

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

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:

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/

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

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

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://moderntherapistcommunity.com/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

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:

Am I Honoring My Personal Values OR Am I Discriminating? An exploration of ethics for modern therapists

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 Can You Create an Ethical Faith-Based Practice? An Interview with Whitney Owens, LPC Jul 17, 2023

How Can You Create an Ethical Faith-Based Practice? An Interview with Whitney Owens, LPC

Curt and Katie interview Whitney Owens, LPC of Wise Practice, about faith-based practice. We look at what therapists can get wrong when considering incorporating faith into therapy. We also talk about what to do (and NOT do) when creating a faith-based therapy practice, specifically talking about ethics, using faith as a tool when requested, and the harm caused when therapists have a religious agenda in session.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about faith-based therapy practices

Faith is a big part of many people’s lives. It is important for therapists to understand how to use faith as a resource in therapy. Further, there are Christian, faith-based therapists who can identify how best to remain within their ethics as a therapist when incorporating faith into therapy.

What can therapists get wrong when creating a faith-based therapy practice?

· Therapists become unethical when they try to convert clients to Christianity in therapy

· When therapists mismatch how much clients want to include faith and belief

· Therapists are not supposed to have an agenda for how their clients grow and change

· Conversion Therapy (e.g., Sexual Orientation Change Efforts, Anti-trans therapy) are illegal and wrong, regardless of your beliefs or faith

· Telling clients what to do about “moral” issues

· Refusing to work with people based on “morals”

What can therapists do to create an ethical faith-based practice?

· Using faith as a tool in therapy

· Letting clients dictate how faith is incorporated in therapy

· Providing clients space to interpret the bible or create the lives that they want to create

· Addressing our own bias

· Helping clients to make their own decisions

· Getting supervision and even joining secular consultation groups

· Doing the work to overcome bias and increase inclusion and affirmative practices

What are the benefits of incorporating faith into therapy and therapy practices?

· When therapists and clients share faith and beliefs, there can be an alignment of lived experience

· Therapists can extend their faith into the work to be more aligned (as long as they remain ethical in how they incorporate it into practice)

· Making business decisions that are both faith-based and ethical

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Wise Practice Summit

Wise Practice Podcast

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

What Therapists Need to Know About Abortion and Termination for Medical Reasons: An Interview with Jane Armstrong, LCSW

The Practicalities of Mental Health and Gender Affirming Care for Trans Youth: An Interview with Jordan Held, LCSW

What Goes in Your Notes? Interstate therapy practice and documentation for clients considering abortion or gender affirming care

Has Therapy Become the New Religion?

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/

What Can Therapists Do When Clients Don’t Getting Better? Jul 10, 2023

What Can Therapists Do When Clients Don’t Getting Better?

Curt and Katie chat about what modern therapists can do when their clients don’t (or can’t) get better. We explore what “getting better" looks like in therapy, what can get in the way of clients improving, how we can support clients who are unable to reach traditional treatment goals, and how clinicians can take care of ourselves while doing this longer-term work.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about how therapists can happen when clients aren’t improving

At a recent talk, we got the question – what if my clients aren’t getting better? We decided it was time to look at how goals are set, what “getting better” actually looks like, and how therapists can cope with clients whose treatment goals are "not getting worse."

What does “getting better” look like in therapy?

· Treatment goals are often set based on functionality, independence, and productivity

· Outcome measures can be used to track improvement on mood, anxiety, etc.

· Goals of “not getting worse” or prevention of future concerns are often hard to quantify or are unsatisfying for therapists (and potentially for their clients)

What can get in the way of clients improving in therapy?

· Situational concerns that are not changed

· Longer-standing diagnoses that don’t go away, but can be stabilized

· When improvement is defined as reaching goals, rather than avoiding relapse

How can therapists support clients who are unable to reach traditional treatment goals?

· Collaborative treatment goal setting

· Identifying appropriate expectations

· Quality of Life goals

· Showing ongoing medical necessity and documenting appropriate need for ongoing care

· Higher acuity and relevant diagnoses documented

How can clinicians take care of ourselves when we have longer term clients who don’t show dramatic improvement?

· Getting clear on client’s capacity for growth

· Be clear on your own skills and capacity as a therapist

· On-going conversations with the client to determine whether other help is needed

· Exploring quality of life goals

· Identifying incremental gains and reframing to build hope

· Deepening the therapeutic relationship, focusing on the attachment

· Redefining success and understanding the pieces that are still uncomfortable

· Making sure that therapists do not define their own success based on client outcomes

· Destigmatizing long-term weekly therapy as a coping strategy

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/

Are You Actually Neurodivergent Affirming? An Interview with Sonny Jane Wise Jul 03, 2023

Are You Actually Neurodivergent Affirming? An Interview with Sonny Jane Wise

Curt and Katie interview Sonny Jane Wise, the Lived Experience Educator. We chat about therapists getting stuck in neuro-normative expectations and norms or refusing to accept medication or accommodations as neurodivergent affirming. We look at how you can get more creative and individualized to support neurodivergent individuals more effectively. We also look specifically at neurodivergent friendly DBT and whether skills-deficit models are inherently ableist.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about creating neurodivergent affirmative therapy practices

Too often, therapists create goals and engage in practices that are neuro-normative. When working with neurodivergent clients and their families, these practices can be harmful. We asked Sonny Jane Wise, the Lived Experience Educator, to talk with us about how to best incorporate neurodivergent affirming practices for therapy.

What do therapists get wrong when moving toward neurodiversity affirming practice?

· Removing medication or accommodations as an acceptable option

· Failing to allow for individual differences and preferences

· Neuro-normativity shows up in goals, especially looking at independence and productivity

· Setting expectations inappropriately

How can therapists become more neurodivergent affirming?

· Understanding the impacts of intersectionality on how someone chooses how they navigate their neurodivergence

· Moving away from independence as the goal of therapy

· Understanding that a neurodivergent person’s needs are more important than neuro-normative norms

· Getting creative with problem-solving and communication

· Recognizing differences, learning to work with them and not try to change them or work against them

Are skills-deficit based models (like Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) inherently ableist?

· When the model states that the problem lies with the individual, then it is ableist

· Adjusting the environment and the external factors is more appropriate

· DBT skills can be helpful to learn emotions regulation that wasn’t learned when growing up

· It is important to recognize differences and giving opportunities to work with differences

· Letting go of the one size fits all and moving toward options

What is an ideal for neurodiversity affirming spaces?

· Viewing differences as differences and not something to be fixed or changed

· Needs based system (not diagnosis-based system)

· Understanding that everyone needs different things and accommodations, not just those with

· Removing neuro-normative standards and expectations

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/

Liability Hot Potato: Defensive Therapy practices that give clients inadequate care Jun 26, 2023

Liability Hot Potato: Defensive Therapy practices that give clients inadequate care

Curt and Katie chat about defensive therapy practices. We talk about how therapists avoid liability by practicing defensively, which can harm our clients. We look at common defensive therapy practices, like refusing to see clients with certain types of risk or too quickly hospitalizing someone. We explore the risks to our clients when we practice this way and how we can navigate risk to avoid practicing defensively. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about therapists minimizing their own liability without benefitting their clients

Therapists facing difficult decisions in therapeutic treatment are presented with the competing tasks of providing quality care to clients while also trying to minimize their legal risks. This can lead to therapists who may choose courses of action that do not benefit clients while doing things to protect the therapist. This podcourse explores the types of defensive practices that therapists take, how to recognize them, what steps can be done to protect therapists, and how to maximize client outcomes.

What are defensive therapy practices?

· Actions taken by a therapist that don’t benefit the client, but are done to protect the legal liability of the therapist

· Avoidant versus Assurant defensive therapy practices

· Responding to very scary law and ethics classes

· Avoiding lawyers and subpoenas

What are examples of Defensive Therapy practices?

· Avoidant: Avoiding talking about anything that is even related to things outside of our scope of practice (e.g., medical or legal advice); refusing to see clients with specific types of risk

· Assurant: Sending clients to the hospital quickly based on risk rather than on treatment efficacy, over-reporting abuse and engaging clients with systems

· Therapists are employing defensive therapy practices when making sure to shift liability elsewhere

How do I navigate the risk that often leads to defensive therapy practices?

· Make clear the limitations on your knowledge, but respond to questions and needs in the best way you can, referring to experts as appropriate

· Prescriptive Assurant practices (taking action based on laws, rules, and/or ethical decision-making)

· Documentation of ethical decision-making process and the decision and actions made

· Documentation of the conversations with the client related to the action or inaction

· Also, documentation of the ongoing evaluation procedure for the action taken

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://moderntherapistcommunity.com/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.

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/

Special Episode: Modern Therapist’s Consumer Guide on Thrizer Jun 22, 2023

Special Episode: Modern Therapist’s Consumer Guide on Thrizer

Curt and Katie talk with Raunak Sharma, owner of Thrizer, a modern payment processing app for private pay therapists. Thrizer is a modern payments solution built for therapists. You can charge clients securely, receive payments seamlessly, and enable insurance reimbursements automatically. We chat with Raunak about Thrizer as well as his perspective on the finances of therapy, specifically out of network billing. We explore the challenges (and ineffectiveness) of super bills as well as a new solution (ThrizerPlus) that will help clients only pay what they owe.

This is the Modern Therapist Consumer Guide, a series of special episodes to help modern therapists navigate products and services specifically designed for therapists and their clients. We dig deeply into the companies, the people, and the products and services so you can make smart decisions in building your practice and serving your clients.

Transcripts will be available on mtsgpodcast.com.

Interview with Raunak Sharma, Founder and CEO of Thrizer

Raunak is the Founder and CEO of Thrizer, a payments app for private pay therapists. A therapy-goer himself, he got tired of the struggle to leverage his out-of-network benefits and get reimbursed for his sessions, and wanted to build a solution to help both therapists and their clients. Thousands of therapists now use Thrizer daily to securely charge for appointments and upgrade their client experience.

In this podcast episode we talk about out of network billing and payment processing with Thrizer

Interview with Raunak Sharma, Thrizer

2:04 How did you decide to create Thrizer? How did you put together the business?

3:08 What are the values that guide your business and business decisions?

4:51 When therapists are putting together their private pay practice, what should they consider when designing their financial systems? (i.e., Private pay, Insurance-based, Out of network billing)

8:14 What does out of network billing involve?

10:34 What does out of network billing look like when using Thrizer?

12:59 What kind of out of network rates are people getting?

15:33 How often are clients wanting and able to use their out of network benefits?

18:49 How does Thrizer work?

21:22 How do you actually have enough information to create a claim?

24:22 How can you make a profit if you are only charging the 3% processing fee?

26:40 What is ThrizerPlus?

31:21 What makes Thrizer different than other payment processors and/or other out of network billers?

32:40 What’s still a work in progress at Thrizer?

34:04 Special offer from Thrizer for our Modern Therapist audience

Curt and Katie Chat – Our review of Thrizer

36:19 What do you see as the deciding factors when deciding whether to use Thrizer for payment processing and out of network billing (or not)?

A Special Offer for the listeners of Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide podcast from Thrizer

Go to bit.ly/moderntherapists and use the code MODERNTHERAPISTS for free payment processing on your first $2,500 of payments.

Relevant Links:

Thrizer Website

Email: Raunak at thrizer.com

Social Media:

Thrizer on Instagram

Thrizer on Facebook

Thrizer on LinkedIn

Stay in Touch:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Group

https://shameproofparenting.com/

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

How to Provide Culturally Appropriate Care for African American Families: An interview with Mercedes Samudio, LCSW Jun 19, 2023

How to Provide Culturally Appropriate Care for African American Families, An Interview with Mercedes Samudio, LCSW

Curt and Katie interview Mercedes Samudio, LCSW, about working with African American Families. We talk about what therapists typically get wrong when working with these families, what therapists need to know about working with African American families, how to work cross culturally, and how both conscious and unconscious bias impact therapy.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how therapists can work with African American families more effectively

Our friend, Mercedes Samudio, LCSW, is researching how therapists can best support African American families. She is looking at how these clients are treated and how they traverse the mental health system to get healing.

What do therapists get wrong when working with African American Families?

· Therapists will apply therapy universally to diverse groups that require nuance and different interventions

· Therapists don't understand enough about African American families to understand the differences

What do therapists need to know about African American families?

· There are differences between “Black” and “African American”

· The impacts of the transatlantic slave trade

· Cultural differences based on which country one is living in as well as how one travels as a human in their country of residence

How can therapists work cross-culturally with African American families?

· Specialized training like Mercedes’ training: Engaging African American Families

· Work with people who have expertise

· Google alerts for

· Understanding how you show up in the world, create an identity statement for all of the identities you have that are relevant to you, your social location

· Talking about conscious and unconscious bias and identities throughout the therapy process

· Understanding generational differences

How do conscious and unconscious bias impact therapy?

· What we know we don’t like about people (conscious)

· What may influence us from before we understand labels and differences

· Prejudices that influence how we show up in the therapy room can cause conflict

· Explore the conflict, explore the potential biases

· Use tentative language (I wonder if this is showing up here or impacting our relationship)

· Understanding how your identity often shows up socially can provide the therapist with fodder for exploring what bias may be present in the room

What are best practices for working with African American families?

· Genograms are helpful to explore how everything impacts the family members and who they say are included in their families

· Understanding how these families fit within their communities and who is involved with each of these families

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

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/

The Future is Now! Chatbots are Replacing Mental Health Workers Jun 12, 2023

The Future Is Now: Chatbots are Replacing Mental Health Workers

Curt and Katie chat about what happened with the National Eating Disorder Association and their chatbot, Tessa, as well as new prompts to make ChatGPT act like a CBT therapist. We also look at the risks related to chatbots taking over mental health and crisis services. We also discuss what therapists can do to safeguard their practices in the wake of the robot revolution.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about Tessa, the chatbot replacing NEDA hotline workers

After their hotline workers unionized, National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) fired all of their hotline workers and replaced that service with Tessa, an AI chatbot. This chatbot quickly started telling folks seeking eating disorder assistance that dieting could be a good idea. There are already prompts folks are using to have ChatGPT act as your therapist. We decided we needed to talk about how the chatbots are coming for our jobs.

What happened with National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) and Tessa?

· The hotline workers unionized and were fired by the association and replaced with Tessa

· Tessa is a prevention chatbot that was created to provide support to folk waiting for resources

· Tessa was launched and when tried, provided harmful advice, and then was taken down

· Now there is no crisis hotline or back up chat support offered by NEDA

What is the Tessa Chatbot?

· An evidence-based practice was redesigned as conversations

· Writing prompts and infographics to break up the text

· Studies were done to see how it works and to fix some of the errors

What are the risks related to chatbots taking over mental health services?

· There are now instructions for prompts to have ChatGPT act as a CBT therapist

· As people interact with chatbots, they will add to the dataset, theoretically improving it

· The concerns about the iterations, if unchecked, will become more and more harmful as it adopts human disordered thinking and language

· Evidence-based practices are prime to be put into chatbots

· The utility of the resources that chatbots can provide (including coping strategies and writing prompts)

What can therapists do to address the concerns of the robot revolution?

· Understand the technology and pay attention to the innovation process

· Look at where AI may not be able to replace immediately, focus your attention there in developing your skills

· Intuitive leaps that humans make that AI may find too risky

· Higher level risk assessment and more challenging diagnoses may be reserved for humans

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

Purposeful and Profitable Summit in July

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/

The Sky is Falling: How Therapists Can Protect Our Industry, Patient-Centered Care, and Our Businesses, An Interview with Dr. Ajita Robinson Jun 05, 2023

The Sky is Falling: How Therapists Can Protect Our Industry, Patient-Centered Care, and Our Businesses, An Interview with Dr. Ajita Robinson

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Ajita Robinson about innovation within the mental health industry that could threaten therapists in private practice. We chat about Value Based Care in insurance, insurance credentialing companies, and big tech disruptors. We also talk with Dr. Ajita (an income strategist) about ways that therapists can diversify their income leveraging both their license AND their knowledge, to try to mitigate these risks to our businesses.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how therapists can protect our profession

With the changes to our industry, we thought it would be important to talk with Dr. Ajita Robinson, an income strategist and insurance expert, about how therapists can weather the storm.

What are the threats to the mental health industry?

· Big tech companies innovating in our space, with a focus on efficiency

· Value-based insurance billing

· Credentialing and billing services (like Alma and Headway) moving us out of direct communication with insurance companies

How can therapists leverage their skills for alternative revenue streams?

· Understanding what other types of services can therapists provide

· Clarifying when we’re leveraging our knowledge versus leveraging our license

· Identifying problems that we’re best situated to solve

· Entering the self-help industry

How can therapists get started when they are ready to leverage alternative revenue?

· Identifying the problem you solve rather than the transformation you want to provide

· Understanding what your target client has already tried

· Knowing what the barriers are for them to solve their problem

· Clarifying who is the customer and who is the consumer

· Contracting with schools, cities, etc. is possible for therapists to increase income

· Accessing resources and experts to help you do what you need to do

· Distinguishing when to start a separate business

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Dr. Ajita’s website

Dr. Ajita Robinson’s book: The Gift Of Grief: A Practical Guide On Grief And Loss

Facebook: facebook.com/drajita

Instagram: instagram.com/dr.ajitarobinson

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/ajitarobinson

Facebook group: Purposeful & Profitable Therapist Community

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Private Practice Planning for the Future of Mental Healthcare: An interview with Maureen Werrbach

Post-Pandemic Practice

Is AI Smart for Your Therapy Practice?

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

William Perry’s Scheme of Intellectual and Mental Development

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 Do Therapists Develop? May 29, 2023

How Do Therapists Develop?

Curt and Katie chat about how therapists can be rigid in their thinking at times and then seem to be performing mental gymnastics at other times. We look at the developmental stages of therapists (drawing from William Perry’s work) and identify where therapists get stuck, where they often regress, rebel, or sink into compliance.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about what typical development looks like for therapists

Therapists go through developmental stages just like everyone else. We thought it would be good to look at how therapists can get stuck in rigidity (or do mental gymnastics) at early stages of development.

How can therapists be both rigid AND do mental gymnastics?

· Therapists employ mental gymnastics when they are trying to put together conflicting ideas and solve all of the problems in the field, individually

· Rigidity can happen when people have “figured out” their own choices and believe that everyone should do what they do

· Under-resourced and under-motivated folks can often get very rigid

How do William Perry’s developmental stages apply to therapist development?

· First stage is dualism (i.e., right or wrong), everything is fixable or solvable (grad school students wanting to know what to do)

· Second stage is about finding the right authority to listen to (i.e., sticking very tightly to a specific modality)

· Third stage, early multiplicity, which is getting to the stage where therapists start to know what they don’t know

· Fourth stage, late multiplicity, most problems have solutions we don’t know, people can have their own opinions, and some problems can’t be solved. This is a very uncomfortable stage.

· There are additional stages mentioned in the episode, we focus on Stage 4

· When people get stuck at stage 4, they are likely to regress to early stages (and become more rigid) or they are likely to rebel, or play the game

What are the concerns with therapists at earlier stages not moving through to later stages?

· Therapist Facebook groups may support stage 4 and earlier therapists providing dualistic or simplistic questions and answers leading to shortsighted

· Difficulty looking at any opposing voices due to rigidity or rebellion or compliance

How can therapists avoid rigidity in their thinking (or rebellion, or compliance)?

· Providing space to understand the options

· Employing critical thinking

· Deeper thought about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it

· Explore context and have conversations with folks further along in their development

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

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

Continuing Education Information

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/

Teaching Wisdom: Best practices for decision-making to support your clients May 22, 2023

Teaching Wisdom: Best practices for decision-making to support your clients

Curt and Katie chat about decision-making best practices. We look at how we make decisions, what the decision-making process looks like, what can get in the way of effective decision-making, and how therapists can support their clients in making the best possible decisions.

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 support clients in decision-making

When therapists are asked “what do I do?!?” by their clients, we can often redirect our clients back and encourage them to make their own decisions. But what if we could provide them with best practices to support their decision-making process? This workshop is designed to help therapists learn more about how people typically make decisions, the cultural differences that can show up in the decision-making process, and best practices to support clients in making informed decisions.

How do we make decisions?

· We don’t often choose what is in our best interest

· Emotions, mood, bias impact how we make decisions

· The DBT concept of Wise Mind, is a strong space to make decision

· Individual differences, including age, generation, family structures

· Cultural differences, including individualistic versus collectivist, tight or loose cultures (how many norms and how strictly they are enforced), cognitive style (wholistic versus analytic)

· Intersectionality also plays a part in how these factors can impact decision-making

What does the decision-making process look like?

· Does a decision need to be made?

· Who/what makes this decision?

· How is the decision?

· How much time and energy are invested in the decision-making?

· What are the alternatives?

· What could happen if the decision is implemented?

· What would happen if I make this decision?

· What values are relevant?

· What are the tradeoffs?

· How acceptable is this decision to the people around me?

· Implementation

What can get in the way of effective decision-making?

· How someone has been parented

· Mental health concerns like anxiety

· Cognitive biases like confirmation bias, anchoring, and availability bias

· Misalignment with values

· Errors from Decisive by Dan and Chip Heath: narrow framing, confirmation bias, short-term emotions, overconfidence

· Defensive decision-making when there is a lack of resources or safety

· Low sleep impacts both at overall cognitive and metacognitive levels

What are best practices for decision-making?

· Looking at opportunities for moral development when there are misalignments or conflicts between core values when making a decision

· From Decisive: WRAP techniques to improve decision-making

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://moderntherapistcommunity.com/podcourse/

Continuing Education Approvals:

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

Navigating the Social Media Self-Diagnosis Trend

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/

Does Your Social Media Make You Look Like a Bad Therapist? May 15, 2023

Does Your Social Media Make You Look Like a Bad Therapist?

Curt and Katie chat about therapists putting out advice on social media. We look at how bad this advice can be and when it can even be harmful. We talk about what makes this advice bad and what to do instead.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about therapist influencers giving advice on social media

We look at really bad relationship advice that seems to proliferate on social media by therapist influencers.

Why is the advice oftentimes bad from therapists on social media?

· Micro-validation of what clients are already believing about themselves or their partners

· Lack of context and very specific related to your target client (but seen by all folks)

· Focusing on the people around the person reading the post, rather than the reader themselves

· Single posts that go viral or reach wider audiences may be misconstrued or taken out of context

What is the potential for harm for the therapy profession?

· Bad advice = bad therapist, which can be generalized to all therapists

· Harmful advice can lead to harm in the wider population

· Saying that you’re speaking for all of mental health (when it is actually not grounded in the evidence base)

· It is hard to distill nuanced information in very short timeframes

What should therapists do to improve their social media posts?

· Citing sources rather than standing out as a sole expert

· Grounding self in the evidence base or recognized psychological knowledge

· Talking to clients about what they can do, rather than how to judge the people around them

· Designing the content to be engaging, but also tie back to longer form content that can have more nuance and context

· Each post has to stand alone, with sufficient context

· Identifying questions or considerations for folks to look at (versus definitive statements)

What are the concerns with therapists being too limited with what they share on social media?

· Not providing information that can help folks in abusive relationships

· Coaches and “fake therapists” may be the only people in the space, putting out even worse advice

What are the characteristics of very bad social media advice?

· Rigidity in perspective

· Equating hurt and abuse

· Overusing pop psychology terms like “trauma bond”

· Giving overarching, single tactic coping advice that can be harmful for many folks

· Putting things very definitively, without nuance related

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Has Therapy Become the New Religion

What Can Therapists Say About Celebrities: The ethics of public statements

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

Oklahoma Providers for Privacy

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/

Oklahoma Bureaucrats Want Your Mental Health Records May 08, 2023

Oklahoma Bureaucrats Want Your Mental Health Records

Curt and Katie chat about some Oklahoma legislation about health information exchange. We talk about what a health information exchange is, the concerns with Oklahoma’s legislation related to health information exchange, and how therapists can advocate effectively (as modern therapists in Oklahoma have done).

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

In this podcast episode we talk about new Oklahoma legislation

We look at “coordinated care” and the problems that could ensue if therapists are required to participate in the health information exchange.

What are health information exchanges?

· A central location for all health providers to chart to help with coordination of care

· Psychotherapy notes are not required to be put into these systems, but diagnosis, treatment dates, and prescriptions seem to be required.

· Patients can opt out of this information being shared, but it will still be stored in these databases

What are the concerns with the new Oklahoma legislation related to health information exchange?

· Oklahoma is now asking to put medical information into a system regardless of whether they are on Medicaid or any other type of service as well as for folks who are paying out of pocket

· The price tag of connecting to this system is high

· The confusion around whether therapists are “medical providers” or not

· Interstate practice can be impacted

What can therapists do to understand and impact legislation?

· Acknowledge that we’re healthcare providers to stay aware of responsibilities

· Watching legislation that is relevant

· Being involved in your professional organization or member benefit organization, so you know that there is someone watching for these types of legislation and prepped for advocacy

· Advocacy and activism within these orgs as well as individual and small group advocacy

· Understanding the concerns related to lack of privacy for clients

· All 50 states have a health information exchange, so all clinicians need to pay attention

· Paying attention from the bill writing process all the way through implementation

· Going to public meetings to provide feedback on implementation

· Donate to your professional association’s Political Action Committees

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Keeping Oklahomans' Mental Health Records Confidential

Lawmaker says concerns about Oklahoma health information exchange 'unfounded'

State board approves health information exchange rules despite pushback

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

What Goes in Your Notes (About Abortion and Gender Affirming Care)?

The January 2022 Surprise of Good Faith Estimates

Is the Counseling Compact Good For Therapists?

Joining Your Association

Let’s Get Political: An interview with Heather Walker Janz, LMFT

Now Modern Therapists Have to Document Every F-ing Thing?

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

The Book: Profit First for Therapists by Julie Herres

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 Every Therapy Practice Profitable: An Interview with Julie Herres May 01, 2023

Making Every Therapy Practice Profitable: An Interview with Julie Herres

Curt and Katie interview Julie Herres of GreenOak Accounting about her new book, Profit First for Therapists. We explore what profit first is, the unique challenges that therapist face in implementing profit first, the core principles of profit first, mistakes therapists make in implementation, and the benefits of using this bookkeeping model.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about the profit first method specific to therapy practices

Therapists often struggle with their money, oftentimes forgetting to pull out profit or paying themselves. One accounting system that helps therapists to better manage their money is Profit First. Our friend, Julie Herres, has written a book about this system with specific information for how this accounting system applies to therapists.

What is Profit First?

· Focusing on profit as a given number in your accounting

· You identify the profit you need FIRST to determine what you can spend on your expenses

· An accounting system created by Mike Michalowicz

What are the unique challenges that therapists face in implementing profit first?

· Therapist guilt and emotional processes that get in the way of therapists mastering the money in their businesses

· The stages of change that go into realigning your budget to stabilize your finances in your business and personal life

The core principles of Profit First

· “Use a smaller plate” so you spend less money. You add bank accounts, so each is smaller to divide out your profit, expenses, pay, and taxes.

· “Serve sequentially” – to the different bank accounts

· “Remove temptation” – the idea is that you won’t use money that is in a labeled account for something else.

· “Enforce a rhythm” – moving money consistently, to help see the ebb and flow of money in the business.

Mistakes therapists often make in implementing Profit First

· Not changing spending habits

· Changing too much too quickly

· Not creating separate bank accounts (this is a key to success)

The benefits of using Profit First in your therapy practice

· Understanding where your money is going

· Planning for scaling into a group practice

· Looking at finances in a structured and consistent way

· Understanding the percentages for all the money in the business

· Making sure that you are paying yourself and taking profit in your business

Thoughts about group practices

· The different phases of growth

· The benefits of using a more structured system to weather the emotional challenges of growth in your business

· Reverse engineering your practice to support your life

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

https://www.profitfirstfortherapists.com/mtsg

@Julie.Herres on Instagram

GreenOak Accounting

Facebook Group: Profit First for Therapists

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Don’t Take Tax Advice From Therapists: An interview with Julie Herres

Financial Therapy: An interview with Lindsay Bryan-Podvin

Asking for Money

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

Article: The Seductive Allure of Neuroscience Explanations by Deena Skolnick Weisberg, Frank C. Keil, Joshua Goodstein, Elizabeth Rawson, and Jeremy R. Gray

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/

What is Our Fascination with Anything Vaguely Neuroscience? Apr 24, 2023

What is Our Fascination with Anything Vaguely Neuroscience?

Curt and Katie chat about our profession’s fascination with neuroscience. We explore the myths about the brain, why therapists lean on neuroscience (even when they really shouldn’t), and how “neuro” is misused and can actually be harmful to our clients.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about neuroscience

Curt has started to get frustrated with all of the ways that neuroscience is misused. Curt is frustrated with the ongoing use of “neuro” information that may be myth.

What are the most common neuromyths?

Humans only use 10% of our brains
Left/Right Brain preference
Learning style (i.e., auditory, visual, or kinetic learners)
If you don’t drink enough water, your brain will shrink

Why do therapists often privilege “neuroscience” over everything else?

The fascination with brain scans
The belief that explanations including neuroscience are more effective (even if they are not)
Interest in data and the scientific explanations

The Misuse of “Neuro” to increase the credibility of other concepts

The “neuroscience” of the power of attraction
Overusing neuroscience explanations for interventions that don’t help
The potential for clients to feel incompetent due to trying to access parts of the brain versus understanding the interventions in a basic and complete manner

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Article: Dispelling the Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience Decreases but Does Not Eliminate Beliefs in Neuromyths by Kelly Macdonald, Laura Germine, Alida Anderson, Joanna Christodoulou and Lauren M. McGrath

Article: Brain Images Make Cognitive Research More Believable

Article: Neuroscience and education: myths and messages

Article: Brain images make the article seem more reliable

The manifested article that has not been vetted for scientific accuracy, but I can’t believe I found it: The Neuroscience of The Secret

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/

Clinical Work with Sex Workers: An Interview with Jamila Dawson, LMFT and Dr. Theo Burnes, PhD Apr 17, 2023

Clinical Work with Sex Workers: An Interview with Jamila Dawson, LMFT and Dr. Theo Burnes, PhD

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Theo Burnes and Jamila Dawson on their new book Essential Clinical Care for Sex Workers. We talk about what therapists get wrong when thinking about sex work and sex workers, what common biases therapists hold about sex work, what sex work looks like now, and how clinicians can work effectively with sex workers.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about sex workers seeking therapy

There are number of client populations that we just don’t talk about in grad school. Sex Workers are an important group that we find continue to face bias and ignorance in the therapy room. We reached out to Theo Burnes and Jamila Dawson to learn more about this often forgotten client population.

What are therapists getting wrong when thinking about sex work and sex workers?

Clinicians often are focused on saving people, which is misguided
We lose opportunities as change agents
Not understanding sex work and the complexity of any job
There is a bias about the relationships between sex and work and what sex is

What are common biases that therapists hold related to sex work?

The bias that there must be trauma if someone chooses to do sex work
The bias that they must hate their job and want to get out of this work
The lack of awareness about immigration’s intersection with sex work
The additional bias related to racism, sexism, and genderism
Anti-erotophobia
Anti-neurodivergence – there are more folks in sex work who are neurodivergent due to the flexibility and other characteristics of the job
Entertainment bias is pervasive with the rescue theme (e.g., Pretty Woman)

What does sex work look like now?

The “Whorearchy” or hierarchy within sex worker communities (outside vs inside, independent or employee, safety level) – for example working independently in the safest environments (i.e., inside, virtually) is seen higher up the whorearchy
Different types of sex work including courtesan/girlfriend experience versus other types that are less heterosexual normative
Understanding the pros and cons of each type of sex work is important for clinicians working with sex workers
The opportunities related to innovation (sex and porn often drive innovation) and creativity

How can a clinician work effectively with sex workers?

Getting curious to fully understand the unique situation for the client
Assessments availability in the book: Essential Clinical Care for Sex Workers
Pay attention to how you talk about sex work as clients will test whether they can talk about their sex work
Sex work may not be the presenting issue, but it is relevant to identify whether they are self-identifying as a sex worker to the therapist
Holding space for clients not disclosing everything at the beginning of therapy
Showing sex positivity and openness to hear about any sensitive topics (sex, drug use, etc.)
Understanding the fears and myths that are floating around (e.g., the myth that therapists will call law enforcement or CPS solely because someone reports being a sex worker)
Being an agent for social change and advocating for systemic change

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

Information on the concept of Double Consciousness from W.E.B. Du Bois

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/

Is AI Smart for Your Therapy Practice? The ethics of artificial intelligence in therapy Apr 10, 2023

Is AI Smart for Your Therapy Practice? The ethics of artificial intelligence in therapy

Curt and Katie chat about the use of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence as part of your therapy practice. We look at what uses therapists are considering, the differences between chatbots and search engines, and basic information on how chatbots work. We explore ethical implications for using chatbots within different aspects of a therapist practice. This is a law and ethics continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about therapists using ChatGPT in their practices

How are ChatGPT and other chatbots being used by modern therapists?

Writing blog posts and other marketing content
Getting suggestions for writing progress notes
Potentially case consultation and differential diagnosis?

What is the difference between ChatGPT (or other AI chatbots) and Search Engines?

The goals are different – developing human-sounding language versus information retrieval
Primary sources and raw data versus interpretation and an answer that sounds good

What are the legal and ethical uses of ChatGPT?

The user agreement allows all uses of the content developed based on your prompts
There is not a guarantee of unique output between different users which calls into question ownership on content and plagiarism
Citing authorship, publication credits, and whose ideas are being included in your content
Suggestions from ethical bodies on how to cite chatbots
The importance of transparency and accountability

What is the harm in using ChatGPT without transparency on a therapist website?

The impact on pretreatment role expectations and the digital therapeutic alliance
A lack of transparency and potential for misleading prospective clients on your personality and/or expertise
If you don’t check accuracy, especially when you have someone else creating your content, you may actually create outdated information that is heavily influenced by the medical model and potentially biased

What are thoughts about using ChatGPT in clinical work for therapists?

Please use caution when using AI in any clinical work

What are recommendations for modern therapists who would like to use ChatGPT?

Use with caution: check primary sources and completely review
Transparently cite that AI was used, which app was used, how it was used, and the date when information was pulled
Be aware of SEO impacts, lack of branding, whether it adds value, and that the content is accurate and is helpful rather than harmful
Do not input any confidential information
Do not overly rely on the clinical suggestions due to bias and accuracy concerns

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://moderntherapistcommunity.com/podcourse/

Continuing Education Approvals: Continuing Education Information

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

ChatGPT

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

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/

What Therapists Should Know About Code-Switching: An Interview with Dr. Jameta Nicole Barlow Apr 03, 2023

What Therapists Should Know About Code-Switching: An Interview with Dr. Jameta Nicole Barlow

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Jameta Nicole Barlow on code-switching. We explore what code-switching is, the mental health impacts of code-switching, and how therapists can support clients who code-switch.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about code-switching

An important conversation about code-switching for therapists. What do we need to know and what can we do to support people who need to code switch?

What is code-switching?

Shifting how one speaks or behaves to fit into the current situation
Often occurs with people who do not look like you or are culturally different from you
Learning to operate differently in different spaces due to being judged based on appearance, behavior, and language
Choosing which words to use, which has additional layers for multilingual folks
Much deeper than just linguistic shifts
Responding to the potential for violent harm when how you typically show up doesn’t fit the current situation’s prescribed norms
The concept of “professionalism” and who set the standards
Needing to push back on the norms

What are the mental health effects of Code-switching?

Anxiety and depression
Not bringing full self into most spaces
Hesitation, lack of learning and sharing
Chronic health diseases connected to cortisol
Identity concerns, unraveling of identity over time
Fear of being found out or not being accepted
High mental load
Not everyone code switches

Why are people code-switching in professional settings? Or is it still happening?

Shifts in behaviors during the pandemic
Letting go of certain social mores on zoom
Not having to go to work and putting on a professional persona when working remotely

What can mental health professionals due to support clients who code-switch?

There are not enough Black therapists to see all of the Black clients, so therapists of other demographics need to make sure that they are addressing it
Going beyond the client having to explain all of their experience or be a cultural translator
Stay present to the story and clarify later, to allow client to stay in the vulnerability
Being authentic yourself as a therapist, to create space for imperfection
Providing reinforcement for the client showing up authentically, their accomplishments
Getting to IDGAF attitude and testing it out in different spaces

How does Dr. Jameta Barlow push back against the status quo related to code-switching?

Land acknowledgement
Grounding in family and cultural history
Focusing on the history and the experiences of Black women
No code-switching or requirement for being anything but your full self

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Dr. Barlow’s Website: JametaBarlow.com

Twitter: @allaboutafya

Email: JametaWrites @ gmail.com

Article on PsychCentral: Code-Switching: What it is and What it Costs Us

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/

Why Is Therapy Taking So Long? The causes and solutions for therapeutic drift Mar 27, 2023

Why Is Therapy Taking So Long? The causes and solutions for therapeutic drift

Curt and Katie chat about the tendency for therapists to drift clinically – meaning that they fail to use evidence-based practices that they have been trained to do. We explore the phenomenon of therapeutic drift, contributing factors, ways to mitigate risk, and what therapists can do to address this tendency that leads to poorer therapeutic outcomes. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we explore why therapists stray from using evidence-based practices

In order for therapy to be successful, both the therapist and client need to stay invested in the therapeutic process. We explore the reasons that therapy can stall, how to identify the causes, and how to get back on track toward achieving client goals.

What is therapist drift and why is it bad?

Therapists will fail to use evidence-based treatment even when they have the tools and training
May be seen as pushing back on manualized treatments that do not seem to focus on the relationship sufficiently
Therapeutic drift can happen when the therapist and client are not in agreement or clear on the goals for treatment
Not sticking to the plan for treatment and failing to make progress
Mislabeling of treatment interventions

What factors contribute to therapeutic drift?

Client factors include avoiding talking about treatment goals
Lack of adherent training and understanding of the models
Therapist factors include not identifying optimal treatment methods or structures upon which to build creative intervention
Therapists doing what feels good to them versus what is best for the client
Systemic factors including teaching too many theories without sufficient depth

How can we mitigate the risks of therapeutic drift?

Practice-based evidence
Setting treatment plans and single session agendas
Outcome measures and client feedback
Intentionality versus convenience
Assessing bias and where our negative feelings about EBPs come from
Collaborating with the client
Deliberate practice
Consultation, ongoing supervision

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Very Bad Therapy Podcast

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

References mentioned in this continuing education podcast can be found in the course on our learning platform.

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

Link tree: https://linktr.ee/therapyreimagined

Dissociation Made Simple (the book)

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/

What Therapists Should Know About Dissociation and Dissociative Disorders: An Interview with Dr. Jamie Marich Mar 20, 2023

What Therapists Should Know About Dissociation and Dissociative Disorders: An Interview with Dr. Jamie Marich

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Jamie Marich, author of Dissociation Made Simple, about dissociation and dissociative identities. We talk with Jamie about what therapists often get wrong as well as some basics on what dissociation is and how best to understand and treat it (when it actually needs treating).

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how therapists can support clients navigating dissociation

A friend of the show, Dr. Jamie Marich, wrote a book Dissociation Made Simple, and we wanted to talk about it!

What are therapists getting wrong when learning about and treating dissociation?

Not believing in dissociative identities or dissociative systems
Fear of and misunderstanding of dissociation
Thinking of dissociation as a dirt word and something to avoid
Believing that dissociation must always be healed (when in fact it could be useful at times)

What is dissociation? What is dissociative identity disorder or dissociative experience?

Exploring different definitions and conceptualizations
It is a lot of different things
Severing/separating from the present moment or from aspects of ourselves
Disaggregation or dividing your self into parts
Purposeful, meeting a need or protection
The shift to thinking about elements of dissociation as adaptive or maladaptive situationally

How can therapists support clients in understanding and managing their own dissociation?

Helping clients to identify what purpose their dissociation is serving
Assessing dissociative profile through an inventory in the book (triggers, how we dissociate, adaptive/maladaptive)
All dissociative behaviors can be assessed as adaptive or maladaptive

How can a therapist assess for dissociative identities or systems?

Language may vary (parts, defenders, team, selves, side, aspect, etc.)
Previous diagnosis or self-diagnosis
Listen for the experience (a “part of me” wants this, a “side of me” wants this)
Speaking in a parts-informed way
Exploring for thinking from different parts of self, potentially even already with names
Dissociative Identities inventories

What are clinical goals with clients who have dissociative experiences and/or identities?

When working with someone with a system, will need to get buy in from all elements of the team for treatment goals
Goals may not align across different parts
The theory that you’re working with a family
Many clients have Chronic PTSD and the focus of treatment may be trauma
The importance of being trauma informed
Grounding, anchoring, or settling into the present moment
The goal is usually NOT integration
Cohesion, communication, or cooperation

How can therapists overcome their fear about dissociation?

Identifying your own dissociation
Overcoming the “us versus them” related to dissociation
Moving away from bias and stereotypes of folks who dissociate

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Jamie’s website: redefinetherapy.com

Jamie’s social media:

Trauma Therapist Rants on Twitter

Trauma Therapist Rants on TikTok

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

Simple Profit on Instagram

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/

Understanding Your Money in Private Practice: An Interview with Jennie Schottmiller Mar 13, 2023

Understanding Your Money in Private Practice: An Interview with Jennie Schottmiller

Curt and Katie interview Jennie Schottmiller, LMFT, CPA, about understanding your numbers when starting a private practice. We explore the simple math that can help you create consistent income and decrease your anxiety about running a business.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how therapists can handle their private practice finances

We reached out to our friend, Jennie Schottmiller, to talk about the basics of bookkeeping in private practice.

What are the business decisions therapists need to make when starting a private practice?

Bookkeeping platforms
Types of business
How to stabilize their income
What to pay themselves

How do therapists create consistent income?

Understanding the ebb and flow of the business
Identifying how to pay a consistent income every month

What are the fears that many private practice owners have? (And how can they deal with them?)

What do I need to plan for (i.e., rational fears)
What do I need to talk myself of the ledge about (i.e., irrational fears)
The fear of math can keep folks from figuring out how to make the money work
The benefits of starting slow and managing your expenses from the beginning
Creating financial cushions to avoid freaking out

What are best practices for addressing your books in private practice?

How often should you look at your books?
What numbers are you looking at?
When should you hire a bookkeeper?
What should you know about your books before you hire a bookkeeper?
How to design your books to best monitor your unique business
Managing expenses and understanding what you’re paying for
Looking at year over year changes and trends to plan

How can a therapist navigate their neurodivergence and starting a business?

Understanding your capacities and what your challenges are
Creating a plan to get stuff done
Putting systems in place to address your challenges that works for how your brain works

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Simple Profit website

Simple Profit on Facebook

Free Facebook group: Simple Profit for Mental Health Clinicians

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

Why Do People Think Going to Therapy Makes You A Good Person? By Mychal Denzel Smith

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/

Has Therapy Become the New Religion? Mar 06, 2023

Has Therapy Become the New Religion?

Curt and Katie chat about op ed pieces from the New York Times, where there are a lot of opinions on what therapy is and should be. We explore comparisons of therapy to religion, the notion that going to therapy makes one good, safe and dateable, and how therapy seems to have invaded our lives.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about the opinion that therapy has become morally good

Katie likes reading New York Times Op Ed pieces on what therapy is now. We decided to explore some of the questions these articles raise.

What does the New York Times have to say about therapy and therapists?

Going to therapy makes you a good person
Putting that you’re going to therapy on your dating app is a cheat code – meaning that you are safe to date
We have reached a point where we’re more focused on “mental health” than on mental illness
Therapy-speak has invaded everything
It is toxic to tell everyone to go to therapy

What is leading to comparisons of therapy to religion?

Decreased membership in organized religion
Finding your own morals and values outside of organized religion
Finding meaning and purpose through the work you do in therapy
A fear of the degradation of social contracts and a rise of moral relativism

How are people framing the role of the therapist?

Potential for individual exploration of how to live one’s life that is individualized and less tied to specific doctrine
Another potential to be seen as giving direction on how to live life
The role of community care versus individualized healing
Relationship versus individual focus
The nuance of what therapy is versus the fears of what is being done

What is the fear about therapy being so central in our lives?

The worry that people are too self-focused and not sufficiently other focused
Pushing back on the status quo and established systems
The notion that “therapy is good” and “all people need therapy”
Therapy as a status symbol or a designation that I’m a good person
Lack of access for folks with mental illness due to “worried well” and “personal growth” clients taking all of the spots

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

New York Times’ Articles:

We Have Reached Peak ‘Mental Health’ by Huw Green

Is it Toxic to Tell Everyone to Get Therapy? By Zachary Siegel

How the Language of Therapy Took Over Dating by Dani Blum

The Problem with Letting Therapy-Speak Invade Everything by Tara Isabella Burton

Is Therapy an Opiate of the Masses?

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Navigating the Social Media Self-Diagnosis Trend

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/

Understanding Impostor Syndrome in High Achievers: An Interview with Stevon Lewis, LMFT Feb 27, 2023

Understanding Impostor Syndrome in High Achievers: An Interview with Stevon Lewis, LMFT

Curt and Katie interview Stevon Lewison working with high achievers who struggle with impostor syndrome. We explored what impostor syndrome is, how society contributes to impostor syndrome, how you can differentiate impostor syndrome from internalized racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, etc., the emotional impacts of impostor syndrome, and how therapists can work effectively with these clients.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about how impostor syndrome shows up in high achievers

We reached out to our friend, Stevon Lewis, to explore impostor syndrome.

What do therapists miss related to treating impostor syndrome in high achievers?

Looking at the symptoms versus the root cause
Understanding the common patterns

How does society contribute to impostor syndrome?

Productivity and detail-orientation are praised
The role of humility and Stevon’s difficulty with the accepted definition of humility
Subcultures that are hyper-focused on achievement and competition
The impact of a marginalized identity or identities on impostor syndrome

How can therapists support high achievers with impostor syndrome in therapy?

Slowing down the conversation
Shifting the language related to goal-setting
Finding a path to celebrating wins
Perspective taking on how you treat yourself versus how you treat others
Self-compassion and self-understanding

How do you sort out impostor syndrome from internalized racism, sexism, ableism, etc.?

Contending with stereotypes and unreasonable expectations
Looking at the environment within which someone is working or living
The impact of parenting and what you’ve grown up with

Emotional impacts of Impostor Syndrome

Description of the inner bully
Fear of being found out, not belonging
Fear of being a disappointment or of being too successful
The danger of exploitation, especially for folks who have traditionally been marginalized
The pushback when you are being different

What does healing look like for high achievers with impostor syndrome?

Radical acceptance of self
Getting freedom
Self-compassion

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Stevon’s Website

Stevon’s Journal: Silencing Your Inner Bully

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

LinkTree

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/

Special Episode: Modern Therapist’s Consumer Guide on Mulberry Web Design Feb 23, 2023

Special Episode: Modern Therapist’s Consumer Guide on Mulberry Web Design

Curt and Katie talk with Kat Valentine, owner of Mulberry, a web design company specializing in custom websites for private practice therapists.

This is the Modern Therapist Consumer Guide, a series of special episodes to help modern therapists navigate products and services specifically designed for therapists and their clients. We dig deeply into the companies, the people, and the products and services so you can make smart decisions in building your practice and serving your clients.

Interview with Kat Valentine of Mulberry

Mulberry is a U.S. based company providing a broad range of website-related services to marketing departments, small businesses, and private practices in California, Washington, and many other States that extend to the East Coast.

We support busy marketing departments with long-term web marketing strategies and daily online marketing activities. And we keep up with the busiest marketing departments, providing business day turn-around on various routine daily web development requests.

We also offer website design & development services to small businesses and those in private practice. We have established many rewarding relationships working directly with business owners who serve their local communities.

In this podcast episode we talk about web design (and website rescue) with Mulberry

Interview with Kat Valentine, Mulberry

1:14 What do therapists get wrong when putting together their websites?

6:23 What is Mulberry Web Design and where did that name come from?

14:32 What is the process you go through when you start with a new client?

19:15 What is the rescue process like?

23:12 What makes you different from other web developers?

Curt and Katie Chat – Our review of Mulberry

27:37 What do you see as the deciding factors when deciding whether to hire Kat and Mulberry Web Design (or not)?

A Special Offer for the listeners of Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide podcast from Mulberry

Mention Therapy Reimagined and receive a 10% discount (up to $250!) on any service we provide.

Relevant Links:

Mulberry Web Design website

Connect with us!

https://linktr.ee/therapyreimagined

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Supervision in the Real World: Understanding what makes an effective supervisory alliance Feb 20, 2023

Supervision in the Real World: Understanding what makes an effective supervisory alliance

Curt and Katie chat about the relationship between supervisor and supervisee in clinical supervision. We explore what makes up a good supervisory alliance, what the research says (and why it is problematic), as well the practicalities of how to create a good relationship and set up a strong supervision meeting. We also look at the challenges in the real world, especially related to addressing business or administrative needs.

This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we explore the clinical supervisory alliance for therapists

We know that the relationship is very important in therapy, but what about supervision? We dig into what makes an effective supervisory alliance (and what can hurt it).

What makes up a good clinical supervision relationship for therapists?

Teaching within a learning alliance
Having a shared view of what is being worked on
Rapport, shared supervisory goals, shared tasks by which those goals are pursued

Research on clinical supervision is problematic

Mechanisms by which efficacy is measured
Poor timing of research (developmental stage of the supervisee as well as after supervision is done)

What does an effective clinical supervisory alliance look like, practically?

Strong relationship that holds space for an assessment of what the supervisee needs at their particular developmental stage
Supervisory Alliance measures can help to identify how well this relationship is developing
Using feedback to inform the conversations in supervision
Cultural and gender impacts on the supervisory alliance
Supervisor humility and openness
Intentionality with how the relationship is developed
Regular evaluations for supervisees, including the FASIT (Functional Assessment of Skills for Interpersonal Therapists) system from Behavioral Analysts to assess their skills

Setting up an effective supervisory session

Navigating the business and clinical needs within the supervisory relationship
Creating an agenda and goals
Balancing case presentation with other supervisory needs
Clear about expectations at every stage, especially relevant at hiring
Pulling administrative conversations out of clinical supervision meetings
Finding agreed upon path to address clinical work
Cultural humility within the supervisory relationship

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://moderntherapistcommunity.com/podcourse/

Continuing Education Approvals: Please check continuing education approval bodies: Continuing Education Information

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Sign up to get on the list for Curt’s supervision workshop

Saving Psychotherapy by Dr. Ben Caldwell

A Few Thoughts on Impostor Syndrome by Dr. Jordan Harris

*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:

Dr. Tom Murray on Instagram

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/

Sex Therapy with Perfectionists: An Interview with Dr. Tom Murray Feb 13, 2023

Sex Therapy with Perfectionists: An Interview with Dr. Tom Murray

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Tom Murray about sex therapy for clients with the overcontrolled temperament. We talk about how temperament can affect one’s sex life, what therapists often miss in conversations about sex, and what good sex therapy can look like for these clients.

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

An Interview with Dr. Tom Murray

Dr. Tom Murray, author, international trainer, educator, and couples and sex therapist-supervisor, is a widely sought-after expert in sexuality and intimate relationships. For 20+ years, Murray has worked with everyday folks to embrace their weirdness, shed labels and shame, lean into anxiety, and build better and stronger relationships. Murray has appeared in numerous venues, including the Huffington Post and The Daily Mail, as well as radio, television and podcasts, including the Practice of Being Seen and Shrink Rap Radio. Murray directs A Path to Wellness, a multidisciplinary practice providing sex therapy, couples counseling, and general psychotherapy. He authored "Making Nice with Naughty: An intimacy guide for the rule-following, organized, perfectionist, practical, and color-within-the-line types."

In this podcast episode, we talk about how temperament can impact your sex life

We reached out to Dr. Tom Murray to share with us about his new book, Making Nice with Naughty, and how therapists can understand how to help perfectionists (and other over-controlled types) can improve their sex life.

What is the overcontrolled personality and how does it impact sex and sexuality?

Personality characteristics and mindset (introspective, fixed or fatalistic mindset)
Perfectionism, rigidity, and hypervigilance
Sexual deficits (low receptivity, avoidance of novel situations, need for ritual)
Typically choose monogamy as overarching rule for sexual relationships

The impact of trauma on those who are predisposed to the overcontrolled temperament

The complication of past trauma on current relationships
The challenge and the work of helping clients show up as the sexual being they would like to be

How can therapists help overcontrolled adults to improve their sexual functioning?

The goal of self-acceptance and the importance of learning about sex as an adult
The rights and responsibilities of monogamy
Sexual discrepancy and forced celibacy
Looking at the difference between “want” and “willing” to have sex
Understanding the different types of desire (spontaneous, responsive, contextual) and what is typical for each partner
How to overcome low sexual desire in relationships

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

The book: Making Nice with Naughty: An Intimacy Guide for the Rule-Following, Organized, Perfectionist, Practical, and Color-Within-The-Line Types by Dr. Thomas L. Murray Jr

Tom’s website: drtommurray.com

Dr. Tom Murray on TikTok

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Sex and Shame: An interview with Eliza Boquin, LMFT

Let’s Talk about Sex: An interview with Liz Dube, LMFT

What Therapists Should Know About Sexual Health, Monkey Pox, and the Echoes of the AIDS Epidemic: An Interview with Mallory Garrett, LMFT

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

Article from Stephen P. Becker – Wilderness Therapy: Ethical Considerations for Mental Health Professionals

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/

What Actually is Therapy? Feb 06, 2023

What Actually is Therapy?

Curt and Katie chat about the confusing laws related to telehealth and other technologies that open up questions of how therapy is actually defined. We look at what is not therapy, what constitutes a therapy session, what differentiates therapy from coaching, and how therapists can navigate confusing laws related to texting, telehealth, and interstate communication with their clients.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about what therapy is and what it is not

Curt identified some laws that don’t quite work because what is considered therapy is changing. What time does therapy happen if you are texting? Where is it located? And what actually is therapy and needs to be held under the laws of the profession AND the laws regulating telehealth and technology?

Why does Curt want to fix the telehealth laws?

Rules surrounding knowing where your client is and safety depend on therapy happening concurrently.
New types of therapy (like texting and asynchronous messaging) don’t have the same parameters to be able to identify what is supposed to be documented in therapy sessions.

What is therapy and what is not therapy?

Therapy versus coaching
Therapy versus coping skills training
What is therapy versus what is therapeutic
Does the presence of a therapist make something therapy?
What about continuity of care or coping/coaching calls when someone is traveling?
Things that are called therapy and are not: retail therapy, conversion therapy
What is billable to insurance?

How do we differentiate what we do from non-therapists?

Deeper emotional work within psychological principles
Legal responsibilities of confidentiality

What is a therapy session?

Therapy sessions versus coaching calls
Therapists define what is a therapy session (according to CAMFT)
We need to make sure that we clarify with clients what therapy is with each of us

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Rage and Client Self-Harm: An interview with Angela Caldwell, LMFT

It's the Lack of Thought That Counts: Ethical Decision-Making in Dual Relationships

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

Saving Psychotherapy by Benjamin E. Caldwell, PsyD

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/

Am I Honoring My Personal Values OR Am I Discriminating? An exploration of ethics for modern therapists Jan 30, 2023

Am I Honoring My Personal Values OR Am I Discriminating? An exploration of ethics for modern therapists

Curt and Katie chat about what therapists should be considering when their strongly held personal values or moral beliefs conflict with a client’s demographics, lifestyle, or choices. We dig deeply into when it’s okay to make a “values-based referral” and when referring out is discrimination.

This is a law and ethics continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we explore the difference between honoring our personal values and discrimination

Therapists are people who have their own identities, beliefs, values, and approaches to life. But what happens when those identities come into conflict with the clients that they serve? This CE podcourse explores the ethics behind therapist personal values, when personal values should dictate a client being referred to another treatment provider, and when that referral is actually discriminatory.

What is Julia Ward vs. Eastern Michigan University?

An Orthodox Christian, master’s student in counseling requested referring out a LGBTQ+ client
This student was dismissed from school because it was seen as discrimination and referrals were not allowed at that school
There was a summary judgment and an appeal, leading to further lack of clarity

The State of Tennessee has a law that allows therapists to deny services to clients

The law trying to overcome ethics codes
The ACA protested by moving their annual convention out of the state Tennessee

How do ethics codes handle the conflict between discrimination and holding to personal values?

Do no harm, be truthful, practice within your competence
Equity, fidelity and the call to not discriminate with a call to learn and expand competence with clients, and avoid abandoning clients

How do we decide whether we can or should refer out a client based on our firmly held beliefs?

Ethical decision-making and our responsibility based on our license
Sorting out client need, competence, and the benefit of the therapeutic relationship (i.e., common factors)
Referral is a last resort and should be based on client need (not therapist preference)
Advertising and branding for clients to self-select
What happens when clients disclose things later in treatment
The differences in the task for clinicians in private practice versus clients in organizations

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

Once you’ve listened to this episode, to get CE credit you just need to go to moderntherapistcommunity.com/podcourse, register for your free profile, purchase this course, pass the post-test, and complete the evaluation! Once that’s all completed - you’ll get a CE certificate in your profile or you can download it for your records.

Continuing Education Approvals:

You can verify CE approvals here: Continuing Education Information

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

*The full reference list can be found in our show notes at mtsgpodcast.com as well as on the course on our learning platform.

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

Link tree: https://linktr.ee/therapyreimagined

Addressing Racism in Clinical Licensing Exams: An Interview with Ben Caldwell and Tony Rousmaniere Jan 23, 2023

Addressing Racism in Clinical Licensing Exams: An Interview with Ben Caldwell and Tony Rousmaniere

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Ben Caldwell and Dr. Tony Rousmaniere about the problems with the Clinical Licensing exams for therapists. We discuss the recent report from ASWB on their pass rates as well as the concerns about the EPPP2 implementation, the poor predictive validity and utility of these licensing exams, and suggestions for what to do with our licensing processes given these concerns.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about recent data that licensing exams are racist

Friends of the show, Dr. Ben Caldwell and Dr. Tony Rousmaniere wrote a white paper in response to a recent report from the ASWB that shows their licensing exams appear to be racist. We wanted to talk with them about their calls to discontinue these exams.

How are the clinical exams racist?

· The number one predictor of whether you pass the exam is your race

· The structure of the exam seems to advantage those with more affinity to these types of tests (i.e., those who are educationally privileged)

· There may also be content or language concerns leading to these disparities

What is the purpose of the clinical exams for therapists?

· Said that it is to be an assessment of knowledge and training, consumer protection, etc.

· Little predictive validity (of competence or consumer safety) for these tests

· The test is an unfair hurdle for folks without academic privilege

· There does not seem to be a need for this test (due to the rigor of training and supervised experience)

What would be better alternatives to requiring a clinical exam?

· Alternate pathways that some states have taken

· Addressing workforce shortages by allowing folks who have gotten through every other requirement (aside from the clinical exam) to be licensed

· Just don’t require a clinical exam

What can therapists do to try to get rid of licensing exams?

· Advocacy to state boards to not implement EPPP2

· Other advocacy related to master’s level clinical exams

· Organizations to #StopASWB and address the EPPP2

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

White Paper: Clinical Licensing Exams in Mental Health Care by Benjamin E. Caldwell, PsyD and Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD

ASWB Report on Social Work Licensing Exam Pass Rates

Very Bad Therapy

BenCaldwellLabs.com

SentioCC.org

Stop the Adoption of EPPP2 Website

ASWB: End Discriminatory Social Work Licensing Exams

A sample letter you can send to your licensing board will be on our show notes at mtsgpodcast.com.

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Fixing Mental Healthcare in America

Unlearning Very Bad Therapy

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

Therapy Reimagined Homepage

Link tree: https://linktr.ee/therapyreimagined

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/

Private Practice Planning for the Future of Mental Healthcare: An Interview with Maureen Werrbach Jan 16, 2023

Private Practice Planning for the Future of Mental Healthcare: An Interview with Maureen Werrbach

Curt and Katie interview Maureen Werrbach of the Group Practice Exchange on upcoming trends for mental healthcare. We talk about what is predicted, how to prepare your private practice for success in 2023, and how to plan for unexpected changes to our profession.

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

An Interview with Maureen Werrbach, LCPC, The Group Practice Exchange

Maureen Werrbach established The Group Practice Exchange after starting her private practice, Urban Wellness, and growing it into successful group practices in various locations.

Spending countless hours researching how to start a private practice (the legal and procedural steps) and then so many more hours learning how to grow it into a group (again trying to figure out the appropriate steps), she remembers wishing there was a place that she could go, or a book that she could read, that would explain not only the steps it would take to launch a group practice, but also discuss topics that relate to group practice ownership.

A degree in the social service field doesn’t offer any training on the business side of running a group practice! Maureen learned through trial and error what works and what doesn’t in running a counseling group practice. She enjoys helping others reach their full potential and feel confident in running their business.

In this podcast episode, we talk about upcoming trends in Mental Health and what it means for your therapy practice

We reached out to our friend Maureen Werrbach of the Group Practice Exchange about where our field is moving and how we can plan for success.

The way therapy is provided and paid for will be changing

· Insurance: Fee for service versus value-based pricing

· Large tech companies and one-stop shops

· Ease of access and diminished costs via telehealth

What therapists can do to future-proof their practice

· Strong niche and branding

· Doing what we do best

· Addressing fees, profit margins, hiring

· Dedicate time to researching upcoming trends

· Diversifying offerings

· Determining the best fit for your business, your career, your employment

Special considerations for Group Practice Owners in 2023

· The concerns related to large group therapist mills taking employees

· Focus on people, culture, and innovation

· Intentionality related to values, mission, vision

· Avoiding divisiveness and conflict between employers and employees

· The importance of transparency and clarity on how you’ve set up your practice

· Pathways for employees to grow and creative employment opportunities

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

The Group Practice Exchange Membership

The Group Practice Exchange Facebook Group

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Maureen’s previous interview: Becoming a Group Practice Owner

Fixing Mental Healthcare in America

Beyond Reimagination: What is right (and wrong) with mental health apps

Post Pandemic Practice

All Things Group Therapy: An interview with Katie K. May, LPC

Online Therapy Apps

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

Therapy Reimagined Homepage

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/

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish: Thoughts on investing and getting paid as a therapist Jan 09, 2023

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish: Thoughts on investing and getting paid as a therapist

Curt and Katie chat about money: considerations for investing and getting paid as a therapist. We look at typical unpaid opportunities and how to decide whether to do them. We also talk about client care practices that may take time, but could keep clients.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about money mistakes that many therapists make

We talk a lot about making sure that therapists get paid, but thought it was worth talking about when therapists should invest in their business and when they may want to work for free.

What are the lessons Curt and Katie learned around investing in their businesses?

· Electronic Health Records/Practice Management systems are very helpful

· Automation helps your business to run without you

· Sometimes visibility is worth working for free

How do you decide if you should do something for your business?

“I gave a presentation, it's gotta be more than 10 years ago at this point, for a group of students. I think, like five people showed up… But I still get referrals from one of the people who came there. And it turned into a really wonderful relationship, because I sounded like I knew what I was talking about.” – Curt Widhalm, LMFT

· What are the practical benefits and challenges?

· What are the other potential benefits (like enjoyment)?

· What is the investment of time, money, and expertise?

· What is the return on investment?

Specifics on deciding to take unpaid work

“There are elements of this where it's really looking at is the audience strong enough? Is there any money eventually? And do you actually want the referrals from the audience that you're going to be in front of? Because if all of those things are yes… I would consider – at least the first time out – doing some content creation (because I love content creation) without getting paid to see does it actually pan out. But you want to make sure you track that to determine: am I going to actually get anything from this this relationship and from this work that I'm doing?” – Katie Vernoy, LMFT

· What new relationships will be developed?

· Will you get visibility with the audience you’re seeking?

· Will you obtain access to relevant learning?

· Is the entity that is asking you legit and established?

· Are there other forms of compensation (like photos or videos)?

· Are you able to get clients from this work? (And what are new clients worth to you?)

Client care versus getting paid

“I don't think it's helpful, at least not for customer service purposes, to view your client as trying to take advantage of you.” – Katie Vernoy, LMFT

· Setting up appropriate boundaries and policies

· Avoiding additional costs, if you can (i.e., setting fees in a private pay practice to include these extras)

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Why You Shouldn’t Just Do It All Yourself: An interview with Bibi Goldstein

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Why You Shouldn't Sell Out to Better Help: An interview with Jeff Guenther

I Just Graduated, Now What? Career Advice for New Clinicians

How to Manage Your Practice as a Traveling Therapist: An Interview with Kym Tolson, LCSW Dec 26, 2022

How to Manage Your Practice as a Traveling Therapist: An Interview with Kym Tolson, LCSW

Curt and Katie interview Kym Tolson, the traveling therapist. We look at how a modern therapist can be a digital nomad, including what business logistics to consider as well as how to travel well.

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

In this podcast episode, we talk about working as a therapist when traveling

We reached out to our friend Kym Tolson who lives and works as a digital nomad.

“It's kind of like being on vacation every day.” – Kym Tolson, LCSW

What are the most important considerations when working as a digital nomad?

· Checking the Wi-Fi before booking your accommodations

· How long to stay in each place (Kym says about 2.5 weeks)

· Finding a schedule that works and only takes small tweaks when you change time zones

· Planning around the seasons and ideal locations

What are the business considerations for traveling therapists?

· Consult with tax attorney and accountant, where to register your business

· Reach out to boards for the state you are traveling to (to determine if you can practice within the state)

· Considerations for business write offs and expenses

Managing work-life balance as a digital nomad

· Finding the right times for work

· Setting a schedule

· Compartmentalize fun and work separately

What are the necessities when traveling as a digital nomad?

· Specific creature comforts or life necessities (for Kym it’s pots/pans to manage Celiac disease)

· Computer

· Numerous Wi-Fi options (different carriers for cell-phone coverage and portable mobile hotspot)

· Understanding of the impacts of mode of travel and type of accommodations

How do clients react to therapists who are on the road?

· Decide on the level of transparency on traveling or location

· Virtual background for continuity

· Clients are usually pretty flexible with traveling therapist

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

www.thetravelingtherapist.com

www.privatepracticeinsurancebilling.com

Kym’s Facebook Group

The Expert’s Guide to Becoming a Traveling Therapist Course coupon code for 25% off is MODERNTHERAPIST

Bill Like a Boss – Kym’s Insurance Billing Membership

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

How Can Therapists Actually Retire: An interview with David Frank

Partners of Therapists

Thriving Over Surviving – Growing a Practice Without Burning Out: An interview with Megan Gunnell, LMSW

Post Pandemic Practice

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

Therapy Reimagined Homepage

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/

Smarter than SMART: How therapists can improve goal-setting with clients Dec 19, 2022

Smarter than SMART: How therapists can improve goal-setting with clients

Curt and Katie chat about setting goals. We look at why goals are important to therapists, SMART goals (what they are, what works and what doesn’t), and how to move beyond SMART goals to more robust goal setting and behavior design. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about how to strengthen your goal-setting skills

We're looking at SMART goals and how to make them better. AND Katie helps Curt with his goal setting!

Why is goal-setting important to therapists?

Therapeutic benefit, Ethical responsibility, Ability to achieve goals

What are SMART Goals? Do they work?

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timebound; The benefits of effort or progress goals versus outcome goals, May need to add steps to create a more robust plan

How can you improve SMART goals?

Using the Grip on Life model, Digging deeper into the elements of SMART goals, Finding life skills that help to reach the goal

What is the key difference between setting goals and behavior design?

Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, Motivation is fickle, Finding the smallest behavior change that can move you toward the goal, Create a habit, put it into something you’re already doing, and celebrate the accomplishment

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

Once you’ve listened to this episode, to get CE credit you just need to go to moderntherapistcommunity.com/podcourse, register for your free profile, purchase this course, pass the post-test, and complete the evaluation! Once that’s all completed - you’ll get a CE certificate in your profile or you can download it for your records. For our current list of CE approvals, check out moderntherapistcommunity.com.

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

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:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Tiny Habits: The small changes that change everything by BJ Fogg, PhD

References mentioned in this continuing education podcast:

Bertelsen, P. & Ozer, S. (2021). Grip on life as a possible antecedent for self-control beliefs interacts with well-being and perceived stress. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 62, 185–192.

Fogg, B. J. (2020). Tiny habits: the small changes that change everything. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

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

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Structuring Self-Care

Thriving Over Surviving – Growing a Practice Without Burnout: An interview with Megan Gunnell, LMSW

Why You Shouldn’t Just Do It All Yourself: An interview with Bibi Goldstein

Therapy for Executives and Emerging Leaders

Navigating the Social Media Self-Diagnosis Trend Dec 12, 2022

Navigating the Social Media Self-Diagnosis Trend

Curt and Katie chat about the TikTok Mental Health and the self-diagnosis trend. We dig into what diagnosis is (and what is actually useful about diagnosis). We also explore the concerns with social media self-diagnosis as well as how we can support our clients with getting accurate assessment and treatment.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about self-diagnosis and the impact of social media

We have both heard about TikTok diagnoses in our practices and wanted to talk about how therapists might navigate this new trend.

What are concerns with social media self-diagnosis?

“The point of having a professional be able to properly evaluate is looking through that more nuanced clinical eye in order to look at where the threshold is that actually meets diagnostic [criteria] versus actually just having some characteristics in common with [the diagnosis]. Somebody can be nervous, does not mean that they have anxiety… What is pathologizing normal feelings?” – Curt Widhalm, LMFT

Focusing in on small elements and then having that frame their full life experience
Seeking only confirmatory diagnosis versus allowing for differential diagnosis
Clinicians who are not doing full assessments to support clients who have self-diagnosed
Clients who do not need treatment taking slots from those who do need assessment and treatment
Lack of nuance in the social media content that doesn’t include information on differential diagnosis
Inaccurate treatments based on inaccurate self-diagnosis
Malingering and factitious disorder risk
Pathologizing normal feelings
Being inundated with so much information
Confirmatory bias

How to support clients who have sought diagnostic information on social media and google?

“What started the whole thing… clinicians under diagnosing, undervaluing client feedback, not asking all the right questions. And so, folks are feeling dissatisfied with what we're doing and heading to the interweb to understand better what it is that's going on.” – Katie Vernoy, LMFT

Therapists need to listen to their clients, so they don’t feel the need to go elsewhere for information
Identify what is resonating for clients and explore what it means to them
Educate clients about differential diagnosis
Walk through their research (to listen and to help vet sources)
Take your client seriously and support them in getting the help they need

What Therapists Should Know About Sexual Health, Monkey Pox, and the Echoes of the AIDS Epidemic: An Interview with Mallory Garrett, LMFT Dec 05, 2022

What Therapists Should Know About Sexual Health, Monkey Pox, and the Echoes of the AIDS Epidemic: An Interview with Mallory Garrett, LMFT

Curt and Katie interview Mallory Garrett about sexual health as well as the current concerns related to Monkey Pox. We discuss what therapists usually get wrong when working with sexual health, what therapists need to know about STIs, as well as Monkey Pox. We talk about the relevant history of the HIV/AIDs epidemic and the community responses to Monkey Pox. We also look at how therapists can be most helpful to clients within our scope of practice. Resources to stay up to date with Monkey Pox and sexual health are also included in the show notes.

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

An Interview with Mallory Garrett, LMFT

Mallory Garrett is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California and New York. She graduated with a BA in Comparative Literature from UCLA and an MS in Counseling from CSU-Northridge. She began working in the social services sector as a Resident Services Intern with a low-income housing corporation for people living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic health conditions. She continued working in this field during her traineeship and internships as she worked towards licensure. She loves speaking to therapists about destigmatizing HIV/AIDS and STIs and has co-facilitated a workshop through Simple Practice Learning. When not working she enjoys going to the theater and traveling.

In this podcast episode, we talk about sexual health and sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

We talk about sexual health broadly as well as the recent concerns about Monkey Pox and the historical context of HIV/AIDs.

What do therapists need to know about sexual health, STIs, and Monkey Pox?

Monkey Pox is not technically a STI, but is primarily transmitted sexually in the US
The stigma and concerns of being ignored, especially from those who lived through the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Gay Rights and Sexual Liberation has relevance to these diseases
The extreme societal bias toward the gay community during that time, medical neglect
The emergence of Monkey Pox brought back the fears, stigma, and neglect

It’s the Lack of Thought That Counts: Ethical Decision Making in Dual Relationships Nov 28, 2022

It’s the Lack of Thought That Counts: Ethical Decision Making in Dual Relationships

Curt and Katie chat about dual relationships. We talk about the types of dual relationships, how often therapists get in trouble for these types of relationships, how to manage dual relationships, and the ethical decision making process to go through to decide whether to engage in a dual relationship. This is a law and ethics continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about ethical decision making to navigate dual relationships

We take a deeper dive into the complex relationships that we can have with our clients, our supervisors and our supervisees.

What are dual relationships?

Therapists know a lot about a very specific dual relationship: having sex with your clients, which is not acceptable
There are many different types of potential dual relationships (we talk about the definitions of each type)
The different hats we may wear with clients and colleagues

What is a strong formal process for ethical decision making?

Pope and Vasquez have a 17 Step Process for ethical decision making
Deeply examining the question, the impact, and exploring any bias
Identifying and understanding relevant laws and ethics
Consultation, documentation, and evaluation
We walk through a specific dual relationship question: what happens if your client refers a friend and colleague to you? How do you decide whether to take the client or not?

How Can Therapists Help Couples Recover from Infidelity?: An Interview with Dr. Talal H. Alsaleem Nov 21, 2022

How Can Therapists Help Couples Recover from Infidelity?: An Interview with Dr. Talal H. Alsaleem

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Talal H. Alsaleem, Psy.D, LMFT about System Affair Recovery Treatment (SART) and how therapists can better address infidelity in treatment. We discuss what therapists usually get wrong when working with infidelity, the difference between typical couples counseling and affair recovery, and why infidelity happens. We also look at the SART Model as well as tactics and treatment teaming.

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

An Interview with Dr. Talal H. Alsaleem, PsyD, LMFT

Award-winning marriage counselor and researcher, Dr. Talal H. Alsaleem is recognized as a leading expert in the field of infidelity counseling. He is the author of the acclaimed book, Infidelity: The Best Worst Thing that Could Happen to Your Marriage, and the founder of the Infidelity Counseling Center. His research interests and clinical work are focused on identifying the causes of infidelity and providing the best treatment for recovery from its impact. He developed Systematic Affair Recovery Therapy (SART) ™, a method of infidelity counseling that has helped hundreds of couples navigate the challenges of the healing journey from affairs. Dr. Alsaleem is an international lecturer and speaker. His engaging talks have helped many counselors broaden their understanding of infidelity and gain the necessary clinical tools to help their clients recover from affairs. Learn more at TalalAlsaleem.com.

In this podcast episode, we talk about Infidelity

We explore with Dr. Talal Alsaleem what good infidelity counseling can look like and what therapists often get wrong when approaching this type of therapy.

What is the Systemic Affair Recovery Treatment (SART) Model?

“So in their quest to understand why the infidelity happened, we have to accept that the unfaithful is 100% responsible for the decision that they make for being unfaithful. So even in the worst case scenario, whether there was a huge relationship deficit, and you have the worst partner in the universe, that doesn't give you permission to cheat, you can take them to counseling, you can end the relationship before you cross those lines.” – Dr. Talal Alsaleem

Seven milestones with clinical objectives and interventions
Setting the stage for healing
Getting the narrative of the affair
Acknowledging the impact of the affair
Choosing a path of recovery (individual or within the relationship)
Creating an action plan
Implementation
Sustainability
Infidelity can be the “best worst thing” that happens because you directly address what has happened

Why Aren’t Men Becoming Therapists Anymore? Nov 14, 2022

Why Aren’t Men Becoming Therapists Anymore?

Curt and Katie chat about the lack of male therapists and the decreasing number of male students in the profession. We look at current statistics and reported experiences of men in the field. We also dig into what needs to change to balance gender representation and increase the number of men becoming therapists.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about male therapists

Continuing forward within men’s health month, we are looking at the state of the profession for male therapists.

Statistics on men in the mental health profession

Depending on license type, mental health professionals are between 60-90% female
Men and women have fairly equal parity on compensation (especially when looking at similar roles)
Men are less likely to seek out these jobs as the wages stagnate, the requirements become more onerous, and due to a lack of male representation and role models

What needs to change to balance gender representation within the mental health field?

“Men typically have privilege in other spaces… And yet I recognize in our field, that's not the case. And so, it's this weird, complex understanding of societal privilege, but not privilege within the field.” – Katie Vernoy, LMFT

Understanding the difference between societal privilege versus professional privilege
Identifying why the number of men is dramatically decreasing within graduate programs and all stages of licensure
The impact of feminism on the conversations about the impact of white men on the field
The perception of “male bashing” and the need to nurture male voices within the profession
The challenge of identifying when men are being ignored or “soloed out”
The problem of stereotyping, ignoring, or isolating male therapists and students
Men being automatically pushed into leadership due to mentorship by male faculty and bias toward men as leaders

How do we get more men into the mental health profession?

“If we're identifying that men need to go and get mental health treatment, and there's no men to get it from, this then has the potential for reaching critical failure as a profession in being able to provide services.” – Curt Widhalm, LMFT

Reaching critical failure in trying to provide services to men (if men no longer enter the profession)
Recruitment strategies for graduate programs
Making the profession sustainable for all individuals
Pushing back against wage stagnation due to feminization of the profession
Looking at retention and commitment for male therapists
The importance of representation across the mental health profession

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Clinical Therapist Demographics and Statistics In The US

Number of women vs men in grad programs: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/12/datapoint

Men’s experiences in the field:

https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2011/01/cover-men

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-021-01960-9

Faculty experiences of teaching male students: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-015-0473-1

Recruiting men into the field: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259538918_A_Mixed_Methods_Study_of_Male_Recruitment_in_the_Counseling_Profession

Why Men Don’t Stay in Therapy Nov 07, 2022

Why Men Don’t Stay in Therapy

Curt and Katie chat about men’s mental health. We look at why men typically go to therapy, their experiences while in therapy, what therapists get wrong when working with men, and how therapists better support the needs of men seeking mental health treatment.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about men seeking therapy

For Men’s Health Awareness month, we want to explore men seeking mental health services.

Why do men typically go to therapy?

Others telling men to go to therapy
Career or relationship issues
Depression, which looks like irritability and hostility (externalized behaviors)

What is the experience of men in therapy?

“Some of this research [on men accessing mental healthcare] shows that while men are increasing in the numbers presenting for mental health treatment, they tend to drop out earlier than women and they tend to drop out at a lot faster rate than women. So that to me says that we as a field are doing something wrong, that we are not able to meet the needs of men. All of that great advice out of ‘hey, go and seek mental health treatment,’ is falling on people who are trying it out and finding bad experiences with it. “– Curt Widhalm, LMFT

Therapy seems to try to get men to emote like women
Invalidating masculine presentations and behaviors
Equating masculinity with toxic masculinity
Not feeling safe to express emotions beyond confidence, neutrality, or anger

How can therapists better serve men seeking therapy?

Understanding and honoring a range of masculinities (even within the same client)
Helping men to broaden their range of emotional expression
Problem-solving, solution-focused can be helpful for men who want to have a clearly defined goal to work toward
Collaboratively creating treatment goals
Identity work that supports self-definition of masculinity

What can therapists get wrong when working with men in therapy?

“There is such a broad array of understandings at this point of what masculinity and what ‘real men do’ that I think we need to be aware that whether it's traditional gender roles, or more current… there's some need for an understanding of where your client sits.” – Katie Vernoy, LMFT

Framing masculinity and toxic masculinity solely as “bad”
Not digging more deeply into individual development around masculinity
Taking offense at their client’s gender identity or ignoring their own bias around “traditional gender roles”
How therapists characterize men’s presenting problems (assigning blame, like depression being seen as anger or hostility, men being described as violent rather than traumatized)

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Men’s mental health: Spaces and places that work for men

Why it’s time to focus on masculinity in mental health training and clinical practice

Men’s Dropout From Mental Health Services: Results From a Survey of Australian Men Across the Life Span

Improving Mental Health Service Utilization Among Men: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Behavior Change Techniques Within Interventions Targeting Help-Seeking

Consultation services with Curt Widhalm or Katie Vernoy:

Connect with the Modern Therapist Community:

UCSD - Play Therapy Program

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/

What is Play Therapy?: An Interview with Ofra Obejas, LCSW Oct 31, 2022

What is Play Therapy?: An Interview with Ofra Obejas, LCSW

Curt and Katie interview Ofra Obejas, LCSW, RPT-S, about working with children in therapy. We look at what therapists often get wrong, important factors to understand, specialized training required (including play therapy), and what you actually do in therapy session with children.

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

An Interview with Ofra Obejas, LCSW, Registered Play Therapist - Supervisor

Ofra Obejas, Registered Play Therapist - Supervisor level, is a professional player. She works with elementary- to middle-school aged children. She’s been called by some of her clients a “kid grownup.” (That’s her rapper name.) She’s taught at the University of San Diego Play Therapy program and presents webinars and courses on clinical topics related to children’s issues.

In this podcast episode, we talk about Play Therapy

We reached out to our friend, Ofra Obejas to talk with us about how to work with kiddos and what additional training is needed to work effectively with children.

What do therapists get wrong when working with children?

Treating children like mini-adults
Not understanding the skill involved in play therapy

What are important factors for therapists to understand when working with children?

Children have a different culture (i.e., the tooth fairy is real)
The therapist’s role as translator for what children are saying
Children will make you feel what they feel (e.g., powerlessness, never getting anything right)
The importance of showing feelings to children as a therapist (versus remaining a blank slate)

What do you do with children in therapy sessions?

Psychodrama and re-enacting situations
Therapists can use any theoretical orientation
Ways to interact with the child
Paying attention to transference and countertransference
Case conceptualization, including family therapy and work with parents

What specialized training is most effective for working with children?

There are specialized protocols for working with children with many different orientations
Identifying which orientation suits you
How to understand what is being reenacted and how to respond: Notice it, sit with it, make meaning of it; Observe it, name it, model how to cope with it

What boundaries should therapists set when working with children and families?

Unit of treatment (family, individual, who was showing up to the session?)
Treatment goals (what are we working on?)
What children are allowed to do in the session
Interactions with caregivers and the responsibilities caregivers have during sessions

What does online therapy look like with children?

The challenges with working with children online
Online sand tray, online dollhouse, online puppet theater
Creating a virtual play room
New trainings for VR therapy for children
Watching children play video games online

How has the pandemic impacted children?

This was dependent on how well parents were able to self-regulate and stay within the window of tolerance (was there someone who could help the child to regulate)
Lack of socialization and difficulty in having conversations

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance! Ofra Obejas’ website: redondovillagecounseling.com

Ofra on YouTube

How Therapists Can Really Help Kids Who Are Being Bullied Oct 24, 2022

How Therapists Can Really Help Kids Who Are Being Bullied

Curt and Katie chat about how therapists can support the targets of bullying. We explore what bullying actually is as well as what can be problematic in how it is typically addressed. We also discuss individual therapy strategies for kids who have been bullied. Curt and Katie also debate about whether the targets of bullying should change what makes them different to avoid getting bullied.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about how therapists can effectively treat bullying in therapy

For Bullying Prevention month, we decided to dig into what bullying actually is and how therapists can treat bullying in therapy.

What is bullying actually?

The definition of bullying and how it is described currently (i.e., teasing versus bullying)
Target and aggressor (versus victim and bully) as more appropriate language to describe participants
Three essential elements of bullying: ongoing behavior, behavior is intended to be harmful, and there is a power differential between the aggressor and the target
The relevance of impact versus intention of behavior
Numerous types of power imbalances that can be present
Types: physical, verbal, social or covert, cyber bullying

What is problematic in how bullying is typically addressed?

“Aggressors have a more robust set of social skills. And it's being able to adapt more quickly to things that are socially changing, even in the moment. This also plays a role in the reporting on the people teasing them because the more socially adept kids are then better able to convince the adults around them. Oh, no, we were just playing. We were teasing back and forth.” – Curt Widhalm, LMFT

Most bullying is not observed by adults
Not moving past holding space
Looking toward community interventions rather than individual
Lack of understanding of what cyber bullying actually looks like (when you haven’t grown up as a digital native)
Aggressors have a more robust set of social skills

Strategies for kids who have been bullied

“I think we also need to recognize that if we go too far in telling people not to be different, we are invalidating their identity. And if we don't go far enough, and we don't help them to be part of society, they may continue to get really harshly bullied, but either one is damaging.” – Katie Vernoy, LMFT

Beyond ignoring (especially if there is an audience)
Understanding what the target’s response means to the aggressor
Not playing into what the aggressor is doing, escalating to forceful “stop,” seeking out a trusted adult (or multiple adults)
Debate on whether a target should shift their behavior and change what makes them different
Building confidence versus masking
Safety now versus identity development
Practicing responses to potential bullying statements in session
Including targets in the planning process with adults
The challenges with mediation within school settings (and the importance of follow up)
Systemic or prevention programs that also address bystanders

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Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Article: Parent-Assisted Social Skills Training to Improve Friendships in Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Article: The 411 on Bullying

Consultation services with Curt Widhalm or Katie Vernoy:

Connect with the Modern Therapist Community:

Final Report of the Expert Panel on MAiD and Mental Illness

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/

What Modern Therapists Should Know About Law Enforcement Mental Health: An Interview with Cyndi Doyle, LPC Oct 17, 2022

What Modern Therapists Should Know About Law Enforcement Mental Health: An Interview with Cyndi Doyle, LPC

Curt and Katie interview Cyndi Doyle on the mental health of law enforcement officers. We look at how being a cop impacts their mental health as well as specific incidents and the chronic desensitization. We also explore the feelings in law enforcement related to calls to defund the police and how society views the cops. Content warning: potentially traumatic incidents (violence, death)

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

An Interview with Cyndi Doyle, LPC

Cyndi Doyle is a Licensed Professional Counselor, group practice co-owner, founder of Code4Couples®, podcaster, and author of Hold the Line: The Essential Guide to Protecting Your Law Enforcement Relationship. She has spoken nationally and internationally including at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conferences (IACP), the FBI National Academy Association (FBINAA) Conference, keynoted at police spouse conferences throughout the country, and at trained various police departments. While much of her work focuses on first responders, Cyndi’s stories of embracing and wrestling with living her own bold and authentic life have resulted in her being a sought-after speaker for other mental health professionals. Her message of humanizing struggle, compassion, courage, and resilience has resulted in her speaking nationally and even keynoting at the 2020 Texas Counseling Association Professional Growth Conference. That same year, the American Counseling Association awarded her the Samuel Gladding Unsung Heroes Award for her work with first responders and contribution to the field of counseling.

In this podcast episode, we talk about Law Enforcement Mental Health

We reached out to our friend, Cyndi Doyle to explore a population of folks who we typically don’t think about as our patients: Law Enforcement Officers (LEO).

What should modern therapists know about the mental health of Law Enforcement Officers and their families?

Different dynamics than typical couples
The definition of cynicism
How training impacts the mental health of officers
Misinterpretation of control versus abuse
Over diagnosis of trauma

The negative impacts on police officers of the heightened scrutiny and criticism

Hypervigilance and the impact of cameras on police offers performing their jobs
The lack of support from the community (or the legislators or even law enforcement leadership) for officers
Lack of compassion satisfaction, considering quitting their job, PTSD
The impact on Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) families

Exploration of the calls to defund the police and fund other resources

Looking at the law enforcement response to defunding the police
Exploring community policing and how that could help decrease abuses
The cultural shifts and education happening at police departments
The potential for mental health resources being added to policing
When staffing is down, there is less time to recuperate and be prepared for work

Mental Health Concerns that bring law enforcement officers and their families into therapy

Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Addiction
Relationships, family and couple
Incident, critical incident, trauma
Desensitization to violent incidents, injuries, and death
The personalization in incidents that can cause more of a trauma response
The insufficient training to build resilience for law enforcement officers
The shifting culture that is now recognizing mental health as health, but the ongoing stigma for seeking support

Cynicism, lack of empathy, and bias in Law Enforcement

The mindset that narrows down to “everyone” behaves
Working to make officers more human, so they can see more good in the world
The importance of supporting the resilience and empathy within LEO (while recognizing that some of these things are not helpful “on the job”)

Cyndi Doyle.com

Medical Assistance in Death (MAiD) in Canada: Mental Illness and Assisted Suicide Oct 10, 2022

Medical Assistance in Death (MAiD) in Canada: Mental Illness and Assisted Suicide

Curt and Katie chat about assisted suicide related to an upcoming expansion of the MAiD laws in Canada to include mental illness. We discuss what these laws seems to say as well as how they might impact patients, medical providers, and therapists. We explore the moral and ethical questions as well as what other countries have done to put in further safeguards to protect patients and doctors.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about the expansion of Medical Assistance in Death laws in Canada

We have been watching the MAiD laws in Canada that are soon going to include assistance in death for folks with mental illness. We talk about the law and the concerns we have related to the safeguards (or lack of safeguards).

What are the updates coming to the Medical Assistance in Death laws in Canada?

With the approval of 2 medical professionals and a 24-month waiting period (for psychological illness), individuals can get medication or an injection from a medical provider to end their lives
Requirements for application include chronic, “grievous and irremediable” conditions
Information on requirements are here: Final Report of the Expert Panel on MAiD and Mental Illness
The differences in laws in other countries that seem to have more safeguards in place

What are the moral and ethical questions facing medical and mental health providers?

“Do we have the right – the moral right – as therapists, mental health professionals of any sort of background or license, to tell clients that they must live or that it is okay for them to end their life?” – Curt Widhalm, LMFT

What responsibilities do mental health providers have to their clients related to end of life?
Who will be negatively impacted versus who will be positively impacted?
Who would qualify and who would seek out assistance in dying?

“I'm not worried that someone that's a little depressed is going to decide they want to die by suicide… I think it's more that there are going to be folks [diagnosed with serious mental illness who are receiving insufficient mental health care] … who really don't feel like they have options (and maybe they don't) and they choose to die by suicide versus advocating for stronger treatment.” – Katie Vernoy, LMFT

What is mental illness? Is it only what is in the ICD or DSM?
What are the impacts of these laws on physicians?
Concerns raised by First Nations groups in Canada

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

NY Times: Is Choosing Death Too Easy in Canada?

Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: Too Much, Too Fast?

Canadian and Dutch doctors’ roles in assistance in dying

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Part 1: Risk Factors for Suicide: What therapists should know when treating teens and adults

Part 2: What Therapists Should Actually Do for Suicidal Clients: Assessment, safety planning, and least intrusive intervention

What's new in the DSM 5-T-R? An interview with Dr. Michael B. First

When Clients Die: An interview with Debi Frankle, LMFT

Therapists Struggling with Darkness

Suicidal Therapists: An interview with Norine Vander Hooven, LCSW

Therapist Suicide

Consultation services with Curt Widhalm or Katie Vernoy:

Connect with the Modern Therapist Community:

Beach Cities Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

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/

What Therapists Should Actually Do for Suicidal Clients: Assessment, safety planning, and least intrusive intervention Oct 03, 2022

What Therapists Should Actually Do for Suicidal Clients: Assessment, safety planning, and least intrusive intervention

Curt and Katie chat about suicide assessment, safety planning, and how to keep clients out of the hospital. We reviewed the Integrated Motivational Volitional Model for Suicide, we talked about what therapists should be assessing for in every session, what strong assessment looks like (and suggested suicide assessment protocols), and why the least restrictive environment is so important when you are designing interventions and safety planning. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about suicide assessment, safety planning, and intervention

We continue our conversation on suicide, progressing from risk factors (from last week’s episode) to how to assess and safety plan with the least intrusive interventions at the earliest stages.

Review of the Suicide Model: Integrated Motivational Volitional Model by O’Connor and Kirtley

Continued to review the IMV model (graphic in the show notes at mtsgpodcast.com)

What should therapists assess for in every session, related to suicide?

“When clinicians are burnt out, when we have caseloads that are too big, when we aren't taking care of ourselves, we tend to [think], “Okay, this client is at a six, they can live at a six for a while,” which is absolutely true. And if they can [live with this level of suicidality], and they have the good factors that allow them to live there – great. It's just how close are they to that 7, 8, 9?” – Curt Widhalm, LMFT

Moderating motivational factors, which move clients from passive to more active suicidality (or the reverse)
Looking at what is keeping someone from being at risk for suicide (protective factors)
The importance of knowing our clients well before they move into the volitional phase
Understanding the clinician factors and putting structure around assessment

Assessment for Suicide

“Assessment is intervention.” – Curt Widhalm, LMFT

SAMHSA’s GATE protocol
Gather information using a structured assessment tool (Columbia Scale, LRAMP)
Looking at intention, means, plan as well as risk and protective factors
Moving into a safety plan
The importance of recognizing the human during the assessment (versus focusing only on the protocol or your liability)
Seeking supervision or consultation – don’t do this alone

The importance of using the least restrictive intervention for suicide

“There is a rupture in the therapeutic relationship when you are sending your client or facilitating a hospitalization against their will. It can save their lives …but that may not always be the case.” – Katie Vernoy, LMFT

The idea of “responsible” action
The range of options for keeping a client safe
Having a conversation with the client on how to avoid attempting suicide
The potential impacts of hospitalization, including trauma
The danger of hospitalizing someone who does not need this level of intervention
Additional intervention between sessions
The practicalities to set up your schedule and your practice to support your clients and your self
Additional risk factors (transition phases between providers)

Risk Factors for Suicide: What therapists should know when treating teens and adults Sep 26, 2022

Risk Factors for Suicide: What therapists should know when treating teens and adults

Curt and Katie chat about suicide risk factors. Suicide rates have been increasing across the nation and there is an increasing need for the mental health workforce to be prepared to assess and intervene with clients of all ages. We take an in-depth look at the risk and protective factors associated with suicidal ideology and behaviors in both teens and adults. We also lay the beginning foundations of a suicide model to help clinicians better understand and intervene with clients exhibiting suicidal thoughts. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we explore what makes someone more likely to attempt suicide

We’ve talked frequently about suicide, but thought it would be important, especially during Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, to go more deeply into the risk factors that make someone more likely to attempt and complete suicide.

What are the highest risk factors for suicide?

“Anxiety Sensitivity… the fear of the feelings of being anxious… is even more so correlated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts than depression is.” – Curt Widhalm, LMFT

Defining acute, active suicidality (versus passive or chronic suicidality or non-suicidal self-Injury)
Going beyond the list of risk factors to how big of a risk each factor is for attempting or completing suicide
Exploring how impactful a previous attempt is on whether someone is likely to attempt of complete suicide
The importance of getting a complete history of suicidality and suicide attempts at intake
The impact of family members who have attempted or died by suicide
Alcohol and other substance use and abuse as an additive risk factor
Cooccurring mental disorders (eating disorders, psychosis and serious mental illness, depression, anxiety and anxiety sensitivity, personality disorders)
Child abuse history, especially folks with a history of sexual abuse history
Life transitions, especially unplanned and sudden life transitions
Owning a firearm makes you 50 times more likely to die by suicide
Racial differences in who is more likely to attempt or complete suicide
Living at a high elevation

What are additional risk factors for suicide specific to teens?

Early onset of mental illness
Environmental factors
Exposure to other suicides (social media, contagion)
Not being able to identify other options
Seeking control over their lives and lacking impulse control leading to suicide attempts
The importance of communication and the potential for a lack of communication
Bullying and lack of social support, without a way to escape due to social media and cell phones

What are protective factors when assessing for suicidality?

“Just because protective factors are present doesn't mean that they balance out risk factors [for suicide].”– Curt Widhalm, LMFT

Reasons for living, responsibility to others
Spirituality or attending a place of worship that teaches against suicide
Where you live based on cultural or societal factors
Having a children or child-rearing responsibilities, intact marriage
Strong social support, employment
Relationship with a therapist

Suicide Model: Integrated Motivational Volitional Model by O’Connor and Kirtley

How Therapists Can Manage a Sedentary Job: An interview with Celina Caovan, DPT Sep 19, 2022

How Therapists Can Manage a Sedentary Job: An interview with Celina Caovan, DPT

Curt and Katie interview Celina Caovan about physical self-care for therapists. We talk about how to mitigate the impacts of a sedentary job as well as the benefits of physical therapy and consistent physical activity. We also look into what physical therapy is, how clients can advocate for it, and how therapists might collaborate to support the physical and mental health of their patients.

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

An Interview with Celina Caovan, DPT

Celina Caovan received both her undergraduate degree and Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Southern California. She has been practicing in an outpatient orthopedic setting in the South Bay in California for the last two years and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

In this podcast episode, we talk about how therapists can take care of their bodies while working in a sedentary job

Many therapist friends of ours have described low back pain and challenges in maintaining physical health when much of the work we do is while sitting.

What should therapists know about physical activity and physical therapy?

“Physical therapists are trained movement experts… we can diagnose, we can treat using hands on skills, patient education, and then we prescribe individual exercise for a bunch of different injuries, the ultimate goal being to improve the way someone moves and emphasize injury prevention. And the cool thing about physical therapy: it can be an alternative to pain medication, in a society where they prescribe a lot of a lot of pain medication, and then surgery as well.” – Celina Caovan, DPT

There are a number of subspecialties in physical therapy to support all different elements of improving movement
The importance of moving outside of a sedentary job
US Department of Health guidelines on activity levels

What can therapists do to take care of themselves during the work week?

Getting out of the chair, some chair exercises
Stretching and gentle movements during the breaks between sessions
No drastic differences in activity from the work week to the weekend (i.e., avoid weekend warrior behavior, especially when extremely sedentary during the week_
Slowly increase activity and gradually increase cardio or resistance training
Stretching (static and dynamic), warming up, and cooling down

How can therapists think about physical therapy for their clients?

“Someone's physical and mental health – that’s interconnected… that mind body connection. And I think this would be a really great opportunity for us to create this interdisciplinary relationship where we can approach it from a physical and mental standpoint.” – Celina Caovan, DPT

Referrals and direct access to physical therapy
Psychoeducation and support for advocacy to obtain physical therapy
Chiropractors versus physical therapists
How physical and mental health therapists can collaborate to support patients

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance! Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans from the US Department of Health and Human Services

Reach out to Celina Caovan, DPT: celinaDPT at gmail.com

Consultation services with Curt Widhalm or Katie Vernoy:

RAND Working Paper – Preparedness for 988 Throughout the United States: The New Mental Health Emergency Hotline

Connect with the Modern Therapist Community:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapists Group

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/

Therapists on the Hostage Negotiation Team and Supporting Police Work: An interview with Dr. Andy Young Sep 12, 2022

Therapists on the Hostage Negotiation Team and Supporting Police Work: An interview with Dr. Andy Young

Curt and Katie interview Andy Young about hostage (crisis) negotiation and his work with SWAT and crisis negotiation in Lubbock, TX. Content warning: discussion of violence, suicide, and homicide. We talk about what therapists can do within police departments, the interplay between mental health and law enforcement, what that work looks like – especially when involved in crisis negotiation, and skills therapists need when working in these settings. We also look at trauma response and how it is handled when things go south.

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

An Interview with Dr. Andy Young

Dr. Andy Young has been a Professor of Psychology and Counseling at Lubbock Christian University since 1996 and a negotiator and psychological consultant with the Lubbock Police Department’s SWAT team since 2000. He also heads LPD’s Victim Services Unit and is the director of the department’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team. He has been on the negotiating team at the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office since 2008 and is on the team at the Texas Department of Public Safety (Texas Rangers, Special Operations, Region 5). He is the author of, “Fight or Flight: Negotiating Crisis on the Frontline” and “When Every Word Counts: An Insider’s View of Crisis Negotiations.” He was recently added as a third author for the 6th Edition of “Crisis Negotiations: Managing Critical Incidents and Hostage Situations in Law Enforcement and Corrections”.

In this podcast episode, we talk about the role therapists can play in crisis negotiation

There have been many calls to defund the police and create roles for mental health professionals in law enforcement. Dr. Andy Young has already been doing this for 20 years. We talked with him about what that experience looks like.

What can therapists do for law enforcement?

Crisis counseling
Hostage or Crisis Negotiation support (advising on the negotiation)
Psychiatric consultation
Predicting violence or suicide, assessing subjects’ mental health

What is the interplay between mental health and law enforcement?

Police officers get 40 hours of active listening and mental health
Officers started out a bit stand-offish, reported increased mental load due to needing to protect mental health professionals at the scene
Finding value in taking mental health out of scope of law enforcement
There is a huge importance in developing relationship with the officers
Specialized training needed that can support integrating mental health providers into law enforcement teams

What does work look like for therapists in law enforcement and crisis negotiation?

Coaching on communication
Assessing the situation and the subject
Strategizing interventions to de-escalate the situation
Provide context and reassurance to law enforcement professionals
Hostage Negotiation calls are typically once to twice a month (and not every month).
There are successful outcomes 97% of the time

How do these law enforcement and mental health providers handle things when they go south?

Crisis support
Critical Incident Stress Management
Mental health providers who are accepted within the law enforcement culture
The political, investigative and personal elements of a lethal force incident
Processing and debriefing within the team

What skills should therapists have to work with law enforcement and hostage negotiation?

Pragmatic and understanding the situation you’re in
Practical, knowing your own limits
Ability to manage emotional situations calmly
Navigating the extreme stakes out in the streets
Understanding law enforcement

The benefit of having a mental health provider on a hostage negotiation team

Training the team on mental health concerns
Improving “batting average” on successful outcomes
The importance of a well-trained team

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

Why Therapists Shouldn’t Be Taught Business in Grad School Sep 05, 2022

Why Therapists Shouldn’t Be Taught Business in Grad School

Curt and Katie debate whether graduate school programs for therapists should include business education. We look at the pros and cons for including business education for students, specifically identifying a mismatched developmental level, bloated curriculums, and underutilized career resources. We also look at the responsibility graduate schools have to their students to be employable or to be able to create a sustainable business.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about whether clinical grad programs should include business education

We have seen marketing that highlights that business isn’t taught in grad school (and have done a lot of it ourselves). We discuss whether it actually should be included.

What is already included in grad school for therapists?

A large number of clinical courses required for graduation
Career centers and other business resources may be available, but not used

What career or business resources should therapists get through graduate school?

Career centers with up-to-date relevant employment resources
Potentially an optional class or workshop for how to run a business

Why shouldn’t business education be added to clinical programs?

“The timing of it just isn't right. Like, yeah, these are ideas that can be introduced, but the practicalities of it, in my experience, just aren't developmentally where a lot of grad students are… I don't think that [teaching someone to run a business] at a developmental time when people aren't capable for it or aren't ready for it – or legally not allowed to put those things in place – it just ends up being so far off that it's not a practical sort of training thing.” – Curt Widhalm

Accreditation bodies don’t access for employability, so programs won’t focus their attention
The increasing number of credits required to become a therapist
Developmentally inappropriate timing for what therapists are able to do when they graduate

What would business education look like if it were included in graduate programs?

“I'm not ready to let the grad schools off the hook for their responsibility to students. I feel like they are responsible to students to adequately prepare them for the job.” – Katie Vernoy

Potentially lackluster participation due to overwhelm
The importance of introducing what clinicians will actually face
Seminar versus a full course
Orientation to job options and business basics

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Saving Psychotherapy by Dr. Ben Caldwell

What Goes in Your Notes? Interstate therapy practice and documentation for clients considering abortion or gender affirming care Aug 29, 2022

What Goes in Your Notes? Interstate therapy practice and documentation for clients considering abortion or gender affirming care

Curt and Katie chat about documentation and practice questions related to abortion or gender affirming care when providing therapy to folks in states where these types of medical care are banned or will be banned soon. We look at medical documentation privacy concerns (related to HIPAA and the 21st Century Cures Act), how therapists avoid “aiding and abetting” a client to get an abortion, what to include in your notes, and special considerations related to duty to warn and child abuse reporting. This is a law and ethics continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we explore post-Roe documentation for therapists

We’ve heard a lot of questions about what therapists should do now that Roe has been overturned. We decided to dig into practice and documentation guidelines to help modern therapists navigate the changing times.

Medical documentation privacy concerns with interstate practice and the new abortion bans

HIPAA and the 21st Century Cures Act
The impact on clients who move from safe haven states to states with abortion bans
The impact of the Counseling Compact (and similar mental health compacts) and how many participating states have trigger laws to ban or limit abortion
Paying attention to jurisdictional differences and where the client lives
Who qualifies as a HIPAA covered entity?
Psychotherapy (Process) Notes versus Progress Notes
Psychotherapy notes are not defined the same and/or protected in every state
The impact of civil law suits on confidentiality of process notes
The huge challenge of information blocking and who may pass along your treatment information
Talk to an attorney or your professional organization when subpoenaed

How do you avoid “aiding and abetting” a client to get an abortion during mental health treatment?

Processing feelings and helping client to make their own decisions
Aiding and abetting can include telling them where to go, encouraging them to get an abortion, or providing practical support (like money or a ride)
How to provide resources without aiding and abetting
Self-empowerment and clients making their own decisions
Liability and risk in practice (check with your malpractice insurance)
Whether/how you let your clients know where you stand on the overturn of Roe v Wade

What do you include in your notes when talking about abortion and gender affirming care?

What is relevant to your treatment goals?
Documenting progress toward treatment goals
Creating a policy related to medical decision-making
Phrases that you can use to briefly describe what is happening in session
How much to document and the recommendation to be less specific in progress notes when discussing medical decisions

The special considerations related to duty to warn and child abuse reporting when talking about abortion and gender affirming care

No case law to guide us here
The difference between permissive versus required reporting
Vast differences across the states with all of the different pieces
HIPAA says that we should not report, but we will be impacted by state laws
Recommendations to pay attention to what is happening in the states where you practice and to identify advocacy opportunities to protect information, safe haven laws

Speaking Up for Mental Health Awareness: An Interview with Metta World Peace Aug 22, 2022

An Interview with Metta World Peace

Metta World Peace played professional basketball for 19 years. He won the NBA World Championship with the LA Lakers in June 2010 and received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award – the NBA’s highest citizenship and community service honor – in April 2011. He was selected to the 2005-06 NBA’s All-Defensive Team, was voted by the media as 2003-04 NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year and was the only man with 271 steals in his first two seasons in the NBA, breaking Michael Jordan’s record. His autobiography, “No Malice: My Life in Basketball” was released in May 2018 with Triumph Publishing and a documentary on his life in basketball, “Ron Artest: The Quiet Storm” was released on Showtime in May 2019. World Peace is currently pursuing entrepreneurial projects including the XvsX Sports project he cofounded in 2017 and an NFT project, Meta Panda Club, to bring decentralized basketball community to the masses.

World Peace is also known as a prominent mental health advocate, pop culture personality, philanthropist, and media favorite. He raffled off his 2010 NBA World Championship Ring with the proceeds going to his nonprofit, Xcel University (now known as Artest University). The online ring raffle raised more than $650,000. Funds were donated to nonprofits in 5 cities that provide mental health therapists and mental health services to their communities, and to provide scholarships to underprivileged youth in the New York City area.

World Peace was part of the 13th season of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, a contestant on CBS’s first edition of Celebrity Big Brother, as well as the CBS competition show, Beyond The Edge. He is active in entrepreneurial endeavors, serves as an advisor to several tech start ups, and seeks to help other basketball players who have aspirations for a pro career with his app and league, XvsX Sports. For more information, please visit https://www.xvsxsports.com/, https://metapandaclub.com/, and https://artestuniversity.org/.

Why did Metta World Peace start speaking about his mental health?

Metta shared his story growing up
The Crack Epidemic and the impact on his neighborhood
The challenges of incarceration, lack of education, and access to resources
Building a shell to protect yourself on the streets
What you learn and practice in the neighborhood he grew up in
The role of history and the impact of slavery on mental health of generations of Black people
The number of friends who are incarcerated
The role of “chemical imbalance” in the mental health landscape and the family members who have dealt with more serious mental illness
Metta’s desire to give back to the mental health community

How Metta World Peace is working to solve the problems that lead to poor mental health

The meaning of his name and why he changed it
Coming together with all types of people
Pushing back on separation and division or divisive statements
No guns or drugs allowed in my neighborhood
Challenging what has been defined as “life” in his neighborhood
The lack of connecting resources (like parks) in all neighborhoods
The importance of play and letting kids be kids

The challenges that Metta World Peace faces in putting forward his message

Describing self as emotional and colorful
Needing to boost his confidence
Mental health stigma before his first disclosure (thanking his therapist in 2010)
How people perceive Metta versus how he sees himself interacting in the world

Metta World Peace’s vision for the future

Everyone has access to mental healthcare
Everyone has a chance to have a good life
We try to understand each other and what motivates them, what they are going through
People coming together to improve society
Parenting and partnership training in schools
Putting parks in every neighborhood so kids can play, connect, and be kids

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: An Interview with Dr. Barbara Stroud Aug 15, 2022

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: An Interview with Dr. Barbara Stroud

An Interview with Dr. Barbara Stroud

Barbara Stroud, PhD, is a licensed psychologist with over three decades worth of culturally informed clinical practice in early childhood development and mental health. She is a founding organizer and the inaugural president (2017-2019) of the California Association for Infant Mental Health, a ZERO TO THREE Fellow, and holds prestigious endorsements as an Infant and Family Mental Health Specialist/Reflective Practice Facilitator Mentor. In 2018 Dr. Stroud was honored with the Bruce D. Perry Spirit of the Child Award. Embedded in all of her trainings and consultations are the activities of reflective practice, demonstrating cultural attunement, and holding a social justice lens in the work. Dr. Stroud’s book “How to Measure a Relationship” [published 2012] is improving infant mental health practices around the globe and is now available in Spanish. Her second book, an Amazon best seller, “Intentional Living: finding the inner peace to create successful relationships” walks the reader through a deeper understanding of how their brain influences relationships. Both volumes are currently available on Amazon. Additionally, Dr. Stroud is a contributing author to the text “Infant and early childhood mental health: Core concepts and clinical practice” edited by Kristie Brandt, Bruce Perry, Steve Seligman, & Ed Tronick.

Dr. Stroud received her Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from Nova Southeastern University, and she has worked largely with children in urban communities with severe emotional disturbance. Dr. Stroud’s professional career path has allowed her to work across service delivery silos supporting professionals in mental health, early intervention (part c), child welfare, early care and education, family court staff, primary care, and other arenas. She is highly regarded and has been a key player in the inception and implementation of cutting-edge service delivery to children Prenatal to five and their families; her innovative approaches have won national awards. More specifically, Dr. Stroud is a former preschool director, a non-public school administrator, director of infant mental health services and agency training coordinator. She has held an adjunct faculty position at California State Long Beach and maintained a faculty position in the Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship for 12 years. Currently, Dr. Stroud’s primary focus is professional training and private consultation from an anti-racist lens, with a focus on social justice, in the field of infant mental health. Dr. Stroud remains steadfast in her mission to ‘changing the world – one relationship at a time’.

What is infant and early childhood mental health?

Looking at big feelings and social and emotional development
The current brain science that is impacting infant and early childhood mental health
How adults impact infant developing brains

What are the basics that therapists should know when working with children under 5 years old?

The importance of dyadic therapy
Parent training
Social emotional developmental stages
The damage of punishment on the development of an authentic self

What infants need to love themselves, have healthy development

Infants want to be safe, seen, heard, and helped
Co-regulation and holding the big feeling with the child
The impacts of this work on adults
Transgenerational work – we treat the parent in the way that we would like the parent to treat the child
How to support parents in healing their own wounds

Therapy Interventions for infants and children under five years old

Play therapy is complex and advanced and requires training and supervision
Before children can think symbolically or have words, play is not effective
Attunement and attachment work

What Maslow Missed in his Hierarchy of Needs - The Native Self Actualization Model: An Interview with Dr. Sidney Stone Brown Aug 08, 2022

What Maslow Missed in his Hierarchy of Needs - The Native Self Actualization Model: An Interview with Dr. Sidney Stone Brown

An Interview with Dr. Sidney Stone Brown, LPC

Sidney Stone Brown was born in Kalispell Montana, and is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Indian Nation of Browning Montana. She was raised on / near her reservation until 1955, living in her great grandmother’s log house with her parents, great uncle, brother and older sisters. They had no running water or indoor toilets; the house was heated with oil and light by kerosene lanterns until 1950. Dr. Brown’s family relocated to Coos Bay Oregon when their reservation faced termination in 1955. Thereafter Dr. Brown attended west coast schools. She attended 30 different schools between first grade and graduation at Oregon State University in 1974.

Dr. Brown worked her way through college and was employed by her tribe as an employment counselor, where she met a resident psychologist working at the tribal Hospital and became interested in Psychology. Near completion of her master’s program she contracted with 1) the University of Minnesota developing community action teams for the Red Cliff Reservation, 2) a Lakota CAP agency in Rapid City South Dakota acting alcohol program director and 3) the University of Utah (Montana Wyoming) Alcohol Counselor Trainer and 4) became permanent employment as director of NARA 1974. The program was originally funded at $81,000 and in ten years was 1.2 million. NARA (1981) won a national recognition award for program excellence and it was noted at the presentation in New Orleans that the model (Native Self Actualization) she developed was the most innovative cross-cultural model ever submitted to the National Council on Alcoholism since the awards began in 1946.

She has served on many other non-profit boards, appointed a member of the (ADAMHA) Alcohol and Drug Abuse Mental Health Administration Minority Advisory Committee (1974-1976). She lobbied for Indian and minority services at the Oregon State Legislature subcommittees, and before the US Senate. she helped form the board and helped develop the certification criteria for NW Indian Alcohol Drug Counselor Certification Board.

In this podcast episode, we talk about The Native Self-Actualization Model

How has native teaching impacted psychology?

Erickson and Jung studied with different tribes
Maslow studied with the Blackfoot people before creating his Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow did not publish or acknowledge the work of the Blackfoot tribe
Maslow’s work was for corporations

What did Maslow find when studying Native people?

Most people were secure (versus the high percentage of folks in poverty on the East Coast)
He moved from behaviorist to humanist
Learned the way of life with the Blackfoot Tribe

What is the Native Self-Actualization Model?

Inverted Lodge or Teepee (turning Maslow’s hierarchy of needs upside down)
The inherent purpose or promise babies come into the world with
The philosophy of Indigenous People
The importance of culture and altruism

What has impacted Native mental health?

Clement Bear Chief’s concept of the holes torn through Native communities
The sexualization and objectification of Native women
The need for protection people, earth, animals
The story of the Blackfoot relationship with the buffalo
The commonality of the indigenous experience
Everything that was taken from Native people creating holes
How to incorporate indigenous practices and teachings to support mental health treatment

Important Takeaways

The importance of intergenerational knowledge
It is essential that indigenous wisdom and way of life survive
The power of altruism and reciprocity
We all are human beings and need to take care of each other

What Therapists Need to Know about Abortion and Termination for Medical Reasons: An Interview with Jane Armstrong Aug 01, 2022

What Therapists Need to Know about Abortion and Termination for Medical Reasons: An Interview with Jane Armstrong

Curt and Katie interview Jane Armstrong, LCSW, a clinical social worker in Texas, about terminating a wanted pregnancy for medical reasons. We look at the impacts of the overturn of Roe v Wade on reproductive care. We also dig into what termination for medical reasons (TFMR) is, how society stigmatizes these parents, and what therapists can do to effectively support clients facing this decision and the outcome of TFMR.

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

An Interview with Jane Armstrong, LCSW-S, PMH-C

Jane is a termination for medical reasons (TFMR) mom, native Texan, & clinical social worker certified in perinatal mental health. Following the birth & death of her first child, Frankie, through TFMR, Jane opened Both/And Therapy, PLLC to provide individual therapy & support groups to other TFMR parents. These services aim to support clients through the unique barriers & grief of ending a wanted pregnancy, particularly in the state of Texas where such care is no longer accessible. She’s passionate about building community, eliminating shame, & honoring grief for TFMR families.

In this podcast episode, we talk about Termination for Medical Reasons (TFMR)

In the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, we reached out to Jane Armstrong, LCSW-S, PMH-C who specializes in TFMR and is based out of Texas, a state with some of the biggest barriers to this type of medical, reproductive care.

What are the clinical impacts on individuals who are considering or who have had an abortion?

Trauma related to pregnancy as well as abortion
The differences between ending wanted and unwanted pregnancies
The shame – societal and internalized

What therapists can get wrong when interacting with the topic of abortion

Unexamined bias related to abortion
TFMR – is baby loss and TFMR parents are entitled to grief
Disenfranchised grief and traumatic loss

The impact of anti-abortion legislation on patients considering abortion and TFMR

Lack of access to all types of medical care
Logistics related to getting access to medical care
The emotional impact of continuing to carry a pregnancy when it is known that the baby will die
How late parents can find out about medical concerns that mean that TFMR is indicated
The lack of time to make a decision

What is Termination For Medical Reasons (TFMR)?

Terminating a pregnancy due to health issues with the pregnant person or with the baby
For the pregnant person: fatal Hyperemesis Gravidarum, requirement for treatment, mental health conditions
For the baby: 12 week genetic screenings or subsequent testing, scans, etc. can point out chromosomal abnormalities, neural tube deficits

How can therapists work with TFMR clients?

The conflict between the laws and a clinician’s own ethics
Make sure your clients know you will be a support resource to them
The importance of the client being able to tell their story
Recognizing that TFMR is typically not talked about and opening space for these clients
Trauma, grief, loss – sitting with the client with their hard stuff
Helping clients to make this impossible decision
Affirming parenthood and the challenge of the decision
Decision versus “choice” and the ways in which bias can enter the conversation about decision-making

Therapy for Executives and Emerging Leaders Jul 25, 2022

Therapy for Executives and Emerging Leaders

Curt and Katie chat about how therapists can support leaders. We look at optimal leadership, leadership identity development, barriers for emerging leaders, challenges that executives face, and how therapists can support these leaders. We explore specific interventions and career assessment questions. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we explore how therapists can help leaders

During times of turmoil - like a global pandemic, an unstable economy, and social unrest - we want to be able to rely on our leaders to help us weather the storm. We look to our employers, our legislators, and our community leaders to solve problems and remain calm. But who supports our leaders? It’s important for therapists to understand leadership and the unique challenges that leaders face, so they can help. Further, therapists must be available to provide support to emerging leaders who are coming from much more diverse backgrounds and perspectives who may need help navigating a system that doesn’t always accept them or align with their lived experiences. We talk about leader identity development and how leaders develop over time. We look at common barriers and challenges for leaders at all stages of development as well as suggested interventions to address these needs.

What do therapists get wrong when working with leaders?

Therapists don’t include career assessments and leadership assessment
Understanding the interrelation between work and mental health
Bias related to stereotypical leaders and not seeing leadership where it shows up outside of able-bodied, tall, white men
The calm, peaceful, work-life balance versus optimal performance and ambition
Cosigning on poor work behavior and overwork

What is good leadership?

Leadership can be taught and can be beneficial for every client
Concepts of leadership as a process and a position
Interdependent, collaborative
Servant Leadership
Transformational Leadership

What does leadership identity development look like?

The 6 stages of the model created by Komives, et al.
Moving from identifying leaders, understanding positional leadership, then moving to more of a process and interdependent relationship
How leadership identity development impacts adult clients

What impacts emerging leaders?

Identities, especially marginalized identities
Relationships with authority figures
Resources, privilege within typical leadership development opportunities during childhood and early adulthood
Relational trauma, boundaries, communication
Marginalized identities and stereotypes with no sure-fire way to perform acceptably
Lack of safety and empowerment

Career and Leadership Assessment

Leadership identity development stage
Current employment
Work/life balance
Role of work in client’s life and within family system

Therapists Working with Leaders

Life experience that therapists can draw upon
Identifying what you don’t know
Understand your own work trauma and leadership development
The CHAT Model (or Katie’s model: clarify, imagine, simplify, act)

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

Hey modern therapists, we’re so excited to offer the opportunity for 1 unit of continuing education for this podcast episode – Therapy Reimagined is bringing you the Modern Therapist Learning Community!

Once you’ve listened to this episode, to get CE credit you just need to go to moderntherapistcommunity.com/podcourse, register for your free profile, purchase this course, pass the post-test, and complete the evaluation! Once that’s all completed - you’ll get a CE certificate in your profile or you can download it for your records. For our current list of CE approvals, check out moderntherapistcommunity.com.

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

I Just Graduated, Now What? – Career Advice for New Mental Health Clinicians Jul 18, 2022

I Just Graduated, Now What? – Career Advice for New Mental Health Clinicians

Curt and Katie discuss how clinicians can decide what types of jobs to pursue when they first graduate from their clinical program. We look at whether you should go into a community mental health organization or a private practice. We also dig into what you might want to consider when making these choices and looking for these jobs. Curt and Katie share their own perspective and experiences to help you consider many different options at this stage in your career.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about a new therapist’s career path

We received a listener email asking advice for how to approach getting their first job after graduating. We decided to answer that listener and to address the question of how to start your career more broadly.

Should you go into a community mental health organization or private practice?

“I'm of the philosophy that, especially if where you imagine yourself being is in private practice at some point, my recommendation is start doing that as soon as reasonably possible” – Curt Widhalm, LMFT

Considerations related to longer term goals
Practical and logistical factors related to compensation, benefits, and time
Clinical training and opportunities

What to consider when looking to join a group private practice

“When you are looking for a group practice, don’t look for something that’s just a duplication of a community mental health organization… there is a discernment that needs to happen to identify: is this actually preparing you for the private practice that you want to have in five years? Or is it a mill, where you're churning through insurance clients that don't align or… you're working for a fee that you wouldn't be able to sustain?” – Katie Vernoy, LMFT

Caseload and pay expectations
Training and supervision opportunities
What you are willing to do to obtain your own clients
Whether you will stay at an agency while building a caseload

What are the job options for therapists when they graduate?

The importance of informational interviews to understand the options
The benefits (and detriments) to different types of work settings
Community mental health versus private practice
Moving around and getting different experiences versus starting in a niche
Identifying what is right for you

What Therapists Should Know about the Rollout of 988 Jul 11, 2022

What Therapists Should Know about the Rollout of 988

Curt and Katie discuss the new suicide hotline, 988, that is set to roll out July 16, 2022. We talk about the legislation for 988 as well as what the primary concerns are for the launch. We explore the resources and infrastructure that is promised (but not ready) as well as ideas that might improve the success of this new initiative.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about what is already going wrong with the 988 roll out.

We have been paying attention to the 988 roll out and are concerned by the lack of preparation and funding for its implementation. We talk about why we’re freaked out about the upcoming roll out.

What is 988?

Legislation (from 2020) makes the national suicide hotline easier to access, using the phone number 988 – set to launch on July 16, 2022
Crisis, Suicide, or Lifeline phone number
Replaces the previous numbers: 800-273-8255 (phone) or text to 741741
Connecting local resources to local callers
An entry point into the local crisis response system
Opportunities for call, text, or messaging support during times of crisis

What are the primary concerns with the launch of 988?

Lack of infrastructure (calls are being sent out of state or not being answered at all)
Lack of local resources to handle crisis response
Lack of funding to develop these resources (potentially NO funding for staff, text, chat)
Huge gaps in the crisis response system that will be exposed by increased access to this system
Challenges with training hotline workers, who are likely going to be volunteers
Inadequate training for inclusive services and linguistically responsive services.

Ideas to improve 988 and the United States Mental Healthcare program

Funding streams through Medicaid, combining forces with 911
Using the implementation to identifying gaps
RAND suggestions to coordinate with local organizations for strategic planning and identifying stable funding sources, needs assessments related to personnel
Advocacy at the state level to make sure state legislatures are making this work
Curt’s idea: have hotlines staffed with prelicensed or provisionally licensed folks (earning double hours toward licensure)
Advocacy at the federal level to increase funding across the whole country

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

SAMHSA 988 webpage

RAND Report: How to Transform the US Mental Health System

Find Your Legislators

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Fixing Mental Healthcare in America

A Living Wage for Prelicensees

Episodes on Suicide

The Clinical Supervision Crisis for Early Career Therapists: An Interview with Dr. Amy Parks Jul 04, 2022

The Clinical Supervision Crisis for Early Career Therapists: An Interview with Dr. Amy Parks

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Amy Parks about the lack of resources for pre- and provisionally licensed mental health professionals to find a clinical supervisor. We discuss the current state of clinical supervision, the barriers for folks becoming clinical supervisors, what makes a good supervisor, navigating online supervision, and what licensed folks might consider when seeking consultation.

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

An Interview with Dr. Amy Parks, Founder of the Clinical Supervision Directory

Dr. Amy Fortney Parks brings with her over 30 years of experience working with children, adolescents and families as both an educator and psychologist. She is a passionate “BRAIN -ENTHUSIAST” and strives to help everyone she works with understand the brain science of communication, activation and relationships.

Dr. Parks has a Doctorate in Educational Psychology with a specialty in developmental neuroscience. She is a Child & Adolescent Psychologist as well as the founder and Clinical Director of WISE Mind Solutions LLC and The Wise Family Counseling, Assessment & Education in Virginia. She is also the founder of the Clinical Supervision Directory – a connection super-highway for supervision-seekers working towards licensure in counseling and social work across the US.

Dr. Parks serves as a Clinical Supervisor for Virginia LPC Residents, as well as Dominion Psychiatric Hospital. Additionally, she is an adjunct professor at George Washington University & The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Parks is a frequently sought-after parent coach and speaker for families and groups around the world.

In this podcast episode, we talk about clinical supervision for modern therapists

We look at the gap in clinical supervision for prelicensed or provisionally licensed mental health professionals.

What is the state of clinical supervision for mental health professionals?

No consistent resources for newly graduated clinicians to find supervisors
Different state to state or area to area
Lack of supervisors and a lack of a mechanism to connect supervisors and supervisees

What are the barriers to folks becoming clinical supervisors?

Different standards in different states
Sometimes becoming a supervisor is too overwhelming, complicated, or too much responsibility
The need for advanced training in supervision

What makes a good supervisor?

Training
Diverse experience
Understanding the boundaries between supervision and counseling
Supervisor, consultant, teacher roles
Cultural humility, bias – looking at clients and supervisees

Navigating Online Supervision

Video supervision (rather than phone)
Have supervisees record (video) their sessions for feedback
Research shows that telesupervision is as effective as in person
Laws related to in-person versus virtual supervision

Supervision or Consultation After Licensure

The value of getting consultation after you’re licensed
The importance of a beginner’s mind
The challenges of finding good consultation
Finding the right match when seeking supervision or consultation

What is Parental Alienation and How Can Therapists Successfully Treat it? Jun 27, 2022

What is Parental Alienation and How Can Therapists Successfully Treat it?

Curt and Katie chat about a controversial topic: Parental Alienation. We look at what parental alienation is, the controversies and complexities surrounding this process, how to assess for parental alienation, and how to effectively treat the family system. We talk about how traditional therapy methods are inadequate and potentially harmful in these cases and what to do instead. This is a continuing education podcourse.

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

In this podcast episode we explore Parental Alienation

We both have worked with families that

What is Parental Alienation?

The impact a parent/guardian has over how a child interacts with another parent/guardian
Complex dynamic within a family where conflict is present
Breakdown of relationship based on behavior of alienating parent toward targeted parent
The Four Factor Model from Baker (2020)

How do you assess for Parental Alienation?

Challenges with correctly identifying this process/dynamic
Controversies and lack of recognition of Parental Alienation as a separate diagnosis from Parent-Child Relational Problem
Identifying what Parental Alienation is not
Clues that stories from kids are manufactured versus authentic stories of child abuse
The need for access to the full family system to obtain sufficient information
Exploring: What is alienating behavior? How does it work?

Effective Case Conceptualization and Treatment for Parental Alienation

The importance of a family systems approach
Involvement of government systems
Uncovering the generational or individual trauma for all members of the system
How to engage the tools available to advocate for important treatment elements to be in place
The importance of understanding scope and how to write recommendations to court
Preventing therapist shopping and treatment avoidance
Harmful recommendations that can hinder progress within these systems
Treatment teaming and avoiding isolation
Educating about Parental Alienation
Supporting the targeted parent to improve the relationship with the child
Working with alienating parent to prepare for improvement in child’s relationship with targeted parenting
Co-parenting and conflict resolution
Therapist communication with all members of the system

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

Hey modern therapists, we’re so excited to offer the opportunity for 1 unit of continuing education for this podcast episode – Therapy Reimagined is bringing you the Modern Therapist Learning Community!

Once you’ve listened to this episode, to get CE credit you just need to go to moderntherapistcommunity.com/podcourse, register for your free profile, purchase this course, pass the post-test, and complete the evaluation! Once that’s all completed - you’ll get a CE certificate in your profile or you can download it for your records. For our current list of CE approvals, check out moderntherapistcommunity.com.

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

The Practicalities of Mental Health and Gender Affirming Care for Trans Youth: An Interview with Jordan Held, LCSW Jun 20, 2022

The Practicalities of Mental Health and Gender Affirming Care for Trans Youth: An Interview with Jordan Held, LCSW

An Interview with Jordan Held, LCSW

Jordan Held (he/him/his), LCSW is a Primary Therapist and Gender Specialist at Visions Adolescent Treatment Center. Prior to Visions, Jordan was a Therapist and Intake Coordinator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in the Center for Trans Youth Health and Development, the largest trans youth health clinic in the USA.

Jordan’s mental health practice centers around creating a trauma-informed and healing-centered space for both adolescents and their families. Jordan’s expertise is working with gender and sexual minority youth with complex histories of PTSD and trauma. Jordan speaks internationally about creating and supporting affirmative LGBTQ+ environments with an emphasis on informed consent and enhanced family communication. As a queer-identified, transgender man, Jordan brings an important dual perspective to his work as a mental health provider.

Prior to social work, Jordan worked extensively in secondary school education, with a decade of experience teaching, coaching, and developing health and wellness curricula. Jordan’s work focuses on gender violence prevention, diversity, equity, inclusion, and cultivating strength and belonging for teens. Jordan is on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the Laurel Foundation, JQ International, and Mental Health America of Los Angeles. Jordan is also a long-time facilitator at Transforming Family, a support group for gender-diverse youth and their family.

In this podcast episode, we talk about trans mental health

What is gender-affirmative care?

The way that “gender affirming care” is being taken out of context
What is actually happening, how it has been politicized
The misinformation related to what is available to children who are exploring their gender (i.e., parental consent and youth care)
The role of therapists versus the role of medical providers
Discussion of gender norms

Different types of transition for trans individuals

Social transition (name, pronouns, clothes, haircut)
Medical interventions that may start during puberty (i.e., puberty blockers, progesterone only birth control)
Cross sex hormones and surgeries (which actually require a long process)
States are very specific for what they require for gender care (as do insurance companies)

Conversations in therapy for trans youth

Gender journey
Meeting the kids where they’re at
Lying to get what they need
Letters and recommendations for surgery
The gender dysphoria diagnosis and sorting that out from depression, anxiety, etc.
Supporting trans youth with social transition and getting the support they need
The concerns with maladaptive coping skills available online
Positive resources for trans youth (scroll down to resources)
Identity and impacts

The Politicization of Trans Individuals

Jordan grew in privilege when he transitioned
Legislation
Schools removing conversations related to gender and sexuality
Play and sports being withheld from trans kids
Bias and how being trans is perceived
The actual numbers of trans folks who want to play sports or want to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity
Advice for trans kids and families where gender care is illegal, advice for therapists
Age limits and laws that don’t align with logic

Culture, privilege, and being trans

Increasing or decreasing privilege when one transitions
Getting used to the changed dynamic within society based on external experience
The complexity of the experience and the changing of the experience
The concept of “passing” and how it taps into bias

Portrayals of Mental Health and Therapy in the Media: An Interview with Danah Davis Williams, LMFT Jun 13, 2022

Portrayals of Mental Health and Therapy in the Media: An Interview with Danah Davis Williams, LMFT

Curt and Katie interview Danah Davis Williams, LMFT on the portrayals of mental health and therapy in the media. We explore responsible portrayals as well as the harmful practices that some writers and studios engage in. We also talk about the opportunities for modern therapists to have an impact on how diagnoses and mental health treatment are represented on film and television.

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

An Interview with Danah Davis Williams, LMFT

Danah Davis Williams is a Licensed Psychotherapist, an Actor, a Psychological Creative Consultant, a Podcast Host and current Past President of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT).

As a therapist, Danah is in private practice in Santa Barbara, California (California Coastal Counseling) where she specializes in helping people break destructive patterns of coping through the use of practical, evidenced-based coping skills and personal process. She is extensively trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT).

As a consultant, Danah provides personalized psychological consultation for filmmakers, executives and creatives committed to socially responsible, captivating storytelling through authentic characterization of mental health, its treatment and interpersonal impact. She runs a psychological consulting business helping entertainment industry leaders ensure accurate representation of mental health: working with filmmakers, writers, execs, and high-profile actors from networks like FX, CBS, ABC, NBC, Freeform and MGM.

What does the media get wrong when portraying mental health and therapy?

Inaccurate portrayals of diagnoses
Manipulative or unethical therapists
The problems with “guilty pleasures” that include inaccurate or harmful portrayals

The opportunities for therapists to be creators and consultants

Translating clinical work into consulting and creating
Vulnerability when sharing journey as a therapist
Using skills from practice building to create opportunities as a creator
The process of consultation for scripts and what to consider when providing feedback
Ethical thoughts related to representations
How to build a network and consulting business

How the storytellers look at mental health and healing

The silver bullet that “heals” the client
Inaccurate portrayals of therapy or healing and the impact on clients
Ethics to consider (especially given you’re not acting within your profession with an ethical code)
The challenges of unscripted shows

Shows that get it right when it comes to mental health and treatment

This is us – Toby
Comprehensive and realistic, tapping into lived experience within actors and/or writers
The attempts to portray diversity and the experience of marginalized communities and their interaction in the mental health system

Diversifying Media and the Portrayals of Mental Health and Therapy

Ava Duvernay’s Array program
Michael B Jordan hiring students and mentoring the next generation
Decreasing stigma for folks who have not typically sought mental health services

How to advocate for accurate mental health portrayals in the media

Calling things out on social media that are good and things that are done poorly (or are harmful)
Content creation about shows you watch (like blogs, articles, etc.)
Discussing content in sessions to help process what folks are viewing or their own experience
Not watching or purchasing tickets to content that is harmful (not reinforcing “guilty pleasures”)

Beware of Scams Targeting Therapists Jun 06, 2022

Beware of Scams Targeting Therapists

Curt and Katie discuss common scams that specifically target therapists. We look at how to identify scams or sketchy business practices that can be very confusing as well as dangerous to clinicians. We also talk about how to protect yourself as well as solid business practices that you can implement to stave off some of these scammers.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about scams that target therapists

We have heard about a lot of scams in our careers. We figured it was time to do another “survival guide” episode on how to protect ourselves as therapists.

What are the most common scams targeting therapists?

Information used from popular therapist directories
Claiming to be a law enforcement professional, missed court date, or the IRS
Image copyright infringement
Businesses that target you to charge them for things that are free or with another company
Clients or people seeking therapy for family members and then overpay and ask for a refund
Text messages or emails with unsolicited links that can leave malware on your computer
Phishing schemes
Testing stolen credit cards or stolen identities

How can modern therapists protect ourselves from these scams?

Get into wise mind (avoid responding to false urgency)
Go through official channels (contact actual officials)
Contact an attorney if unsure
Understand how legal notices are properly delivered
Caution with financial systems and not allowing people to pay upfront
Requiring person seeking services to contact therapist
Cyber security trainings
Communicating appropriately and consistently
Holding to systems and boundaries
Make sure to share these scams with professional organizations, the official entity, or your licensing board

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Abundance Practice Building Article on Copyright Infringement

From Joe Borders: Currently Active Scams Targeting Therapists

From APA: Protect your practice from scams targeting psychologists

From APA: More reports surface of telephone scammers targeting psychologists

From the SF Chronicle: ‘He held me hostage with no gun but with his words’: The phone scam gaslighting therapists

From Counseling Today: Technology Tutor: Scams aimed at counselors

From Psych Today: The Phone Scam That Targets Psychologists

From CPH & Associates: Scam Targeting Therapists: What You Need to Know

From 10News.Com: The jury duty scam you should know about

Beyond Reimagination: Improving your client outcomes by understanding what big tech is doing right (and wrong) with mental health apps May 30, 2022

Beyond Reimagination: Improving your client outcomes by understanding what big tech is doing right (and wrong) with mental health apps

Curt and Katie chat about the big tech “disruptors” in the mental health space and what therapists can learn from their tactics to support clients. We look at who is using mental health apps, what mental health apps are getting right (and wrong), and how therapists can take what is working and work differently to more effectively serve our own clients. This is a continuing education podcourse.

Looking at the gaps in mental health treatment and how big tech is working to “fix” them

Exploring the goals from the Rand report on fixing mental healthcare in the United States
Mental Health apps (with many broad definitions)
Access to lots of different types of services and self-help
A one stop shop with a full range of services
Direct negotiation with insurance companies

The types of technology used in mental health apps and the risks and benefits of these advances

Algorithms
Geo location data
Complex payment structures
Outcomes and feedback

What mental health apps are doing well for clients

Getting clients into therapy much more quickly
Decreasing costs for consumers
Increasing flexibility and availability
Not requiring for things to happen in real time (asynchronous therapy)

What mental health apps are getting wrong

McDonaldization and commoditization
Proprietary treatment methods and incentives for specific worksheets or staying within the app
Misalignment between the goals of the client and the goals of the corporation
Self-driven, leading to folks to potentially getting insufficient resources
Individual versus community focus
Caseloads and potential for therapist income (as well as burnout and poor care)

Concerns about the additional risks that can happen with mental health apps

The apps are not bound by HIPAA, but instead the SEC
Data sharing and Alexa suggesting supplements to address client mental health concerns
Additional legal and ethical risks

Who is using app-based mental health services?

Therapy veterans are moving to apps
Access is not actually improved
The reasons that clients are moving from a traditional therapist to therapy apps
Outcomes across different types of apps and different types of clients
Niche apps are more effective than generalist apps

What we can do to move our therapist practices forward?

Using the benefits of technology to decrease friction for your clients accessing therapists

Increasing flexibility and creativity
Be a better therapist and understanding the digital therapeutic alliance
Paying attention to laws and ethics, scope of practice, and treatment planning

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

Hey modern therapists, we’re so excited to offer the opportunity for 1 unit of continuing education for this podcast episode – Therapy Reimagined is bringing you the Modern Therapist Learning Community!

Once you’ve listened to this episode, to get CE credit you just need to go to moderntherapistcommunity.com/podcourse, register for your free profile, purchase this course, pass the post-test, and complete the evaluation! Once that’s all completed - you’ll get a CE certificate in your profile or you can download it for your records. For our current list of CE approvals, check out moderntherapistcommunity.com.

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

The Risks and Consequences of Failing to Report Child Abuse May 23, 2022

The Risks and Consequences of Failing to Report Child Abuse

Curt and Katie discuss the CA Board of Behavioral Sciences case against Barbara Dixon, LMFT who failed to report child abuse for Gabriel Fernandez and Anthony Avalos who both subsequently died from abuse by caregivers. We look at what this therapist missed as well as appropriate child abuse reporting, including the nuance of when to report. CW: details of child abuse discussed.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about the importance of child abuse reporting

We talk about the failure to report abuse by Barbara Dixon, LMFT that has recently been in the news related to the deaths of Gabriel Fernandez and Anthony Avalos.

The case related to the child abuse death of Gabriel Fernandez

Content Warning: Details of the case, including the actions taken (and not taken) by Barbara Dixon, LMFT
The decision-making process with child abuse reporting

Who is responsible to decide to report child abuse – the clinician or the supervisor?

When supervisors or agencies tell clinicians under supervision not to report child abuse report
The individual responsibility that each clinician holds
The myth that you’re working “under” your supervisor’s license

How do you decide whether you should report child abuse?

Clarity from child abuse reporting laws
Hesitation based on systemic response, the therapeutic relationship, and the paperwork hassle
Where there are gray areas and nuance

The consequences of failing to report child abuse or adequately document services or risks

Your agency or supervisor may not be held liable for your actions (especially if you don’t document what you did)
Incomplete documentation hurts – it doesn’t help you hide from liability

Appropriate Child Abuse Assessment and Reporting

Interviewing the child separately
Following up on what you’ve asked for
Understanding at what point it becomes our responsibility (i.e., having sufficient information)
Documenting each stage and make sure to appropriately close out treatment file when needed
Consultation and not making the decision on your own
Defining the injury and assess from there
Understanding normal childhood response to typical life events (and noting changes)

Navigating the gray areas in child abuse assessment

Looking at impact, intent, and injury
Using the context to help decide when there isn’t a definitive line
Adequately documenting, even when you aren’t sure you’re making the right decision, is important and necessary
Looking at what needs systemic intervention and what needs family therapy

Getting past the discomfort to report child abuse report

It is your responsibility
Taking a moment to understand the purpose of reporting
Reducing your own liability
Obtaining resources for families
Understanding the risk for families of systems getting involved

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Los Angeles Times Article: Counselor who didn’t report abuse of Gabriel Fernandez, Anthony Avalos put on 4-year probation

Citation/Enforcement Decision on Barbara Dixon

LA Times Article: Charges dismissed against social workers linked to Gabriel Fernandez’s killing

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Now Modern Therapists Have to Document Every F*cking Thing in Our Progress Notes?

Do Therapists Curse in Session?

Giving and Getting Good Supervision

Make Your Paperwork Meaningful: An interview with Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey Hall

Noteworthy Documentation: An interview with Dr. Ben Caldwell, LMFT

CYA for Court: An interview with Nicol Stolar-Peterson, LCSW

Should Therapists Correct Clients? May 16, 2022

Should Therapists Correct Clients?

Curt and Katie chat about whether therapists should correct clients who use offensive language. We look at what we should consider when addressing what clients say (including treatment goals and the relationship), how therapists can take care of themselves to be able to treat clients who hold a different worldview, and how (and when) therapists can address problematic language appropriately.

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

In this podcast episode we talk about whether therapists should call out their clients on words they find inappropriate

We decided to address the language that clients use in session and what to do when we find the language offensive or harmful.

Should therapists correct clients when they use language we find offensive or harmful?

Blank slate or “join your clients” approaches
Whether the language should be addressed when it doesn’t align with a client’s stated treatment goals
Showing up as a human and addressing the therapeutic relationship
Judgment or shaming that can happen with clients

What should therapists consider when addressing what clients say?

The relationship between the therapist and client
Relevance to clinical goals
The impact on trust in the therapeutic alliance
The importance of using the client’s language to affirm their experience
The power differential between therapist and client

How can therapists show up with clients who see the world differently than they do?

Addressing objectification of therapist’s identities
Assessing when therapists are centering their own experience versus responding to what is in the room
Using the relationship to process client’s perspective

What can therapists do to appropriately address problematic language with their clients?

Process what is being said before correcting specific words
Address within the relationship and within the treatment goals
Using our own coping skills to be able to navigate what our clients bring to session
Where social justice plays a role (and maybe shouldn’t)
Education and supporting the client’s whole development
Assessing the impact of these interventions (both positive and negative)
Assessing the harm in not pointing out bias or harmful language

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Therapist–Client Language Matching: Initial Promise as a Measure of Therapist–Client Relationship Quality

Feedback Informed Treatment

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Do Therapists Curse in Session?

How to Fire Your Clients (Ethically)

How to Fire Your Clients (Ethically) part 1.5

When is it Discrimination?

Conspiracy Theories in Your Office

Is the Counseling Compact Good for Therapists? May 09, 2022

Is the Counseling Compact Good for Therapists?

Curt and Katie chat about the brand-new Counseling Compact and what therapists may not know or understand about these interstate agreements. We explore the proposed benefits as well as the potential risks and complications like regulatory discrepancies and a lack of consumer protections. We also look at how big tech can benefit while individual clinicians may be left unable to compete in a larger market.

In this podcast episode we talk about the new Counseling Compact and Psypact

The counselors got their 10th state and officially have Counseling Compact to practice in other states. We thought it would be a good idea to talk about what that means (and what we might want to pay attention to).

What is the Counseling Compact?

Opportunities for practicing privileges (not licensure) in other states
The complexity of putting together these interstate compacts
Implementation and regulation hurdles
Scope of practice discrepancies and concerns
Law and Ethics practices across states

Benefits of Interstate Compacts for Mental Health Providers

Continuity of care
Ease of meeting with clients who are moving around the country
Bringing clinicians to areas where there is a workforce shortage

Potential Problems with the Counseling Compact

Not bringing more clinicians, if only states with workforce shortages join
Doesn’t solve the infrastructure problems (i.e., stable Wi-Fi) for rural areas that typically don’t have local therapists
The people who most benefit: the big tech companies like Better Help
The FBI is opposing this legislation due to lack of federal background checks
Lack of consumer protection or consistency in what consumers can expect from their therapist
Costs for the therapists to get practicing privileges
Large gigantic group practices and tech solutions will contract with insurance and leave smaller practices unable to compete and required to be private pay

Solving the Problems with the Counseling Compact

Overarching regulation and expectations at a national level
Federal bodies to oversee background checks and consumer protections
Expensive, time-intensive
We don’t have universal healthcare, so insurance parity will need to be addressed (and not just by big tech)

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Counseling Compact

Psypact

Very Bad Therapy Podcast

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Special Series: Fixing Mental Healthcare in America

Fixing Mental Health in America: An interview with Dr. Nicole Eberhart, Senior Behavioral Scientist, and Dr. Ryan McBain, Policy Researcher, The RAND Corporation

Online Therapy Apps

Why You Shouldn’t Sell Out to Better Help

Clinical Considerations When Working with Asian Immigrants, Refugees, and Dreamers: An Interview with Soo Jin Lee May 02, 2022

Clinical Considerations When Working with Asian Immigrants, Refugees, and Dreamers: An Interview with Soo Jin Lee

Curt and Katie interview Soo Jin Lee, LMFT on the clinical implications of working with Asian American immigrants, refugees, and dreamers. We explore how best to assess these clients, specific clinical considerations related to the immigration experience (and legal status in the country), and ideas for working with these clients clinically. We also talk about the impact of societal views, media portrayals, and representation on AAPI clients.

An Interview with Soo Jin Lee, LMFT

Soo Jin Lee is a co-director of Yellow Chair Collective and co-founder of Entwine Community. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist in CA and has a special focus on training and consulting on Asian mental health related issues. She is passionate about assisting individuals find a sense of belonging and identity through reckoning of intersectional identity work and those that are navigating through difficult life changes.

In this podcast episode, we talk about what therapists should know about Asian American immigrants, refugees, and dreamers

In preparation for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month, we wanted to dig more deeply into specific issues relevant to the AAPI community that are often not discussed in grad school or therapist training programs.

What assessment questions should be included for AAPI immigrant clients?

How to assess and ask about the immigration story (including about whether someone is documented or undocumented)
The assumption of citizenship status during the assessment
Exploration of cultural values and family dynamics
The definitions for refugee, asylum seekers, immigrant, undocumented immigrant, dreamer
Looking at reasons behind coming to the United States as well as legal status in the country

What is the impact of societal views and media portrayals of Asians on AAPI clients?

The common stereotypes and the gap in the representation in the Asian diaspora
The typical portrayal of undocumented immigrants from Latin America, Mexico, etc.
Lack of representation in the media of the broad experience of being an undocumented immigrant or refugee
The misrepresentation of families being all documented or undocumented (it’s actually a mix of statuses)
Language, cultural and values differences between the generations

What are the unique clinical issues for refugees and undocumented immigrants?

The uncertainty of staying in the country
The hidden traumas and the fear of being kicked out
The lack of planning for the future
Education and financial barriers to pursuing the future
Trauma and PTSD are key elements, but sharing the story means that their survival is at risk

How do therapists more effectively work with refugees and undocumented immigrants in therapy?

The fear and risk involved in disclosure and the challenge of talking about identity
Exploring their story creatively, without nitpicking or having to interrogate or make them verbalize their story
The importance of building trust and building a safe space within therapy
Bringing the mainstream media into the session
Addressing fear and decision-making
Soo Jin Lee’s healing journey to become a therapist and advice for other dreamers

Reflections on Content Creation and the Therapy Profession Apr 25, 2022

Reflections on Content Creation and the Therapy Profession

Curt and Katie chat about our principles and philosophies as they relate to the work we do, including podcast creation. We also reflect on the feedback we’ve received on episodes with large listenership as well as other typical responses we get to the work we do. Considering content creation as part of your business? This isn’t a how-to, but it certainly can give you things to consider before you dive in.

In this podcast episode we talk about how we put together the podcast

We’ve received a lot of feedback recently about our episodes and we wanted to talk about how we make decisions on what we talk about, who we interview, whether we call folks out on the podcast, and how we edit the episodes.

Our Philosophy and Principles for creating content for the Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide

How to navigate the career as is (tools and strategies to survive in this field)
The importance of advocacy in moving forward with our field
How to strategically time advocacy for best effect
How we take in feedback and respond

Responding to Feedback from our Audience on our “What’s New in the DSM-5-TR?” Episode

The concern about the Autism diagnosis changes
Whether we should have called out Dr. Michael B. First and the impressions of what was said
Grappling with the tension between protecting our audience and getting our guests on record and/or advocating for change in the larger systems
How people can impact what becomes DSM 6 (and the efforts we are advocating for)
The feedback we received and how we sort through it and improve
The limits of our capacity
Our plans for additional interviews to address the changes

A Broader View of the Feedback We Receive on the Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Podcast

The depth of the conversation and our ability to deepen conversations with additional episodes
Audience members anchoring on the title or episode artwork and not looking at the whole episode when pieces of the content resonate in a different way

Our Plan Going Forward with the Podcast

Advocacy, information, and focus on the profession
Not as much of a focus on business building, money mindset, and side hustles
Real conversations about the realities of working in this profession
Working to leave the profession better than we find it

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

The Therapy Reimagined Mission

Our Patreon

What’s New in the DSM-5-TR?

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

A Living Wage for Prelicensees

Mission Driven Work

Therapists are Not Robots

Why You Shouldn’t Sell Out to Better Help

Advocacy in the Wake of Looming Healthcare Shortages

What is Eco Anxiety? An Interview with Dr. Thomas Doherty Apr 18, 2022

What is Eco Anxiety? An Interview with Dr. Thomas Doherty

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Thomas Doherty about Eco Anxiety. We look at the history of eco anxiety, what therapists should know about the environment, the concept of environmental identity, and how we can support clients with Eco Anxiety in therapy. We look at ways to bring these topics up with our clients as well as empower them to take action.

An Interview with Dr. Thomas J. Doherty

Thomas is a clinical and environmental psychologist based in Portland, Oregon, USA. His multiple publications on nature and mental health include the groundbreaking paper “The Psychological Impacts of Global Climate Change,” co-authored by Susan Clayton, cited over 700 times. Thomas is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), Past President of the Society for Environmental, Population and Conservation Psychology, and Founding Editor of the academic journal Ecopsychology. Thomas was a member of the APA’s first Task Force on Global Climate Change and founded one of the first environmentally-focused certificate programs for mental health counselors in the US at Lewis & Clark Graduate School. Thomas is originally from Buffalo, New York.

In this podcast episode we talk about what therapists should know about Eco Anxiety

In preparation for Earth Day, we wanted to understand more about Eco Anxiety and what therapists can do to support our clients and the planet.

What is Eco Anxiety?

The history of Eco Anxiety, including worry about the use of chemicals, climate change
The importance of words, personal experiences, how the client sees the world
The diagnoses that align with this area, the types of impacts on clients

What Should Therapists Know About the Environment?

Resources related to climate change
How to explore Environmental Identity
Understand our own Environmental Identity
The 3 basic psychological impacts from the environment (disaster, chronic, or ambient)
The benefits of nature and how people in all environments can access them

What is your Environmental Identity?

Relationship to the natural world
Significant experiences in the outdoors
The nuance of bringing these ideas up in Urban areas
What “nature” means to each of us

How Can We Support Clients with Eco Anxiety in Therapy?

Understanding the basics on the environment and climate change
Building capacity to be with these issues
Reeling in the anxiety, imagination
Understanding the waves of emotions and completing the anxiety cycle
Giving clients permission to talk about the environment and how to open up the conversations
Coping strategies specific to Eco Anxiety
Suggestions for activism and what clients can do to improve the environment
Helping clients to identify if they are doing enough
Where to find resources on environmental efforts
How therapists can employ climate awareness in their practices

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance! Dr. Thomas Doherty's Practice Sustainable Self

Climate Change and Happiness Podcast

Dr. Thomas Doherty’s Consultation and Training Program on the Environment

The Psychological Impacts of Global Climate Change by Thomas J. Doherty and Susan Clayton

NY Times: Climate Change Enters the Therapy Room

Climate Psychology Alliance

Project Draw Down

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

What’s New in the DSM-5-TR with Dr. Michael B. First

What You Should Know About Walk and Talk Therapy part 1

What You Should Know About Walk and Talk Therapy part 2 (Law and Ethics)

Shared Traumatic Experiences

Therapists Are Not Robots: How We Can Show Humanity in the Room Apr 11, 2022

Therapists Are Not Robots: How We Can Show Humanity in the Room

Curt and Katie discuss how big life events (a big diagnosis, a huge personal loss, injuries and medical conditions) can show up in the room. We explore how much humanity is okay to share with our clients. How do we decide what we tell our clients (and how do we manage their reactions)? We also look at how we take care of ourselves while also taking care of our clients. Therapists aren't robots, but we certainly need to be aware of our clients when life happens.

In this podcast episode we talk about appropriate self-disclosure practices for modern therapists going through life events

As therapists it’s important that we hold a professional exterior during therapy. But can it be helpful to share with clients the big moments in our lives? How can we be human in the room?

What are some considerations for therapists when deciding to self-disclose?

Showing your humanity can help bond a client with the therapist.
Self-disclosure may be different for planned or unplanned life events and whether they come into the room or private/hidden and in the background of your life
Deciding when and whether to tell clients
Clients often will use the therapist as an example on how to handle big life events.
Not all settings are appropriate for therapist disclosure.
Clients do not have the same confidentiality requirements as therapists; if you self-disclose to a client, it could be known by others or other treatment team members.
In self-disclosing, the therapist will need to process the disclosure with the client.
Processing difficult personal material with multiple clients could be difficult for the therapist.
How much you disclose will depend on the client, but you might share more with a long-term client than a newer client.

Are there ethical considerations for therapists sharing about our lives?

There are no BBS outlined ethical considerations for sharing personal disclosures in therapy.
The therapeutic environment should encourage a client to question the therapist.
The therapeutic environment should encourage clients to participate in self-advocacy.
Remember that certain self-disclosures might be triggering for clients; be mindful of what you share with who.
Document all ruptures in relationships in your note and what you did to help heal the rupture.
Be mindful - clients could be retraumatized or try to care take after a therapist’s disclosure.
Not all clients need to know everything; know your population.

What should new counselors and therapists know?

Therapists are human! Life will continue to affect you even while working.
It is important for therapists to take time off when they need it.
Ruptures in the therapeutic relationship will happen; it’s all about how you handle it.
New counselors often want hard rules for how to act, but it gets easier with experience.
The most damage happens from not acknowledging or apologizing for ruptures.
When ruptures occur, be honest and accountable to your clients.
Sharing our human moments with clients can create a deeper and richer relationship.
Don’t forget you don’t have to do this alone – always consult if unsure on disclosures!

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance! Struggles of the Novice Counselor and Therapist by Thomas M. Skovholt and Michael H. Rønnestad

Abstract: Shared Trauma: The Therapist’s Increased Vulnerability by Dr. Karen W. Saakvitne

What You Should Know About Walk and Talk Therapy and Other Non-Traditional Counseling Settings – Part 2 Apr 04, 2022

What You Should Know About Walk and Talk Therapy and Other Non-Traditional Counseling Settings – Part 2

Curt and Katie chat about non-traditional therapy settings like outdoor walk and talk therapy as well as home-based counseling. In the second of a two-part, continuing education podcourse series, we look at law and ethics, accessibility, informed consent, navigating confidentiality, dual relationships, and what therapist might want to consider before getting started.

In this continuing education podcast episode, we look at the laws and ethics related to non-traditional therapy settings

For our fourth CE-worthy podcourse, we’re looking at the laws and ethics of bringing therapy into non-traditional settings, including walk and talk therapy and home visits. We cover a lot of topics in this episode:

Debunking the hesitations of using non-traditional therapy settings

Minimizing liability and concerns related to these environments
Is it unethical to not consider these environments?
Access and payment, including insurance/managed health care concerns and fee setting
Unpredictability in the environment
Scheduling and permission for services
Business practices and systems that support this type of dynamic practice

Accessibility of walk & talk and home-based therapies

Financial, physical or other types of accessibility (and navigating those)
Ways to make sure you clients can access the service and are prepared for the environment
Extending boundaries and the consequences of these situations
Documentation of any concerns that arise
Clinician comfort and preference, do no harm, and do good

Informed Consent for non-traditional therapies

Client choice and appropriateness, including informed opt-in (and opt out)
Health conditions, screening or attestation related to risk and liability
Clinician safety and how to talk with your client about these concerns
Cancellation policies and back up plans
Ability to terminate (both passively and actively)
Collaboration and communication

Confidentiality when you’re meeting outside of the therapy office

Managing the risks of the limits of confidentiality in these other settings
Collateral consent forms for additional members of the treatment
Release forms for others in the home
Co-creating the plan to manage these situations
Ideas for how to explain the relationship, if needed
Active and passive loss of confidentiality (and how to talk about these risks)
Boundaries versus confidentiality (for example where in someone’s home to meet)
Documentation and consultation

Dual Relationships that can happen during walk and talk or home-based therapies

Professional therapy never includes sex
Casual nature of the relationship in these settings and the threat of friendship vibes
Not all dual relationships are problematic
Host/guest dynamics as something to pay attention to, but not necessarily harmful
Navigating the potential medical needs of home-bound clients (helping and/or advocating for more help)

What therapists should assess before getting started

Liability and malpractice
Logistics and planning
Assessing client vs clinician benefit
Assessing competency for these types of services
Training, consultation, supervision, documentation

What You Should Know About Walk and Talk Therapy and Other Non-Traditional Counseling Settings Mar 28, 2022

What You Should Know About Walk and Talk Therapy and Other Non-Traditional Counseling Settings

Curt and Katie chat about non-traditional therapy settings like outdoor walk and talk therapy as well as home-based counseling. In the first of a two-part, continuing education podcourse series, we look at the basics, including why therapists should consider these settings (and may not), clinical and cultural considerations, and best practices.

In this continuing education podcast episode, we look at non-traditional therapy settings

For our third CE-worthy podcourse, we’re looking at the basics of bringing therapy into non-traditional settings, including walk and talk therapy and home visits. We cover a lot of topics in this episode:

What are non-traditional therapy settings?

The focus of this episode is walk and talk and home-based therapy
Client’s locations like home, school, or work; community-based settings
Anything beyond the typical therapy office or telehealth settings are worthy of consideration
Creativity and collaboration in creating the space
How different the therapy can be when opening up more settings as possibilities

Why should therapists consider these non-traditional therapy settings?

Logistical considerations that can lead to these settings being the ideal choice (or only choice)
Clinical indications that walk and talk or home-based therapy is a better choice
The impact on changing settings on the therapeutic relationship and the therapeutic work
Specific modalities that are best served by client-centered spaces
Assessment, treatment teaming
How access, attendance, and attrition are impacted
The therapeutic impact of the settings and movement

What are the hesitations therapists have in considering alternative settings for therapy?

The challenges in creating systems and managing the logistics
Lack of alignment with the medical model
Lack of training and guidance
Legal and Ethical considerations (that will be talked about in next week’s episode)

What are the clinical and cultural considerations when doing therapy outside or in someone’s home?

Navigating the shifting relationship and boundaries
Cultural differences between therapist and client, and assumptions made about the relationship
The importance of leading the conversation about these relationships
Hospitality and others who may be present at a client’s home
The unusual space, the level of confidentiality, and emotional containment and depth of conversation
Treatment planning based on where you meet and how the client interacts with the space
The importance of the clinician holding the therapeutic space and attention
Creating the space and the contract for how therapy will happen
Cultural norms for the activities and for the client and family – more complexity to discuss

Clinical How-To for Non-traditional Settings

Assessment considerations
Client and clinician characteristics
Alignment with treatment goals and presenting concerns
Presenting issues can vary and assessment can be important
Initial assessment appointments and making the decision early in treatment
Treatment Formulation related to active versus passive interaction with the space
The importance of true informed consent and the dynamic nature of process contracting
Introducing predictability
Risk assessment
Knowing your scope and what types of professionals you might consider consulting

Now Modern Therapists Need to Document Every F*cking Thing in Our Progress Notes?!? Mar 21, 2022

Now Modern Therapists Need to Document Every F*cking Thing in Our Progress Notes?!?

Curt and Katie discuss a recent citation from the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to a therapist for cursing while in session. We explore: How do we document ruptures during the therapy session? Is the BBS over-reaching by controlling what therapists document? What are the best practices for note taking? All of this and more in the episode.

In this podcast episode we talk about appropriate documentation practices for modern therapists

As therapists it’s important that we take accurate notes. But what is important to include in the notes, and how much should we really be documenting?

Wait – Is it alright to use curse words in session?

Therapists should be first and foremost aware of the client and their potential reaction.
Note the therapeutic relationship with the client, their history, and how the client empowers themself when making language selections.
If considering using casual language, consider the client’s vernacular.
Follow the client’s lead when it comes to their language in session, including cursing.
The BBS has no specific statute related to cursing or swearing.

What should modern therapists document in clinical notes?

It is important to document any bold interventions or ruptures in the therapeutic relationship and repair attempts for ruptures.
In note taking, it is important to follow the clinical loop: assessment, diagnosis, treatment plan, intervention, use of intervention, and the client’s reaction and progress.
Your notes will be a balance of covering your liability and creating notes that help you remember the session.
Therapists should consider documenting the use of any language that could be deemed not clinically appropriate, even positive statements like “I’m proud of you,” or “Yes, my dear.”

Does the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) outline what we should say in our notes?

In the 300-page PDF outlining the statutes for LPCCs, LMFTs, LCSWs, and Educational Psychologists, notes are only mentioned 10 times.
There is no mention in the statutes of what can be said and what can’t be said in notes.
Some agencies and institutions will stress writing very little to ensure protection from liability, but as this citation showcases, this might not be best practice.
The BBS wants to ensure the protection of clients and you might need to justify your words, just as you would justify the use of an intervention.
This is a reminder that the BBS can and do look at therapist’s notes.

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If you love our content and would like to bring the conversations deeper, please support us on our Patreon. For as little as $2 per month we're able to bring you more content, exclusive offerings, and more opportunities to engage in our growing modern therapist community. These contributions help us to expand our offerings for continuing education events and a whole lot more. If you don't think you can make a monthly contribution – no worries – we also have a buy me a coffee profile for one-time donations support us at whatever level you can today it really helps us out. You can find us at patreon.com/mtsgpodcast or buymeacoffee.com/moderntherapist. Thanks everyone.

Do Therapists Curse in Session? Mar 14, 2022

Do Therapists Curse in Session?

Curt and Katie discuss a recent citation from the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to a therapist for cursing while in session. We explore: Can therapists swear in session? Should they? Are there times when cursing is appropriate in session? Are therapists allowed to make errors without the fear of citation from their board? We explore these and more in this episode.

In this podcast episode we talk about the ethics and responsibilities of cursing in session.

After hearing about the citation for a clinician who had cursed in session, we wanted to explore what is acceptable related to using curse words in session. We know as therapists that what we say matters, and now more than ever our choice of language matters. Who is allowed to curse in the therapy room? We tackle this question in depth:

Is swearing or cursing ever appropriate in session?

Both Curt and Katie swear in session when appropriate
Swearing in session can create a more authentic therapeutic rapport with some clients
Sometimes clients will ask for permission to swear in session
Follow the client’s lead when it comes to their language in session, including cursing
It is mostly important to reflect the client’s language without judgement
Clients might be looking for more humanity in their therapists
Therapists are people; curses can slip out when therapists feel depleted and without resource
Cursing based on your own humanity can cause therapeutic rupture and clinicians should be mindful of the therapeutic alliance and make repair attempts

What does the research show us about swearing?

Some research suggests that cursing out loud decreases pain
“Professional language” is often rooted in whiteness with a goal of excluding people of color
When not accurately reflecting a client’s language, you run the risk of editing them
Swearing speech is primarily meant to convey connotative or emotional meaning with emphasis

What do professional organizations say now about cursing in session?

The BBS recently cited a therapist for swearing in session as unprofessional language
Only one professional organization, The National Association of Social Workers, officially bars cursing in session – specifically derogatory language
Swearing speech is primarily meant to convey connotative or emotional meaning with emphasis
Therapists have a responsibility to make sure they are emotionally equipped to deal with clients

Is there an ideal language for therapists to use? … I caution against blanket rules. – Curt Widhalm

Slurs are never acceptable to use during session, especially when there are cultural differences between client and therapist
Considerations related to expressing your humanity, using curse words, and the clients you see
Ethically, we have guidelines of client beneficence and avoiding maleficence, meaning don’t harm the client
Technically cursing is allowed, but only with reason and while remembering that some folks are litigious

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Thriving Over Surviving: Growing a Practice without Burn Out Mar 07, 2022

Thriving Over Surviving: Growing a Practice without Burn Out

Curt and Katie interview Megan Gunnell, LMSW, coach, and Founder and Director of Thriving Well Institute. We explore: What changes are therapists facing as they grow their practice in the telehealth age? How do therapists scale their businesses and what should they be aware of? Can a therapist and their practice thrive, or does something have to give? All of this and more in the episode.

Interview with Megan Gunnell, LMSW and Founder & Director of Thriving Well Institute

Megan Gunnell LMSW, is Founder and Director of Thriving Well Institute which aids therapist in building the private practices of their dreams. Megan offers a series of courses and individual coaching to aid therapists in expanding their private practices through building group therapy programs, building online courses, creating in person retreats, and even how to build a group practice. Megan teaches therapists how to build not only their practices but themselves up. Megan has been a practicing clinician for over 20 years working as an individual therapist in addition to her coaching and advisory work. Megan started her work as a music therapist, a passion which she still carries to this day.

In this podcast episode we talk about how therapists can build their practices without burning out.

With the increase in telehealth therapy options, therapists are confronted with a unique problem. How does a therapist build their practice with so many therapeutic options out there, while simultaneously avoiding burn out? Curt and Katie connect with Megan Gunnell to discuss how therapists can make sure they, and their practices, thrive.

How can therapists’ network as telehealth therapists?

Your potential client base has now become the whole state.
Focus on designing your online real estate and increase your SEO.
Joining local Facebook groups of therapists can help expand your referral base.
Speak to specific client issues on your website that you specialize in.
Avoid template and more generalized language in websites and marketing material.
Make your website unique but clear in what you work with.

What is scaling and how does it avoid burn out?

For many therapists, caseloads have increased dramatically over the past couple years
Scaling is more about pivoting than it is creating passive income.
Looking to expand your practice into a group practice can help alleviate referral loads.
Some therapists can avoid burn out by diversifying their workload and reintegrating natural talents such as creativity.
Getting into community, especially with other therapists, is a great way to avoid burn out.
There is still a need for single-focus private practices.

What can therapists do to scale their businesses?

Be in tune with out motivated you are to scale your business; ask how committed am I?
Consistency is key.
Have a willingness to make mistakes and take risks.
Don’t be afraid of failing; use moments of failure to motivate you.
Be open to learning new things like tech, marketing, or automation.
Be realistic of your capacity to take on learning sometimes complicated or frustrating systems that might help your business.
Don’t be afraid of showing who you are as a person as you build out your practice.
It can be scary to expand your practice, and many therapists want assurance, but there is no one way to expand – it’s individual to your unique practice.
It can take support to expand your practice; reach out to your community for help.

What’s New in the DSM-5-TR? An interview with Dr. Michael B. First Feb 28, 2022

What’s New in the DSM-5-TR?

Curt and Katie interview Dr. Michael B. First, MD, editor and co-chair of the American Psychiatric Associations’ DSM-5 Text revision, coming out March 2022. We explore: What are the differences between a full update and a text revision? What changes have been made (and how were these changes decided)? What new diagnoses can we expect? Can clinicians continue to use the older DSM-5? How can clinicians advocate for changes in future versions of the DSM? All of this and more in the episode.

Interview with Dr. Michael B. First, MD

What changes have been made in the new DSM-5-TR?

Text revisions occur to avoid letting the text become stale while supporting ongoing updates.
New disorders, specifically Prolonged Grief Disorder, have been added.
New codes, modeled off symptom codes, created for documenting suicidality and non-suicidal self-injury with another diagnosis.
New categories of Unspecified Mood Disorder.
New Criteria set for Autism Spectrum Disorder which is more conservative.

How are cultural differences addressed in the DSM-5-TR?

Starting with DSM-IV, there has been a special committee created for culture and culture related issues
Hypothetically, the criteria sets should apply to everyone, but in the text, there is a section on Culture Related Features which is more specific.
The impact of the George Floyd protests inspired the creation of a new committee to look for systemic racism, lack of nuances, and prevalence issues within the DSM.
There are conflicting opinions if “transness” should be included in the DSM and if it’s even a mental disorder.
As the DSM is a diagnostic tool to code for insurance, the DSM takes the stance that the Gender Dysphoria diagnosis stay included so individuals can have access to medical intervention and treatment.
The Steering Committee for new diagnosis is small, but there is diversity.
Before a diagnosis is approved, it is posted for 45 days on the DSM website for all, including people with lived experience, to comment and advocate for diversity

What is the Process for Accepting New Diagnose?

The steering committee accepts proposals through the DSM portal for new diagnosis
Some diagnoses are qualified based on the United States’ continued use of ICD-10, whereas the ICD-11 is more progressive.
With Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, some of the criteria from the ICD have been incorporated into the DSM diagnosis of PTSD
Proposals are floated around often, but they often don’t have enough empirical research yet.
Proposals need to show a pool of patients who don’t fit other diagnoses, a gap in treatment, and a difference from other possible similar diagnoses.
New diagnoses will be approved on a continuum, making the electronic DSM-V-TR the most up to date resource.

How Therapists Promote Diet Culture: An interview with Rachel Coleman Feb 21, 2022

How Therapists Promote Diet Culture: An interview with Rachel Coleman Curt and Katie speak with Rachel Coleman, LMFT, CEDS about what therapists should consider in working with clients who have eating disorders, the impact of society on body image, and how clinicians can increase their competency in an area many feel they are lacking. Why do so many clinicians feel under trained in treating eating disorders? How do societal views impact our client’s body image and what is the impact of diet culture? Does a lack of graduate education in eating disorders ethically impact our ability to treat eat disorders in a non-specialized practice? What’s missing from our understanding of eating disorders? All of this and more in the episode. Interview with Rachel Coleman, LMFT, CEDS

What do clinicians do when therapeutic interventions might trigger eating disorder behavior?

Many interventions call for physical activity that might trigger eating disorder behavior or feelings in clients.
If a client wants to participate in a physical activity intervention, consider their motivation.
Ensure that a client has multiple tools in their anxiety toolbox.
Be mindful if the modalities and treatment recommendations are based in fat phobia or weight stigma.

How can clinicians assess their clients for an eating disorder?

Eating disorders can present meeting full DSM-V criteria or, in many cases, seem at the “subclinical” or mildly clinical level.
Evaluate how your client feels about societal messaging and the impact it might have on them.
In assessing clients, look to determine the impact of behaviors and patterns on daily functioning. If client’s are sacrificing other values to focus on weight or body, it should be discussed.

How can clinicians increase their education in treating eating disorders?

Clinicians need to do their own work surrounding their bodies and internalized messaging.
Therapists should focus on learning about the complexities of eating disorders and the social justice movements that surround weight stigma and fat phobia.
Familiarize yourself with the ideas of body trust, body neutrality, and health at every size.
Many treatment centers offer free webinars to educate clinicians in eating disorder treatment.

What are the ethical and legal considerations in treating eating disorders in a non-specialized private practice?

Always get consultation.
Some clients might present with “subclinical” or mildly clinical levels of an eating disorder.
There is a difference between asking questions and treating the answers.
Clinicians should encourage clients to see a medical doctor when necessary.
Working with dieticians and medical doctors to create a holistic team, best serves the client.
Clinicians should be aware when to refer to a higher level of care.
Therapists should limit self-disclosures

How does Diet Culture impact our clients?

Diet culture is a mindset and system of theories we all exist in, that credits a person’s shape and size as the primary indicators of health and moral superiority.
When bodies don’t meet these “standards” of beauty as societally defined, they are often oppressed.
Messaging about dieting and our bodies is inescapable in our society, so it’s easy for subconscious beliefs about food and bodies to infiltrate sessions.
Therapists’ self-disclosures should be limited and focus on affirming client’s experience.

What to Know When Providing Therapy for Elite Athletes Feb 14, 2022

What to Know When Providing Therapy for Elite Athletes

Curt and Katie chat about the specific competence required to work with elite athletes. We explore how elite athletes present (including diagnosis) as well as what treatment looks like for elite athletes. We also talk about the training cycles and periodization, developmental stages, and identity formation for competitive athletes. We also look at what healthy training environments include and how athletes can take care of their own well-being.

In this podcast episode we look at what therapists need to know about working with elite athletes

For our second continuing education worthy podcast, we wanted to support therapists in understanding what they need to know (or know that they don’t know) about working with elite athletes.

The differences between being a fan and being competent to work with elite athletes

The types of competence needed to support athletes who are at an elite level
Sports psychology and other areas of specialty to support athletes
The stringent criteria to be called a sports psychologist

What diagnoses do athletes present with when they enter therapy?

Not necessarily anxiety, but it can be anxiety related or unrelated to sport
Diagnoses can be related to the sport due to body, substance, or changes in circumstances
Diagnoses can also be related to other elements of their life and transitions

What does treatment look like for elite athletes?

High school and college athletes are most likely the clients we’ll see
The integral nature of their team and who is best to be included in the treatment team
Logistics and scheduling due to games and practices, obtaining required consents
Training schedules, food information is relevant to therapeutic work
The different goals for elite athletes than for other folks who enjoy sports
Looking at in the moment frustrations versus a desire to leave the sport
Sports assessments to identify athletic coping skills
Helping athletes to make decisions for themselves and identify when it’s burnout and when it’s a mismatch

Understanding training cycles and the impact on athlete clients

Specific language that athletes may use
Periodization, micro, meso, and macro cycles in training
The importance of planned growth and rest as well as peaking at the right time
The focus of timing for everything
How injuries or changes in schedule (like with covid) can impact this timing and what that means for athletes

Developmental factors for young athletes

The focus of training for younger children as well as the investment phase for youth
Developing one’s identity as an athlete
What can positively impact and negatively impact the future commitment to sport
Other developmental factors related to being a teen interacting with these developmental elements

What a balanced life looks like for elite athletes

Who athletes spend time with, share their life with
The hobbies that complement the sport
Understanding how maintenance impacts the rest of the schedule

The factors that improve an athlete’s well-being

Myths related to the tangential benefits of being an elite athlete (i.e., I’ll get college paid for)
The importance of having a therapist who isn’t just a “fan”
The differences between team and individual sports
The competency needed related to understanding the sport to understand all of the dynamics
What good social systems around athletes have in common
The understanding of how each person in the athlete’s circle interacts with the goals
The culture created within the team and with the people around the athlete
Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka – a look at how they have been taking care of themselves

The transition out of being an elite athlete

Injury and unplanned retirement
Planning for an intentional retirement
Moving out of the athlete identity into something new

Antiracist Practices in the Room: An Interview with Dr. Allen Lipscomb Feb 07, 2022

Antiracist Practices in the Room: An Interview with Dr. Allen Lipscomb

Curt and Katie speak with Dr. Allen Lipscomb, PsyD, LCSW about what therapists should consider in working with Black clients, common mistakes, and implementing anti-racist procedures into practice. What can therapists do better? Where is graduate education lacking? How do we respect and explore our Black client’s narratives? Who can work with Black clients? How can therapists help clients heal from race-based trauma?

How can we do better with our Black male clients?

Black male grief shows up in different ways than other client’s grief might show up.
When assessing Black males for psychosis or conspiracy theories, ensure that you look at the context of their lived experience before determining psychosis
The traumatic experiences of racialization, trauma, and mistreatment that many Black people can sound like lead to thoughts that might sound psychotic to an uneducated clinician.
Listen to the client’s narratives. Question what the themes and patterns are and if the thought is maladaptive to their functioning and well-being.
Utilize FIDO: frequency, intensity, duration and onset in questioning clients
If a clinician is unsure if a thought is a conspiracy or legitimate threat, assess for how the client’s community is responding to the client’s narrative
Ask clients how the session was for them. How was it for you to meet with me? Acknowledge your cultural limitations and create an invitation for the client to let you know when you can do better.
Be mindful, Black male clients might be minimizing their experiences to be “less threatening.” This is the cultural congruency dichotomy that clients often have to take to avoid further potential trauma.

What does it mean to be antiracist?

Clients might be resistant to bringing up a clinician’s whiteness in the space.
Black clients might not think that a white clinician has the capability or desire to talk about race. It is the responsibility of the clinician to actively establish the openness of the space to discuss race and the client’s lived experience.
This should be a continuous conversation that is led by therapists, to make the topic open until it feels naturally open.
It’s affirming to have someone who is white in a position of power to say to me – hey I recognize we’re racially different and we could have a different experience how that shows up in this space.
You can catch moments where anti-racist action could’ve been taken or acknowledged in the next session, if missed during a session.
The need to revamp our graduate programs to be anti-oppressive and anti-racist
How to show up as an ally in the room, without centering your own experience

What is Dr. Allen Lipscomb’s BRuH Method?

The BRuH Method, or BAT, stands for BRuH Approach to Therapy.
BRuH stands for Bonding through Recognition to promote Understanding in Healing when providing therapeutic services to Black men specifically.
The approach is modeled off of other therapeutic approaches like CBT and DBT
Phases include: Bonding Phase, Recognition Phase, Understanding Phase, Healing Phase
The clinician is always doing aspects of the various phases throughout the course of treatment
This is not an evidence-based practice but an honoring based practice
The evidence of efficacy in this practice comes when you see your clients continuously returning to receive more sessions, from the feedback they give you, and the improvements in day-to-day life.

Who can work with Black male clients?

There can be an urge for white therapists to refer clients of color, especially Black men, to Black clinicians
These referrals are unnecessary. A therapist of any background, if holding the space correctly and connecting with the client’s felt experience, can work with a client of color, specifically Black men.
It’s important to be mindful that questions asked to clients are not investigative or for the purpose of educating the therapist.

What Can Therapists Say About Celebrities? The ethics of public statements Jan 31, 2022

What Can Therapists Say About Celebrities? The ethics of public statements

Curt and Katie chat about whether therapists should make public statements and diagnose public figures. This is our first continuing education eligible podcast, discussing the ethics of speaking out about the mental health of people in the public eye. We explore the origins of the Goldwater rule, a group of psychiatrists who purposefully broke it, and how masters level organizations address this concern. We also provide you with some ideas about how you can make this decision for yourself.

In this podcast episode we look at the ethics of modern therapists diagnosing public figures

For our first continuing education worthy podcast, we wanted to address something that is becoming more and more prevalent in our field: therapists speaking out about the mental health of public figures.

What is the Goldwater Rule?

The history of the Goldwater Rule
The impact of DSM II (and the update to DSM III)
The original intention of the rule versus the current interpretation of the Goldwater Rule
Fears from the American Psychiatric Association that seems to have driven the development of (and on-going commitment to) this rule

How the Goldwater Rule (and Similar Ethical Principles) Have Shifted Over Time

Perspective from one of the original framers of the Goldwater Rule
Moving from teleological to deontological interpretations
How the internet and social media has changed the landscape
The American Psychiatric Association expanding their commitment to the Goldwater Rule, stating reasons psychiatrists should not assess
The Goldwater “Caveat” or “Principle” versus Goldwater “Rule” or even Goldwater “Doctrine”
Beyond diagnosis to restricting any comment on the behavior or mental health of a public figure
The stance on this ethic from American Psychological Association and the large Masters Level Organizations (AAMFT, ACA, NASW, and CAMFT, for example)

The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump – the Public Diagnosis of an American President

The group of psychiatrists who pushed back on the Goldwater Rule
The Duty to Warn – does it apply here?
What are the challenges of accurately diagnosing Trump?
Where expertise is helpful (and how the public can water down diagnosis)

Current Guidelines for Modern Therapists

Whether diagnosis is required for a duty to warn
The tactic of putting forward information without drawing conclusions (and why we don’t like this strategy)
Specific guidance from the professional organizations on what therapists can and cannot do
Taking special care in how one decides what they say about an individual in public settings
Using one’s professional judgement and special care

Cautions When Using Your Professional Judgment

The potential harm of discussing diagnosis on social media
Bias, cultural factors, and other information that could make an inaccurate or harmful diagnosis
Mental health stigma and other concerns related to diagnostic language (ICD-10, DSM-V)
Speaking outside of your professional expertise
Questions to ask yourself before making a public statement

Working with Trans Clients: Trans Resilience and Gender Euphoria Jan 24, 2022

Working with Trans Clients: Trans Resilience and Gender Euphoria

An interview with Beck Gee-Cohen, MA CADC-II, about how therapists can be better clinicians for trans people. Curt and Katie talk to Beck about gender identity (and why every therapist should do their own work around gender), historical perspectives on masculinity and femininity, the concepts of trans resilience and gender euphoria, the real problems with the DSM diagnosis of gender dysphoria and considerations for providing therapy to trans clients.

Interview with Beck Gee-Cohen MA CADC-II Director of LGBTQ+ Programming

In this podcast episode we talk about trans mental health

We invited Beck Gee-Cohen, MA CADC-II to come talk with us about providing therapy for trans individuals.

Modern therapists need to keep learning when working with trans clients

Getting pronouns correct is a basic expectation at this point
Finding the balance between focusing on a client’s trans identity and other elements of their identity and experience
Understanding trans identity 101 is a basic level of knowledge that all therapists should have
What you do need to learn from your trans clients
Therapists need to do their own work around gender

The work that therapists must do around gender

The role that society plays in defining gender and the binary
The privilege cis folks have in not being asked to assess/address their gender
“Women’s” and “men’s” issues
Societal expectations related to gender
The history of gender expression and how what is acceptable has shifted
Cultural and generational differences related to gender

The Concept of Trans Resilience

The tendency to focus on the pain of being trans
The bias and hate that trans folks face, and how they continue to show up
The importance of celebrating who you are as a trans person
“You’re so brave” doesn’t see the full picture
How hard it is to show up – and what it means that trans folks continue to do so
Moving away from just focusing on gender dysphoria versus looking at gender euphoria

Gender Dysphoria versus Gender Euphoria and the problems with the DSM

How the DSM is used for the medical needs of trans folks
The problem with assigning the diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria to an individual
Internalized gender dysphoria (it is not my dysphoria, it is the dysphoria of the people around me about my gender)
Playing around with gender shouldn’t be a diagnosis, it is so culturally bound
Trans individuals have to know what to report so they can get hormones (i.e., they may have to lie about being dysphoric in order to “check the boxes”)
The problem with gatekeeping and the hope that trans folks being in work groups to help shift these guidelines

Better Therapy for Trans Clients

Therapeutic alliance is the most important
How therapists can appropriately use vulnerability when a client comes out as trans
The likelihood of someone coming out initially versus after trust is built and how to handle it
Sharing the therapeutic process and how you will learn and educate yourself
The problem of signaling that you are capable of working with LGBTQ+ people when you are not trained
Awareness of how being trans impacts the client in front of you
When the client is coming into therapy due to their gender identity
Understanding the back story and how someone identified that “something is different”
Looking at what they want to do next (which may be very little or a full plan on how they handle being trans).

Who’s in the Room? Siri, Alexa, and Confidentiality Jan 17, 2022

Who’s in the Room? Siri, Alexa, and Confidentiality

Curt and Katie chat about how therapists can maintain confidentiality in a world of AI assistants and smart devices. What duty do clinicians have to inform clients? How can we balance confidentiality with the reality of how commonly these devices are involved in therapy? Can telehealth therapy be completely confidential and data secure? We discuss our shift in clinical responsibility, best practices, and how we can minimize exposure of clinical data to ensure the confidentiality our clients expect and deserve.

In this podcast episode we talk about something therapists might not consider: smart devices and AI assistants

We received a couple of requests to talk about the impact of smart devices on confidentiality and their compliance with HIPAA within a therapeutic environment. We tackle this question in depth:

What are best practices for protecting client confidentiality with smart devices?

Turning off the phone, or placing the phone on “airplane mode”
Warning clients about their own smart devices and confidentiality risks
The ethical responsibilities to inform about limits of confidentiality and take precautions
It’s all about giving clients choice and information

What should therapists consider when smart devices and AI assistants are in the room?

– Curt Widhalm

Whistle-blower reports on how often these devices are actually listening
Turning off your phone is a lot cheaper than identity theft
Consider your contacts, geolocation, and Wi-Fi connection
Some of this, as we progress into a more technological world, might be unavoidable

How do Alexa and Siri impact HIPAA compliance for therapists?

The importance of end-to-end encryption for all HIPAA activities (and your smart device may not be compliant)
The cost of HIPAA violations if identity theft can be traced back
Understand the risks you are taking, do what you can, and remember no one is perfect

What can modern therapists do with their smart devices?

GPS location services can be left on for a safety reason, emergency services use GPS location
Adjusting settings for voice activation, data sharing, when apps are running, locations, etc.
Turning off and airplane mode are also options
Always let the client know the limits of confidentiality

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Psychotherapy in Ontario: How Confidential is my Therapy? By Beth Mares, Registered Psychotherapist The Privacy Problem with Digital Assistants by Kaveh Waddell

Hey Siri and Alexa: Let's Talk Privacy Practices by Elizabeth Weise, USA Today

Patient and Consumer Safety Risks When Using Conversational Assistants for Medical Information: An Observational Study of Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, 2018

Hey Siri: Did you Break Confidentiality, or did I? By Nicole M. Arcuri Sanders, Counseling Today

Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant Not HIPAA Compliant, Psychiatry Advisor

Hey Alexa, are you HIPAA compliant? 2018

Person-Centered Tech

How to Understand and Treat Psychosis Jan 10, 2022

How to Understand and Treat Psychosis: An interview with Maggie Mullen, LCSW

Curt and Katie interview Maggie Mullen, LCSW, a national trainer on culturally responsive, evidence-based care for psychotic spectrum disorders. We talk with Maggie about their anti-racist and disability justice framework of psychosis, understanding psychosis on a spectrum, what to do when psychosis enters the treatment picture, assessment of psychosis, and treatment using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). We also talk about how society defines “normal” and pathology, exploring cultural differences in these definitions.

Interview with Maggie Mullen, LCSW

In this podcast episode we talk about looking at psychosis differently

Maggie Mullen’s anti-racist and disability justice framework of psychosis

Maggie came from a community organizing background
Inequity and lack of resources for people who experience chronic psychosis
The focus on medication rather than other forms of treatment for psychosis
BIPOC individuals being shot by police when psychosis shows up in a public space

“Psychotic spectrum” versus the segregation of psychosis as “other”

“We are often the least prepared to deal with our most acute clients”

The continued segregation of psychotic disorders
Cultural considerations when determining what is psychosis or other types of experiences
The lack of inclusion of psychosis in the research
Psychosis is not “other” but is actually a spectrum of behaviors and are very common
The symptoms of psychosis are not constant, they fluctuate for every individual
The importance of following the model and voices of the disability justice movement
Including education on the treatment for psychosis, rather than allowing therapists to opt out
Folks with psychosis are often not included in the research, which needs to change

What to do when psychosis comes into the treatment picture for our clients

We need more training on psychosis to feel confident
Normalizing the experience of psychosis
Helping to make peace with psychotic symptoms (i.e., making friends with the voices) to decrease distress
Looking at treatments beyond medication
How to identify psychosis and assess for impact and impairment
The myth that all elements of psychosis are distressing and bad

Why Maggie Mullen is using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to treat psychosis

“People with psychosis deal with emotion dysregulation, actually more so than the average person…that's where we know DBT is really effective”

We frequently underestimate the ability to help folks with psychosis
Using DBT skills for emotion regulation concerns that frequently come up in psychosis
Psychosis and PTSD oftentimes occur together and aren’t always diagnosed
Trauma can influence the onset of psychosis AND psychosis can be traumatic
Maggie’s pilot program with DBT for psychosis
The concrete and straight forward nature of DBT skills make them very accessible

Understanding psychosis differently, including the cultural differences of what is “normal”

How to identify what is “real” and what is psychosis
How do you define what is normal for someone?
What do we decide what we pathologize?
Breaking up the binary of normal or not normal – reframing as “experience”
The importance of understanding what is negatively impacting the client and how to keep clients safe
Take the lead of your client and trust that they know themselves best
The tension between taking the lead of the client and mandates and requirements as a therapist

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Psychosis by Maggie Mullen, LCSW

Maggie wrote a book to democratize DBT skills
Using DBT, but making the skills more concrete and accessible

Which Theoretical Orientation Should You Choose? Jan 03, 2022

Which Theoretical Orientation Should You Choose?

Curt and Katie chat about how therapists typically select their clinical theoretical orientation for treatment. We look at the different elements of theoretical orientation (including case conceptualization, treatment interventions, and common factors), what impacts our choices, the importance of having a variety of clinical models to draw from, the types of practices that focus on only one clinical theory, and suggestions about how to approach choosing your theories for treatment, including some helpful assessments.

In this podcast episode we talk about how therapists pick their theoretical orientation

We received a couple of requests to talk about clinical theoretical orientation and how Curt and Katie chose their own. We tackle this question in depth:

Choosing a clinical theoretical orientation

The problem with the term “eclectic” when describing a clinical orientation
How Curt and Katie each define their clinical orientations
“Multi-modal” therapy

The different elements of clinical orientations

Case conceptualization
Treatment interventions
Common Factors and what actually makes therapy work

What impacts which theoretical orientation we choose as therapists

Clinical supervision
Training
Personal values and alignment with a theoretical orientation
Common sense (what makes sense to you logically)
Choosing interventions that you like

The importance of having a variety of clinical theories that you can draw from

Comprehensive understanding is required to be able to apply and know when not to apply a clinical orientation
Avoid fitting a client’s presentation into your one clinical orientation
Deliberate, intentional use of different orientations

Why some therapy practices operate with a single clinical model

Comprehensive Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) therapists run their practices and their lives with DBT principals
Going deeply into a very specific theory (like DBT, EMDR, EFT, etc.) while you learn it
Researchers are more likely to be singularly focused on one theory

Suggestions on How to Approach Choosing Your Clinical Theoretical Orientation

Obtain a comprehensive understanding of the theoretical orientation
Understand the theory behind the interventions
Recognizing when to use a very specific theory or when you can be more “eclectic” in your approach
Deciding how fluid you’d like to be with your theoretical orientation
Find what gels with you and do more of that
The ability to pretty dramatically shift your theoretical orientation later in your career

Instruments for Choosing a Theoretical Orientation

Theoretical Orientation Scale (Smith, 2010)
Counselor Theoretical Position Scale

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Institute for Creative Mindfulness

Very Bad Therapy Podcast

Petko, Kendrick and Young (2016): Selecting a Theory of Counseling: What influences a counseling student to choose?

What is the Best Type of Therapy Elimination Game

The Practice of Multimodal Therapy by Arnold A. Lazarus

Poznanski and McClennan (2007): Measuring Counsellor Theoretical Orientation

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Unlearning Very Bad Therapy

Interview with Dr. Diane Gehart: An Incomplete List of Everything Wrong with Therapist Education

The January 2022 Surprise of Good Faith Estimates Requirements Dec 27, 2021

The January 2022 Surprise of Good Faith Estimates Requirements

Curt and Katie chat about the No Surprises Act, specifically how to navigate the requirement for clinicians to provide Good Faith Estimates to clients. We talk about the impact of Good Faith Estimates on the intake process, potential complications when providing these estimates to your patients, and suggestions for how to simplify and systemize this requirement.

In this episode of the Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide we talk about the No Surprises Act and the Good Faith Estimate Requirement

When we heard about the planned implementation of these new requirements, we decided to dive into the legislation and articles from professional associations to understand what we actually need to do starting January 1, 2022.

What is the No Surprises Act and the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) Requirement?

The goal of the No Surprises legislation is to avoid surprising patients with large medical bills
There are benefits and challenges with the requirement to provide good faith estimates to our clients
The Good Faith Estimate requirement is to provide the estimated cost of services (fee times number of sessions) at the beginning of treatment (if asked) and at least annually, if needed

How will the Good Faith Estimate Requirement impact the Intake Process for Therapy?

We are required to determine whether someone is hoping to get insurance reimbursement
We must communicate the ability to obtain a written good faith estimate from providers
We are required to estimate the number of sessions and total cost of treatment
We talk about when you may need to provide a new good faith estimate (and explain changes)
We provided a suggestion to start with a GFE for the intake session and then provide a second GFE after that initial session

Potential Complications Curt and Katie see for Therapists Providing Good Faith Estimates

The requirement for diagnosis very early in treatment
The requirement for a diagnosis written on paper – both for folks who don’t know or have not asked before, as well as for folks who do not want a written diagnosis
Concerns related to putting forward the total cost of therapy for the year
The elements of bureaucracy that could negatively impact the therapeutic relationship
The No Surprises Act legislation isn’t finalized and may have additional components or changes

Our Suggestions to Systematize the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) Requirement for Therapists

Consider coordinating the timeline for updating GFEs, treatment plans, frequency of sessions, progress in treatment, and a reassessment of the sliding scale
Think through how you talk about diagnosis and treatment planning ahead of time
The idea to create some sort of mechanism for folks to either decline a GFE or to request an oral versus paper GFE
Use recommended language to create your notice for your office as well as on your website
Create your own template to simplify the process, including a boiler plate GFE for your intake
Create a template for GFEs for on-going treatment

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

APA Article: New Billing Disclosure Requirements Take Effect in 2022

Template for a Good Faith Estimate

Good Faith Estimate Legislation Language from the No Surprises Act

Federal Register: Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part II

CMS.gov: Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part II, Interim Final Rule with comment period

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Should Private Practice Therapists Take Insurance?

Make your Paperwork Meaningful

How Can Therapists Actually Retire? Dec 20, 2021

How Can Therapists Actually Retire? - An interview with David Frank, financial planner for therapists

Curt and Katie talk with David about managing finances, including student loan debt and retirement. We look at when to start saving, what to do when you’re starting to save for retirement later in life, and how much is too much to save. David also shares his concept of a Money Date and how you should start looking at your financial picture. He also talks about financial planning and when to seek a professional for support.

Interview with David Frank, Turning Point Financial Life Planning

In this podcast episode we talk about: Managing Personal and Professional Finances

How perfectionism can get in the way of saving
The importance of “just getting started” in saving for retirement
Saving money is a practice, not something you figure out once
Why it is important to save money as soon as you can

Navigating Student Loan Debt

Student loan debt and how overwhelming it is to look at these debts
The desire to pay off this debt as quickly as possible
David’s advice to save at least one time your annual income before aggressively paying off your student loan debt
The comparison of interest rates on your debt versus returns on investing money

Retirement and Investing in your Future “Starting to save and invest young is such great advice… and… it’s advice for time travelers”

For younger folks, the advice is to save as soon as possible
What to do if you are closer to retirement age and you haven’t started saving for retirement
How to determine when you can retire

“No one does this money thing perfectly, even if we start out of the gate pretty strong.”

What to do when life happens and you have to start over
David’s own story of having to start over
Societal fear due to 2008 and the Great Recession

David Frank’s Concept of “Money Dates”

Reserve time each week to look at your money
Start understanding how much you need to save
Idea: go to the Social Security Administration Website to see what you’re entitled to in social security

How Much Money to Save

The money mindset concerns that can get in the way of saving (or even looking at) your money
How much money is too much money to save?
Emergency funds and the feeling of safety and security
The risks of saving too much money
Quality of life questions when you are underspending
Online tools to identify what you need in retirement, so you know when you’ve saved enough
Actual numbers of what to save for retirement and what you can spend now

Financial Planning – When and why to seek help with your money

The complexity of the decisions related to paying debt versus investing
The number of options available to each person when making decisions on our money
Get feedback on how well you are doing on your practice financials and saving for retirement
Risk planning, financial planning, estate and incapacity planning
The importance of understanding your values when you look at how to spend your money
Financial planning when you don’t have a lot of money
Choosing what you sacrifice when you decide to invest in shiny objects
The problem of “shoulds” and getting financial advice from other therapists

Should Private Practice Therapists Take Insurance? Dec 13, 2021

Should Private Practice Therapists Take Insurance?

Curt and Katie chat about the latest data from SimplePractice on private practice clinicians billing insurance. We explore the most common set up for clinicians (a hybrid insurance/private pay practice) as well as how therapists bill insurance, the disparity between private pay fees and insurance rates (and how different these disparities are across the United States), how strategies for growing private practices are affected by who is paying, and how to set yourself up for a successful hybrid insurance practice.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Demystifying the most Common CPT Codes E-Book from SimplePractice
Looking at the most common make up of therapists’ private practices (hybrid: insurance and private pay)
The theories about whether to take insurance of not
The process of starting a practice (credentialing timeline, marketing, etc.)
The benefits of being on an insurance panel (e.g., nearly 100% close rate)
The income differences for clinicians at different stages of practice development
The average number of appointments per week by type of practice (insurance, hybrid, or private pay) and what that means for your income
How well insurance reimburses in different states (and comparing these rates to typical private pay fees)
Financial considerations when looking at the insurance rates you will get in your area
How to set up your practice if you choose to take insurance
The most frequently billed CPT code (as well as others to consider)
The controversy around 90837 and how to make sure you get paid
Different strategies to build a sustainable business with an insurance or hybrid private practice

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Demystifying the Most Commonly Used CPT® Codes for Mental Health

Relevant Episodes:

Busting Insurance Myths

Make Your Paperwork Meaningful

Noteworthy Documentation

Negotiating Sliding Scale

Special Interview: Open Path Psychotherapy Collective

Connect with us!

Our consultation services:

Why Therapists Quit Part 2

When Clients Have to Manage Their Therapists Dec 06, 2021

When Clients Have to Manage Their Therapists

Curt and Katie chat about the work (or mental load) therapists often give to clients that is really ours. We talk about requiring our clients to do things that are not helpful to treatment like: manage our time, do excessive paperwork, negotiate through our money stuff, be guinea pigs, or teach us about their culture or other differences. We also look at the impact of these abdications of responsibility on the therapeutic relationship and the clinical work.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

When we give more work to clients (that isn’t really good therapy)
The mental load or emotional labor that therapists can unwittingly add for clients
Time management and the impact of poor practices on clients
Being late, managing the shape of the session, scheduling
The difference between being authentic and being irresponsible
The care you show when managing rescheduling and the impact on the relationship
What can come up, especially related to attachment wounds
The problem when you consistently forget to get back to your clients
Paperwork as a burden on clients, especially when clinicians don’t read the paperwork
The message you give when you don’t follow up on a client’s homework
When outcome measures feel like paperwork that is solely for the benefit of the therapist, rather than something that feels relevant to the client
Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) poorly implemented
Delayed billing, not providing superbills timely
Allowing a balance to accrue
The power dynamic and power imbalance when clients owe therapists a sizable amount
The labor we’re giving to our clients when don’t have structure on payment (sliding scale fees and payment plans)
How our own money stuff might come into these conversations
Adding new theories or trying new interventions on clients without a strong clinical rationale
The danger to the client’s trust in the process if we throw new interventions in each week
The mental load of asking our clients to teach about their own experience or navigating therapist bias
Identifying a lack of fit or when treatment is over (rather than forcing our clients to do so)
Own our humanness and set ourselves up for success
Why this work sometimes gets handed to clients (rigidity, therapy culture)

How to Be Accessible Beyond the Sliding Scale Nov 29, 2021

How to Be Accessible Beyond the Sliding Scale

An interview with Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, LMSW, about how therapy can be accessible (and not just financially). Curt and Katie chat with Lindsay about capitalism versus money exchange, the social enterprise model, and how therapists can make a good living without feeling like greedy capitalists. We also explore the many different types of accessibility and the importance of setting your fees based on your needs and values rather than as a mechanism to single-handedly fix the broken system or to meet an artificial money goal.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, LMSW, Mind Money Balance

Lindsay Bryan-Podvin (she/her) is a biracial financial therapist, speaker, and author of the book "The Financial Anxiety Solution." In her therapy practice, Mind Money Balance, she uses shame-free financial therapy to help people get their minds and money in balance. She's expanded her services to help private practice therapists with their money mindset, sustainable pricing, and authentic marketing so they can include financial self-care in their work. She lives with her partner and their dog on the traditional land of the Fox, Peoria, Potawatomi, and Anishinabewaki peoples also known as Michigan.

In this episode we talk about:

How therapy can be more accessible (and not just monetarily)
The money “shit” that gets in the way of us thinking about other options for accessibility
Decreasing stigma and the notion that therapy is by and for white folks
Are we making our practices accessible for all sorts of folks?
ADA compliance, supporting neurodivergent and disabled folks
Cultural competence, the ability to apply that in sessions with clients who are different than us
Being embedded in our communities
Taking therapy out of the shadows
The challenges in getting out and having a larger voice
How accessibility is intertwined with therapist visibility
How to become part of your community in effective and impactful ways
Financial ways to make your practice more accessible beyond sliding scale
Social Enterprise Model: intersection of what you do well, what values you stand for, and what can you get paid well to do
Feeling like a greedy capitalist
What it means to be paid well
How to think about setting your fees
Fee-setting based on what you need to survive and thrive (not capitalist principles)
The problem with “know your worth”
The big cognitive shift required to move from community mental health pricing and work-life balance, fees
Tying money to quality of life, not specific monetary goals
Getting to “enough” not more and more
Capitalism versus money exchange
The wealth of knowledge we have as therapists (and how therapists take it for granted and/or devalue it)
Sharing your knowledge as a mechanism of accessibility to your whole community
To practice self-care, you have to be able to afford it

Peer Support Specialists Nov 22, 2021

Peer Support Specialists

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Kemisha Fields, MSW, Amparo Ostojic, MPA, and Jeff Kashou, LMFT

Kemisha Fields, MSW: Kemisha Fields was born and raised in South Los Angeles, CA. As a former foster youth, she has taken a professional interest in the commitment to serving the needs of children and families as a Children’s Social Worker working in Dependency Investigations. She has studied many modalities to bring healing to those in need. Kemisha is a life, long learner inspired by the abundance of opportunities available to enrich the lives of the people she serves. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from the University of Phoenix. She received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Southern California. Currently, Kemisha is a Doctoral Student of Business Administration with an emphasis in organizational leadership.

Jeff Kashou, LMFT: Jeff Kashou, LMFT is a manager of clinical product and service design for a mental health tech company that provides telemedicine to those with serious mental illness. Previously, he ran a county mental health program where he helped develop the role fo peers for adolescent programs county-wide and collaborated with peers to create management practices to support their professional development. In this position, Jeff developed a practice guideline for the utilization of peers in behavioral health settings for the County of Orange. Jeff has also served on the Board of Directors for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, where he helped lead the association to support the field of Marriage and Family Therapy and those with mental health issues. He consults as experts in mental health for television productions, to ensure the accurate and helpful portrayal of mental illness and treatment in the media. Most recently, Jeff and his wife Sheila wrote a children's book, The Proudest Color, that helps children of color cope with racism that will be on shelves this Fall.

In this episode we talk about:

What a peer support specialist is, how they work
What peers can uniquely bring
The hiring process, qualifications, and what that means for individuals seeking these jobs
The difference in perspective that peer and parent partners can bring to treatment teams
The importance of lived experience
Comparing holistic versus medical model treatment
The medical model and the recovery model complement each other
The importance of advocacy for individuals (with the support of the peer support specialist)
How peer support specialists are best integrated into treatment teams and programs
The potential problems when the peer support specialist role is not understood
How someone can become a Peer Support Specialist
Certification and standardization of the peer support specialist role
SB803 – CA certification for Peer Support Specialists Legislation
Ideal training for these professionals
How best to collaborate with a peer support specialist
What it is like to implement one of these programs
The challenges of hiring a peer support specialist
Exploring whether there are systems in place to support peer support specialists with their unique needs
The recommendation for a tool kit and a consultant to support programs in implementing best practices
The Recovery Model and peer support specialists in practice
Multidisciplinary teams may have pre-existing bias and prejudice against folks with lived experience, the role of stigma in the interactions

Is Your Practice Ready for Paid Digital Marketing? Nov 15, 2021

Is Your Practice Ready for Paid Digital Marketing?

An interview with John Sanders, owner of RevKey, about Google and Social Media Ads. Curt and Katie talk with John about the importance of a solid website, effective sales process, and metrics when considering paid digital advertising. We also explore what to expect when you create Google or Facebook Ads. We also talk about why you may want to outsource this and the financial risks for getting this marketing wrong.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with John Sanders, RevKey

John is an expert in paid search, specifically, Google Ads (which used to be called Google AdWords). He holds a BBA and MBA, and he has put this education to work in a variety of positions in the marketing field, including inside sales, purchasing, E-Commerce, and marketing management. Once he found Google Ads, John was hooked. He enjoys helping businesses generate leads through Google Ads that will help their companies grow, and he has partnered with businesses in a range of professions, including medical offices, B2B companies, and national product brands. John can help your business achieve its full potential.

In this episode we talk about:

Google Ads and other digital advertising (social media for example)
The mistakes folks make in purchasing digital ads, typical pitfalls
Specific to Google Search Ads: why not to use smart or dynamic ads
Keywords and negative keywords
The importance of tracking your results and what results you’re looking for
The difference between social media and Google ads
What a good ad looks like and what page it goes to
What’s needed on a website before starting Google Ads (sufficient, relevant content and pages)
Service pages and the specificity of the search
How social media ads work (e.g., Facebook and Instagram)
Building an audience within social media to target with your ads
The value of an ideal client or niche when using social media ads
Social media is more of a branding exercise than Google Ads
Facebook has a lot of specific rules for advertising
What return on investment you should expect, the goal of placing ads
How to assess what is not working
Looking through the full sales cycle to determine where to improve efforts (including answering your phone)
The technical savvy that is needed to run and assess these ads
The usefulness of Google analytics
Determining DIY versus hiring out advertising
How to outsource paid digital advertising
How to determine the average value of a client
Advantage of paid digital advertising versus Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The potential to lose money if this is done wrong
The benefit if it is set up properly
Setting up a multitier marketing plan including Google Ads and SEO

Conspiracy Theories in Your Office Nov 08, 2021

Conspiracy Theories in Your Office

Curt and Katie chat about clients who bring conspiracy theories into therapy. We talk about differentiating between psychosis and believing in conspiracy theories, the characteristics of folks who may be likely to subscribe to these theories, and the importance of the relationship in working with these folks. We also look at steps we would like professional organizations to take to support clinicians.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How to handle when clients bring conspiracy theories into your office
Distinguishing between delusions, shared psychosis, and conspiracy theories
Reality testing, obsessive research, and other factors that may distinguish between psychosis and conspiracy theory
The impact of internet research and social media algorithms
The characteristics of folks who are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories
How fear of uncertainty, lack of trust can play into this dynamic
Societal impacts like advertising certainty
The different responsibility that therapists have when someone brings in a conspiracy theory
Hesitation in addressing these theories both in the room and at the professional org level
The continuum of engagement with conspiracy theories (from “entertainment” to going down the rabbit hole)
The level of investment in the theory, groups forming around these theories, and cults
The risk factors and legal/ethical responsibilities related to harm
Allen Lipscomb’s BRUH modality (Bonding Recognition Understanding and Healing)
The problem with direct challenging
The importance of identifying is it a conspiracy theory or is someone actually out to get you, especially with clients who are in traditionally marginalized communities
Building trust within the relationship through deep understanding of the client’s experiences
Societal measures that can help (like deplatforming leaders of the theories)
Starting from compassion and curiosity; managing reactions
Exploring the nuance of challenging irrational fears versus conspiracy theories
Seeking common ground and identifying impacts
The call to action to professional organizations for guidance and taking a stance (and the understanding of why they balk at doing so)

Therapists Shaming Therapists Nov 01, 2021

Therapists Shaming Therapists

An interview with Katie Read about therapists shaming each other when they raise their fees or start playing bigger. Curt and Katie talk with Katie about the puritanical culture within the therapist community that leads to group think, public shaming, and milquetoast messaging to mitigate their fear that anything different will be attacked. We look at reasons behind this (jealousy, guilt, shame, and moralism) as well as what therapists can do to step outside of this culture to create more success.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Katie Read, LMFT, Six Figure Flagship

Katie takes lessons from her nearly-20 successful years in the field to help clinicians grow...then OUTgrow...their practices.

Immediately upon licensure, Katie was made Director of a large Transitional Aged Youth program in Oakland, CA. Later, she was recruited to Direct one of Sacramento’s largest Wraparound Programs, and from there she moved into the role of Director of Clinical Supervision, personally supervising 40+ interns towards licensure.

Concurrently, Katie had private practices in multiple cities, taught graduate psychology students, and wrote and created therapist training materials.

Katie is also a special needs mom and loves helping other moms tune into their own intuition and lead their best-possible lives by taking the sometimes-scary leap into following what’s best for them, deep down.

She is the creator of:

The Clinician to Coach® Academy,

The Clini-Coach® Certification,

and the Six-Figure Flagship™ Program.

She’s a little bit obsessed with helping therapists get profitable doing the creative, out-of-the-box, authentic work you're called to do!

In this episode we talk about:

How therapists are treating each other
The concept of trolling, piling on, shame
The Article in the Atlantic – New Puritans – and the concept of the illiberal left
How identity plays a role and the group dynamics within therapist Facebook groups
The shaming related to increasing your fees
Katie Read’s origin story as an on the street social work
The value placed on sacrifice and avoiding guilt for the difference in privilege when working with clients who are impoverished
Socially-prescribed perfectionism, self-imposed perfectionism
The fine line about what is acceptable to charge or make as a therapist
Cancel culture and the lack of allowance for errors
Echo chambers, factions, and exclusion
The fear of dissenting opinions
The low context of the internet paired with the high context nature of a therapist’s job
Milquetoast messaging to avoid getting attacked
Dialing down authenticity to fit into what is acceptable
Challenging our financial mindset
Cultural and societal factors that frame us as cheap labor
The seeming requirement for therapists to suffer in order to understand our clients
The reality of therapists as business owners
Therapist guilt for “earning money”
Feminized professions and the expectation of doing things out the goodness of our hearts
Rapidly changing social rules versus entrenchment in what has been
How this identity shift is spilling over into real life
Jealousy, guilt, and shame, and moralism
The best therapists have the worst impostor syndrome
How to navigate when you’re a therapist going against the grain
The importance of every therapist doing their own money mindset work

Advocacy in the Wake of Looming Mental Healthcare Workforce Shortages Oct 25, 2021

Advocacy in the Wake of Looming Mental Healthcare Workforce Shortages

Curt and Katie chat about the looming (and current) mental health workforce shortages. We talk about the exodus of mental health providers, legislation and proposed bills that seek to address these shortages, and what modern therapists can do to advocate for the needed changes. We also talk about inadequate or harmful strategies (like cheering, scholarships, and subway sandwiches) that are often implemented by agencies and legislatures. We provide individual and collective calls to action.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Recent data that shows that there will be huge workforce shortages in coming years
The difficulty for folks in accessing mental health services in all sectors
The reasons that mental health workers are leaving the profession
High caseloads, higher acuity
Systemic burnout, jaded supervisors
The inadequate “support” of mental health workers with subway sandwiches, cheering heroes
Legislation that has gone through to support healthcare workers in receiving mental health
Legislation that funds hiring more workers
Bills addressing scholarships to increase folks going to school for mental health
The problem with scholarship bills versus loan forgiveness bills
Bills working to decrease wait times for those seeking services
Creating and filling in mental health treatment needs with paraprofessionals, peer counselors
Navigating funding and worker shortages with new treatment planning
The challenge in “steeling our hearts” to make choices in how we work and who we work for
Both individual and systemic action that we can take to address these issues
A request for the National Guard to come in and staff residential treatment centers
The importance of taking action now to get involved in legislative advocacy

Waiving Goodbye to Telehealth Progress Oct 18, 2021

Waiving Goodbye to Telehealth Progress

An interview with Dr. Ben Caldwell, LMFT about the impacts of rolling back the covid telehealth waivers. Curt and Katie talk with Ben about how the expiration of emergency orders will impact the profession. As a case study, we talk through how the California professional boards and associations are navigating these challenges, including looking at disciplinary action that has caused alarm (although we don’t think it should). We also talk about calls to action to get involved now, so you can shape future policy on telehealth, tele-supervision, and remote work.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Ben Caldwell, LMFT

Dr. Benjamin Caldwell, PsyD is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#42723) and the Continuing Education Director for SimplePractice Learning. He currently serves as adjunct faculty for California State University Northridge in Los Angeles. He has taught at the graduate level for more than 15 years, primarily in Law and Ethics, and has written and trained extensively on ethical applications in mental health care. In addition to serving a three-year term on the AAMFT Ethics Committee, Dr. Caldwell served as the Chair of the Legislative and Advocacy Committee for AAMFT-California for 10 years. He served as Editor for the User’s Guide to the 2015 AAMFT Code of Ethics and is the author for several books, including Saving Psychotherapy and Basics of California Law for LMFTS, LPCCs, and LCSWs.

In this episode we talk about:

As a case study: the California Board of Behavioral Sciences rolling back covid waivers and losing the progress made during the pandemic
The emergency orders - covid waivers - that are expiring related to telehealth, tele-supervision
The specifics of remote supervision when emergency orders are rescinded. Looking at permanent legislation concerns as well as the best-case timeline for when remote supervision can come back
The concerns about moving backward and losing all progress made during the pandemic related to electronic and telehealth efforts
The short-sightedness of requiring an in-person meeting when starting telehealth or tele-supervision
Disciplinary action case regarding remote supervision and a prelicensed individual working from home – but there’s so much more nuance than that
Current legislation related to where mental health employees can work (which is actually quite flexible in CA)
Equity and access issues related to not allowing clinicians to provide mental health from home
On-going responsibilities for supervisors to ensure confidentiality and data security
The requirements that supervisors have regardless of where supervisees are working
Calls to Action to attend Board meetings for your licensing board, so you can be informed and help to shape future policy.

Reimagining Therapy Reimagined Oct 11, 2021

Reimagining Therapy Reimagined

Curt and Katie chat about their decision to step back from the Therapy Reimagined Conference and what they will be focusing their energy on moving forward. We explore how we came to this decision and the importance of examining what is working in your business practice. We also talk about how other Modern Therapists can get involved in the Therapy Reimagined movement.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Taking a step back and looking at what the mission for Therapy Reimagined is.
Why we decided to take a step back from the Therapy Reimagined Conference.
What we will be focusing our energy on in place of the conference.
How and what you can begin advocating for to help improve the field.
Factors that get in the way of advocacy.
Ways to get involved with Therapy Reimagined.

Why You Shouldn’t Just Do it All Yourself Oct 04, 2021

Why You Shouldn’t Just Do it All Yourself

An interview with Bibi Goldstein, on how clinicians can grow their business by assessing what they can automate, delegate, or eliminate. We explore the importance of getting rid of the tasks you don’t enjoy doing and benefit of creating more time for things you do enjoy (including getting some rest!). We also talk about how to balance spending money to outsource responsibilities in order to make revenue.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Bibi Goldstein, Founder of Buying Time, LLC

Buying Time, LLC founder, Bibi Goldstein is a time management and systems expert, speaker, co-author of Get Organized Today, Navigating Entrepreneurship and Business Success with Ease, where she provides information on establishing systems in every size business. She is an Infusionsoft Certified Partner and works with many entrepreneurs to automate and systemize their businesses in order to maximize their time. Her team proudly launched www.virtualassistantsuniversity.com in 2021 to provide an opportunity for the millions of people finding themselves needing alternatives to a traditional work environment due to the pandemic.

She is an active member of her business community in the South Bay. Bibi is current chair for the South Bay Women’s Conference, Board Member at the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce, Community Chair/Board Member at the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce, Advisory Board Member for Walk With Sally, a mentoring program and Past President and current Vice President of the South Bay Business Women’s Association, she served as a committee member and past chair for the Manhattan Beach Women In Business, past President of the Kiwanis Club of Manhattan Beach, and a member of the 2011 class of Leadership Redondo.

Bibi has strong lifelong ties to the South Bay community, she lives in Redondo Beach with her husband Mark and has a daughter Julie who is a hairstylist and a local entrepreneur.

In this episode we talk about:

Who Bibi Goldstein is and what she puts out in the world.
What people, specifically healers, get wrong in scaling their businesses.
How clinicians can figure out what to outsource for their business and what to manage themselves.
Understanding how to balance what outsourcing will cost you and how much it will make you.
Important things new clinicians should know about scaling their business and action steps they can take now.
The things clinicians should not outsource.
How clinicians can do a quick assessment of what they need to automate, delegate, or eliminate.
Understanding the importance of rest and doing the things you enjoy to help grow your practice.
Getting over not wanting to outsource because of anxiety about how “bad” you’ve been doing it thus far.
What Buying Time and Virtual Assistant University are all about.

The Return of Why Therapists Quit Sep 27, 2021

The Return of Why Therapists Quit

Curt and Katie chat about how therapists can maintain joy in their practice when they begin to feel burned out. We explore different ways to incorporate self-care into your life and practice, including making future plans and developing your whole identity. We also talk about how privilege impacts therapists’ ability to engage in self-care and career opportunities.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Discussion of why Katie has not quit the field.
Fighting burnout by focusing on what brings you joy in your practice (the Marie Kondo approach).
The importance of self-care and incorporating new hobbies/interests into your life.
Assessing the distinction between “not great days” and a “not great workplace”.
Considering privilege in the ability for therapists to engage in self-care as well as career opportunities.
The impact COVID has had on therapist’s being able to participate in self-care.
Learning how to incorporate time to make plans for future career goals.
How to notice burnout and sacrificial helping.
The importance of fostering all aspects of your identity (because you are not your job).

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Marie Kondo

Steven Covey's Big Rocks

Relevant Episodes:

Why Therapists Quit

Burnout or Depression

We Can’t Help Ourselves

Quarantine Self-Care for Therapists

The Danger of Poor Self-Care for Therapists

Negotiating Sliding Scale

Overcoming Your Poverty Mindset

Career Trekking with MTSG

Connect with us!

How to Fire Your Clients (Ethically) Part 1.5 Sep 20, 2021

Episode 226: How to Fire Your Clients (Ethically) Part 1.5

Curt and Katie chat about different therapist-client mismatches and how to manage them. We explore how to balance dealing with discomfort in therapy and seeking consultation with knowing when and how to refer out clients. We also talk about how to incorporate ideas of redefining and decolonizing therapy.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How to manage situations when the client having a clinical need that the therapist does not feel capable to treat.
Different kinds of therapist-client mismatches.
Cultural considerations in therapist-client matching and incorporating ideas of redefining and decolonizing therapy.
How to refer out clients when there is a mismatch and what to do if the client doesn’t want to be referred out.
What to do when you have different ideologies than your clients.
The benefit of sitting with discomfort when you disagree with your client and knowing when to seek consultation.
How to support clients when they aren’t aware that a different therapeutic style (e.g., direct vs. indirect) may be beneficial to them.
The importance of reviewing treatment plans with client (even when not required).
Revisiting how to address therapy interfering behaviors and how to appropriately terminate with clients when necessary.
Barriers in referring clients out.

What to do When Clients Get in Their Own Way Sep 13, 2021

What to do When Clients Get in Their Own Way

Curt and Katie chat about what therapy interfering behaviors (TIBs) are and how to address them in therapy. We explore the balance between reducing barriers for clients while also holding them accountable for their behavior. We also talk about how to identify if it is the therapist or the client engaging in a TIB.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

What therapy interfering behaviors (TIBs) are and how TIBs show up in the therapy room.
How to address TIBs in therapy (we may disagree a little here).
The balance between reducing barriers for clients and holding them accountable.
If you should still have session when a client shows up late.
Using appropriate self-disclosure to address TIBs.
Should you fire clients for TIBs?
When therapists engage in TIBs.
How to evaluate if it’s a client TIB or therapist TIB.
Managing imposter syndrome when a client becomes hostile because the therapist cannot provide what the client wants.

Are You Even Trauma-Informed? Sep 06, 2021

Episode 224: Are You Even Trauma-Informed?

An interview with Laura Reagan, LCSW-C, on trauma-informed care, including what it looks like in practice. Curt and Katie talk with Laura about the barriers clients face when trying to find a good trauma therapist and how trauma therapists can advertise in a trauma-informed way. We also explore how COVID is impacting trauma treatment and tips for providing virtual trauma therapy.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Laura Reagan LCSW-C,

Laura Reagan, LCSW-C is an integrative trauma therapist, clinical supervisor, consultant and coach. Since 2015 she has hosted Therapy Chat Podcast, where she interviews therapists, authors, researchers and other experts about psychotherapy, trauma, attachment, creativity, mindfulness, relationships and self compassion. In 2021 she launched a new podcast entitled Trauma Chat for anyone who is curious about what trauma is, how it shows up in our lives and how to find the right kind of help for your specific experience. She is the founder of Trauma Therapist Network, a website providing information and resources on trauma and a membership community for therapists. Learn more at www.traumatherapistnetwork.com.

In this episode we talk about:

Who Laura Reagan is and what she puts out in the world.
What therapists get wrong with trauma-informed care in regard to advertising.
How trauma therapists can be trauma-informed in their advertising.
Factors that make it difficult for clients to find a good trauma therapist.
What is trauma and what is trauma therapy?
How COVID is playing a role in trauma treatment.
Tips on how to provide effective virtual trauma therapy.
What therapists can do to support clients that do not have an ideal virtual environment.
If therapists should obtain more trauma training due to the impact of COVID.
Considerations therapists can make when deciding to specialize in trauma.

The Balance Between Boundaries and Humanity Aug 30, 2021

The Balance Between Boundaries and Humanity

An interview with Jamie Marich, Ph.D, on what it means to redefine therapy and how therapists can incorporate this idea into their practice. Curt and Katie talk with Jamie about the importance of therapists being vulnerable both with clients and publicly about their own mental health struggles to reduce the mental health stigma. We also explore factors that keep therapists from being vulnerable as well as other therapeutic and cultural considerations when doing so.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Jamie Marich, Ph.D,

Dr. Jamie Marich (she/they) is a clinical trauma specialist, expressive artist, writer, yogini, performer, short filmmaker, Reiki master, TEDx speaker, and recovery advocate, she unites all of these elements in her mission to inspire healing in others. Jamie maintains a private practice and online education operations in her home base of Warren, OH. Marich is the founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and the developer of the Dancing Mindfulness approach to expressive arts therapy. Marich is the author of several books, including EMDR Made Simple: 4 Approaches for Using EMDR with Every Client (2011), Trauma and the Twelve Steps: A Complete Guide for Recovery Enhancement (2012), Trauma Made Simple: Competencies in Assessment, Treatment, and Working with Survivors, and Dancing Mindfulness: A Creative Path to Healing and Transformation (2015). NALGAP: The Association of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Addiction Professionals and Their Allies awarded Jamie with their esteemed President’s Award in 2015 for her work as an LGBT advocate. The EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) granted Jamie the 2019 Advocacy in EMDR Award for her using her public platform in media and in the addiction field to advance awareness about EMDR therapy. Marich is in long-term addiction recovery and is actively living with a Dissociative Disorder.

In this episode we talk about:

Who Jamie Marich is and what she puts out in the world.
The story behind #RedefineTherapy.
A look at what needs to be redefined in therapy and why.
Discussion about balancing the art and science of therapy to allow for more flexibility within our field.
Factors that contribute to clinicians rigidly adhering to evidenced based practices.
How clinicians can make changes at a societal level to redefine therapy.
The importance of clinicians being vulnerable and sharing their own struggles with mental health.
An exploration of the balance between being authentic/vulnerable with clients and setting appropriate boundaries.
Cultural considerations in redefining therapy.
What keeps therapist from being vulnerable in therapy.
Using a both/and approach to merge how therapy has been done in the past and how it will be done in the future as therapy continues to be redefined and reimagined.

Understanding the Psychological Impacts of Leaving Afghanistan, Part 2: Afghan Americans Aug 24, 2021

Understanding the Psychological Impacts of Leaving Afghanistan, Part 2: Afghan Americans

An interview with Sara Stanizai, LMFT, on how Afghan Americans are responding as the US leaves Afghanistan. Curt and Katie talk with Sara about her experience as an Afghan American therapist, looking at the misconceptions, lack of knowledge, and bias that can harm Afghan American clients. We look at clinical best practices for immigrants to the US, as well as some of the history and cultural norms of the country, the uniqueness of the experience, and the importance of finding primary sources to understand what is really going on. Sara also shares ideas for what we can do to support the Afghan people in Afghanistan and the diaspora at this time.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Sara Stanizai, LMFT

Sara Stanizai, LMFT (she/her) is a licensed therapist, clinical supervisor, and the owner of Prospect Therapy, a queer- and trans-affirming therapy practice based in Long Beach, CA, with a special focus on serving first-generation American and immigrant communities. A queer first-gen herself, Sara’s clinical and professional work focuses on serving the Afghan diaspora, specifically, fellow Afghan-American women, and bicultural communities in general. She runs a weekly Afghan-American women's group and will be offering this free of charge in the coming weeks to meet the mental health needs of her community.

In this episode we talk about:

Sara’s experience being an Afghan American, especially since 9/11; as well as her response to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan
Afghan Americans: the displaced among the displaced
The real issues that folks in Afghanistan are facing, separate from the perspective of western cultural and the differences in the Afghan American experience
Historical context for Afghanistan and the memories of Afghan Americans that shape their views: Culture, art, progressive, beautiful, diverse
Not feeling Afghan enough or American enough
The value of hospitality and how Afghanistan will always welcome Afghan Americans
How Islam intertwines (but is not equivalent) to the Afghan culture
Modesty and values and the bias toward Muslim women who wear headscarves
Bias and misperceptions that can negatively impact clients
The complexity of Islam and how it can be perceived both as beautiful and nature-loving as well as dangerous and militant
The challenge to identity being an Afghan American
The danger of pity coming into the therapy room
The importance and nuance of educating yourself outside of the therapy room, while also encouraging the client of sharing their own experience. Not: What does this mean? Instead: What does this mean to you?
The Afghan culture requires offering 3 times before determining that the answer is no
Collectivism and the importance of family
Impact of intergenerational trauma and military involvement in a home country
Seeking out primary sources, with a focus on Afghan voices as the experience is truly unique
Avoid sensationalized headlines and images
Challenging what has been “truth” especially when looking at these sensationalized stories
Ways of healing and clinical practice that are better aligned to these clients
Prayer and healing within safe community spaces
Considerations on scheduling session around prayer time and understanding fasting
The lack of language for what is being experienced
Offering connection, even when you don’t know what to say
The focus on trying to get family and friends out of Afghanistan, constantly watching the news
Ideas for what you can do to support the people of Afghanistan
The importance of legal support, translation services, and advocacy at this time
The support group for Afghan women that Sara runs

Understanding the Psychological Impacts of Leaving Afghanistan Aug 23, 2021

Understanding the Psychological Impacts of Leaving Afghanistan, Part 1: Military Veterans

An interview with Rob Bates, SFC IN USA ret., MA, LMHC, on how veterans may be responding to the US leaving Afghanistan after 20 years at war. Curt and Katie talk with Rob about his service in the military and how it has impacted his view on therapy and being a therapist. He explains how he typically works with veterans, decreasing perfectionism and shifting dehumanization to self-compassion. We also look at the unique experiences of US Veterans who have served in Afghanistan and how therapists can support these individuals more effectively during this time.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Rob Bates, SFC IN USA ret., MA, LMHC, MHP, DCR

From Rob: We can all use a little help now and then. I bring a diverse skill set of life and counseling experience. I grew up with a tumultuous household in a small community. I joined the military at a young age and have lived and worked throughout the world. I have had my own family, raising children weathering many successes and failures in the process. I continue to experience counseling as a client working with the emotions of my past and present to improve my future. My personal experience in therapy enhances my great respect for my clients' vulnerability in our sessions. I am a fellow traveler in life, as my clients learn and grow so do I.

As a soldier I spent 20 years living and working throughout the conflict regions of the world as a combat infantryman. Starting as a young Airborne Ranger with the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Regiment and finishing my career as a senior leader in the 2nd Battalion 1rst Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division. I have experienced combat in the First Iraq War, Bosnia, Kosovo, Second Iraq War, and Afghanistan. I am proud of my service and my work wherever I have been asked to go by my country.

In this episode we talk about:

Rob’s experiences in the military and afterwards that led to his becoming a therapist for vets
The different language that therapists speak from military personnel
The unique skill sets, knowledge, concerns that therapists should have or be aware of when working with military members and vets
How military members live in a zero-defect environment and how therapists can consider working with vets to decrease this mindset when returning to civilian life
The bias and judgment that can negatively impact work with folks in the military, especially around life and death decisions
The importance of military clients understanding therapist’s ability to manage secondary traumatization
Typical responses to the decision around the drawdown in Afghanistan after the peace agreement as well as the very recent chaotic evacuation
The moral injury related to walking away from Afghanistan
The relationships that were developed between US military personnel and Afghan military personnel and civilians and how “abandoning” them to the danger of the Taliban is impacting veterans and those who are evacuating
The impact of social media and commentary on perception and meaning-making
The ethical and moral decision-making that is happening at all levels
The process of dehumanization during wartime, creating psychological safety during combat
The complicated grief that is further complicated by the US leaving Afghanistan and the complex trauma and survivor’s guilt
The importance of helping veterans to develop self-compassion
Identity issues that may be challenged with the withdrawal from Afghanistan
A fuller picture of service in Afghanistan (including humanitarian missions)
What may happen when the news cycle shifts to the next big news story
Creating new purpose and meaning to mitigate tendency toward suicidality

What the Grief Just Happened? Aug 16, 2021

What the Grief Just Happened?

An interview with Sonya Lott, Ph.D, on how COVID has impacted our experience of grief. Curt and Katie talk with Sonya about the types of grief people are experiencing and how people have been coping thus far. We explore what prolonged grief is and the risk factors that contribute to it as well as tips to support clients. We also talk about the need for therapists to be informed on grief processes and the importance of meeting clients where they are.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Sonya Lott, Ph.D, Founder of CEMPSYCH, LLC

Sonya Lott has a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Temple University. She been licensed as a psychologist in PA since 1991. Since 2020, she has been licensed to provide telepsychology in more than 16 states through the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Board’s (ASPPB) PSYPACT program. She maintains a private online practice devoted to helping individuals transform their experiences of traumatic and prolonged grief. She is trained in Complicated Grief Therapy (CGT), an evidence-based treatment for prolonged grief and is also a certified brainspotting practitioner. She is also the founder of CEMPSYCH, LLC, which offers continuing education in multicultural psychology to mental health professionals. CEMPSYCH, LLC is approved as a sponsor by the APA to provide continuing education to psychologists.

In this episode we talk about:

Who Sonya Lott is and what she puts out in the world.
Looking at how COVID has impacted our experience of grief (i.e., death and non-death losses).
How the uncertainty COVID created has added to our difficulty in acknowledging losses in our lives.
Discussion of how clinicians can help their clients (and themselves) recognize and process their grief.
Examining how losses to previous COVID, attachment styles, and other risk factors have influenced the way people manage their grief.
Defining prolonged grief and recognizing when it is a problem, while making cultural considerations.
Factors that have contributed to people developing prolonged grief (e.g., isolation, previous mental health challenges, etc).
What clinicians can expect to see from clients as we move into the next phase of our lives.
The need for clinicians to be able to differentiate from grief, prolonged grief, and major depression and address each accordingly.
Recognizing that the grief people are experiencing is inherently traumatic and integrating this into treatment.
Tips for clinicians to help clients who are stuck.
Being a grief informed therapist (knowing there are no stages to grief).
The importance of meeting people where they at to help them process their grief.

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Dr. Sonya Lott Website

CEMPSYCH LLC

Relevant Episodes:

Death, Dying, and Grief

Compassion Fatigue

Connect with us!

CPH Article: Duty to the Patient – Termination of Treatment and Understanding Your Patient

Episode 219: Asian American Mental Health Aug 09, 2021

Asian American Mental Health

An interview with Linda Yoon, LCSW, on specific mental health needs of Asian American clients. Curt and Katie talk with Linda about what therapists often get wrong when working with Asian clients and colleagues. We explore the model minority myth, fetishization of Asian women, and the complexity of the heterogeneous group that falls under the term “Asian American.” We also talk about steps therapists can take to better support Asian American people.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Linda Yoon, LCSW, Founder and Co-Director of Yellow Chair Collective

Linda is the founder and the co-director of Yellow Chair Collective, a multicultural psychotherapy group with a special focus on Asian mental health. Linda has over 10 years of experience in the field of social work and mental health. Before starting Yellow Chair Collective, she worked in residential and outpatient mental health clinics, domestic and intimate relationship violence programs, and affordable and inclusive housing services, often serving Asian and Asian Pacific Islanders and the immigrant/refugee population.

Linda is passionate about community outreach and provides workshops on social and mental health topics including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), cultural sensitivity, parenting, self and community care, family violence, refugee/immigrant issues, and Asian American mental health. Her work has been featured in the LA Times, KXN, CBS Radio, KPBS, Al Dia Politics, and Crushing the Myth. Linda also has been a panelist for KQED Forum, NPR Podcast, and USC Center for Health Journalism speaking about Asian Mental Health needs during the pandemic and anti-Asian hate crime surge. Linda is also an active committee member of NASW-CA Asian Pacific Islander Council - Southern California.

In this episode we talk about:

Why Asian American Mental Health is so important
What therapists are getting wrong when working with Asian clients and colleagues
The Model Minority myth, bias and stereotypes
The lack of understanding of who Asian Americans are (and the heterogeneity of this group – there’s over 20 Asian countries with different languages and characteristics)
Self-gaslighting, dismissal of Asian American racism experiences
Accurate assessment and important questions to ask
Looking at different immigration stories, languages spoken, what culture they relate to if their families come from more than one culture
The barriers Asian Americans face in seeking mental health treatment
The different perspective on mental health and the understanding of body and mind
Collectivism and the impact on an individual seeking mental health services
How different generations may perceive mental health treatment
Culturally and linguistically appropriate services
The potential missing data due to Asian Americans not reporting to or trusting the census
The current spotlight on Asian hate and racism, and the history of violence against Asian people
Common microaggressions
The importance of educating oneself and avoiding assumptions, the value of consultation
Ways to help with antiracism relevant to Asian Americans
Questions to ask yourself to support Asian clients and colleagues

How to Fire Your Clients (Ethically) Aug 02, 2021

How to Fire Your Clients (Ethically)

Curt and Katie chat about how to appropriately terminate with clients when icky situations arise. We explore how therapists can develop an ethical decision-making process to protect themselves against possible complaints to ethics boards. We also talk about how privilege plays a role in icky terminations and how therapists can work to balance their safety and self-care with their responsibilities.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How ethics are discussed in social media groups (ethical concerns vs. I don’t like this)
When we can terminate with clients, why can we do it, when we cannot terminate with clients, and what our responsibilities are in these situations.
How therapist’s personal feelings can influence premature terminations and the problems this can lead to (e.g., client abandonment, continuity of care).
Feelings that arise for both the therapist and client when icky terminations happen.
How ethics committees think about complaints and disciplinary actions.
Developing an ethical decision-making process that demonstrates professionalism.
Explore how therapists are held to a higher standard than the general public.
Discuss how privilege (or lack thereof) impacts perceptions professionalism.
How to maintain professional standards when your safety is at risk.
Developing plans for possible icky terminations.
We look at how many therapists are actually reported to ethics boards and how this information is unhelpful.
Managing racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. comments in session and taking care of yourself.
Explore how the structure of ethics committees create barriers to therapists being their authentic self, while also needing these committees to protect the field.
Balancing therapist safety and self-care with therapist responsibilities.

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Relevant Episodes:

Therapist Safety

Managing Vicarious Trauma

Bad Business Practices

Ending Therapy

Noteworthy Documentation

Irrational Ethics

That’s Unethical

Connect with us!

Our consultation services:

https://casalecoaching.com/

How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome to Leave Your Agency Job Jul 26, 2021

How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome to Leave Your Agency Job

An interview with Patrick Casale, LCMHC, LCAS, about how impostor syndrome and other barriers can get in the way of therapists moving forward into private practice. Curt and Katie talk with Patrick about what it takes to make the leap from negative work situations and become a “therapist wizard.” We also look at lots of creative ideas on how to step into fear to confront impostor syndrome as well as how to build a private practice that’s right for you.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Patrick Casale, MA, LCMHC, LCAS

Patrick currently works as a private practice coach and strategist and private practice owner. He lives in Asheville NC with his wife Ariel and two dogs, Hudson and Hazel. He’s worked in the helping profession since 2008. In the last 12 years, he’s worked in several different arenas in community mental health. From a qualified professional to the program director, he found himself constantly being promoted to middle management roles where he was able to see both sides of the coin. It was hard watching his staff work so hard for so little while trying to appease the powers that be who typically were out of touch with day-to-day operations. He has worked full time as a private practice therapist for the last three years. In those three years, he’s traveled to 8 different countries, taken lots of vacations, grown his business to a point where it feels easy and routine, and has helped other therapists in the area do the same.

In this episode we talk about:

The ideas around impostor syndrome and how it impacts therapists
Common mistakes therapists make when moving from community mental health to private practice
How therapists can consistently negatively evaluate their own competence
Entrepreneurial anxiety and missteps based on lack of confidence
The early messages and attachment issues that impact self-esteem, perception of competence
Embracing fear to move forward, accepting that mistakes are inevitable
Vulnerability and authenticity, perfectionism
Taking power back through making impostor syndrome playful
Looking at how different identities are impacted by “impostor syndrome”
Conflicting and negative messages that therapists get
Entitlement and pessimism from more seasoned clinicians
Abundance versus scarcity mindset
How to become a therapist wizard
Moving from an agency to private practice
The danger of staying in an agency when you’re at the point of no return
The lack of specific numbers or exact instructions on when you should make the leap
The importance of networking when building a private practice
Ideas for overcoming anxiety and still move forward on starting your private practice
The importance of having an exit plan and steps in place
Making decisions on what is needed versus what is desired, what values can be considered
The goals that are possible once you move into your own private practice
Creativity in how you set up your practice
Understanding what you need to set yourself up for success

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Patrick’s All Things Private Practice Facebook group

An Incomplete List of Everything Wrong with Therapist Education Jul 19, 2021

An Incomplete List of Everything Wrong with Therapist Education

An interview with Diane Gehart, LMFT, on what works in therapy and where the field is headed. Curt and Katie talk with Diane about the overwhelming amount of information new therapists must learn in school and how this impacts their confidence. We also explore how the field is moving towards synthesizing theories and how this will impact future clinicians.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Diane Gehart, LMFT

Diane Gehart, Ph.D. is Professor in the Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling Programs at California State University, Northridge and has a private practice in Agoura Hills, California. She has authored several professional books including Mindfulness for Chocolate Lovers: A Lighthearted Way to Stress Less and Savor More Each Day, Mindfulness and Acceptance in Couple and Family Therapy Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy, Theory and Treatment Planning in Counseling and Psychotherapy.

In this episode we talk about:

Who Diane Gehart is and what she has (and continues) to contribute to the field.
Diane discusses what is wrong with therapist education and how it impacts newer therapists.
How we can help students feel more confident when they enter the field, while still providing a good education.
The abundance of theories students need to learn in graduate school and how the future of the field will be synthesis of theories.
How the synthesis of theories will impact testing for licensure.
Diane discusses how focusing on client outcomes and finding quality training can support confidence in new clinicians.
How cultural considerations can be included in the synthesis of theories.
Using the client’s reality/perspective to make therapy work, rather than focusing on interventions.
Explore how different parts of the field (e.g., clinicians, researchers, educators) contribute to what is wrong with therapist education.
The need for synthesized information to be more widely available to make more competent therapists.
Balancing helping clinicians to feel more confident while also encouraging them to be self-motivated to learn.
What are the best things clinicians can do right now to improve their confidence?

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Diane Gehart

Therapy That Works

Mastering Competencies

Mindfulness at Our Schools

Diane on YouTube

Psychiatric Crises in the Emergency Room Jul 12, 2021

Psychiatric Crises in the Emergency Room

Interview with Kesy Yoon, LMHC and James McMahill, LMFT

Kesy Yoon, LMHC: As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), I am dedicated to helping my clients understand who they are and how they fit into the world around them. Over the past six years, I have worked in a variety of mental health settings with individuals from all walks of life. Currently, I work with clients struggling with anxiety, perfectionism, trauma, and major life transitions. Over the course of my career, I have developed a specialty in working with the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) 1st generation population. My work in this area is informed by my own personal experience with navigating the differences between an American upbringing and traditional Asian values. I enjoy working with AAPI clients to identify solutions to improve quality of life while honoring important cultural values and needs. Therapy is dynamic and my style is centered upon empowerment and hope. I show up as a human first, therapist second. As a counselor, I believe that every individual is a unique and complicated being; therefore, I do not have one uniform approach. I draw inspiration from several evidence-based modalities such as EMDR, Solution Focused Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I am also trained in the EMDR modality and I am currently in the process of EMDR Certification.

James McMahill, LMFT: I am an LMFT in CA and MN specializing in crisis care for those struggling with psychosis, severe depression, PTSD and suicidality. The majority of my clinical experience has been in crisis work and includes all ages, from children and adolescents in inpatient, TAY and adults in county outpatient clinics, and as a member of a Geri Psyche urgent response team. While in San Diego, I was the Program Director for Heartland Wellness Recovery Center, a county outpatient program serving SPMI clients in East County, San Diego. Currently, I am a team member for a CRT (Crisis Response Team) in Carver County, MN, and spend much of my clinical time in Emergency Rooms or responding to community or Law Enforcement mental health crises. I may also be commonly found co moderating Therapists in Private Practice (TIPP) on Facebook, with my wife Namrata.

In this episode we talk about:

Continuing our special series on Fixing Mental Healthcare in America
How emergency rooms become a part of the mental health system
The role of emergency rooms as the first door for folks with a mental health crisis
It can be a catchall and revolving door for some with longer term mental health concerns
The challenges and overwhelm when someone comes into the ER
The goals that emergency rooms can have when someone comes in with a psychiatric crisis
The differences in ERs (whether they have psychiatric facilities or whether they transfer to other facilities)
The challenges in placing clients in psychiatric inpatient care
The revolving door – developing relationships and losing hope
Potential legislation changes that could increase time for care
Conflicting goals at different levels of the hospital and the hot potato syndrome
Training of the emergency room staff, medical staff, law enforcement, fire services
The criminogenic interpretation of behavior that can hinder law enforcement and seeing a patient as someone needing help
The importance of patience in managing psychiatric crises
Interacting with Law Enforcement in these situations

Why YOU Shouldn’t Sell Out to BetterHelp Jul 05, 2021

Why YOU Shouldn’t Sell Out to BetterHelp

An interview with Jeff Guenther, LPC from TherapyDen about the ins and outs of affiliate partnerships. Curt and Katie talk with Jeff about the offer he received from BetterHelp and why he turned it down – taking some time to discuss the therapist businesses and influencers who have chosen this partnership and the subsequent backlash from the online therapist communities. We look at how these types of partnerships can be formed, what you should consider when you are approached to collaborate with another company, and how much money it would take for us to sell out.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Jeff Guenther, LPC, TherapyDen

Jeff Guenther, LPC, is a therapist in Portland, OR. He has been in private practice since 2005 and currently leads workshops on how health and wellness practitioners can build their digital brand and attract more clients online. Jeff is the creator and owner of two highly ranked healthcare directory sites, Portland Therapy Center and TherapyDen.

In this episode we talk about:

Jeff’s TherapyDen story – why/how he started it and the different types of partnerships and other business arrangements that he’s been approached with
How to sift out what is being offered and whether a partnership is beneficial or harmful
The salesy approaches that Jeff just does not respond to
The common origin stories and connections made with tech startups
Why Brighter Vision and others have gotten so much backlash when they partnered with BetterHelp
The movement from the online therapists’ groups to respond to Brighter Vision and the resulting discontinuation of the partnership with BetterHelp
The importance of taking care of the individuals in the profession
The corporate focus on commoditization of therapy
The different ways that companies like BetterHelp may be making money off of therapy clients and therapists (e.g., data mining)
BetterHelp’s plan to take over therapist directories and all of the entry points for therapy
The consequences of BetterHelp’s success and how they are changing the expectations
Ideas about larger provider networks that can be done well to support therapists and clients
The specifics of Jeff’s offer from BetterHelp and why he turned it down
The morals and values questions that come up when facing one of these offers
The practical reasons not to take these kinds of deals, no matter the money involved
The importance of being able to stand behind your partners

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

TherapyDen

Create a Free Therapist Profile on TherapyDen

Contact Jeff: hello@therapyden.com

Swoon Podcast and Jeff's TherapyDen Blog

The State of the Profession in a COVID World Jun 28, 2021

The State of the Profession in a COVID World

Curt and Katie chat about the current state of the Mental Health Profession. We give our opinion on a recent report from SimplePractice, looking at what they included as well as what we think is missing. We explore how COVID has impacted burnout rates and give action steps professionals can take to support each other as we continue to move forward as a field. We also talk about barriers in our field and what is coming next.

This is the Modern Therapist Consumer Guide, a series of special episodes to help modern therapists navigate products and services specifically designed for therapists and their clients. We dig deeply into the companies, the people, and the products and services so you can make smart decisions in building your practice and serving your clients.

In this episode we talk about:

0:53: What do Curt and Katie think about the report? And how do demographics and length of time in the field impact how long clinicians stay in the profession?
2:27: Who feels burned out the most and what are action steps professionals can take to help each other with this problem?
7:44: How do financial burdens and parental burnout impact a clinician’s ability to work in this field?
10:50: How do insurance regulations create barriers for clinicians and clients?
15:38: How has COVID impacted use of technology in the field and accessibility to care?
18:55: Who are the therapists in the field and who are they working with (demographics)?
23:18: How do social justice issues impact burnout rates?
24:56: What comes next for our profession?.

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

State of the Mental Health Profession: Impact of COVID-19

Teletherapy Good Enough Therapy For A Crisis…and Beyond!

Special Episode: Modern Therapist’s Consumer Guide on SimplePractice Jun 24, 2021

Modern Therapist’s Consumer Guide on SimplePractice

Curt and Katie talk with Howard Spector, CEO and Diana Stepner, VP of Product for SimplePractice. We look at how SimplePractice has been envisioned, the company values, and the details of the product, so you can decide if SimplePractice is the Practice Management System for your private practice.

This is the Modern Therapist Consumer Guide, a series of special episodes to help modern therapists navigate products and services specifically designed for therapists and their clients. We dig deeply into the companies, the people, and the products and services so you can make smart decisions in building your practice and serving your clients.

Interview with Howard Spector, CEO and Diana Stepner, VP of Product, SimplePractice

Howard is the CEO and Co-founder of SimplePractice. Howard has over 20 years of experience in the information technology industry. He is proud to have earned his MA in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Diana joined SimplePractice from Pearson where she was the VP of Innovative Learning Solutions, a portfolio of products that provide value anytime, anywhere for learners by increasing confidence & outcomes associated with a specific learning activity or skill. Previously Diana headed up Future Technologies and Innovation Partnerships at Pearson. She also worked in Emerging Media at Razorfish and User Experience at Salesforce.com. In addition, Diana led Product Management in Western Europe for Monster Worldwide. She has a MIMS from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Boston University. When not doing Product, Diana can be found exercising, listening to podcasts, nutrition / health / wellness, and travel (someday). She lives in San Francisco with her husband and attack puppy.

In this episode we talk about: Interview with Howard Spector, CEO, SimplePractice

2:12: How did the vision for SimplePractice (SP) come into being?
4:17: What is the trajectory for SimplePractice?
6:25: How does SP take in feedback and remain true to their principles and values from which it began?
9:12: What is SP’s response to feedback about customer service?
15:31: How does the team atmosphere and culture play out for customers?
19:41: How does SimplePractice support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?
22:12: What is in the future for SP?
23:18: What is Howard most proud for about SP?
25:10: What does Howard want everyone considering SP for their practice management system need to know?

Interview with Diana Stepner, VP of Product, SimplePractice

26:32: What does it look like when someone signs up for SimplePractice?
28:54: What are the strongest elements of SimplePractice?
30:24: What are SP’s paperwork customization features?
34:04: What is the professional website feature?
35:07: What is Monarch?
38:01 What are some areas SimplePractice is looking to improve?
40:17: How has SP taken suggestions from the community and incorporated them into SimplePractice?
41:56: Who is SimplePractice NOT right for?
44:35: What is coming up next for SimplePractice’s development?
45:54: How do you sign up for SimplePractice? (includes information on our special offer)
46:19: How would you recommend people investigating if SimplePractice is a good fit for them?

Curt and Katie Chat – Our review of SimplePractice

47:31: Who would we recommend SimplePractice for?
52:05: Who we think would not be a good match for SimplePractice

Being a Therapist on Both Sides of the Couch Jun 21, 2021

Being a Therapist on Both Sides of the Couch

An interview with Rwenshaun Miller, LCMHC, where he shares what therapists get wrong when understanding the client perspective and how to genuinely connect with clients. Curt and Katie chat with Rwenshaun about tough questions on racial bias in diagnosing and the impact of systemic structures in Black and brown communities. They also discuss a vision for an ideal mental health system and suggestions for how to start advocating for change.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Rwenshaun Miller, MA, LCMHC, NCC

Rwenshaun Miller is an accomplished author, motivational speaker, counselor, consultant and philanthropist who has dedicated his life and career to, not only reshaping the negative connotations often associated with mental health, but also directly impacting the lives of those living with mental health challenges. Of all his accolades and roles, Mr. Miller proudly first serves as a Mental Health Change Agent. As a result, Mr. Miller has globally impacted the lives of many through his awareness efforts.

Mr. Miller’s relentless passion and commitment derived from his personal experience living with Bipolar Disorder. Through his journey, Mr. Miller initially encountered similar challenges many face, including that of acceptance of a mental health diagnosis. Eventually, Mr. Miller decided to not allow this diagnosis to define and debilitate him realizing that Bipolar Disorder is not what defines who he is. Thus, he embarked on a path to help uplift, empower, encourage and teach others who live with mental health challenges how to “thrive” in life.

In this episode we talk about:

Rwenshaun’s story of encountering systemic barriers while facing his own mental health challenges and how he uses his experience as a client to inform his work as a therapist as well as educate other therapists.
Looking at “both sides of the couch” and bridging the differences between what we learn as clients and what we are taught to do as therapists.
Discussion of what therapists do wrong when it comes to understanding the client perspective.
The utility of diagnosing as well as problems with treating someone like a diagnosis (impact on self-perspective, living up to the diagnosis, etc.)
Examining how inherent white bias shows up in diagnosing and how to consider environmental factors when conceptualizing a client’s behavior.
Exploration of how systemic structures impact the mental health of BIPOC youth and the need to challenge the systems that hold these individuals back.
Looking at ways to step outside the box of conventional therapy techniques to meet client’s where they are at and connect with them as a person (engaging clients in video games, basketball, yoga, etc.).
Discussion of how to set the stage for therapy to ensure it is comfortable for the therapist and client.
Exploration of how the stigma of mental health has changed in BIPOC communities and what is needed to change systemically to continue reducing the stigma.
Envisioning an ideal for how therapists and systemic structures can support the mental health needs of society, along with examining current barriers and how work to reduce them.
The importance of advocating for preventative care to improve mental health care.

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Rwenshaun’s website

Eustress Inc.

Eustressin Journal

Injured Reserve: A Black Man's Playbook To Manage Being Sidelined By Mental Illness

Twitter: @Rwenshaun

Facebook: Rwenshaun Miller

Instagram: @Rwenshaun

At Least 3 Reasons Continuing Education Sucks (Usually) Jun 14, 2021

At Least 3 Reasons Continuing Education Sucks

Curt and Katie chat about why continuing education is usually pretty ineffective. We dig into a listener question related to repackaged, introductory level, uninspiring presentations. We look at the systemic concerns related to CE standards as well as the difficulty balancing high quality education with affordability. We explore research that shows that continuing education (especially when it is solely didactic) does not impact client outcomes. We also share ideas to improve continuing education for the next generation of clinicians.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The problems with continuing education rules and what that means for the types of education modern therapists often can find
The ways in which presenters repackage others’ material
Continuing education is not proven to improve client outcomes
CE standards that limit the innovation and interactive capability
How most CE is very general and appropriate for all levels of clinicians (not solely intermediate to advanced therapists)
The type of didactic training that might be impactful or effective (but may not be CE worthy)
The problem with not having practical applications involved in presentations
Learning, practicing and then doing
Why effective continuing education is expensive and whether they make a difference in being better therapists
Deliberate practice and the effectiveness of spending time outside of session (and training) practicing skills
Practice-based evidence (measuring how well our clients are doing) and why this is the strongest way to do better work
The importance of giving accurate feedback to CE providers
The acknowledgement and acceptance within the system that CE doesn’t really work – and the push back and reasons why people within the system don’t want to fix it
Assessing competence and engagement in training (pros and cons)
The balance between accessibility and accountability
The shelf-life of graduate education and the need for continuing education
Our vision related to continuing education and learning

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

The Cycle of Excellence by Tony Rousmaniere

Dr. Joy DeGruy

Why TED Talks don't change people's behaviors: Tom Asacker at TEDxCambridge 2014

Scott Miller, PhD: Deliberate Practice

Dr. Ben Caldwell, LMFT – Ben Caldwell Labs

Articles:

Impact of Formal Continuing Medical Education

Does Professional Training Make a Therapist More Effective?

How to Stay in Your Lane to Support Diversity and Inclusion Jun 07, 2021

How to Stay in Your Lane to Support Diversity and Inclusion

An interview with Dr. Joy Cox, PhD, on tapping into the strength of community and genuine relationships to understand and address systemic oppression. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Joy about intersectionality, the harmful stories we can tell ourselves about people who are different from us, and what we can do to best support diversity and inclusion in all the spaces we inhabit. We also address why it is important to do some of this work privately (rather than working it out publicly through statements on social media).

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Joy Cox, PhD

Dr. Joy Cox is a body justice advocate using her skill set in research and leadership to foster social change through the promotion of fat acceptance and diversity and inclusion. With 37 years living as a fat, Black cisgendered woman and 7+ years of professional experience under her belt, Dr. Cox draws on her own experiences and skill set to amplify the voices of those most marginalized in society, bringing attention to matters of intersectionality addressing race, body size, accessibility, and “health.”

Joy has been featured on several podcasts and media productions such as Food Pysch with Christy Harrison, Nalgona Positivity Pride with Gloria Lucas, Fat Women of Color with Ivy Felicia, and Huffington Post’s piece, “Everything You Know About Obesity is Wrong.” She also just authored her first book, Fat Girls in Black Bodies: Creating Communities of Our Own. She is the voice of an overcomer, looking to propel others into a place of freedom designed by their desires.

In this episode we talk about:

What Dr. Joy is putting out into the world
Intersectionality and bias, stigma
How to take an intersectional approach
The importance of genuine relationships in understanding others
Discussing the panel discussion in the conference when addressing learning about others
The harm of putting work on individuals with lived experience
Why and when you should pay for expert consultation
The challenge of googling to learn (when it works and when to seek expert guidance)
The importance of saying no when someone is asking you to become a spokesperson
The exponential impact of intersectionality of marginalized identities
How intersectional identities compound to create narratives
Anything that is heavily stigmatized in society – racism is not far behind it
Knowledge without learning to implement
Why you should find your lane and move accordingly
How to identify what you can and should do to support inclusion
The importance of identifying where to do the work, it doesn’t have to be public
Why individuals need to learn themselves, understand their heart, and identify who they are
Getting it right is better than getting it fast
Having the important conversations and checking in with the people who matter
The unreasonable expectation to have an opinion on everything
The benefits of community with each person staying in their lane
Creating community that includes all people and the strength that provides
Pushing back on the idea that everyone has to be able to do all of the roles
We need to change how we think and we need to change how we feel to uncover more space than we knew was available for all people

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Dr. Joy Cox's Website

Jabbie App

Dr. Joy on Instagram: FreshOutTheCocoon

Dr. Joy on Twitter

Dr. Joy's Book: Fat Girls in Black Bodies Creating a New Space of Belonging

The Care Bear Stare

Why You Should Stop Trying to Convince Clients to Change May 31, 2021

Why You Should Stop Trying to Convince Clients to Change

An interview with Hillary Bolter, LCSW, on Motivational Interviewing. Curt and Katie chat with Hillary about what MI really is, what therapists often get wrong when supporting clients in making changes, and the importance of how therapists show up for this evidence-based model.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Hillary Bolter, MSW, LCSW, LCAS

Hillary is one of those folks that inherently thinks they have great ideas and solutions for people upon first encounter (Enneagram 1!). She’s ready to jump in and FIX! When she began her MI learning process, she realized just how essential MI was going to be for her energy, effectiveness, and longevity in the helping profession!

She has been a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) since 2011. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker & Addiction Therapist and absolutely delights in helping individuals, groups, and organizations learn the essential skills of Motivational Interviewing. She has worked as a helping professional for 20 years, ranging from working in wilderness therapy to community mental health, providing in home & school-based services, as a therapist with specialties including working with anxiety, trauma, addiction, and veterans.

In this episode we talk about:

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is simple but not easy
The righting reflex – the tendency for therapists to try to persuade toward change
The differences between MI and the stages of change
What does “using MI” really mean?
The spirit of MI – the attitude we bring to our clients – empathy, collaboration, evocation, acceptance and compassion
OARS skills: open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries
Change talk – the more people talk about change, the more likely they are to change
Focusing on why people would like to change
When we focus on why TO change, clients may argue against change (voicing the ambivalence)
How therapists may want to navigate changes that feel urgent (unsafe behaviors, for example)
Three styles of communication: following, guiding, directing
The ways to move from directing or educating back into a more collaborative stance
Why MI isn’t more widely used
The ways that MI skills could intermingle with other theoretical orientation
The idea around walking with your clients
Looking at the myth that motivational interviewing is manipulative
How to assess whether the change is in the client’s best interest
The focusing process as a way to ensure client participation
Motivational Interviewing is a communication technique
Distinguishing between the motivations that drive the change – focusing on the best interest of the client is the only one that really is MI
The importance of experiential training for MI

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Hillary’s website: bolterconsulting.com

Special offer: use “MTSG” for 10% off a foundations of MI course

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hillarybolter/

Hillary's Facebook Group

Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT)

Post Pandemic Practice May 24, 2021

Post Pandemic Practice

Curt and Katie chat about what our practices can look like post pandemic. We explore the creativity that the pandemic has inspired and what the clinical and business implications might be for continuing in flexible modalities. We talk about logistics, clinical evaluation, and ethics related to the options available for the clients. We also talk about how to take care of yourself while taking care of clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How creativity can be used in practice
Different options for therapy (telehealth, outdoor/walk and talk, in-person, concierge)
The logistical challenges of having different options for your clients (different locations, different modalities, etc.)
The flexibility required during the pandemic and how to adjust schedules after returning
The benefits of having so many options
Boundaries and flexibility needed to manage a multimodal practice
The importance of communication and teamwork
The benefits of this flexibility to clinicians
The considerations of cost and charging different fees, and rationale for how you set fees
The clinical benefits and challenges for different modalities
The necessary documentation of rationale
Clinical considerations for in-person sessions
Some CYA advice
The importance of taking this time to deliberately design the practice you want

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

APA Article - COVID-19: When is it OK to provide more in-person services?

Outdoor therapy: Jennifer Deacon, MBACP

Leadership article – Checklist for Post Pandemic Reentry

Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy May 17, 2021

Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

An interview with Dr. Craig Heacock, M.D., about innovative treatments in psychiatry. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Heacock about psychedelic-assisted therapy – looking at efficacy, safety, and risks for these promising treatments (ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA) for depression and trauma. We also discuss the debate about medicalization versus legalization of these substances.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Craig Heacock, M.D.

Dr. Craig Heacock is an adolescent/adult psychiatrist and addiction specialist in Colorado as well as the co-producer and host of the psychiatric storytelling podcast Back from the Abyss. He was a therapist in the Phase 3 trial of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD and has particular interest in the use of ketamine and other psychedelics to treat severe mood disorders and PTSD. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and did his psychiatry training at Brown University.

In this episode we talk about:

The innovations in psychedelic-assisted therapy
Why it is so hard to find a good psychiatrist, especially one that goes beyond med checks
How psychiatry is changing, as well as how little has changed in medication since 1994
Treatment-resistant may mean deep-seated trauma
Definitions of psychedelics, psychedelic-assisted treatment
Ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin
Efficacy for treatment with ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin for trauma and depression
The speed of building trust and moving into the working phase with these treatments
Safety concerns and side effects with ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA
Boundaries and safety for therapists (as well as clients) during these treatments
The vulnerability during these treatments
Self-assessment for mental health providers whether they should work in this space
The importance of doing your own psychedelic treatment before being a therapist in this work
Client-perceptions of clinicians doing their own psychedelic work (or publicly owning their story)
The increasing acceptance of these types of treatments – the treatments becoming more mainstream
Psilocybin – in trials for FDA approval for trauma treatment, but may be legalized before it is medicalized and used for treatment
Medicalization versus legalization conversation
The problems with medical THC (including making symptoms worse and psychotic breaks)
Micro-dosing efficacy and risks and whether they should be managed by a doctor
The importance of assessing sleep and substance use/abuse
Abyss stories – how Dr. Heacock started telling these stories and the power of these stories

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Craig Heacock, MD Website

Back from the Abyss Podcast

Interview with Lisa Ling

Laura Northrup Inside Eyes Podcast

Article: Self-admitted psychedelic use and association with psychedelic culture harm perceptions of researchers’ scientific integrit

Serious Mental Illness and Homelessness May 10, 2021

Serious Mental Illness and Homelessness

An interview with California State Senator Henry Stern and Dr. Curley Bonds, Chief Medical Officer for Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health about legislation and programmatic changes needed to better serve highly vulnerable individuals. Curt and Katie talk with both Senator Stern and Dr. Bonds about the limitations of Laura’s Law and the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act as well as the hope for stronger, more collaborative mental health initiatives for individuals grappling with serious mental illness and homelessness. We talk about the practical funding and workforce concerns as well as how to fix them while also supporting mental health professionals.

Curley L. Bonds, M.D., oversees all clinical practices for the Los Angeles Country Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) as well as the full range of programs that function to engage and stabilize clients by bringing them into the Department’s community-based system of care.

In this episode we talk about:

Continuing our special series on Fixing Mental Healthcare in America
What the ideal mental health care can look like for individuals with serious mental illness, substance abuse treatment, and navigating homelessness
The siloed nature of services at present
The importance of consistent engagement and familiarity
Recovery-oriented and person-centered care
The importance of self-directed care
Wraparound services
The importance of engaging people with lived experience
Culturally responsive services
The current laws protect autonomy without the means to support people without capacity
The bureaucracy that is keeping people from getting the services they need
Changes to Laura’s Law and LPS Act that are needed to better serve individuals with grave disability or require conservatorship
Engagement, rights, and how to better serve individuals
Assisted Outpatient Treatment – how it can be best utilized and most effective
The ability to shift things through budget and regulatory changes
The understanding that current caseloads that are too high and the need to add resources
Alternatives to long term conservatorship
The willingness to invest in services and solutions
Balancing the tension between self-advocacy/self-determination versus providing care
Mental Health Advanced Directives as a tool to help with making these decisions
Who can and should be at the table in making these decisions
The desire to invest in people to provide services
Whether to invest and how to assess efficacy
The problem of the fragmented systems and communication about mental health advanced directives
The importance of education for people needing and providing care on the options
Looking at the benefits and “selling” the positive elements of assisted treatment
Letting clinicians do clinical work – why that’s important and ideas of how to make it work
Tracking outcomes effectively while diminishing bureaucracy
Looking at the most effective goals and outcomes for clients
Looking at unfunded mandates and how to support therapists and clients to get services without so much paper pushing and complicated outcomes
Having service providers at the table to create the programs effectively
Results-driven metrics and payment (the pros and cons)
Addressing policy and stigma
Looking at the problems with the current process for services and conservatorship
Ideas for redirecting funding and working in collaboration with law enforcement
How to take part in these efforts and weigh in on legislation, especially early in the process
Our reflections on the interviews and the next steps

Fixing Mental Healthcare in America May 03, 2021

Fixing Mental Healthcare in America

An interview with Dr. Nicole Eberhart and Dr. Ryan McBain from the RAND Corporation. Curt and Katie kick of their special series related to the problems and potential solutions in the mental healthcare system. We interview Drs. Eberhart and McBain about the study they authored related to the structural concerns in the mental health system as it is currently built and their recommendations for solutions and best practices going forward.

Nicole Eberhart, PhD is a Senior Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation and a licensed clinical psychologist whose research and evaluation focuses on mental health. She has expertise in health program evaluation, prevention and early intervention, health services and systems, and innovative care models including those that integrate primary and behavioral health care. Dr. Eberhart been evaluating mental health programs and policies in California and nationally for over a decade.

Ryan K. McBain is a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. He focuses on the design and evaluation of health policies and programs meant to reach vulnerable populations—including those coping with mental health conditions, HIV/AIDS, homelessness, and poverty. To achieve this, McBain has utilized a wide range of methodologies, including econometric approaches for quasi-experimental analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, and decision analytic models, as well as key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Internationally, McBain has worked with the World Bank, World Health Organization, Harvard University and Partners In Health, where he has focused on evaluating mental health, HIV, and primary care service delivery systems, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti. McBain holds a Ph.D. and M.P.H. in global health with concentrations in health economics and health policy analysis from Harvard University, as well as a B.A. in psychology from Gordon College and Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

In this episode we talk about:

Introducing our new series on Fixing Mental Healthcare in America
RAND corporation report on the mental health system
Structural issues in the current mental health system
Work force issues, lack of professionals, poor distribution across communities
Payment issues – Mental Health providers are not paid as well as other medical providers
The problem of fee for service, government insurance programs, and private pay
Culture problem – historical lack of value of mental health, stigma and de-prioritization of mental health
Lack of educational programs for mental health, lack of consistent, effective crisis response
The idea of increasing wages for entry level positions
Peer Support Specialists as another way to expand mental health workforce
The importance of lived experience and the professionalization of the peer support specialist profession (for example certification)
The idea of paying for value rather than paying for services
Focusing on prevention rather than costly emergency services
The need for legislators to make changes
The costs of not fixing the mental healthcare system
An evidence-based continuum of care
Taking a big picture approach (looking at the cost for services and the cost for society)

It’s NOT a Chemical Imbalance Apr 26, 2021

It’s NOT a Chemical Imbalance

An interview with Dr. Kristen Syme on the situational and cultural impacts on depression. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Syme about the role anthropology can play in helping to challenge long held assumptions in psychology. We look at conceptualizations for depression and suicidality and how the over focus (in the Western world) on the individual as the agent for mental health and wellness. We talk about how the chemical imbalance model doesn’t hold up as well as better explanations for depression and suicidality.

In this episode we talk about:

Syme’s research and how she is working to challenging assumptions
The lack of attention on networks and systems and an over-focus on “the self” as an agent for mental health and wellness
How psychological pain is signaling us that there are things in our environment that are unhealthy for us
Depression and psychological pain are not just within us, but also around us
What is wrong with the idea of “chemical imbalance” model
Adversity causes depression
The problem of saying “there’s a pill for that”
The work case for depression research
Ethical issues related to medicating away depression or psychological pain
How non-western cultures address psychological pain
There is “not a direct translation for depression in any other language” – Kristen Syme
The internal idea of the imbalance of black bile that leads directly through the ages to the concept of imbalance of serotonin
How other cultures talk about depression and situations, with more refined, specific language
How our language creates our reality around depression and how broadly we define it
How common depression (as broadly defined) is in the modern world
The lack of evidence for a “chemical imbalance”
How big pharma has impacted the conceptualization of depression
The inadequacy of treatment based on this conceptualization
The causes of suicidality: sexual assault, forced marriages, abuse
The problem of trivializing “seeking attention”
The tendency of coming up with “the theory”
Looking at how people might be better served by the mental health system
The importance of creativity and novelty in identifying better treatment

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Article: Mental health is biological health: Why tackling “diseases of the mind” is an imperative for biological anthropology in the 21st century

Dr. Kristen Syme on Twitter

Dr. Kristen Syme on Google Scholar

Relevant Episodes:

Burnout or Depression

Is Therapy an Opiate of the Masses?

Connect with us!

Our consultation services:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Partners of Therapists Apr 19, 2021

Partners of Therapists

Curt and Katie chat about how our job and training can impact our partners. We look at the benefits like emotional intelligence, resilience, and perspective. We also look at the challenges therapists and their partners face when trying to navigate being in relationship while one partner is navigating this career. Suggestions about how to navigate conversations and confidentiality as well as possibilities for improving relationships are discussed.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The impact of being a therapist on long-term relationships/partnerships
The insight into people and relationships that can be a benefit of partnering with a therapist
Expecting that the therapist will be the expert or do the emotional lifting
The concern that therapists overanalyze their relationships (don’t therapize me!)
Therapists breaking down characters in movies and books and ruining things for our partners
Positive communication and being able to navigate challenging conversations
The desire to talk about the relationship more frequently than our partners
The potential of differences when you start a relationship as a therapist or whether you start prior to becoming a therapist
Using our training to do what “successful couples” do
What might be different if one were to approach dating or starting relationships later
The challenge of not being able to talk about work at the end of the day (confidentiality)
Specific parameters around how to talk about one’s day (process versus content)
When partners aren’t part of our field, they don’t understand how our field works or what our job entails
The difficulty of processing trauma, countertransference, empathy fatigue
Gaps in the relationships with our partners related to partners not being able to process and handle challenging material
The challenge of leaving work at work, being able to relate to other people at the end of the day
The impact of the pandemic on childcare and balance of parenting and coparenting
Therapist dissociation and self-care
When our profession is overtaxed and we are overtaxed, our partners and kids can get pushed to the side
What therapists’ partners might need to be successful in these relationships
The lack of resources and resilience during the pandemic
The difficulty those who are in relationships with therapists understanding that they are human and that we are not always able to cope.
How our knowledge and resourcefulness can help with us taking care of ourselves and meeting the needs of our partners
The gratitude and love that we can share with our partners when we see how things go wrong
Our capacity to have challenging conversations to improve relationships
Emotional intelligence and perspective, self-awareness

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Our Facebook Group

Relevant Episodes:

Dating as a Therapist

Therapy with an Audience

Off Duty Therapist

Connect with us!

Our consultation services:

CAMFT’s statement on Paying Prelicensees as a Best Practice

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Bilingual Supervision Apr 12, 2021

Bilingual Supervision

An interview with Adriana Rodriguez, LMFT, about how to support bilingual, bicultural therapists. Curt and Katie talk with Adriana about her experiences as a clinician as well as her perception of the systemic concerns that bilingual/bicultural therapists face. We also dig into common work challenges for these clinicians, the ethical and competency concerns monolingual supervisors face, and specific action steps for individuals and organizations to increase the quality of supervision and training for these clinicians.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Adriana Rodriguez, LMFT (She/Her/Ella)

Adriana Rodriguez (She/Her/Ella) is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, she obtained a BA in Sociology from Sacramento State and a MA in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco. Adriana is a bilingual, queer, Salvadorian immigrant woman who is passionate about destigmatizing mental health. Adriana’s lens is intersectional, she is passionate about understanding how intergenerational trauma compounded with personal trauma impacts the mental health of first-generation adult children of immigrants and QTBIPOC. Adriana works with individuals and dyads in private practice in Sacramento, CA.

In this episode we talk about:

Adriana’s story as a bilingual, bicultural therapist who immigrated from El Salvador
Experiences of immigration, learning English, and trauma
Criticism, bias, and navigating a different culture
The impacts of uninformed supervision on bilingual or monolingual clients
The requirement to build one’s own tools (i.e., translating documents)
What is getting lost in translation – linguistic, cultural, etc.
The importance of understanding context
The power differential within the clinical supervision
How do I level the playing field and share the power?
Sharing knowledge (rather than seeing the supervisor as the only person who has knowledge in the relationship)
Acknowledging and talking about differences
Ethical concerns and supervisor responsibility
The systemic challenges that bilingual clinicians can face in getting hired or promoted
The need for greater diversity in leadership roles
The idea of “first generation everything”
The make up of the job for bilingual clinicians
Survivor guilt – immigrating, learning English, education, and making it professionally
The identification and desire to empower clients that remind you of yourself, your family members
The exploitation of that desire by agencies who do not have sufficient bilingual clinicians
How frequently bilingual clinicians have large caseloads and not sufficient compensation or matching or curating of caseloads
The risk for burnout for these clinicians
The complexity of translation
The need for more research around the impacts of monolingual supervisors providing supervision on bilingual clinicians (as well as the impacts on monolingual or bilingual clients)
The constant need for self-awareness and re-examining your bias
Making sure to understand the differences between personality and culture
Adjusting case conceptualization, looking at the triad of supervisor-clinician-client

Therapy with an Audience Apr 05, 2021

Therapy with an Audience

An interview with Doug Friedman, LCSW, the host of Your Mental Breakdown, on why he chose to record therapy sessions for his podcast. Curt and Katie talk with Doug about the logistics and benefits of publicly providing therapy. We also look at how podcasting can decrease stigma and open up flexibility to learn as a therapist (rather than rigidly holding to a modality or to an expert status that doesn’t allow for mistakes).

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Doug Friedman, LCSW

Doug Friedman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice in Los Angeles. He has spent nearly 20 years working with adults, adolescents and families with issues ranging from depression and anxiety to substance abuse, bipolar disorder and PTSD. He has supervised programs in community mental health settings and he continues to provide clinical supervision to therapists in his private group practice, Clear Mind Full Heart. Doug is the creator and co-host of the mental health/entertainment podcast, Your Mental Breakdown.

Doug received a Masters in Social Work from The Catholic University of America and a BA in Study of Religion from UCLA. Before becoming a psychotherapist, Doug worked for a music management company that oversaw bands like Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Beastie Boys, and Bonnie Raitt. Doug is also the artist and songwriter behind all the music heard on the podcast, Your Mental Breakdown.

In this episode we talk about:

Doug’s mission of normalizing therapy and decreasing mental health stigma
The importance of learning as a therapist and exploring mistakes or alternatives
The experience of being a therapist on a public-facing podcast
Why Doug doesn’t hold a modality sacred
How therapy serves the client as a focus for treatment
The logistics of setting up the podcast (laws, ethics, etc.)
Navigating the relationship with the client on the podcast (dual relationships, confidentiality)
The benefit of recording sessions and reviewing them later
Exploration of opportunities and different choices that we can make in the room
Cohost rapport and trust, inquiry, love, disagreement, calling out
The comfort level in being recorded for a podcast: shifting from one on one to a public audience
Creating a system to keep the work of making the podcast sustainable
Being vulnerable and authentic as a value
Being an expert does not mean having the right answer in the room, but knowing how to find the answer and seek additional advice
How other clients respond to Doug’s podcast
The possibility of the public persona and “fame”

Episode 200 Mar 29, 2021

Episode 200: Mail Bag!

Curt and Katie reflect on 200 episodes, answer questions and respond to feedback from listeners. We explore the tension between making a good living and providing affordable mental health care to consumers. We dig into paying prelicensed individuals, antitrust concerns, training centers, ethics codes, app therapy, setting fees, and therapist career trajectories.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Celebrating 200 episodes!
Question about how to make money and help to provide affordable access to clients
Systemic challenges and the phases of change to the system
Individual responsibility and the problems of this individual responsibility to therapists
The way in which we can take action to make our careers more sustainable, while also advocating for change
The debate about unpaid internships, training centers, and free labor (which is against the law)
Online App Therapy – whether it is hurting the field and gaslighting therapists
Sliding scale, setting fees, and why therapists’ rates vary so widely
Why people don’t stay therapists, feel the need to become a thought leader
Reflections on 200 episodes

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Department of Labor Statement on Internship Programs

Robert Casares Jr. (2020): Embracing the Podcast Era: Trends, Opportunities, & Implications for Counselors, Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, DOI: 10.1080/15401383.2020.1816865

Why Therapists Quit Part 2 Mar 22, 2021

Why Therapists Quit Part 2

Curt and Katie chat about the response from listeners to our episode on why therapists quit. We look at the differences in responses (those who felt angry and those who felt validated) as well as our reasons for doubling down. We also dig into the differences between pessimism and realism, pairing our realistic take on the current problems with a call to action that aspires to change the systemic problems we’ve started to outline.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Responding to listener feedback on Why Therapists Quit
The critical feedback we received related to the “negative tone” we put forward
The positive feedback from listeners who felt seen
The different stages of individuals’ careers and how they responded
Assessing whether we are doing the profession a disservice by speaking the truth of our experiences and the problems we see in the profession
How the knowledge of the information that this job is hard can impact the relationships with our clients, consultees, supervisees, etc.
“Saving Psychotherapy” by Dr. Ben Caldwell
The individual responsibility that clinicians are taking for systemic issues
The problem when we don’t understand the system before we’re deep into the career
The expectation that therapists must be good all of the time – which is unrealistic
How we’re looking for ways to improve the therapy system, the mental health profession, etc.
The responsibility we feel to help change
How critical it is to frame the problem before you can solve
Why it is important to opt in to a job, warts and all
The problem of idealizing the profession
Our plan for a new series that talks about the state of mental health care
Differentiating between realism and pessimism
The values systems for therapists that can be challenged by the system
The response from therapists who may be more pessimistic than Curt and Katie are at this time
A call to action to reach critical mass in order to make a change
The people who don’t make it into the profession for many different reasons
The shifts in the smaller systems (improving work environments)
Whether our clients listen and what they might think about what we’re talking about
Our responsibility in our role in this podcast, to make the profession better
How we’ll be moving forward in an upcoming series, looking for solutions

Infertility and Pregnancy Loss Mar 15, 2021

Infertility and Pregnancy Loss

An interview with Tracy Gilmour-Nimoy, LMFT, on understanding infertility as well as pregnancy and infant loss. Curt and Katie interview Tracy, a certified perinatal mental health professional, on what the medical and mental health professions often miss related to reproductive health and pregnancy. We dig into the basics and common mistakes as well as the harm caused when therapists are uninformed. We explore trauma, grief, and the invisibility of these common struggles faced by some who want to have children.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Tracy Gilmour-Nimoy, LMFT and Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional

Tracy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional. She has a group practice in San Diego, CA, where she specializes in working with individuals who have experiences of trauma, depression, anxiety, reproductive mental health, perinatal mental health, maternal mental health, paternal mental health, grief, loss, life transitions, and relational challenges, to name a few. In addition to her love of mental health, Tracy is an avid reader and writer. Her articles have appeared on her mental health blog and other public forums, such as Scary Mommy. She writes about varying mental health topics, as well as her personal experiences of infant loss, grief, and trauma. To learn more about Tracy, connect with her on Instagram @TGNtherapy

In this episode we talk about:

What we missed in our episode about navigating pregnancy
How hidden infertility and pregnancy loss is in society, how the conversation is taboo
The lack of trauma-informed care within the medical field
The problems of assumptions around fertility and whether people want children
The way that common questions can be triggering and traumatizing
How dismissive of the grief people are when it deals with infant and pregnancy loss
The rose-tinted lenses that hurt women during the whole process of getting pregnant and having a baby
How hidden it is and how little discussed are all the stages of women’s development
The gaps in therapist training related to infertility and pregnancy/infant loss
The focus on the baby versus the parent
Ideas for advocacy within the educational and medical systems
The discomfort with sitting with these types of experiences and losses
The tendency of people wanting to fix it and move forward without accounting for loss and recognizing when it cannot be fixed
The shadow losses and losses of an absence
Holding space for grief and loss, for how horrible it is
What therapists need to know about infertility
The importance of understanding the medical terminology, the financial burden, the emotional implications of the fertility process
The internal focus on how the body works and what to do for your body
The identity aspects related to motherhood or not becoming a mother
What therapists need to know about pregnancy and infancy loss
The perception of the death of their child
Traditions to honor the child who didn’t come home
The importance of remembering dates for individuals who have infant and pregnancy loss
Acknowledging loss, using language or names that are relevant
Honoring how they view their parental status after a loss

Why Therapists Quit Mar 08, 2021

Why Therapists Quit

Curt and Katie chat about the systemic reasons that therapists leave the profession. We look at the work environment, the infrastructure of community mental health, as well as the frequent ways that therapists set up their own private practices. We also identify changes on a systems level as well as calls to actions for individuals who would like to continue as a therapist.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Challenges in the mental health system leading to therapists quitting the profession
Why therapists don’t stay therapists when they wanted to stay therapists
Obstacles and lack of opportunities
The lack of quality of supervision or inadequate training for other elements of the job
The lack of research on therapist workforce issues
Not a lot of empathy for therapists as we “chose” to do this
Caseload sizes, the weight of carrying the challenges of many people
Niche fatigue and hearing the same story over and over
The challenge of holding the hope for clients and communities
The heaviness and the boredom of hearing so many similar conversations
The full workload including paperwork and other consultations, case management and advocacy
Who is drawn to the work, the desire for deep and meaningful work, and the problems of the bureaucratic system in providing meaningful work
The training doesn’t match the actual job
The status quo and inertia in the work, while at the same time that all the changes that happen in the other pieces of the profession
Productivity standards and billing, differences in philosophy
Systemic problems with under and unpaid services and requirements
What we’re asking from the professional organizations and the challenges that professional organizations may have in advocating for these types of systemic changes
What could actually move forward in legislation
The issues related to antitrust
People are more concerned about our patients than about therapists
Why clinicians in all settings (including community mental health, private practice, etc.)
The sameness of the workload when you’re in private practice
The isolation as a therapist
Increased demands with higher demand, less delineated work/life balance
The appeal of a job where you can just show up
The weight we carry as business owners, including decision-making and responsibility to generate income
The benefit of diversifying your caseload
Calls to action: advocating for quality workplaces, finding peer support, setting boundaries for yourself throughout your professional journey, what we can do if enough of us make these changes
The time is now to address mental health systemic problems – shining a light on how we are well-situated, making sure we are paid, and sharing messages to support the community

Mental Health Entrepreneurship Mar 01, 2021

Mental Health Entrepreneurship

An interview with Lawrence E. Shapiro, Ph.D. about lessons learned through serial entrepreneurship. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Shapiro about how to identify whether your idea for a product or service is good, the importance of solving a problem, and what business models are strongest for therapists. He also talks with us about why we shouldn’t fall in love with our products, why we shouldn't expect to make money writing books, and why building apps don’t make sense.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Lawrence E. Shapiro, PhD

Lawrence E. Shapiro is an internationally known psychologist, recognized for his innovative and practical approach to helping people with mental health problems. Dr Shapiro has written more than 75 books and developed more than 100 therapeutic board and card games. His work has been published in 28 languages.

Dr. Shapiro has developed a broad understanding of mental health problems in various professional positions as a teacher of emotionally disturbed teens, a school psychologist, a Director at the National Children’s Center in Washington D.C., and in private practice in Washington DC and Philadelphia.

Dr. Shapiro is also considered a pioneer in using technology to address mental health problems. He has developed a number of apps for mobile devices, including an award-winning app to help prevent suicide among military personnel. He is the Founder and President of Between Sessions Resources, a company that develops clinical software for therapists and counselors and publishes therapeutic homework that professionals give to their clients to accelerate their growth.

Dr. Shapiro’s books include:

For Parents: How to Raise a Child with a High EQ: A Parents’ Guide to Emotional Intelligence; The Secret Language of Children; The Baby Emergency Handbook

For Kids and Teens: The ADHD Workbook for Kids; I’m Not Bad, I’m Just Mad, Stopping the Pain: A Workbook for Teens Who Cut and Self-Injure

For Adults: Overcoming Depression, The Panic Disorder Workbook, Taking Care of Your Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dr. Shapiro is a frequent media guest, and has appeared on CNN, NPR, The Today Show, and many other national and local outlets.

In this episode we talk about:

Shapiro’s forays into entrepreneurship and alternate revenue streams
The importance of getting used to making mistakes
The lack of follow through that leave ideas as ideas (and not businesses or products)
The need to actually be solving a problem, not pursuing an interest
Finding something that has value to other people
Writing books and self-publishing
The goal for self-publishing a book (it’s not the profit)
A book as a business card
Strongest business models
The need for on-going work and learning as an entrepreneur
Protecting your work (copywriting, registered copywriting, trademarking)
Ideas are just ideas and may not actually need protecting
The perspective of improving on what others have done, rather than coming up with a unique idea or doing what has “never been done before”
An iterative process to find your product, incremental innovation
Leveraging the success of others
How to learn what to do, following the recipe of what is worked
Selling a business and moving onto the next idea
Different places that people can shine – ideas, implementation, marketing
The benefit of having partners to have different skill sets
Marketing as building your platform and audience
Why Dr. Shapiro advocates for email marketing
The concept of a sales funnel and adding value along the way

Negotiating Sliding Scale Feb 22, 2021

Negotiating Sliding Scale

Curt and Katie chat about the pros and cons of sliding your fee for therapy services. We look at the theories around fee-setting, sliding fee scales, and conversations around money. We discuss what actually makes a difference in determining if clients are invested and will benefit from your services. We also dig into the laws, ethics, and practicalities if you choose to offer sliding scale in your practice.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Feedback from our conversation with Tiffany McLain
Clinical theories on how fee impacts the clinical relationship
The different ways that people enter into therapy, different financial situations, etc.
A more nuanced conversation about sliding scale fee
Freud’s views on having direct conversations with clients on fee
How clinical orientation can impact how therapists view fee-setting
The idea that fee must be set at an “uncomfortable enough” that clients invest in therapy
How fee paid impacts attending the last session
Different types of investments that might impact how much people benefit of treatment
Practical ways to assess what fee would be in the sweet spot for sliding scale (e.g., written out scale, financials, etc.)
Do therapists show up differently for clients who pay more or less?
How fees average out among larger caseloads
Incorporating outcome measures and practice-based evidence to assess whether you are showing up differently for clients who pay more or less
Mythology around what we have to do and what is best to do
Laws and ethics, practical considerations
Usual and Customary fees
Advertised fees
Philosophy related to how you set your fees
The impact of insurance on our profession related to sliding scale
Ethical codes on fee setting related to services provided and client ability to pay
Models of subsidy for mental health services
The need for a standard justification
The risks for insurance fraud related to fee-setting and accepting copays
The ability to adjust usual and customary fee as needed as long as it doesn’t violate state law
What we have to do and what the softer, virtue ethics might recommend
The importance of accurate billing and justification
The tension between the equity argument and the practicalities of business
Are you unfairly treating clients who are paying less?
The need for pro bono work, but not sliding scale work
The need for clinician-led discussions and opt-in from the client
Check your insurance contracts, advertise your fees correctly, written basis for a range of fees
Options for sliding scale
Other models for addressing access
How to create a sliding scale practically
Why you need to identify what you need to make on average per session
Moving your sliding scale or pro bono work outside of your practice
Our recommendations for Open Path Psychotherapy Collective and Give an Hour

Invisible and Scrutinized Feb 15, 2021

Invisible and Scrutinized

An interview with Dr. Sheila Modir on racial trauma and identity within the Middle Eastern North African (MENA) population. Curt and Katie talk with Sheila about how MENA individuals are impacted by racial profiling, prejudice, and the lack of data on the MENA community. We also explore typical coping strategies as well as how therapists can support MENA clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Sheila Modir

Dr. Sheila Modir is a pediatric psychologist at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). She obtained a combined doctoral degree in Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and her master’s degree in social welfare at UCLA. Prior to coming to CHOC, Dr. Modir completed her doctoral internship at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior where she worked at the UCLA Stress, Trauma, and Resilience Clinic. Her research interests include racial trauma and understanding risk and resilience factors in the context of trauma, and she has presented at conferences and published articles on this topic. Most recently, she has written a children’s book (coming fall 2021) called The Proudest Color, which is a timely and sensitive introduction to race, racism, and racial pride for children.

In this episode we talk about:

MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) clients
The common mistake of assuming that all MENA clients are Muslim
A lack of data on immigration and the demographics of these clients
The lack of clinical research and education on MENA clients
An invisible community that is greatly scrutinized due to profiling
The layers of racial trauma
Bronson Brenner’s ecological model: Sociopolitical discrimination, Institutional discrimination, Relational discrimination due to “cultural ignorance”
The consistent portrayal of MENA individuals as terrorists, the Middle East as war-torn
MENA individuals called terrorists versus white individuals called “lone wolves” who are “mentally ill”
The impact of how the insurrection in January is viewed as “white terrorism”
What influences racism and bias against MENA clients
The typical coping strategies for MENA clients related to racial trauma
Resignation, cowering, “getting used to it” leading to depression and anxiety
Coping strategies, including education and being a cultural representative
The contrast between the Asian American community pushing back against the “model minority” while MENA clients are aspiring to be a model minority
The importance of identification of MENA individuals on the census
How the Muslim Ban has impacted MENA individuals’ relationship with the government
Clients minimizing, denying, not disclosing racial trauma
The thirst for appropriate and accurate information on culture
The benefit of affinity groups
How non-MENA therapists can best support MENA clients
The nuance of asking a MENA client to educate you as a therapist
Collectivist culture and how it shows up in the room, how it can be complicated
The challenge of cultural sensitivity when there is little research
A call to action regarding research and education

Understanding Polyamory Feb 08, 2021

Understanding Polyamory

An interview with Dana McNeil, LMFT, about polyamory and ethical non-monogamy. Curt and Katie talk with Dana about the basics that every therapist should understand about polyamory. We cover some of the vocabulary, the values and perspectives within the polyamory community, as well as the biases many therapists hold and what therapists often get wrong when working with polyamorous clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dana McNeil Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Co-Founder of Confident Couples Therapist

Dana McNeil is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and is the founder The Relationship Place, a group practice located in San Diego, California. Dana’s practice specializes in couples’ therapy and utilizes an evidence-based type of couples’ therapy which is known as the Gottman Method. Dana is a certified Gottman Method therapist and Bringing Home Baby instructor. Dana’s practice works with all types of relationship issues from pre-marital counseling, dealing with the aftermath of extramarital affairs, partners working through addiction recovery, military deployed families, parents of special needs children, LGBTQ, and polyamorous clients.

Dana has been featured on many relationship podcasts and in publications such as the Business Insider, Authority Magazine, Eat This-Not That, Parade, Oprah Living, Martha Stewart Living, Ladders, AARP, and is the resident relationship expert on the Cox Communications show “I Do.”

Dana is also the co-founder of Confident Couples Therapist, a consultation and training program. She and her partner Nancy Ryan teach the tips and techniques to build a successful cash pay practice working with couples.

In this episode we talk about:

Polyamory and ethical non-monogamy (ENM)
The faulty assumption that therapists don’t have skills to work with polyamorous clients
The complexity of the non-monogamous relationships
Jealousy versus compersion
Metamour, Polycule, and new relationship energy
The goals and aspirations within the polyamorous community
The underlying reasons for entering into polyamorous relationships
The poly identity and lifestyle
Typical biases therapists hold related to ethical non-monogamy
The difference between boundaries and rules and agreements
The negative tone that can express bias to client
Dana’s use of the Gottman method with ENM clients
The reality of how ENM relationships – emotional and practical logistics
The importance of transparency, clear communication within these relationships
Considerations related to when members of the polycule are parents, who and how they are introduced to children
Sex, fluid bonding, protection and testing
Swingers have sex as sport, open relationships are sexual, poly relationships may be for love and romance and not sex
The stigma and misunderstanding that these individuals may face

Overcoming Your Poverty Mindset Feb 01, 2021

Overcoming Your Poverty Mindset

An interview with Tiffany McLain about how therapists deserve to make a good living and often do not. Curt and Katie interview Tiffany regarding her perspectives related to how sliding scale fees can perpetuate racist and classist systems, the problem with therapists sacrificing themselves and acting as saviors, and the impact you can make if you amass wealth and seek luxury.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Tiffany McLain, LMFT

Tiffany McLain, LMFT is a therapist & consultant whose mantra is, “Full fees are the new black.” Via her program, The Lean In. MAKE BANK. Academy, she helps therapists ethically earn 30 to 50% more per month while seeing fewer clients by showing them how to think about and directly address fees in a clinically appropriate manner.

In this episode we talk about:

Tiffany’s Lean In Make Bank Academy
How current events are impacting therapists making money
The belief system that we are hurting clients by charging them
Why therapists are so susceptible to these messages
How women and minorities are external reinforced to sacrifice ourselves
The stigma of building wealth, living life more fully, seeking luxury
Grappling with raising fees, with people needing help
The internal dialogue that comes in when trying to raise fees
How luxury has been sustained on the backs of others
The misguided attempt to fix the system through self-sacrifice
What the cost is when you self-sacrificing
The problem with Saviorism
How a sliding scale can encourage racism and classism
Negating self-efficacy and fostering dependency, through lowering our fees
Sliding scale = subsidizing our client’s treatment
Tiffany’s experience with a sliding scale therapist
How gratitude for a therapist sliding their fee can lead to clients hiding themselves, not fully showing up or engaging in treatment effectively
The value issue related to people asking for a sliding fee or balking at paying the full fee
How these issues may come in at the beginning of a therapist’s career
Talking about your fee as a clinical intervention
Unconscious dynamics that keep us from acting on what we know re: setting fees and money
Money is a representation of the therapist’s need and desire
Processing emotional reactions to fee changes with clients. For example: “When I raise my fees, it hurts you” without collapsing, lowering the fee, or losing boundaries
The challenge of looking at financial capacity for individuals
The idea that we do not have to take care of individuals who cannot afford our fee in order to create access – and ideas of how we can increase impact once we’ve had the ability to create financial stability and wealth
The benefit to society of women gaining wealth, with the ability to make a bigger impact
The importance of setting your fee appropriately from the beginning

Navigating Pregnancy as a Therapist Jan 25, 2021

Navigating Pregnancy as a Therapist

An interview with Emily Sanders, LMFT about how to navigate being a therapist while pregnant. Curt and Katie talk with Emily about when and how to disclose to clients, what it means to integrate the pregnancy into the clinical work, the transference and the richness that is available in the clinical work. We also look at practical, business, and clinical logistics for pregnant therapists (with a couple of thoughts for therapists with pregnant partners).

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Emily Sanders, LMFT

Emily Sanders is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California who works in a solo private practice in Orange County seeing individuals and couples. Her areas of focus are anxiety, perfectionism, attachment wounds, and relationship issues. In addition to her 8+ years of clinical practice, Emily has taught Human Development and Advanced Counseling at Life Pacific University, speaks for retreats and workshops, and contributed to leadership health and readiness assessment teams. Of all the roles she plays, she most loves being wife to her husband, Michael, of 13 years and mother to their three children Liv, Ellis, and Arlin.

In this episode we talk about:

The challenges facing therapists when navigating pregnancy
Whether or not to hide pregnancies as long as you can
How to integrate the pregnancy into the clinical work
The fear of bringing your parenting journey into the work
Navigating client infertility while pregnant
The individual differences that could impact disclosure, transference and the clinical work
Considerations for when and how to disclose to each client
Themes of abandonment that can come up
Desires that clients can express related to wanting to be your partner or your baby
The connection clients may feel and what they can witness, the curiosity they can experience
Assessing the level of self-disclosure
Seeking the stories related to considerations related to parenting and the parenting journey
Integrating self into the room as a whole person therapist
Planning for taking time away from your practice
The business considerations (including finances)
Clinical coverage and whether clients return to you after a maternity leave
Idea for notifying clients when the baby is born
The importance of looking put together when you return and challenging the notion that you might be fragile
Transference when you return
Looking at the timing of how long you can be gone (financial consideration)
The fear that people will decide on their leave based on financial concerns
Opportunities afforded when you are going to be out for maternity
Business considerations to make sure you’ve addressed prior to maternity leave
The logistics of breast feeding when you return to work
Considerations when your partner is pregnant
Logistic versus comfort-seeking questions you can get from clients both before and after pregnancy

White Terrorism and Therapy Jan 18, 2021

White Terrorism and Therapy

Curt and Katie chat about the attack on the US Capitol by radicalized Trump supporters. We talk about the role therapists play in addressing white supremacist terrorism, how to support clients in responding to a domestic terror attack, and what therapy looks like for clients who are impacted by Trump supporters or radical rhetoric. We also talk about the challenge of finding compassion, the need for thoughtful communication, and ideas about how to move forward.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

White Supremacy Terrorism, Domestic Terrorism, and the definition of Terrorism
The evolving threat of White Supremacy
Our responses to the domestic terrorism activity, the insurrection at the Capitol
Processing the event in real time during sessions, with clients with double screen
The lack of definition in the role of therapists during this time
Thoughts related to people connecting violence to mental illness
QAnon, other groups and the need to understand what they are, the signs
The different types of clients coming into our office and how to support them
Dealing with the “white stuff” like white apathy, being further removed from the events
Susceptibility to political reactionism
Trauma around safety, responses to the lack of equity, vulnerability, marginalization
The importance of opening conversations and allowing clients to fully express their experience
Supporting clients who have been pushed away from Trump supporters among family or friends
Self-Identity versus Family-Identity
Responding to divisive messages
The complexity of interacting with someone who has been radicalized
The need for community and connection to shift the culture
What to do when a client who is in the process of being radicalized enters your therapy office
The harm of “what about-ism”
Risk factors for radicalization
Conversations beyond Tarasoff and safety planning
Desire for connection, attachment needs
Simplicity of radicalized rhetoric and the goal to dig deeper into underlying needs and goal
The possibility of therapy as a counter to the division
Societal change, needed messaging, taking care of disenfranchised folks
We are pro-human
The need for compassionate communication
Making things real to people who are disconnected and have the option to opt out, so they choose and can re-engage in the societal change that is needed
A reminder to take care of yourselves as therapists during this time

Taking a Shot at Vaccinations Jan 11, 2021

Taking a Shot at Vaccinations

Curt and Katie chat about Covid vaccinations and how that will impact your work as a therapist. We look at who can be required to get a vaccine, what accommodations can be made for people who do not want to (or cannot) get vaccinated, and the clinical implications of the vaccine conversation coming into the therapy room.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Laws and ethics related to requiring vaccinations for clients and employees
Vaccine exemptions and who/how they need to be honored
The best practices of encouraging
Accommodations for people who are not vaccinated
The complexities of following the health advice
Different considerations for employees and employers
What the implications are for requiring clients to get vaccines
The challenges of talking with clients about vaccines
Other options related to telehealth, masks, timelines for vaccines
When you may need to refer out
Strategies for working with insurance in the transition
What to do when you’re working at an agency
Implications for mental health access
Protecting yourself and managing your own risk
Clinical Implications of the vaccine and how to talk with your clients
Respecting the different reasons why people may be hesitant or refuse to get vaccinated
The cultural differences relevant to interaction with the medical system
The power differential and clinical ramifications
Helping clients making decisions around vaccination
Scope of practice and medical decision-making
The challenge to physical health being out of our scope of practice
The importance of having adequate knowledge of the science of the vaccines and the health decisions that clients often make
Where ethics come in – forcing our clients to follow “science” is unethical
Navigating the power differential
Additional considerations that we were not able to talk about

You Do NOT Have to Be a Thought Leader Jan 04, 2021

You Don’t Have to Be A Thought Leader

Curt and Katie chat about the latest pressures on therapists to become “thought leaders.” We look at how thought leadership is defined, what it typically is trying to solve, and other options therapists can take if they aren’t ready to be in the spotlight, start a side hustle, or leave the profession.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The definitions of thought leader
Why you must earn the title of thought leader
Thought leadership as content marketing
Repackaging content, predicting the future, or sharing a brand-new perspective
The role of luck in thought leadership
The importance of doing “you” whether you choose to use thought leadership or not
The option to be a therapist in private practice without doing thought leadership as your form of content marketing
Assessing values, skills, and energy in your decision whether you focus on thought leadership
Challenging the notion that you have to leave the career if you’re burned out
The ability to have hobbies and not monetizing everything
Other options to address burnout or financial needs or lack of meaning in your work
The myth of passive income and thought leadership as a mechanism to a better life
The idea of fixing your business as an alternative
The focus on the thoughts as the strongest, most aligned type of thought leadership
Force of personality and Cult-like leadership
Take an uncomfortable look at where you’re at to determine what you can do going forward
Identifying a path forward that doesn’t get you stuck (stepping outside of shoulds)
How to assess what is missing or what you’d like to get rid of
The concept of self-leadership

Malpractice is No Joke Dec 28, 2020

Malpractice is No Joke

An interview with Rachel Warners of CPH & Associates on the ins and outs of liability insurance. Curt and Katie talk with Rachel about some myths related to therapist liability, the best practices in getting (and keeping yourself) insured. We also talk about the types of claims and the services that are covered when you’re insured. We look at how you can best protect yourself from malpractice claims and what the most common complaints (and consequences) are.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Rachel Warners, CPH & Associates

Rachel Warners is the Director of Operations at CPH & Associates, a leading provider of Professional Liability Insurance for mental health provider. Having been with CPH for 10 years, she understands the importance and unique nature of a therapists work and is proud to partner with them in protecting their career.

In this episode we talk about:

Why you need liability insurance
The benefit of keeping liability insurance continuously through your whole career
Why you may need a policy while working as a W-2 with an employer who is covering you
Debunking some myths about your liability
The problem with letting your policy lapse or having a gap in coverage
The benefits of continuously coverage (especially if you’d like to get credentialed with insurance)
The types of services you’re entitled to when you’re covered
The ability consult when you get subpoenaed
Common board complaints and lawsuits, like practicing outside the scope of licensure, negligent supervision, boundary and dual relationship issues, custody conflicts, unprofessional conduct
When you are not covered, even when you have insurance
The consequences of having a board complaint whether the complaint is dismissed or not (and how to navigate reporting this to your insurance carrier, etc)
How often complaints are founded or unfounded
The cost of protecting yourself from complaints
Other types of insurance you may want to consider as a practice owner (general liability - slip and fall, personal property coverage, cyber liability)
Insuring your corporate name
The importance of protecting yourself and using insurance to cover costs of handling your defense or the required steps to repair what is broken
The ways that you can avoid liability, including accessing the resources availability to you
Considerations for Telehealth

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

CPH & Associates: www.cphins.com

CPH phone line: 312-987-9823 | 800-875-1911

Articles on Avoiding Liability

Relevant Episodes:

Joining Your Association

Connect with us!

Our consultation services:

Group Practice Owner’s Summit

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Marketing with Empathy Dec 21, 2020

Marketing with Empathy

An interview with Kat Love, on the hurdles therapists face when marketing their practices. Curt and Katie talk with Kat about how to develop relationships with referral sources on social media, advice on writing website copy, and the great importance of knowing yourself (and processing some of your stuff) when making a marketing plan. We also talk about some data you’ll want to review to adjust your planning and writing prompts to help get you started.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Kat Love

Therapists helped Kat heal from childhood sexual abuse, so now they specialize in helping therapists with their marketing. From helping you find the words to write to implementing the marketing strategies you need, Kat helps therapists get more clients, more referrals, and start making an impact. Check out Kat’s services that help with copywriting for therapists and marketing and business coaching for therapists.

In this episode we talk about:

The hurdles that therapists have to jump over to market their practice
How mindset blocks keep therapists from creating a marketing plan
The confusion and overwhelm in the DIY marketing space
When you don’t know how to execute your marketing plan
The problem of doing too many social media channels at once
How to network on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter
Building relationships with people on social media
You can even do cold outreach and warm up the relationship within the digital world
The importance of doing things that align with your natural talents and interests
The type of data you should be looking at to adjust your marketing plan
Ideas for how to market based on who you are
Advice on writing website copy
How journaling and blocking out time for self-discovery can move you past your blocks
Understanding what works for you
Vulnerability and self-awareness required for building a business and a website
Your website isn’t about you
What you may need to process before you can get your marketing on point
The key things that need to come through in website copy
Speaking to clients’ pain points so they feel seen
Writing about the benefits of therapy in general as well as specifically with you
Listening to your clients and asking your family and friends to understand how you show up as a helper, listener, and therapist

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

katlove.com

empathycopy.com

Relevant Episodes:

Clinical Marketing

Connect with us!

Our consultation services:

Therapy for Your Money Podcast

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Don’t Take Tax Advice from Therapists Dec 14, 2020

Don’t Take Tax Advice from Therapists

An interview with Julie Herres of GreenOak Accounting on why you shouldn’t take tax advice from random therapists in a Facebook Group. Curt and Katie talk with Julie about common mistakes therapists make while trying to do their own bookkeeping and accounting, a new way to look at expenses, what is (and is not) tax deductible, what business entity you might consider, and why the picture is extra complex right now, meaning expert advice is especially important.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Julie Herres, GreenOak Accounting

Julie Herres is an accountant and the owner of GreenOak Accounting. Her firm provides accounting, bookkeeping & tax services to private practice owners throughout the United States. Their mission is for every practice to be profitable! Julie and her team have worked with hundreds of private practice owners, so they are uniquely positioned to be a trusted advisor to clients. Julie also hosts the Therapy For Your Money Podcast, where she talks about all things money & finance for private practice.

In this episode we talk about:

The common mistake of not saving enough for taxes
Bookkeeping mistakes
How to look at your numbers, what numbers you should know about
Expenses that may be outsized for your need
Problem-solving for when your numbers are out of whack
The importance of planning and having a conversation with an expert
Being a good steward of the money that is coming into your therapy business
What you can do proactively to plan for your business and taxes
What you can do to clean up your books and then plan ahead going forward
The value of basic budgeting and forecasting, even for 2021
Uncertainty and luck can be navigated
Covid expenses and plans for investing in growth
What you can still do to address 2020 taxes (including quarterly tax payments)
What to spend money on when you have extra money at the end of the year
The possibility of maximizing retirement accounts, etc.
What you can do into 2021 that still impact 2020 taxes
The need for really good advice based on the complexity of income, loans, etc.
Which experts to go to for advice, which to go to implement your plan
The danger of taking tax advice from a FB group and other questionable advice
Personal expenses are not typically tax deductible (therapy, clothes, makeup, etc.)
What you can deduct related to gifts
Marketing expenses and usual and necessary expenses for business.
Different business entities and some of the things to consider when deciding (spoiler alert: get advice because these things are so complex and depend on your full financial picture
Things to consider in becoming a corporation and who to get help from
How to prepare for changes (or potential changes) expected for 2021
The way in which having an accountant can support you in staying abreast of what you need to know as a business owner

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Julie’s website: GreenOak Accounting

Free tax planning checklist: greenoakaccounting.com/tax

Relevant Episodes:

The 4-1-1 on your 401K

Connect with us!

Our consultation services:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Therapists Struggling with Darkness Dec 07, 2020

Therapists Struggling with Darkness

Curt and Katie chat about how therapists are struggling during the pandemic. We looked at how client material impacts therapists. We also explored unique risk factors and protective factors. We talked about the stigma for therapists to admit that something is not okay as well as the tendency to move that conversation out of the public space (just go to therapy). We have some ideas about how we can better take care of ourselves and each other.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How we are struggling during the pandemic
Sitting with client’s darkness and how that impacts therapists even before the pandemic
The impact client material can have on therapists
The stigma around therapists having mental health concerns
Anxiety contagion, energy drain of working with depression
Impacts on libido, mood, suicidality
Unique risk factors for therapists
Risk factors for suicidality
The heaviness and suicidality that can enter thought processes
The shame and the simplification when therapy is the only suggestion
“We deal with some heavy shit.”
Taking the conversation about therapists struggles out of the social space (“go to therapy”)
The lack of research about therapists as a workforce, the client impact on therapist, or therapists as clients
Therapists as human beings in both private and public ways
The feeling of being stuck and not being able to talk about it when you’re a therapist
How legal and ethical concerns play a part
Having a job, having people around you can be protective factors
Isolation and lack of social support
Boundary issues, vagueness to keep others at bay
How therapists support each other (and the importance of social support)
The danger of feeling trapped, especially if you’re isolated
Practices to incorporate to reinforce resilience
How we consume information and how the people around you are perceiving the news can impact you
Self-assessment of risk factors, identification of protective factors
What actually helps when someone is struggling
The group responsibility as well as our individual responsibilities
How to manage community care without overburdening yourself
The importance of assessing capacity to support and give to our colleagues and friends
Creating reinforcements and structure for regular support

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Signing up for our newsletter

Relevant Episodes:

Quarantine Self-Care for Therapists

Therapist Suicide

Suicidal Therapists

Structuring Self-Care

Connect with us!

Our consultation services:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Noteworthy Documentation Nov 30, 2020

Noteworthy Documentation

An interview with Dr. Ben Caldwell, LMFT about some basic documentation information as well as updates relevant to the 21st Century Cures Act. Curt and Katie talk with Ben about what to consider when writing your notes including what to include and what should not be included. We look at who can see your progress notes as well as other considerations related to records requests and confidentiality.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Ben Caldwell, LMFT

Dr. Benjamin Caldwell, PsyD is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#42723) and the Education and Director for SimplePractice Learning. He currently serves as adjunct faculty for California State University Northridge in Los Angeles. He has taught at the graduate level for more than 15 years, primarily in Law and Ethics, and has written and trained extensively on ethical applications in mental health care. In addition to serving a three-year term on the AAMFT Ethics Committee, Dr. Caldwell served as the Chair of the Legislative and Advocacy Committee for AAMFT-California for 10 years. He served as Editor for the Users Guide to the 2015 AAMFT Code of Ethics and is the author for several books, including Saving Psychotherapy and Basics of California Law for LMFTS, LPCCs, and LCSWs.

In this episode we talk about:

Documentation as our favorite thing ever
Excitement about Ben breaking the record on number of interviews on this podcast
What needs to go into your documentation
Accurate, adequate, and timely
Standard of care
How much information to put into your notes
Who is the audience for your documentation
Who might request records
The importance documentation in continuity of care
Where to put client quotes
The difference between progress and process or psychotherapy notes
What can be subpoenaed (including psychotherapy notes)
How much information you include based on what is advisable to protect self
The benefit of doing documentation for yourself as well as for treatment efficacy
The 21st Century Cures Act – Open Notes (deadline now extended through April 2021)
Optional certification process that requires clients to have access to all the information in their chart without charging them)
Most mental health providers have no changes required from this change
Most private practice EHRs are not on these systems
Hospitals may have this requirement, but individual practitioners are not responsible for the mechanism to provide documentation to clients
How to make sure you’re ready for clients to see your documentation
The communication is going on for people who are required to comply with this open notes mandate, including how to access information and who to contact with questions
In most states, clients have a fundamental right to request their records
Confidentiality and access to records for family members, especially parents of minor children
Conversations to have at the beginning of treatment in these situations regarding what will be included in the chart (and what will not be put into the chart)
What not to include in your chart (specifically written reports from child abuse reports)
A debate of who owns the record – who can see them is different from who owns them

Grad Programs Moving Online Nov 23, 2020

Grad Programs Moving Online

Curt and Katie chat about the quick move to online learning when the pandemic hit. We talk about the challenges with virtual platforms – what has worked and what has not. We look at the decisions related to starting or continuing therapist education at this time. We also talk about the opportunities that have been gained and ideas for students and professors on how to more effectively approach online graduate programs.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Graduate programs for therapists moving online during the pandemic
The education one applied for is vastly different from what you’re getting right now
The rapid shift to online education and lack of deliberate choices to shift how to teach
Synchronous and asynchronous elements of education
The requirement for faculty to learn and utilize technology effectively
A lack of interaction due to polite students keeping their mics off
The spoke and wheel conversations that impact how learning happens
The lack of guidance on how to create truly effective online education
Navigating time on screens
Role plays translating into learning telehealth, rather than in-person therapy
The lack of interaction with the material, more passive learning
Developing clinical efficacy for telehealth
The uncertainty of the efficacy of clinical work in the newer space of telehealth
The impact on discussions social justice, racial and cultural identity, due to the ability to opt out of the conversation in online education
The importance of figuring out how people learn and how it applies to the online space
Should people delay or pause education?
What the impacts on the workforce might be
Opportunities within the online learning space, especially when the technology is well used
Theoretical versus practical base
The need to have more deliberate and direct conversations to create connections that may have happened organically
The adjustments and planning that may improve the situation
Different factors that impact each student’s and each professor’s ability to engage
Looking at expectations, support, and needed infrastructure
What students can do to better access education during this time
Developing personal relationships with professors
Putting together options to increase connection and interaction with peers
Seeking career mentorship and synchronous conversations
Moving from venting and commiserating to advocacy within the system
The ability to make changes, be nimble, and put forward a collective voice

Career Trekking with MTSG Nov 16, 2020

Career Trekking with MTSG

An interview with Marissa Esquibel, LMFT on her journey from community mental health to private practice. Curt and Katie talk with Marissa about how she used the Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide podcast to shift her mindset and change her career trajectory. Marissa highlights the benefits of belief, guidance, and community.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Marissa Esquibel, LMFT

“Though she be but little, she is fierce.”

– Shakespeare

Marissa Esquibel is not like a regular therapist, she’s a cool therapist. With her practice located near Los Angeles, Marissa is on a one-woman mission to empower young women to stop playing small and to start taking up space. She works exclusively with young adults, 20-something’s, who are checking off all the boxes of “success,” and yet, they feel like failures internally. They often come to Marissa dealing with depression, anxiety, imposter syndrome, or codependency. As an undergraduate, she attended UC Santa Barbara and then received her Masters in Clinical Psychology from California State University, Fullerton. In September of 2018, she became licensed and opened-up shop to her virtual therapy practice in March 2020. When Marissa is not in session with patients, she spends her time reading, hanging out with friends and family, binging on podcasts and audiobooks, attending her own therapy, and making sure to get her 10,000 steps a day. She loves her work, job, and life and looks forward to connecting with you.

Learn more about Marissa at therapywithmarissa.com

In this episode we talk about:

Marissa’s burnout story and how she made the trek from community mental health to private practice
Reflections on the question: what do therapists get wrong (and the self-analysis and feedback informed nature of the question)
The idea of self-sacrifice and hard work being required to be a good therapist
The importance of critical thinking regarding what is effective, what is healthy for me
How Marissa made the decision to move to a group practice and then her own private practice
Marissa’s experience at Therapy Reimagined 2019 and her follow up with speakers
The need for belief, guidance, and community
Marissa talks about the episodes that helped her to move forward
How Marissa implemented a new plan for her career
“I choose this agony, this heart ache, this effort” – Marissa Esquibel, LMFT
Marissa’s choice to be vulnerable at this time and to keep on going
The determination and belief that has kept Marissa moving forward on her vision and mission
The need to hear from (and connecting with) people at each stage of career development

Quarantine Self-Care for Therapists Nov 09, 2020

Quarantine Self-Care for Therapists

Curt and Katie chat about the challenges for therapists during the pandemic. We look at what is unique to therapists’ experiences, causes of burnout, and ways in which therapists can work to protect their mental health and wellness during this time.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How therapists can take care of themselves during this time
The risks for burnout during COVID – study in the Asian Journal of Psychiatry
Taking on clients’ emotions, reacting together in real time
Compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma
The strain of “in this together”
Lack of the usual go-to self-care practices
Lack of in-person community and connection
Difficulty in getting feedback related to how we’re being received
Not knowing if we’re providing effective therapy
The concept of stasis, and just waiting for things to go back to normal
Longer term therapy due to lack of progress or on-going stressors
The lack of distraction from work or other responsibilities
The danger of filling time with work
The struggle or concern related to raising fees during a pandemic
How work may have become more of a grind
Lack of creativity or inspiration
The importance of taking a self-assessment
Realistic expectations
Priorities and values
All the roles we are playing right now
What resources do we have available to us?
Creating separation between work and personal space (through physical separation, ritual, structure)
How to identify opportunities with what is happening now
Identifying new challenges and risks, how to mitigate risks
Creating a sustainable situation even if it is just for now
Managing your schedule
Connecting with your community, so you don’t feel so isolated
The importance of breaks

All Things Group Therapy Nov 02, 2020

All Things Group Therapy

An interview with Katie K. May, of Become a Group Guru, about creating effective therapy groups. Curt and Katie talk with Katie May about the clinical elements of group creation as well as the business elements that support effective groups. We look at screening, developing the group container, and curriculum considerations.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Katie K. May, LPC, The Group Guru

Katie K. May is a licensed therapist and online course creator. She helps therapists market and fill groups and online group programs so that they can scale their impact and increase their income, without adding more hours in the office. To learn more and gain access to free trainings and resources to generate new clients like magic, visit www.becomeagroupguru.com

In this episode we talk about:

Building and running therapy groups
Why therapists wait too long to build their therapy groups
The challenge of knowing when to actually start a group
Language to use in marketing a group you’ve not started
The different types of groups you can provide
The importance of aligning your client and your curriculum
How to create your own curriculum
The group container that is built
The anxiety that many therapists face when looking to develop a group
How group therapy can align with treatment goals
How to talk with your individual therapy clients to move into group
Overcoming imposter syndrome when moving into providing group therapy
Innovative ways to start to develop group norms, goals, and cohesion
The skills we have from other elements of being a therapist that we can use within group
Different activity ideas that support group members talking to each other
Screening criteria for inclusion and exclusion
How to navigate clients who may not be appropriate for group, or may show up differently in the group versus how they show up for initial screening
Navigating to online group therapy during the pandemic
Consciously talking about how to be together online
Looking at the logistics of telehealth groups (i.e., platforms that work for groups)
How to start a group – clarity on who the group is for, what group members are experiencing, and what outcomes are you offering
Providing group to your individual clients
How to assess interest for group
Different ways to learn about doing group and the power of learning by doing

Online Therapy Apps Oct 26, 2020

Online Therapy Apps

Curt and Katie chat about online platforms that hire clinicians to provide therapy through their apps. We look at how companies like Talkspace and BetterHelp operate related to their workforce, customer data use, and effective client care. We look at the potential for increased mental health access. We also talk about the risks as well as ethical and legal concerns that clinicians may face if they choose to provide services through these apps.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The different telehealth platforms that hire therapists
The boundary and privacy issues identified at Talkspace from a NY Times article
The use of customer data
Clinical efficacy
Risk and liability issues related to incorporating Artificial Intelligence into treatment
How the platforms work on the clinician side, how clinician gets paid
The packages that clients get on word limits, etc. where they may have to renew early to continue treatment
The potential clinical issues with how therapists get paid in these apps
What is incentivized for therapists on these platforms
The boon to mental health access and treatment flexibility from these apps, including text, phone, and video (synchronous and asynchronous communication)
The caution about these apps growing beyond their capacity to serve clients
The types of clients who are good candidates for these platforms
The concern about clients being anonymous to their therapists
Managing escalating risk without sufficient information
“Counselor” versus “Counseling” services, which provides some cover related to requirements for therapy services and for employee concerns
The potential for practicing across state lines
The Talkspace memo about practicing across state lines and the app paying for legal fees
The legal and ethical risks for practicing across state lines, no matter the help from Talkspace

Rating manipulation – false reviews

Biden and Trump on Mental Health Oct 19, 2020

Biden and Trump on Mental Health

Curt and Katie chat about policies, promises, and actions taken by President Donald Trump and Vice President Joe Biden related to mental health. We look at mental health parity, the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, prisons, funding priorities, as well as the importance of voting.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The promises and the actions taken by President Trump and Vice President Biden on mental health
Mental Health Parity and the Affordable Care Act
Medicaid Funding and Social Services
Prison and Jail Systems
Mental Health workforce
The difference between budget allotments and how much money actually gets to the programs
The opioid epidemic
Suicide prevention and veterans
How the candidates talk about mental health and drug abuse
Trumps attack on Hunter Biden and desire to reopen mental institutions
Control and punishment versus prevention and support
Biden normalizing mental health care
The importance of voting

Treating Political Reactionism and the War on Science Oct 12, 2020

Treating Political Reactionism and the War on Science

An interview with Dr. Tereza Capelos on why people become politically reactionary, as well as how this orientation also leads to an anti-science and anti-progress stance. Curt and Katie talk with Tereza about the research behind political reactionism, looking at the characteristics of someone who is primed to be politically reactive. We also talk about how therapists can help clients address this harmful dynamic.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Tereza Capelos, Director of the Institute for Conflict Cooperation and Security at the University of Birmingham, and Senior Lecturer in Political Psychology

Dr Tereza Capelos is Senior Lecturer in Political Psychology, Director at the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security (ICCS) at the University of Birmingham (UoB), President Elect of the International Society of Political Psychology, and co-chair of the Political Psychology Standing Group of the European Consortium of Political Research. Tereza’s research examines the psychological determinants of political preferences with particular focus on political reactionism, resentful affect and political radicalization during crises and tensions. She is currently co-editing a special issue titled “Reactionary Politics and Resentful Affect in Populist Times”. She has a PhD from Stony Brook University (USA) and worked at the University of Leiden and the University of Surrey. She serves on the editorial board of five international journals, and co-edits the Palgrave Series in Political Psychology. Tereza founded and directed the Summer Academy training program of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP, 2011-2016) and currently directs two graduate programs (MSc Political Psychology of IR, and MSc Global Cooperation and Security) at UoB.

In this episode we talk about:

Intersection between psychology and politics
Research on voters who are politically reactive
Political Reactionism – how it is created and what it looks like
The role of shame, fear, resentment, and anger in voting
Anti-preference – to want to move backward, rather than forward
Uncertainty, feelings of resentment, perception of injustice
Populism as a mechanism to devalue what you cannot have, find who is at fault, how to turn things back to a better time
The lure of the idealized or fictional past
Reactionism is not related to a specific ideology – can happen on the left or right
Feelings and beliefs are more likely to drive decisions than ideology
The way that a reactionary orientation can lead to problematic behaviors
The problem with being anti-progress, especially related to solving the problems we are facing
The difficulty reactionaries with engaging with science
Seeking to prove, with confirmation bias – rather than to testing hypotheses
The anti-expert sentiment that is based in this problem with science and with uncertainty
The insight required to identify when we become reactionary
How people label the emotions related to reactionism (and the problem with not knowing how to identify and label our emotions)
What therapists can do to help vent emotions related to the resentment that leads to a reactionary orientation
Helping people to see neutral and positive uncertainty – rather than only negative uncertainty
Bringing people into the scientific method, disappointing them that they will not be “proving” or “confirming,” but rather “testing”

Therapy for Intercountry Transracial Adoptees Oct 05, 2020

Therapy for Intercountry Transracial Adoptees

An interview with Moses Farrow, LMFT on adoption, mental health and the experiences as an adoptee doing adoption therapy. Curt and Katie explore with Moses key aspects of being an intercountry transracial adoptee, implications for therapy, the importance of race and culture and addressing racism. We also discuss the importance of being an adoptee as an adoption therapist and the biggest issues facing adoptees including suicide and what is being done to help.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Moses Farrow, LMFT

Moses Farrow, LMFT is a Korean adoptee adoption-focused therapist in private practice. In his capacities as an advocate, program coordinator, and direct service provider, Moses has supported adoption reform, child abuse prevention, anti-racism, and the destigmatization of mental health. Currently, one of his primary interests is to educate and promote suicide prevention among adoptees. As the lead for the mental health team at the Gide Foundation, he is developing projects that bring mental health to the forefront within the intercountry transracial adoptee community. Research has shown that the rate of suicide attempts is 4 times higher among adoptees than people who are not adopted. In recent years, Moses has written about his personal experience including the loss of three adopted siblings who died by suicide. In previous years, he has worked in community-based programs, hospital settings and outpatient practices. He has advocated for adoptees to have access to their original birth certificates and presented nationally on the need for post adoption services. Moses believes in empowering people to speak their truth in order to be seen and heard. It’s about saving lives.

In this episode we talk about:

Lack of knowledge around adoptees’ mental health and suicide rate
The process of coming out of the adoptee fog
Adoption as an industry rather than a way to create families
Different types of adoption
The narrative that adoptive parents get, regardless of the demographics of the parents or the adoptee – “Forever Families”
Internal conflict related to how one is raised and how one looks (i.e., native culture)
Looking at our own biases and blind spots related to intercountry transracial adoptees
The importance of educating ourselves about the adoptee experience
Each adoption experience is unique – there is a range of adjustment, mental health concerns, connection with adoptive family
Looking at the identity and how does one define oneself when they don’t fit here or in the country where one was born.
Identity formation when one is an intercountry, transracial adoptee
Internalized racism, lack of connection to native country, lack of acknowledgment of native culture
Places to get support with other adoptees facing similar struggles
Suggestions for working with parents of adoptees
The history of the adoption industry and why it is problematic
Ideas for advocacy related to adoption
The recommendation for adoptive parents to do their own therapeutic work
#InvisibleElephant
The complexity of racism as an intercountry transracial adoptee
The importance of solidarity with BLM

Niche Burnout Sep 28, 2020

Niche Burnout

An interview with Laura Long of YourBadAssTherapyPractice.com about creating a niche and identifying your ideal client. Curt and Katie talk with Laura about common myths as well as what happens when you burnout on your niche and how your niche can evolve. Laura also offers practical insight into what you can do to market your new niche.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Laura Long, LMFT/S

Laura Long, LMFT/S, is a business coach and the lead badass at YourBadAssTherapyPractice.com, where she helps ambitious, driven, Type-A therapists push through their fears and unleash their inner badass.

Laura offers free practice-building tools (and hilariously obscene emails) through her mailing list, and her flagship e-course has successfully graduated over 300 therapists. She also runs small mastermind groups as well as a private online community reserved for her students.

Laura is best known for her off-the-cuff coaching style that includes colorful language, a witty sense of humor, and an uncanny ability to keep it real. Her unique approach to marketing and customer service challenges the status quo and helps therapists to become better business owners. She shows therapists how to grow and scale their practices without losing their minds - because building your private practice should be fun!

You can read Laura’s blog at www.YourBadAssTherapyPractice.com and follow her antics at www.Facebook.com/YourBadAssTherapyPractice.

In this episode we talk about:

The mistakes therapists make in niche – myths and fears around narrowing down a niche
The fear of excluding people when you narrow your niche
The difference between a niche and an ideal client
Ideal client is about the way a person shows up on the planet, who they are inside
Niche – is a focus on the external, like presenting problems
The reasons why you should exclude people
Scarcity fears – that there are not enough clients or that there are too many therapists
Impostor Myth – the deeply held belief that we don’t know what we’re doing
Being a generalist out of fear when you’d rather be a specialist
Confinement Myth – I can only serve these type of folks for the rest of my career
How niches can evolve
Niche burnout – signs you’re burning out on your niche
The importance of self-awareness and self-assessment
What forgetfulness has to do with empathy
The difference between niche burnout and career burnout
How to change your niche, especially when you have the same ideal client
The shifts to make and the story to tell to make sense to your referral sources and ideal clients

Showing Up for Your Clients Sep 21, 2020

Showing Up for Your Clients

Curt and Katie chat about the importance of therapists in the therapeutic process. We look at how the medical model, upon which the continuing education and ethical guidelines are built, is flawed leading to solely client-facing training and rules. We talk about the importance of optimizing your practices as well as the negative clinical outcomes when you aren’t taking care of yourself.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The case for self-care as continuing education
The problem with looking at consumer protection bodies rather than the research
The goals of helping people and the problem with sacrificing ourselves in those efforts
How we protect consumers by taking care of ourselves
The importance of being strong clinicians, optimizing our performance
The problem with the medical model and framing ourselves as inconsequential to therapeutic outcomes
When we aim models or regulations around the minimally acceptable competence or performance
The benefit of seeing therapy as art versus as a science
How non-specific effects (therapist effects, client effects and effects of the therapeutic relationship) are more important than the specific treatment modality or adherence
Common factors and the Contextual Model
The requirement for a Bond for successful treatment
Pathways to change according to the Contextual Model: Real Relationship, Expectations, Specific Ingredients
How we practice at being better humans
Why we need to have more in our lives than being therapists
Showing up in resourced ways
Elements of burnout as specific predictors for clients having worse outcomes, dropping out, or not engaging actively in treatment
The importance of optimal performance in creating a therapeutic alliance
How we aren’t trained on optimal performance, focus, setting up our environment
The need to refocus our graduate programs to support the education that is needed to be a good therapist
How self-awareness can impact clinical work
The lack of humanity in the medical model and research based on it
Who we are makes a difference
The need to understand how to take care of ourselves and structure our practice

Irrational Ethics Sep 14, 2020

Irrational Ethics

Curt and Katie chat about how current ethical standards fail to recognize culture and humanity. We talk about how the ethics codes were initially created, looking at the racist, sexist, classist roots. We also discuss the problems in how ethics are usually taught and the lack of focus on ethical thinking and decision-making, rather than rigidly following rules based in oppression.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The gaps in the ethics codes, looking at the historical roots of the current codes
How ethics codes were initially created – racist, sexist, classist roots
The systemic implications related to continuing to refine the codes, rather than re-norming or recreating starting with the current people in the profession
Thoughts around fixing the codes to be more representative and inclusive
The challenges that ethics committees face in considering a new ethics code
The aspirational aspects of the “shared values”
The problems with how we teach ethics in grad school
“We were taught ethics as laws.”
The need to think ethically, not blindly follow rules out of context
The problem with rigidly holding to imperfect ethical codes
Authoritarian practices of holding each other to ethics codes
“We’re perpetuating oppression and disguising it as morality” – Curt Widhalm
Principle ethics – bare-minimum guidelines to protect against the lowest common denominator
Aspirational ethics – and why we should move in this direction
The willing ignorance of other cultures within the ethical codes
Our requirement to hold to white Eurocentric ideals
What we can do to improve the codes
Looking at ourselves as individuals and having guidance on how we can be better
The failure of the codes to consider how therapists show up in the room
The importance of having best practices for optimizing performance for therapists
The problem with not clearly distinguishing between principle versus aspirational codes
Posing the question on what an ethics code would look like when it isn’t tied to a professional association

Therapy with an Accent Sep 07, 2020

Therapy with an Accent

An interview with Namrata Rindani, LMFT on her experiences as an immigrant from India getting re-trained as a therapist in the United States. Curt and Katie talk with Nam about the systemic problems in the American graduate education system, her insight into how education can improve, and how she navigates having an accent with other professionals and potential clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Namrata Rindani, LMFT

Nam Rindani is a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in working with men and therapists in California through her teletherapy practice as well as owner and Relationship Coach at Ebonessence Coaching and Consulting for Men. Her 17-year clinical experience spans two continents and multiple languages as she practiced therapy in India serving the marginalized before moving to the United States. Nam served as Prelicensed Chair of San Diego CAMFT in 2015 and is also founder and comoderator of large online community, Therapists In Private Practice, where she found her passion for engaging and moderating difficult yet necessary conversations about topics of systemic injustice, marginalization and oppression within and outside the therapy field. Nam believes that by opening up conversations where the marginalized are heard and the unassuming oppressive groups are informed, we can begin to build bridges and close gaps that have plagued communities for generations.

In this episode we talk about:

Nam’s journey to becoming a therapist in the US after practicing in India
The training differences between India and the US
The gatekeeping and barriers to practicing when moving to the US
The differences she found between herself and her colleagues in her program
Balancing how much to speak up with how to avoid dimming her own light
The view of expert status and humanity within the therapy relationship
The fear in the American system related to the person of the therapist and the relationship
Nam’s experience as a graduate student in the American system and the pressure to be the “good immigrant”
How to navigate the system as an international student
The problems of an oppressive system keeping students from achieving their goals as therapists
“We need you to edit who you are and then we will accept what it is that you have to say.” – Nam Rindani
The challenges of not having support to walk through requirements of the US system
“When it comes to places and space where our immigrant identity is going to be a problem – the way you respond to that is where the change needs to occur.”
How to address an accent or a foreign background – taking a leadership role in the difference you come into the room with
“For those of us who have accents and we come from other countries, YOU are the ones who have an accent.”
Why it is safer to call out difference in the beginning of a conversation
“When does my supervision begin and I stop being a museum specimen?”
Immigrant trauma within the profession
Looking at the framework of each person’s view of relationships within the training (both in how it is trained and who is performing treatment)
How people define normal is very culturally bound and the need to check in with each person’s perspective
A grassroots approach to systemic change
How she has shaped her practice to align with her identity and to support the work while also avoiding working with people who are unsafe for her as a therapist

Rage and Client Self-Harm Aug 31, 2020

Rage and Client Self-Harm

An interview with Angela Caldwell, LMFT on cutting and non-suicidal self-injury. Curt and Katie talk with Angela about the causes of self-harm, the mistakes therapists make in addressing self-harm as well as how to identify reasons behind this harmful coping mechanism and how to identify when suicidality is a risk. We also look at how rage within nice families can lead to self-injury.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Angela Caldwell, LMFT

Angela Caldwell is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Family Coach. She is the Founder and Director of the Self-Injury Institute, where her practice focuses on the treatment of self-injury from a family systems perspective, as well as the Caldwell Family Institute, where she offers out-of-the-box coaching for families that are looking for something other than therapy to help them reach their growth potential.

Angela is currently on the adjunct faculty for the MFT graduate program at California State University Northridge, where she teaches family systems theories and couples therapy. She has been teaching graduate students for over a decade at four different universities, and previously taught assessment for a large majority of her teaching career. She was selected by Antioch University to design a curriculum for a new Counselor Assessment class, and has offered consultation on assessments for the last eight years.

Angela has served in MFT leadership for much of her career, including holding executive offices in CAMFT and AAMFT. She has worked side by side with Ben Caldwell and other leaders on various advocacy efforts in California, most notably on the passage of SB 1172, which banned reparative therapy for minors in 2012.

In this episode we talk about:

Angela’s perspective on family systems and champions of families and dinner tables
The mistakes in treatment planning and way of being related to self-injury
What not to do when clients disclose self-harm
The intrusive nature of liability-focused treatment planning and interventions in the room
The need to render cutting irrelevant
The role of the family treatment for addressing self-injury
Non-suicidal self-injury versus suicidal self-injury (the difference is intent)
“It’s important for therapists to be able to talk about suicide – to use the word suicide with the same emphasis that we use the word hamburger.” Angela Caldwell, LMFT
It’s important to be direct in asking about intent
“I’m cautious to link self-injury with suicide in such a short, abrupt way.” Angela Caldwell, LMFT
Rage in families who are too nice leading to self-injury
The profiles in non-suicidal self-injury: peer-based and rage-based
Social media self-injury and mental illness competitions
How rage is often misunderstood – looking at how rage and anger are very different
Rage is animalistic and limbic
Self-injury is rage (when anger is not useful) when you do not want to be a burden
Rage comes with tactile stimulus seeking, seeking destruction
Discovery is mortifying
The problem with group treatment for cutting
The contagion factor – Barent Walsh
Co-rumination – looking at adolescent female relationships
Family Therapy as the most effective treatment for non-
Rewrite the family constitution around anger and anger expression
Family assertiveness training, teaching families how to disagree and hurt each other’s feelings
Angela’s strategy to provoke fights within the families that she sees and conducts repair

Cultural Humility and White Fatigue Aug 24, 2020

Cultural Humility and White Fatigue

An interview with Dr. Sonya Lott about a multicultural orientation to therapy and the work to understand yourself, how you’re perceived, and who the client is in front of you. Curt and Katie talk with Sonya about cultural humility in particular as well as the fatigue (including the concept of “white fatigue”) that can come with this work. We look at self-compassion and education as promising steps for improvement.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Sonya Lott, Ph.D.

Sonya Lott earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Temple University and has been licensed as a psychologist in Pennsylvania since 1991. She is also a registered in Florida as out-of-state telehealth provider.

She is the founder and CEO of CEMPSYCH, LLC (Continuing Education in Multicultural Psychology), which offers continuing education that supports mental health professionals in cultivating a multicultural orientation, and is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Whites Confronting Racism, an organization in Philadelphia that works with White people who desire to challenge the racism within and around them and who are searching for a way to strengthen their work for racial justice.

In addition to this work, she maintains a private practice devoted to helping individuals transform their experience of acute and prolonged grief. She is an associate of the Center for Complicated Grief at Columbia University's School of Social Work, where she completed advanced training in Complicated Grief Therapy (CGT).

You can learn more about her work at cempsych.com and drsonyalott.com.

In this episode we talk about:

Multicultural approach – looking at all elements of cultural identity
Dominance, privilege, and bias
The importance of seeing beyond their lived
The multicultural orientation is a way of being
Cultural Humility – organizing virtue
Recognizing cultural opportunities
Invitation for discussion
Microaggressions in the therapy room
Comfort in making repairs
Being aware of who you are and where you sit with marginalization and with privilege
“Every experience is a multicultural experience” – Dr. Sonya Lott
Know who you are to yourself and to others – it is important to understand how you are perceived by others
The difference between white fragility and white fatigue
With privilege you have an opt-out card
The work of healing marginalization is a felt process
“It’s more than ‘what’s a good book to read?’” – Dr. Sonya Lott
Self-compassion and self-care needed for doing this work
Seeing ourselves as human and recognizing that we don’t have all of the answers
Recognizing what is relevant in the room
Self-Compassion: shared humanity, mindfulness, and loving kindness
“It’s not just for your clients, it’s not just to make a living, it’s to transform your way of being – period – that benefits you and everybody you’re in relationship with.”
Why the therapy profession doesn’t get this right – because they don’t have to.
The fifty years of literature on this topic that is often ignored due to people not being informed, not comfortable, and not having done their own work

Wear a Mask as a Therapy Directive Aug 17, 2020

“Wear a Mask” as a Therapy Directive

Curt and Katie chat about COVID, science, and critical thinking in an anti-intellectual, post-truth era. We look at what therapists’ responsibilities are to the greater good, whether we should tell our clients to wear masks, and how to help clients navigate very challenging decisions that must balance mental versus physical health as well as individual versus societal needs.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Should we tell our clients to wear masks?
How do we help our clients navigate the complex decisions related to risk
Client autonomy, transparency of goals, decreasing therapist bias
How science and the greater good come into the equation
Is there a duty to warn? Or duty to protect?
Imminence, privacy issues
Should we try to change behavior around wearing masks in public?
How we address risky behavior with clients
The impact of the presenting problem on deciding what we do
Our responsibility to society, to our communities versus our clients
Psychoeducation and alternate facts
The process of making decisions around health and safety
Sorting through and gaining agreement on what is truth
Therapists needing to be informed and be able to sort through expert information
The importance of critical thinking and the scientific method
Anti-science, anti-intellectualism, and cognitive dissonance
How to meet your client where they are while also not colluding with unhealthy beliefs
Helping our clients to navigate the current challenges to balance physical vs mental health needs, individual vs societal needs
The responsibility to bring up healthy decisions for our clients through psychoeducation
The complexity of decision-making during these times

Starting a Therapist Podcast Aug 10, 2020

Starting a Therapist Podcast

An interview with Joe Sanok, host of the Practice of the Practice podcast, on why, how, and when to start a podcast. Curt and Katie talk with Joe about what to consider when you’re a therapist with a bigger message. We get into some practical steps for podcasting. We also look at how you can create space for creativity, making a bigger impact, and slowing down.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Joe Sanok

Joe Sanok is a thought leader, productivity researcher, and speaker. As a TEDx speaker, HarperCollin author, business consultant, and podcaster Joe helps people to slow down to spark more innovation. Joe has the #1 podcast for counselors, The Practice of the Practice Podcast. With interviews with Pat Flynn, John Lee Dumas, and Jaime Masters, Joe is a rising star in the speaking world!

Joe is a writer for PsychCentral, has been featured on the Huffington Post, Forbes, GOOD Magazine, Reader's Digest, Entrepreneur on Fire, and Yahoo News. He is author of five books and has been named the Therapist Resource top podcast, consultant, and blogger.

In this episode we talk about:

The mistakes that Joe made that informs his work
The need to listen to their audience prior to launching products
How to listen to your audience
“Fall in love with the pain and the people before you ever pitch a product.”
Identifying pain points and the transformation
Applying the therapeutic process to content creation
Building your audience to the point that you can ask what the pain points are
Why it would be a good idea to start a podcast
Pod-fading - most podcasts stop releasing episodes within 12 episodes
How to choose your topic
The importance of being yourself
Understanding the goals of your podcast
The surprising things that happen when you have a podcast
Visibility and connection that comes from podcasting
Figuring out your next step and jumping before you’re ready
The importance of setting limits around your time – how that impacts your performance
The problem with over-thinking
The benefit of delegating tasks and dramatically decreasing your time at work
The process of refining your business to better support you and the problem of perfectionism

Financial Therapy Aug 03, 2020

Financial Therapy

An interview with Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, LMSW, about therapists talking about money with their clients. Curt and Katie talk with Lindsay about what therapists miss if they don’t bring money into the room. We look at the importance of financial therapy both for clients who are struggling financially as well as for clients who might be making more than you (and everyone in between).

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Lindsay Bryan Podvin, LMSW, Financial Therapist

Lindsay Bryan-Podvin is a biracial financial therapist, speaker, and author. As the first financial therapist in Michigan, she combines financial literacy with the emotional and psychological side of money. She's passionate about helping couples and individuals learn how to have a healthy relationship with money by removing shame from it. She helps her clients navigate financial wellness in a way that works for them.

In this episode we talk about:

Talking about money in the therapy room beyond budgeting
How frequently therapists avoid talking about money
Bias that therapists bring into the room around money
The challenge therapists face when money becomes an issue in session
How money issues come up for people who have money (not just people who have a lack of money)
The irony of therapists being told we shouldn’t make money
Myths surrounding financial therapy
Therapists already have the skills they need to do this work
The Four Financial Archetypes that Lindsay adapted from Dr. Brad Klontz’s work
The work needed to address your Financial Archetype
The types of conversations that can happen when you open up money as a topic of conversation in therapy
Looking at cultural and gender roles within the money conversation
The intervention of “money dates”
The importance of recognizing limitations in talking about money

Greater Impact as a Therapist Jul 27, 2020

Greater Impact as a Therapist

An interview with Kiaundra Jackson, LMFT about how to grow a big impact through personal branding, speaking, and breaking into larger media channels. Curt and Katie talk with Kiaundra about the importance of authenticity, owning your credibility, and diversifying your income through alternate methods to get your message out there.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Kiaundra Jackson, LMFT

Kiaundra Jackson is known as America's #1 Relationship Therapist. She has been seen on OWN’s new hit TV Show, Love Goals and as a reoccurring expert on The Doctors. She has been recently featured in Oprah’s Magazine, Essence, The New York Times, FOX, The CW, BET, Vice and The Huffington Post as one of the ‘10 Black Female Therapists You Should Know.’ She is an award-winning speaker, best-selling author, TV Personality and a trusted Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist that gets results. She is a noted expert on healthy relationships and mental health. Kiaundra is the visionary of KW Couples Therapy and the Co-Founder of Black Speakers Rock.

Through her early work, she discovered the importance of having healthy relationships. From that point on, she chose to specialize in helping couples strengthen and repair their relationships. She helps to improve intimacy with couples by increasing effective two-way communication. She is dedicated to helping couples increase sexual, physical, emotional, and spiritual intimacy. Kiaundra specializes in working with couples who truly desire to maintain a healthy, long-lasting relationship and uncover their true potential.

Kiaundra’s vision is to help ONE MILLION couples heal their relationships, prevent divorce, and keep families together.

In this episode we talk about:

Kiaundra’s goal of helping therapists create an impact beyond the therapy room
The importance of being authentic and showing up the same way wherever you are (on a stage or in the therapy room)
Intentional effort to make your public persona through your expertise, your credibility, and your self – based on the story people might tell about you when you’re not there, living out loud
How to claim your credibility, even when you’re not ready to believe it
Therapists have a huge wealth of knowledge, so we need to identify what we want to talk about
The vulnerability of putting yourself on a larger stage
Combatting the haters by focusing on those people who do love you or resonate with you
Impostor Syndrome based on being vulnerable and in the public eye
“People don’t always watch you because they want to see you to win, they’re waiting for that one moment for you to mess up.” – Kiaundra Jackson, LMFT
We have to put this aside and show up every time
The importance of showing up more consistently on social media, especially with live videos
Showing up in your community – speaking at smaller events, giving back to our community
The ability to give more information to your applications for conferences or podcast interviews, if you have a social media presence
How to use a larger brand to impact others, serve others, and diversify income
Things to consider when making a decision on what you do – core values, financial compensation, and connection – as well as sorting through what is beneficial
There is nothing wrong with doing free speaking engagements – but you need to be strategic about it
The additional benefits you can ask for when getting a free or lower paid speaking offer
Make sure your target audience is in the audience where you are speaking (and you’re talking about what you’d like to work on, your expertise, and how you’d like to grow)

Is Therapy an Opiate of the Masses? Jul 20, 2020

Is Therapy an Opiate of the Masses?

Curt and Katie chat about how therapy can collude with the status quo and has historically failed to serve marginalized populations. We talk about the risks of therapy that doesn’t honor the context and systems within which people and families operate. We look at how therapists can create complacence and obedience if not careful.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Criticisms of therapy as an opiate of the masses
Does therapy reinforce the status quo?
“Normal” as a culture bound concept
Feminist Therapy, Liberation Psychology, Decolonized Therapy
The history of pathologizing or demonizing LGBTQ+
Therapy as a white construct
Bias in MMPI and re-norming
How bias toward “normal” permeates clinical work
How therapists reinforce systems norms, encouraging placating the system
First, Second, and Third Order change – Individual within family within the systems within which the family operates
Individual versus collective change
The challenge of assessing and treating within the complex overlay of systems
The limitations of evidence-based treatments
The vision of acceptance of diversity
Therapist training gaps
The Seven-Eyed Model of Supervision
Impacts for case conceptualization
Looking at clients as agents of change, as impacted by their context
Validating experiences, increasing resilience and capacity, empowering client to make larger changes
Suggesting coping skills without diminishing systemic impacts
Therapy as a bandaid
“As therapists, we can do a really good job of moving people to complacence if we’re not careful.” – Katie
Helping individuals to heal, then moving to “now that”
The requirement for therapists to be advocates for change within their communities

Exploring Trauma and the 12 Steps Jul 13, 2020

Exploring Trauma and the 12 Steps

An interview with Dr. Jamie Marich, on her revised book: Trauma and the 12 Steps, exploring how 12 Step programs can be trauma-informed. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Marich about how to interweave a trauma-focus into substance abuse self-help and treatment centers.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Jamie Marich, Ph.D., LPCC-S, LICDC-CS, REAT, RYT-500, RMT

Dr. Jamie Marich describes herself as a facilitator of transformative experiences. A clinical trauma specialist, expressive artist, writer, yogini, performer, short filmmaker, Reiki master, and recovery advocate, she unites all of these elements in her mission to inspire healing in others. She began her career as a humanitarian aid worker in Bosnia-Hercegovina from 2000-2003, primarily teaching English and music while freelancing with other projects. Jamie travels internationally teaching on topics related to trauma, EMDR therapy, expressive arts, mindfulness, and yoga, while maintaining a private practice in her home base of Warren, OH. Marich is the founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and the developer of the Dancing Mindfulness practice to expressive arts therapy. She is also the co-creator of the Yoga Unchained approach to trauma-informed yoga, and the developer of Yoga for Clinicians. Marich is the author of EMDR Made Simple: 4 Approaches for Using EMDR with Every Client (2011), Trauma and the Twelve Steps: A Complete Guide for Recovery Enhancement (2012), Creative Mindfulness (2013), Trauma Made Simple: Competencies in Assessment, Treatment, and Working with Survivors, and Dancing Mindfulness: A Creative Path to Healing and Transformation (2015). Marich co-authored EMDR Therapy & Mindfulness for Trauma-Focused Care along with colleague Dr. Stephen Dansiger, which was released with Springer Publishing in 2017. Her newest title, Process Not Perfection: Expressive Arts Solutions for Trauma Recovery, released in April 2019. North Atlantic Books is publishing a second and expanded edition of Trauma and the 12 Steps, due for release in the Summer of 2020. Marich’s writing and work on Dancing Mindfulness was featured in the New York Times in 2017. In 2015, she had the privilege of delivering a TEDx talk on trauma. NALGAP: The Association of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Addiction Professionals and Their Allies awarded Jamie with their esteemed President’s Award in 2015 for her work as an LGBT advocate. The EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) granted Jamie the 2019 Advocacy in EMDR Award for her using her public platform in media and in the addiction field to advance awareness about EMDR therapy and to reduce stigma around mental health.

In this episode we talk about:

Jamie Marich’s return to the podcast
The Revised and Expanded Trauma and the 12 Steps
The large variation in the programs for substance abuse treatment in whether they are able to include a trauma-informed lens
What it looks like to actually interweave the trauma-informed structure to substance abuse tx
The power and impact of one alcoholic talking to another
The importance of connection, community and relationships
The changing face of recovery (including starting with 2 white men and becoming more diverse and inclusive)
Attraction rather than promotion
Validating strife and struggle then challenging it
The bridge between trauma mental health treatment and recovery
The fear about trauma work within the addiction community

Work Harder Than Your Clients Jul 06, 2020

Work Harder Than Your Clients

Curt and Katie chat about why and when you should ignore the advice to “not work harder than your clients.” We look at bias in goal-setting, managing risk, focusing on the client’s needs, and the importance of continuing education as well as on-going work outside of session.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The adage that you shouldn’t work harder than your clients
The concern that it gives permission to be lazy.
The importance of working hard as a therapist
Simplification of the concept of being more invested in the outcome than the client
Bad therapy practices – bias, lack of client determination, focusing on traditional treatment outcomes, investment in a specific outcome that may or may not align with clients’ values
Be present with your client on purpose, working hard
Deliberate practice versus complacency
Preparing for the situations that may come up, not just one specific concern
The “how” of therapy – looking at language, understanding, and relationship with the client
Consultation, self-assessment, case formulation
Better understanding of what the true workload is compared to your caseload
What you shouldn’t be doing to work harder within session
The business implications of working harder
Dismantling the truisms and oversimplified statements that get passed around
Clinical situations that require you to work harder than the clients
Working harder than a check box (clinical implications rather than liability check box)
Self-management – understanding why you’re doing what you’re doing
Questions to consider when looking at your efforts
Collaborative treatment planning (both overt and covert)
The impact of doing anti-racist work with clients who are not ready for it
The importance of identifying whose goal is being pursued in the room
The benefits of supervision and consultation
How to set covert goals, looking at work outside of session and timing
Dismantling assumptions and meeting clients where they are
The harder work we have to do is the work we need to do on ourselves
Responding to clients with curiosity, professionality, comfort, and authenticity

Bi+ Erasure Jun 29, 2020

Bi+ Erasure

An interview with Dr. Mimi Hoang, Ph.D., about Bi+ Affirmative therapy and what therapists often get wrong about working with Bi+ people. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Mimi about how often Bi+ people are left out of the conversation (and training) regarding LGBTQ+ people, the consistent erasure and exclusion Bi+ people face, the biases that show up in the therapy room, and how therapists can better prepare themselves for working with the largest segment of the LGBTQ+ community.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Mimi Hoang, Ph.D. (she/her/hers), Psychologist, Author, and Activist

Dr. Mimi Hoang is a nationally-recognized psychologist, educator, author, and grassroots activist specializing in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) and Asian Pacific Islander (API) communities. Since the 1990s, she has co-founded three organizations in Los Angeles for bisexual, pansexual, fluid, and other nonmonosexual (AKA "bi+") individuals, authored multiple publications, and earned a seat at the landmark 2013 White House Bisexual Community Roundtable. Dr. Mimi's steadfast leadership has earned her multiple awards, a feature in Jan Dee Gordon's LGBTQ of Steel photography book, mentions in Cosmopolitan and HuffPost, and being named “One of the Most Significant Women in the Bisexual Movement.” She currently works as a Staff Psychologist at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) Student Psychological Services, Professor of Clinical Psychology at Antioch University Los Angeles, and is the creator of the "Bi on Life" self-empowerment series. Learn more at www.drmimihoang.com.

In this episode we talk about:

The tendency for conversations around LGBTQ+ training often leaves out information bisexuality
Mimi’s story, including the organizations she has created to support people who are bisexual, pansexual, fluid, and other nonmonosexual individuals
The challenge of identifying within a binary of gay or straight and heteronormativity
What therapists often get wrong when working with Bi+ clients
How likely it is that your client will come out to you
The biases against bisexuality in the therapy room
Misunderstanding, over simplification, quantification, and other problems in exploring sexuality with Bi+ people
Bi-Phobia from the gay community and code switching to “fit in”
The concept of Bi Erasure
The reasons for Bi+ erasure and exclusion
The doubt of existence of bisexuality
The huge gap in psychotherapist education related to bisexuality
The importance of getting more training on bisexuality
Asking the sexual orientation question, exploring sexuality
Neutralizing your language when talking about partners
Best practices for treating Bi+ people

Reigniting Therapy Jun 22, 2020

Reigniting Therapy

An interview with Dr. Daryl Chow regarding how to do effective therapy. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Chow about the ways in which therapists can improve clinically – looking at the relationship, the expectations of clients, and what we each uniquely bring to the room. We also discuss deliberate practice, lifelong learning, and the difference between confidence and competence.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Daryl Chow, MA, PhD (Psych)

Daryl Chow, MA, PhD (Psych) is a practicing psychologist and trainer. He is a senior associate of the International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE). He devotes his time to workshops, consultations and researches the development of expertise and highly effective psychotherapists, helping practitioners to achieve better results.

Daryl is the author of The First Kiss: Undoing the Intake Model and Igniting First Sessions in Psychotherapy. His work has also appeared in edited books, peer-reviewed journal articles, and he is a co-editor of The Write to Recovery: Personal Stories & Lessons about Recovery from Mental Health Concerns.

Daryl’s blog, Frontiers of Psychotherapist Development is aimed at inspiring and sustaining practitioners’ individualized professional development. His highly personalized in-depth online course for supervisors, Reigniting Clinical Supervision, serves as a leading light to help raise the bar of effectiveness in psychotherapy.

Currently, Daryl maintains a private practice with a vibrant team at Henry Street Centre, Fremantle, and continues to serve as a senior psychologist at the Institute of Mental Health, Singapore.

In this episode we talk about:

Chow describing himself as a slow learner
The value of deep learning
The problems with therapist education
Banking versus kindling model of education
Learning conversation versus theory
The importance of practical learning
How we get in the way as therapists
How to manage first sessions (what you are gifting, versus what you are taking)
Undoing the intake perspective
We are not in the business of fast food
Trajectory of change, continuity of services
20-30% of people come only for one session
“Sufficing” our information rather than deep probing
“Information is not transformation” – Dr. Daryl Chow
First principles and the hero’s journey
Evidence-based therapy versus developing good therapists
Deliberate practice as a verb
“It is so much easier to buy tools than to get good”
What is NOT deliberate practice
“Confidence is not competence”
We get worse as therapists over time if we don’t practice deliberately
The importance of lifelong learning
The systemic challenges to maintaining skills and getting better
What to work on that has leverage for you – finding your own growth edges
Measuring growth versus measuring performance

Mission Driven Work Jun 15, 2020

Mission Driven Work

Curt and Katie chat about walking your talk, sticking to your mission, and being strategic in how you incorporate new initiatives and perspectives into your work. We look at the tendency to take action without thinking about where you fit into the conversation and without tying those actions back to your mission and why you do what you do.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The importance of focusing on your mission when making decisions in your business
Looking at why you do what you do
Implementing your mission within your business
Practical applications and systems to support new initiatives aligned with mission-driven work
Times when following your personal mission may be hard to do as a therapist
The importance of staying true to yourself and aligned with your mission and expertise
The difference between branding, marketing, and mission
What are you putting out into the world?
The danger of putting out something quickly in response to the zeitgeist versus aligning with your mission and your expertise
What is a mission and how do you develop one?
Getting strategic in how you incorporate new information into mission-driven work
The need for thinking and analysis before taking action
Sitting with discomfort and avoiding reacting too quickly
Intentional pathway guided by thought and strategy
Mission is not just a goal, it is how you work, who you want to work with, how you want to work, the guiding principles, how you make decisions
Broad, vague missions that are just “help people” or “do good things” do not support making a decision on how you respond to crises
Tying your actions to your mission will allow it to sustain momentum past the news cycle
How to incorporate antiracism into a business that is focused on addressing something else
The assessment of how you can leverage your resources to help something change
The ability to add antiracism practices internally that have a bigger impact than having an externally focused product or service
The importance to staying within your purview and yield the floor to those whose work and mission should be central
Ineffective ways to do ally work, burning out and arguing with people who will not change
Tweet Thread from Ijeoma Oluo
Our mission and how we are recommitting to each of the changes we see needed in therapy and therapist education

Therapy as a Political Act Jun 08, 2020

Therapy as a Political Act

An interview with Dr. Travis Heath, PhD, regarding the myth that therapists can remain neutral and be considered not “political”. Curt and Katie talk with Travis about how he perceives effective therapy and how to interrogate the ways in which people interact within the systems where they live and work (and what they consider to be absolute truths). We also look at decolonizing therapy and honoring preferred, culturally relevant methods of healing. Finally, we look at being a therapist (and especially a BIPOC therapist) during this time – the ways we can support each other and the opportunities we have to impact real change with our clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Travis Heath, PhD

Travis Heath is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He has worked in Los Angeles, California and is currently a licensed psychologist practicing in Denver, Colorado. The work he has been focused on includes shifting from a multicultural approach to counseling to one of cultural democracy that invites people to heal in mediums that are culturally near. Writing he has contributed to has focused on the use of rap music in narrative therapy, working with persons entangled in the criminal justice system in ways that maintain their dignity, narrative practice stories as pedagogy, a co-created questioning practice called reunion questions, and community healing strategies. He is currently co-authoring the first book on Contemporary Narrative Therapy with David Epston. His practice has been apprenticed by David Epston, substantially influenced by the work of Makungu Akinyela, and inspired by collaborators such as marcela polanco, Tom Carlson, Sasha Pilkington, and Kay Ingamells. He has been fortunate enough to run workshops and speak about his work in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom, and United States.

In this episode we talk about:

Travis’s personal history and its relevance to the current conversation
Therapy as a political act
How neutrality fits into the idea of politics-free therapy – “Neutrality is a political position”
Narrative therapy’s role in anti-racism
Interrogating systems at play in clients’ decision-making
Challenging assumptions and “absolute truths”
How therapists are impacted by the stories and perspectives of their clients
How to manage clients who have held positions that are threatening to you as an individual
The systems perspective on how people behave and how systems shape their beliefs
The place for antiracism work within therapy
“We don’t need more social justice theories; we’ve got many of those. We need more social justice practices”
A framework to carry social justice in therapy beyond the current news cycle
The problem with multicultural counseling
Decolonizing therapy – looking at how to restore culturally relevant methods of healing
The problem with CBT for non-Eurocentric clients
Preferred mediums of healing and cultural democracy
The mediocracy of typical therapy prescriptions
Elevating the knowledge of the other
Expertise in asking the right questions and elevating the expertise of the other
Co-creation of tools and strategies
The liberating effect of asking your client for their inherent knowledge
Where to use your role as expert

Ally is a Verb Jun 01, 2020

Ally is a Verb

Curt and Katie chat about how to engage in ally work. We look at white fragility, helpful and harmful responses during times of crisis, and how to leverage privilege appropriately to work to address systemic racism and oppression. We encourage people to step beyond keyboard warriorship and focusing on ourselves to taking actions that can impact real change.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Latest incidences of systemic oppression (George Floyd, Christian Cooper) and how they have impacted the current conversations about racism, ally work, and therapy
White Fragility and how it can show up during times of crisis
How white women in distress distract
ALLY (from Kayla Reed):
A- always center the impacted
L- listen & learn from those who live in the oppression
L- leverage your privilege
Y-yield the floor
The need to identify positive ways to do anti-racist, ally work
Assessing your motivation to say things publicly
The lure of taking actions that only check a box or make us feel better
Discomfort and pain that we must sit in, if we’re going to really do the work
What can actually move the needle for systemic change
Amplifying voices versus shifting the focus or stepping in front of people who need to be heard
Bullying and bystanders
Learning and researching on our own, versus requiring clinicians of color to do the emotional labor of teaching us
Myths of being an ally
Therapists who are invested in the status quo and the white washing that happens when those types of comments are erased
The importance of acknowledging history (including racism) and whiteness
The difference between “all racists are bad people” and we are in a racist system and thus are all racist
The damage done when denying the past, gaslighting communities of color
Showing up as a white therapist with a client who is in a marginalized community
The need for cultural humility and awareness of what is going on
Recognizing reality and how we cannot just “cope” hard enough to make this goes away
Crisis management when you are working with risk factors (suicidality, homicidality, abuse) and the importance to understand the additional risk calling police or other government agencies on your clients within the black community
Alternatives for managing risk, looking at community resources
The challenges of doing ally work as a therapist
The slow and arduous process of treating overtly racist clients: listening to fears and perspective

Authentic Side Hustles May 25, 2020

Authentic Side Hustles

An interview with Annie Schuessler about when and how to consider adding a business outside the therapy room. Curt and Katie explore with Annie about how someone can actually succeed in developing a side hustle, looking at the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs and effective products and services.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Annie Schuessler, MFT, Rebel Therapist

Annie Schuessler is a business coach and the host of the podcast Rebel Therapist® where she shares stories of people creating unique and innovative businesses. She’s been a therapist in private practice for 20 years, and a business coach for over 10 years. Her mission is to help people trained as therapists create and launch exceptional programs beyond the therapy room. She lives in San Francisco with her wife and two children. When she’s not recording a podcast or working with her clients, you can find her trying to convince her family to play Catan with her. You can find her resources at rebeltherapist.me.

In this episode we talk about:

The mistakes therapists make in developing their side hustles
Why it doesn’t make sense to go for passive income right away
The importance of creativity and passion for the impact you want to have
The role burnout should (or should not) play in what you decide to do
Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
Why you need grit and perseverance
The problem with cookie cutter programs or programs from people one step ahead of you
Where to focus and how to initially develop your offering
The need for identifying what you have to offer and how to develop authority
Owning your experience and standing out
Selling a process versus expert information
The challenges of marketing and some ideas about how to address these challenges
Authentic relational approach for therapists turned coaches
The considerations for starting another business now during the COVID pandemic and the global economic crisis
Why fluff won’t sell, especially now
Creation of free resources to provide value to your community
The risk of repurposing others’ work for your own
The need to articulate your unique viewpoint, understand your mission and purpose
The fear of being bold and standing out

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Rebel Therapist

Rebel Therapist Podcast

Relevant Episodes:

Creating Opportunities

Clinical Marketing

Beyond Selling the Couch

Connect with us!

Our consultation services:

Article by Lori Gottlieb in the Atlantic

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Shared Traumatic Experiences May 18, 2020

Shared Traumatic Experiences

Curt and Katie chat about the potential that clients will take care of us because we’re all going through the global pandemic. We look at the humanization and boundary shifts that can happen. We also talk about how to handle the nuance of the changes in the therapeutic relationship to help sustain stronger clinical efficacy.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How clients may become more aware of their therapist’s own challenges due to the pandemic
Clients testing to see if we have capacity to manage what is happening AND their issues as well
The reality of the additional disclosure that is happening with telehealth
How we’re managing the conversations about the human experience, the unique situations we’re facing, and our clients’ concerns
The disinhibition effect for both clients and therapists via telehealth
Discussions about availability and flexibility with clients
Research on Shared Traumatic Experiences
Boundary shifts that need to be discussed
How to handle the shifts in the relationship with nuance
The need for therapists to take care of themselves – more deliberately and differently than we might have done prior to the pandemic
The added stressors that are being put on therapists that our clients are likely aware of
The importance of not pathologizing our clients wanting to take care of us during this time
The positives for telehealth and some of the boundary shifts
The importance of community for therapists right now
Acknowledging that therapists who have stayed in the office require support as well
Risk factors for therapists who wear different hats and have different projects

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Article about the Disinhibition Effect

Article: Therapeutic Intervention in a Continuous Shared Traumatic Reality: An Example from the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict

Article: Negative consequences of helping and the length of work experience

Article: Shared Traumatic Reality and Boundary Theory: How Mental Health Professionals Cope With the Home/Work Conflict During Continuous Security Threats

Therapy Reimagined 2020:

Therapy Reimagined 2020 Conference: Speakers!!

Relevant Episodes:

Recession-Proofing Your Practice

Systems of Self-Care

Trauma Informed Work Place

Vulnerability, the News, and You

Connect with us!

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

Our consultation services:

Family Therapy Pioneer Salvador Minuchin on the Therapist’s Self (article in Psychotherapy Networker)

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

The Person of the Therapist May 11, 2020

The Person of the Therapist

An interview with Dr. Harry Aponte about challenging the idea that therapists can be blank screens or “surgeons.” We talk with Dr. Aponte about the importance of the self of the therapist in creating the relationship and doing effective clinical work. We also look into his Person of the Therapist Training and much of his body of work supporting therapists as well as communities of color.

Interview with Dr. Harry J. Aponte, HPhD, MSW, LCSW, LMFT

Dr. Harry J. Aponte, HPhD, MSW, LCSW, LMFT, is a family therapist known for his writings and workshops on the person of the therapist, spirituality in therapy, therapy with disadvantaged and culturally diverse families, and structural family therapy. Dr. Aponte was a staff member and teacher of family therapy at the Menninger Clinic, and subsequently Director of the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center. Currently, Dr. Aponte is clinical associate professor in the Couple & Family Therapy Program of Drexel University in Philadelphia. He has a private practice in Philadelphia, and conducts training and workshops throughout the country and abroad.

Dr. Aponte published Bread & Spirit through Norton, a book that speaks to therapy with today’s poor in the context of ethnicity, culture and spirituality.

Dr. Aponte and Dr. Karni Kissil have edited a book entitled The Person of the Therapist Training Model: Mastering the Use of Self, published by Routledge (2016).

In this episode we talk about:

Aponte’s story, including his work with Salvador Minuchin, Virginia Satir, Murray Bowen
Debunking the idea that therapists act as surgeons and that clients from marginalized communities “don’t talk.”
Aponte’s racial background interacting with the work that he did
The reasons he was asked so frequently asked to work with families in poverty-stricken areas
How the ideas in The Person of the Therapist came to be
Bringing mental health into communities of color
Social justice and advocacy within the therapist’s purview
Working with Jim Lester, an activist in Philadelphia, to bridge the gap between education, mental health services for kids who were truant
The ideas of structural therapy being translated into the communities
The difference of lived experience in bringing oneself into the therapeutic relationship
The Person of the Therapist training at Drexel University
How Harry’s personal experiences continue to impact his work
What is missing in most clinical training
The use of self in therapy
The importance of knowing yourself before you become a therapist
The idea that you must also know your hang ups and challenges and what you’ll be bringing into the room, so you can recognize and be “with” your clients
“Therapy is not a conversation; it is an experience.” – Dr. Harry Aponte
The vulnerability of being a therapist and the need to do work your work early in your training
The importance of doing versus reading about what should be done
Reasons that understanding yourself and bringing yourself into room provides better therapy

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

The Person of the Therapist Training Model: Mastering the Use of Self (book)

Relevant Episodes:

How to BE a Therapist

Connect with us!

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

Our consultation services:

The Phases for Reopening California

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Returning to the Office May 04, 2020

Returning to the Office

Curt and Katie chat about the considerations for reopening offices closed during shelter in place orders. We talk through the specific logistical, clinical, and legal and ethical elements of the decision-making process for those who shifted to telehealth in response to the pandemic.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The importance of therapists assessing their own needs prior to returning to in-person work
The proposed phased reopening of California
The unique elements of different practices that might impact your timing (logistics, populations treated, coordination with other clinicians in the same space, etc.)
Clinical considerations for how therapy is delivered during this time
The challenge of managing a waiting room
Ideas how to apply recommendations from the CDC or WHO to a therapy office
Systems to put into place, policies to consider (especially related to employees and wage replacement for ill workers)
How to communicate with your clients
The need to identify what boundaries you will hold and how you will address them clinically
The ability to have these conversations ahead of time, the additional time you can use to move back to the office, if you decide to
Telehealth insurance reimbursement – ideas and advocacy recommendations
Shortening the work week, using your office for as few days as possible, staggering shifts in group practices
Removing items that don’t need to be in the waiting room or any other spaces
ADA accessibility that decreases contact with door knobs
Cleaning protocols
HEPA filters – mixed feedback and things to think about
Requirements for clinicians and clients to stay home if sick, to wear a mask if entering the building
Waiving late cancel fees for illness, or strong recommendations for shifting to telehealth in those situations
Potential liability if taking temperatures of clients, other ideas, etc.
Physical distancing, keeping telehealth going when possible, contactless sessions
Tracing contacts – the ability (or mandate) to disclose who has come to your office
Updating your office policies and consents
Strategically planning for reopening an office

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

CDC Resource Page

Recommendations from CDC

CDC Guidance on Cleaning and Disinfecting

Recommendations from WHO

Recommendations from OSHA

Therapy Reimagined 2020:

Therapy Reimagined 2020 Conference: Speakers!!

Confidential Communications

Relevant Episodes:

The Viral Episode

Connect with us!

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

Our consultation services:

New Hushmail for Healthcare customers who sign up through Therapy Reimagined receive a 10 percent lifetime discount!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Gaslighting Therapists Apr 27, 2020

Curt and Katie talk about the concern that therapists will be gaslit as therapist workforce takes on the next epidemic – the mental health pandemic. We discuss how mental health workers are seen as essential, but are not paid or are underpaid. We dig into the dangerous “Hero Narrative” and its specific impacts on the health and livelihood. We also provide some calls to action to move our profession in the right direction, especially during these times.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The concern that mental health workers are seen as essential, but are often not paid
The stagnation of wages already present in our profession
The opportunity to stand up and improve our profession
The call for volunteers that has already started
The challenge of considering volunteerism relative to the needs of your clients and your family
The other opportunities to give back and serve clients for free and increase access to mental health services
The public demonization of therapists pushing back on requests to provide free mental health services
The danger of the Hero Narrative
The specific impact of the feminization of caring and helping professions
The fallacy of “getting paid” in supervised hours
How this work is like jumping on a grenade for the greater good (and you can only jump on one grenade)
Ways to pull out the idea that “Sacrificing” yourself is necessary or even acceptable as a therapist – looking at ourselves as the instruments of change requiring us to protect ourselves
Call to Action – the need to stand up for self-protection, refrain from taking unpaid positions, positions without proper protections, and from taking supervisory positions that support these types of organizations
Call to Action – Contacting legislators to support only legislation that provides protections for the therapists, demand language that only provides funding to agencies that already pay their workers
Call to Action – Pressure professional organizations to support and write these types of bills
The importance of asking for a living wage for mental health workers
How to give back and volunteer responsibly and thoughtfully

Confidential Communications Apr 20, 2020

An interview with Jarred Bolen, Technical Account Manager at Hushmail, about how to appropriately comply with HIPAA in how you communicate with your clients. Curt and Katie talk with Jarrod about encryption, security considerations, and how (and why) to create a HIPAA compliant office, even now.

Interview with Jarred Bolen, Technical Account Manager, Hushmail

Jarred Bolen joined Hushmail in 2016 with over five years of support experience for software and telecommunications companies and a longtime interest in internet security. Starting in Customer Care, he moved to the Sales team as a Technical Account Manager in 2019, and now helps new Hushmail customers connect with their clients and colleagues.

In this episode we talk about:

How to use email (even your normal email) in a HIPAA compliant manner
The benefits of encryption, what it is, and types of encryption available
Going beyond what is required to address the ethics of keeping your client’s information safe
Who is required to be HIPAA compliant, e.g., covered entities
The argument against the complaint that it is an inconvenience to clients to remain compliant
The consideration related what is (or is not) Protected Health Information (PHI)
How to create a HIPAA-compliant office
The importance of documentation of your processes
Potential legislation asking for back doors into encrypted services – concerns and potential risks
Staying up-to-date with updates within the tech sector
Setting yourself up for success from the beginning (even if you start this type of secure communication during the global pandemic)
What is included in Hushmail service, how Hushmail has evolved from the beginning

Our Generous Sponsor: Therapy Reimagined

So…you’re wondering how to make it through this. Worried about finances, what’s next, how to keep doing your best therapy, continued adjusting to telehealth, etc. Now, more than ever, it may be worth it to invest in your clinical and business decisions to improve your practice. We recognize that getting help is better than going at it alone.

During overwhelming or uncertain times (like these) it can be especially helpful to seek supervision or consultation. When you can’t get out of your own panic or concrete thinking, we’d like to be your thinking partner. But we know that money is uncertain, so we’re offering our 50-minute-hour at half price. That’s right - a consultation with Curt or Katie (while we’re stuck in quarantine) for only $100.

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Special offer from Hushmail: Hushmail is a secure email, web form, and e-signature service that lets you send and receive private, encrypted emails, attachments, and web forms to and from anyone, even people who don't use Hushmail. With easy-to-use webmail, a secure message center, drag-and-drop form builder, and iPhone app, there's no complicated installation. Just sign up and start sending securely. Our Healthcare plans come configured for HIPAA compliance, and our legally binding e-signatures comply with ESIGN and UETA.

HHS Risk Assessment

Our consultation services:

Glyn Brokensha – Clinical Intuition: more than rational?

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

CAMFT Ethics Code Update Apr 13, 2020

Curt and Katie talk about the updates to the Ethics Code for CAMFT that was approved in December, 2019. We talk about the new guidance on testimonials, marketing to each other’s clients, and duplication of services. We look at what we can do and what we probably still shouldn’t do.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) Code of Ethics Update
Solicitation of testimonials – clarifying who you can ask for testimonials
Re-evaluating clients, looking at how they have their own agency and autonomy
Defining “undue influence,” seeking legal definition to aid the understanding what should be considered within the ethics code change
Looking at how the perceived or actual power differential impact can be considered
Even if we can, should we solicit testimonials?
Appropriate tactics for asking for testimonials
Looking at antitrust and other reasons for these changes
Why we can now compete for each other’s clients
How we can see each other’s clients
Do what makes sense and don’t be a jerk

Treating First Responders Apr 06, 2020

Episode 149: Treating First Responders

An interview with Yael Shuman, LMFT, on the unique challenges that First Responders face and treatment considerations. Curt and Katie talk with Yael about what therapists get wrong working with first responders, especially when therapists are unable to keep their stuff together when these clients disclose their traumatic experiences. We look at resources, resilience, and preparing for trauma (rather than waiting for it to occur).

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Yael Shuman, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, EMDR and EA-EMDR trained

Yael Shuman, is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with more than 25 years’ experience working with individuals, couples, and organizations. Yael is passionate about helping people to live a fulfilling life. Trauma interrupts life by creating a stuck place that is uncomfortable and distressing. Without the right knowledge and skills, you cannot move beyond the distress. With skills development in emotional stability and resiliency, people can reduce the impact of a traumatic situation and have improved coping skills to help them move forward and process the trauma from distress to fulfillment.

She maintains a private practice in Denver, Colorado. She has experience in PTSD/ trauma, and specializes with Military and Veteran and First Responders issues, and how to express the experiences through communication. Her practice includes providing EMDR for trauma treatment, supervises interns, and working with life issues including developing healthy relationships, stress management, anxiety, depression (including PPD) and divorce recovery. It is well researched that people living with trauma are likely to experience more of these life issues and, if they are left unaddressed, then further disruption in life is likely to occur. Yael has years of experience and believes it is incredibly important to assist clients with emotional stability, for them to feel safe and secure, before processing their trauma.

Prior to her work as a Marriage & Family Therapist, Mrs. Shuman spent 5 years working with Los Angeles County Child Protective Services (Family Preservation Unit) and foster care. She holds a Master’s Degree in Marriage & Family Therapy from California Family Study Center and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from California State University Northridge. She is trained in EMDR and Equine-assisted EMDR. Additionally, she is a member of the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapists, EMDRIA, and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor.

In this episode we talk about:

Unique challenges of working with First Responders and the unique culture
Training that first responders typically get (and don’t get)
The lack of training on trauma responses and developing resilience
The culture of silence related to first responders – they don’t report distress or trauma responses – you can’t take it, you’re broken
The risk of first responders who die by suicide
The impacts of lack of therapist training and experience on individual clients
The challenge of holding space for traumatic experiences of first responders
The disturbing events that first responders regularly experience
A perspective on how to interact with trauma with our clients
The importance of specific training on working with first responders

COVID-19 Legal and Ethical Updates Mar 30, 2020

An interview with Dr. Ben Caldwell about the rapidly changing directives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Curt and Katie interview Ben about telehealth, HIPAA, and all of the efforts of continuity of care during quarantine, shelter-in-place orders. We look at legal, ethical, and clinical responsibilities during these uncertain times.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Benjamin Caldwell, PsyD, LMFT

Benjamin Caldwell, PsyD is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#42723) and the Education and Director for SimplePractice Learning. He currently serves as adjunct faculty for California Statue University Northridge in Los Angeles. He has taught at the graduate level for more than 15 years, primarily in Law and Ethics, and has written and trained extensively on ethical applications in mental health care. In addition to serving a three-year term on the AAMFT Ethics Committee, Dr. Caldwell served as the Chair of the Legislative and Advocacy Committee for AAMFT-California for 10 years. He served as Editor for the Users Guide to the 2015 AAMFT Code of Ethics and is the author for several books, including Saving Psychotherapy and Basics of California Law for LMFTS, LPCCs, and LCSWs.

In this episode we talk about:

How to identify what to do and how to respond to all the changing instructions from officials about practicing therapy during these times
The debate around telehealth versus in person treatment
The legal and ethical responsibilities therapists hold regarding continuity of care
Client opt-in and preference, fears about client abandonment
The myth that you are required to keep seeing clients no matter what
The moral aspect of choices made during treatment, especially during uncertain times like these
Clinical considerations for clients who are not appropriate for telehealth
The importance of identifying and managing all types of risks during these times
The fallacy that you can now practice across state lines without any restrictions
The possibilities for seeing clients who have returned home to other states, the reasonable argument for continuity of care
Advice for implementing telehealth quickly, including choosing a HIPAA compliant platform
The benefits of complying with telehealth training requirements
Misinformation that can confuse folks within the Facebook Therapist Groups
The challenges that licensing boards are facing related to testing and licensing delays and related laws or regulations
Professional wills – basic requirements and legal/ethical responsibilities
Connecting with clients, human to human related to illness and emergency
The growing importance of communication in this new era of health awareness
The requirements for “essential workers”

Recession-Proofing Your Practice Mar 23, 2020

Curt and Katie talk about how to prepare for economic uncertainty as one of the ripple effects from COVID-19. We talk about practical suggestions of what you can do now to weather a recession as well as continue forward with the practice you’d like to build.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The economic uncertainty as a ripple effect from COVID-19
Looking at the research after the Great Recession
The importance of self-assessment and business-assessment, being thoughtful about the decisions you make about your business
Moving beyond scrambling to telehealth into changes you want to incorporate longer-term
How to prepare for a changing world
How critical cash flow can be during these times
Tightening your financial practices (e.g., timely invoicing and charging credit cards, billing insurance, collecting copays)
Focusing on profit, not growing your business
Looking at your numbers (revenue, expenses, profit)
How to be agile without taking on too much risk
Understanding what you do that is the highest value offering (highest profit margin) and do more of that – maximizing your most profitable services
Pay off and minimize debt, cutting costs to improve financial position
Setting yourself with a rainy-day fund
Navigating to weather uncertainty
Exploring different business models that are focused on need versus luxury
Being intentional with how you adjust offerings and how you are flexible in your practice
Therapists’ requirement to manage their own needs (in therapy or otherwise) to sustain their therapy practice – clients need guidance and feel like they are getting what they are paying for
Pay attention to your numbers to continue monitoring what you need to do
The importance of the customer experience and maintaining your current clients
Communicating clearly with your clients and prospects
How to increase the quality of your offerings to sustain current clients and get new ones
Plan for the long-term of your practice

Burnout or Depression Mar 16, 2020

Curt and Katie talk about the idea that burnout and depression could actually be the same thing. We look at how stigma and a sense of superiority may inhibit clinicians from reporting that they’re actually experiencing depression rather than “burnout.”

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The blog article that sparked the conversation about why doctors don’t get depressed
The idea that burnout and depression may be the same thing
The functionality of diagnosis in treatment and how it impacts what one is diagnosed
The definitions of burnout and depression and the different schools of thought
The place of elitism both in the definition and the treatment of burnout
A sense of superiority and or a feeling of higher level on the hierarchy leading to less burnout and depression
Katie’s ideas around simple burnout or complicated burnout and the overuse of that word
Where the ideas around burnout actually came from and whether it is a sound foundation
The medical model divorcing depression from situational factors
The concern that pop psychology may have invaded the space
The idea that when people have sought the situation that has led to burnout or depression – there is an existential crisis
The rationale that it is “worth it” because we have sacrificed to move forward in our career
Tips from Freudenberger (who introduced the concept of Burnout) on how to avoid or treat burnout: hiring, work culture, thoughtfulness about work and work day, breaks and vacations, staff development and feeling time, sharing experiences, time off to learn, adequate staffing, balance of physical exercise

The Viral Episode Mar 09, 2020

Curt and Katie talk about the Corona Virus scare. We look at how to take care of ourselves, our clients, and our businesses during the current outbreak. We also look at the mental health impacts and the legal and ethical responsibilities we have to our clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The current concerns about the Corona Virus
The impacts of the virus on therapists
How to identify our responsibilities as therapists
Info from the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control on COVID-19
The reactions that we are seeing in society as mental healthcare professionals
Looking at practical steps to increase safety in your office
How to think about your cancellation policy
Incorporating telehealth into your practice
The complexity of insurance companies covering telehealth session
Xenophobia toward individuals of Asian descent, and the mental health impact on these clients
The impact on the individuals (or their caregivers) who have compromised immune systems of needing to remain home or in isolation
The legal and ethical considerations
When we can tell our clients that they must stay home and when it could be discrimination
The problems with self-quarantines
The importance of therapists refraining from contributing to the anxiety and sharing accurate information from reputable sources

Dissociation in Therapy Mar 02, 2020

An interview with Dr. Jamie Marich on how to navigate through dissociation in the therapy room. Curt and Katie interview Jamie about her own experiences with dissociation and what she does to cope as a dissociative professional. We discuss the importance of mindfulness and other strategies to take care of ourselves as well as treating dissociative clients. We also chat about how to navigate professional organizations as someone who likes to challenge the status quo.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Jamie Marich, Ph.D., LPCC-S, LICDC-CS, REAT, RYT-200, RMT

Jamie Marich, Ph.D., LPCC-S, LICDC-CS, REAT, RYT-200, RMT travels internationally speaking on topics related to EMDR therapy, trauma, addiction, expressive arts and mindfulness while maintaining a private practice in her home base of Warren, OH. She is the developer of the Dancing Mindfulness practice to expressive arts therapy and co-creator of the Yoga Unchained approach to trauma-informed yoga. Jamie is the author of seven books, including the popular EMDR Made Simple and EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care (Springer Publishing in 2018), written in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Dansiger. Her newest title, Process Not Perfection: Expressive Arts Solutions for Trauma Recovery, released in April 2019. North Atlantic Books is publishing a second and expanded edition of Trauma and the 12 Steps, due for release in the Summer of 2020.

In this episode we talk about:

Creative mindfulness
Joy in facilitating transformation
Jamie’s experience with trauma, addiction, dissociation, and how that led to her work
EMDR and “the weird stuff” that has led to improved outcomes
The power of embodied healing
Jamie coming out as being in recovery, bisexual, and struggling with dissociation
The response of other therapists to Jamie coming out as a dissociative professional
The importance of being candid to remain present and to combat the label of impaired therapist
Shame about dissociation and the difficulty therapists have in treating dissociation
How to navigate through dissociation as a therapist – we all dissociate, just at different degrees
The importance of mindfulness in combatting dissociation
Rituals and routines to ground and return to the present
Learning the models for treatment and then “breaking the rules elegantly” to innovate
How institutes develop effectively and the struggles of bringing treatment to the mainstream
Jamie’s standing up and pushing away from the mainstream – and some of the consequences
Why Jamie and Curt love EMDR

You Can't Trust Your Gut Feb 24, 2020

Curt and Katie talk about the ins and outs of intuition. We look at when you can trust your gut feelings and when you cannot. We sort through how to actually develop and use clinical intuition as well as the problems that can come into play when you do not follow the appropriate steps.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Definitions of the 4 types of intuition: mystical, spurious, inferential, wholistic
Confirmatory bias – how it can be known, but go unrecognized
How operant conditioning might be supporting your feeling of being able to trust your gut
Discounting affect (ignoring when your assumptions were wrong)
Whether or not we should pay attention to Mercury in Retrograde
The challenge of looking for evidence that both supports and challenges your assumptions
The different individual characteristics that get in the way of evaluating things appropriately
The importance of deliberate practice
The two different thinking processes described by Daniel Kahneman in Thinking Fast and Slow
The need to test our assumptions, even though it is potentially laborious or threatening
Using the scientific method
The problem with “mindbugs” like the availability heuristic and the misinformation effect in trying to actively improve our ability to assess data
Deductive intuition versus inductive intuition
Conditions required to use clinical intuition: regularity, practice, immediate feedback
Looking for things that prove you wrong, hearing and sorting through both positive and negative feedback
A danger of specialization where you fit every client into your area of focus
The left brain/right brain fallacy
When case examples or individual stories don’t honor all of the times that clinicians are wrong
Unexamined bias is a constant challenge in trying to make sure you are evaluating the actual data and not what you are expecting to see

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Awakening Intuition by Terry Marks-Tarlow

Saying “Trust Your Gut” Is Bad Advice

Relevant Episodes and Blog Posts:

Deliberate Practice episodes:

Be a Better Therapist

Finding Your Blindspots

Connect with us!

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

Our consultation services:

2020 Kauai Continuing Education Retreat for Therapists Hosted by CAV Academy

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Unlearning Very Bad Therapy Feb 17, 2020

An interview with Carrie Wiita and Ben Fineman, MFT Trainees and the co-hosts of the Very Bad Therapy podcast. Curt and Katie interview Ben and Carrie about their experience as graduate students and mental health advocates. We look at the short-falls of the educational system as well as the mythologies that stagnate the profession. We talk about how to improve therapy and the training we receive.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Carrie Wiita and Ben Fineman, Marriage and Family Therapist Trainees and Co-Hosts of the Very Bad Therapy podcast

Very Bad Therapy gives voice to the stores that begin with an exasperated "You would not believe what happened with my therapist." Weekly episodes explore real-life stories of very bad therapy experiences as hosts Caroline Wiita and Ben Fineman seek to learn from diverse guests and experts in the field who help shed light on how things could have gone better. Supported by scientific research and a mission to bring out the best in psychotherapy through discussion of its worst moments, Very Bad Therapy is a corrective emotional experience for clinicians and clients alike.

In this episode we talk about:

How Curt is responsible for Carrie and Ben meeting (and how proud he is of that fact)
What is missing in therapist education and how to look at the profession of therapy critically
What we are told when we enter into the field and what the reality actually is
How going to grad school and listening to MTSG Podcast can be super confusing
The research that says therapists do not get better with experience
The mythologies in the profession that stop us from being curious
The disappointment in the status quo and the failure to move into the cutting edge
The stagnation of the field when we have the same people talking about the same things
The inconsistency of the faculty and their ability/desire to teach graduate students in therapy
Problems with graduate programs related to the bureaucracy and misinformation
Ben Caldwell’s Saving Psychotherapy (of course)
Feedback on the Very Bad Therapy podcast (and how Carrie and Ben have taken it in)
The importance of research, grounding in laws, ethics, clinical excellence, when challenging the status quo
The willingness to make mistakes publicly and be transparent with accountability to normalize mistakes and reinforce that we are not perfect and cannot be perfect as therapists
The role of defensiveness in very bad therapy
The problem of perfectionism in the field
Minimizing risk and maximizing “joining” or developing the therapeutic relationship
How harmful the communication between therapists can be
The impact of bias on the work
How to improve your training

Structuring Self-Care Feb 10, 2020

Curt and Katie talk about structuring self-care into your business practices. We look at how to incorporate self-care best practices into the way you build your work day. We also talk about common challenges to taking this advice.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Creating a cohesive plan for self-care in all aspects of your work
Incorporating the concept of Flow into your work practices
Defining Flow – the thoughts about losing yourself or being incredibly mindful
The absence of mental load that occurs when you are doing the things that you are good at and enjoy most
Decision fatigue, spoon theory
Identifying how to set up your day strategically
Studying your energy and motivation at different times of day
The importance of rest, balancing of stress and rest to increase stamina
The times when creativity comes are not when you’re working
Working to prevent burnout, rather than manage it after it happens
Intentionally scheduling rest and rejuvenating activities
What types of rest are effective and what types of rest are ineffective
The danger of the ideas of productivity and hustle
The inefficiency of continuous running
How to structure your schedule effectively
Ritual and routine, grounding and mindfulness
Creating systems to decrease the required number of decisions you need to make each day
How the people around you elevate you or pull you down
Intentionally separating “work” from home
Closing out, decompression, and consultation

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink

Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness

Spoon Theory

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards

Self-Care, Self-Compassion, and Self-Awareness for Therapists

Relevant Episodes:

The Danger of Poor Self-Care for Therapists

Compassion Fatigue

Managing Vicarious Trauma

Connect with us!

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

Our consultation services:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Suicidal Therapists Feb 03, 2020

An interview with Norine Vander Hooven, LCSW about therapists who become suicidal. Curt and Katie interview Norine on the risk factors that therapists face as well as how we can support each other in our community. We talk about prevention, interventions with a colleague, and how to manage when a colleague dies by suicide.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Norine Vander Hooven, LCSW

Norine Vander Hooven is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has been in practice for 32 years. She specializes in trauma, anxiety, suicide prevention, and life transitions. Norine is also certified in EMDR therapy, and is in training to be an EMDR therapy consultant. She uses this to work with people with PTSD, anxiety, and traumatic life events. Norine provides clinical consultation for therapists, as well as she works with young adults and adults in her private practice. Learn more at norinevanderhooven.com

In this episode we talk about:

Following up on a previous episode, Therapist Suicide.
Looking at supervisors who have died by suicide
The lack of research and data regarding therapist suicide (both ideation and completion)
The fear and stigma about disclosing suicidal ideation and attempts for therapists
The difference between therapists and others in suicide risk
Heightened risk factors for therapists
How therapists take in the work with their clients
The isolation and lack of support that can happen with therapists
Suggestions for therapists to address suicidal thoughts, isolation, loneliness
Belonging, Burden, and Capability
The importance of community and consultation
The suggestion to be in your own therapy
Incorporating self-care even down to the small moments during the work day
How to incorporate knowledge about the challenge of the profession into our educational system
The shame therapists feel (both perceived and actual) about mental health challenges
How to support therapists who might be experiencing suicidal thoughts
How to provide therapy to therapists, incorporating conversations and assessment about suicide from the beginning, normalizing the experience and challenge of being a therapist
Supporting therapists in our community
Planning for postvention – comprehensive conversations after therapists have clients die by suicide or other big events in our colleagues’ lives
The importance of normalizing the feelings that therapists could be presenting with in consultation groups
What can we do when one of our colleagues die by suicide
The typical reactions and responses from colleagues, clients, and community members
Preparing to have a conversation with a client whose therapist has died by suicide

Preventing Client Suicide Jan 27, 2020

An interview with Norine Vander Hooven, LCSW about assessing suicide appropriately for our clients from the beginning of treatment. Curt and Katie talk with Norine about what therapists often miss with their clients and how to treat suicidality when it comes up.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Norine Vander Hooven, LCSW

Norine Vander Hooven is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has been in practice for 32 years. She specializes in trauma, anxiety, suicide prevention, and life transitions. Norine is also certified in EMDR therapy, and is in training to be an EMDR therapy consultant. She uses this to work with people with PTSD, anxiety, and traumatic life events. Norine provides clinical consultation for therapists, as well as she works with young adults and adults in her private practice. Learn more at norinevanderhooven.com

In this episode we talk about:

Norine’s story and how she entered into suicidology
How to appropriately assess for Suicide Risk from the beginning of treatment
What needs to be asked in your intake
The fear that therapists have in deeply looking at suicide with clients
The importance of exploring traumas from birth for clients
Why “die by suicide” is so much better than “committed” suicide
What #notsix means (how many people are actually affected by a single suicide)
Risk factors for suicidality: lack of belonging, feeling of being a burden, capability
What therapists often miss when assessing for suicide
The need to understand the client’s perception of the level of crisis around suicidality
Old school assessments and safety contracts that are not useful, and what to use instead
Who is most at risk for suicidal thoughts
What to consider in assessing for suicidality with clients who don’t appear to be at risk
Different types of suicidal thoughts
Searching for hope and forward thinking in life
Types of treatment modalities to address all types of suicidal thoughts
How to successfully assess, safety plan, and address suicide head on

Therapists on Your Couch Jan 20, 2020

Curt and Katie talk about the nuance of treating therapists in therapy. We look at the unique dynamics in the therapeutic relationship as well as common traps to avoid.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The lack of research or guidance on how to treat therapists in therapy
How different are therapists as therapy clients
What it is like to have a therapist for a therapy client
What to assess for with therapists
The importance of looking at what the presenting problem is
The expectation that therapists would be different that other clients
The therapeutic alliance and dual relationship conversations
The dynamic of making assumptions about therapists as clients
The theme of competition between client and therapist
Therapists overidentifying with therapist clients and making inaccurate assumptions
A different type of presenting problem and length of treatment
Common coping strategies (i.e., rationalization, focusing on cognition, non-judgmental, disconnect from feelings) that need to be overcome more with therapist clients
Clarifying the role and rules in the room, so we can take off the armor
Avoiding the temptation of staying in intellect and insight
Pushing for some comparison to other clients – reassurance, validation, vulnerability, trying to please or take care of the therapist
The importance of the therapist holding the container, so the therapist-client can do their work
How to navigate the differences between being a therapist and a supervisor or a manager
How therapists are like other clients, but totally different

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Relevant Episodes:

Connect with us!

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

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The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Iran, The News, and Your Clients Jan 13, 2020

An interview with Pardis Mahdavi, PhD, and Negeen Moussavian, AMFT, regarding Iran, current events, and how the news might impact Iranian clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Pardis Mahdavi, PhD and Negeen Moussavian, AMFT

Pardis Mahdavi, PhD is currently Director of the School for Social Transformation at Arizona State University. Before coming to Arizona, she was Acting Dean of the Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver (2017-2019), after spending eleven years at Pomona College from 2006-2017 where she most recently served as professor and chair of anthropology and director of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College as well as Dean of Women. Her research interests include gendered labor, human trafficking, migration, sexuality, human rights, transnational feminism, and public health in the context of changing global and political structures. She has published four single authored books and one edited volume in addition to numerous journal and news articles. She has been a fellow at the Social Sciences Research Council, the American Council on Learned Societies, Google Ideas, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In 2018 she was appointed by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and re-appointed by Governor Jared Polis to serve on the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

Negeen Moussavian is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (#107771) working under the supervision of Curt Widhalm LMFT (#47333) in Encino, CA. She received her Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage & Family Therapy from Pepperdine University. She works with clients dealing with relationships, dating, infidelity, and trauma. Additionally, she works with Iranian-American clients on issues surrounding identity, generational trauma, and other culture specific topics. She implements a combination of holistic and traditional therapy practices, including EMDR therapy.

In this episode we talk about:

Current events in Iran as well as historical context
Liminality – the feeling of not belonging here or there
The importance of being informed
The uncertainty that can lead to fear and then to hate
The crushing tsunami wave of islamophobia that is coming in the United States
How significant events related to Iran impact Iranian-Americans
The dramatic changes within Iran
How therapists can help Iranian families to cope with the impacts of current events

We Can't Help Ourselves Jan 06, 2020

Curt and Katie talk about how difficult it is for therapists to take care of ourselves. We look at why we struggle with the self-care that we teach our clients, including shaming in our field, lack of connection to our shadow-self, and where we seek support.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Why the Giving Tree is a bad role model
Road blocks therapists put in their own way
Katie’s notion of Sacrificial Helping
The wounded healer concept
The reasons we do not take care of ourselves
How we define our value, especially related to the idea that our value is to help others
The harm of valuing productivity over all else
The search for meaning – what we do is meaningful to us
Volunteering on top of the work we do
The idea that you can be impacted by the therapy you do
The role that the shadow self plays
The strict, externalized parent and oppositionality
The shame for not “self-caring” enough or believing in the “right” form or health from our field
Burnout’s effect on decision-making
The lack of training on how to use the coping strategies on yourself
How to make decisions better about self-care as a therapist
Opening space for mistakes in our field
How relational therapies can be a solution for therapists who are grappling with their own stuff
Where to seek support (and where not to seek support)
Intention versus reactivity

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Lori Gottlieb, MFT

Irvin Yalom, MD

Self-Care, Self-Compassion, and Self-Awareness for Therapists

Relevant Episodes:

Vulnerability, Mistakes, and The Imposter Syndrome

The Danger of Poor Self-Care for Therapists

Compassion Fatigue

Managing Vicarious Trauma

When is it Discrimination?

Therapist Suicide

Connect with us!

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

Our consultation services:

National Union of Healthcare Workers: NUHW

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Special Episode: Striking for the Future of Mental Healthcare Dec 23, 2019

Special Episode: Curt and Katie talk about the recent NUHW- Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Worker Strike. Katie interviews a National Union of Healthcare Workers representative, Dr. Kenneth Rogers. We then both reflect on the interview and a statement from Kaiser Permanente, especially related to the implications for the profession as a whole.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The implications of the strike for all mental healthcare workers
A statement from Kaiser Permanente
An interview with Dr. Kenneth Rogers, shop steward and member of the bargaining team for NUHW
The focus of the strike – looking at what the Union is requesting
What a shop steward is, how the union works, what the bargaining table looks like
The bureaucracy and distance that impacts the bargaining
The different perspectives of each side
The complexity of the decision making, the strategy of Kaiser Permanente
The possibilities that Katie sees related to state-of-the-art mental health services
The goal of transforming the model of care
The inefficiencies that lead to lower productivity, the focus needed to improve care
The positives in the current Kaiser proposal
The hope of coming together to work on the future of mental healthcare
The lack of parity in how mental healthcare workers are treated versus other professionals in Kaiser, looking at the perceived payment philosophy
NUHW goal for the mental health system of care – solely getting to the basic standard of care
The lack of trust between Kaiser and NUHW and the complexity of the decision-making
Rogers’ reflections on the survival guide tips and the impact of the strike on clinicians and patients, advice for the striking clinicians
The impact of Kaiser’s payment philosophy on other workplaces (Curt busting out some economic theory from Richard Thayler)
The importance of the union work on wages in other workplaces
Parity for mental health professionals and what that means for mental health parity
Call to action to stay informed, step up and advocacy

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

NUHW Facebook Page

Kaiser Don’t Deny

Union Representative Dr. Kenneth Rogers bio:

Kenneth Rogers, Psy.D. is a psychologist who has worked with the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group for the past 16 years. He has worked at the Fremont, Santa Clara, and Campbell Medical Centers in the past and currently works at the Elk Grove clinic near South Sacramento. He has been a shop steward for NUHW since its inception in 2009 and has been on the NUHW Executive Board since 2015. Dr. Rogers was a member of the 2010-2015 contract bargaining team and he remains a member of the current bargaining committee since July, 2018.

Los Angeles Times Article

The Kaiser Permanente ACE Study

Economic Theory: Nobel Prize Winning Economist Richard Thayler – Anomalies: Inter-industry Wage Differentials

Relevant Episodes:

Modern Therapists Strike Back

Connect with us!

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

Our consultation services:

California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

A Living Wage for Prelicensees Dec 16, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about the advocacy efforts to make paying prelicensed individuals a best practice. We talk about a statement recently approved by CAMFT, looking at the process, the implications, and a call to action.

In this episode we talk about:

A public statement approved at the most recent meeting of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
The supporting information that suggests that paying prelicensed individuals is a best practice of supervision
The importance of a living wage, benefits, and meaningful work
Curt’s journey in support of this statement
The ability (and the challenge) for each of us in these types of advocacy efforts.
The call to action to take this statement to your own professional organization
The type of push back to expect and how to address it
Laws and best practices versus implementation and accountability
Addressing bad actors and the goal of keeping good actors good
How a single voice can be silenced, but a movement can make a difference
The mission of the #therapymovement to leave our profession better
A second call to action for you to stand up and advocate for the necessary changes you see

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

The Public Board book from the December CAMFT board meeting (statement on pg. 204-206)

References:

Abel, J. R., Deitz, R., & Su, Y. (2014) Are recent college graduates finding good jobs? Current Issues in Economics and Finance, 20(1). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2378472

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2014). Trauma Informed Care in Behavioral Health Service: Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 57. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD.

Crain, A. (2016). Understanding the impact of unpaid internships on college student career development and employment outcomes. NACE Journal. Available at https://www.naceweb.org/job-market/internships/exploring-the-implications-of-unpaidinternships/.

Eby, L. T., Burk, H., & Maher, C. P. (2010). How serious of a problem is staff turnover in substance abuse treatment? A longitudinal study of actual turnover. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 39, 264–271.

Hickman, B. (2014, July 23). What we learned exploring unpaid internships. Retrieved from https://www.propublica.org/article/what-we-learned-investigating-unpaid-internships

Hoge, M. A., Morris, J. A., Daniels, A. S., Stuart, G. W., Huey, L. Y., & Adams, N. (2007). An action plan for behavioral health workforce development. Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce: Cincinnati, OH.

Knudsen, H. K., Johnson, J. A., & Roman, P. M. (2003). Retaining counseling staff at substance abuse treatment centers: Effects of management practices. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 24(2), 129- 135.

Relevant Episodes:

Defining the Therapy Movement

Trauma Informed Work Place

Joining Your Association

Modern Therapists Strike Back

Let’s Get Political

Building Hope for the Next Generation of Therapists

The Fight to Save Psychotherapy

Getting Personal to Advocate for Compassion, Understanding, and Social Justice

Connect with us!

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

Our consultation services:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Get Paid to Speak Dec 09, 2019

An interview with Dr. Laura Louis, CEO of Couch to Podium, on how to move into public speaking as a therapist. We look at best practices, what therapists get wrong, and how to get started.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Laura Louis, CEO of Couch to Podium.

Dr. Laura Louis is the founder of the Couch to Podium academy which consists of a Facebook community, Courses Retreats, Seminars and a Mastermind. Dr. Louis teaches therapists and counselors all about the business side of speaking. She was able to book over 40 speaking engagements last year alone AND build a steady stream of speaking engagements.

Dr. Louis has conducted over one hundred paid speaking engagements nationally and internationally. She has negotiated travel, and expenses along with $3000 speaking fees. Dr. Louis' clients have launched paid speaking gigs, developed retreats and launched programs.

Dr. Louis has been featured on NBC, has been asked to speak for the American Psychological Association Conference and The National Sales Conference.

In this episode we talk about:

Laura’s program that teaches therapists how to move from doing therapy to booking paid speaking engagements
Speaking as an option to scale your business
The importance of you identifying your ideal client and what you teach them – that’s a talk
Identifying how to create the talk and who to pitch speaking to
Supporting your own dreams by being within a circle that is supportive
The benefit of getting unpaid experience in speaking (visibility, becoming comfortable, flowing through your talk, etc.)
Toastmasters as a great training ground
Building your list while speaking, so you can continue to support your audience after the talk
Social proof and understanding the experience – photos and videos – help you book speaking engagements
Monetizing your speaking through other offerings, back of room sales, licensing, etc.
Speaking to your target market to increase clients
Understanding how to assess what you can get out of speaking
Mindset changes needed to ask for pay or other benefits from speaking
Looking at the whole experience and benefits to determine whether you would like to take a speaking engagement
How to find paid speaking engagements
The need to adjust language to pitch to decision-making (pain points, solutions, without psycho-jargon)
The different types of applications, best practices
The differences between putting your own events on versus speaking for other people’s events
The ability to make money if you master the details of putting on your own live events
The need to understand sales and marketing to move forward with speaking
The time investment required when becoming a paid speaker

Relevant Resources:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links:

Couch to Podium Membership Program

Couch to Podium website

Dr. Louis’ Facebook Group: Paid to Speak (Mental Health Speakers Group)

Dr. Louis’ Facebook Page: Couch to Podium

Dr. Louis’ Instragram

Dr. Louis’ website: https://www.atlantacoupletherapy.com/

Dr. Louis’ training: https://drlouis.clickfunnels.com/booked-to-speak32977293

Relevant Episodes:

Clinical Marketing

Beyond Selling the Couch

Open to Opportunity

So You Want to Plan a Conference

Connect with us:

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Branding for Your Ideal Client Dec 02, 2019

An interview with Kate Campbell, PhD, LMFT, and Katie Lemieux, LMFT from The Private Practice Startup. Curt and Katie talk with Kate and Katie about the differences between marketing and branding, what therapists should consider when developing their personal brand, and common mistakes therapists make.

Interview with Kate and Katie from the Private Practice Startup

The Private Practice Startup is co-owned by Kate Campbell, PhD, LMFT and Katie Lemieux, LMFT. They’re two therapists with entrepreneurial spirits who are crazy about business, branding and marketing. They live, work and play in South Florida.

They both built their 6-Figure private practices in less than 2 years from the ground up and inspire other ambitious mental health professionals to brand themselves, grow their dream private practices and live into their dream lifestyles. They have a hunger for business, branding and marketing.

They love helping private practitioners work with the clients they love, profit more in business, and create the freedom to truly enjoy a lifestyle business.

Kate is a food and wine aficionado who loves to travel and create new memories with her husband and son. She also loves the beach, pilates, riding horses, concerts, and of course the occasional “retail therapy”.

Thanks to Kate, Katie is a wine snob in the making. Katie is an avid pitbull lover and has 2 of her own, she loves travel, new and fun adventures, reading, the ID channel, Halloween, sparkles, taking pictures, random silly things, family time and taking time to just be.

They are the creators of Private Practice Marketing E-Course and Coaching, provide FREE podcasts, and customizable Attorney Approved Private Practice Paperwork for therapists. Visit PrivatePracticeStartup.com for more info!

In this episode we talk about:

The shear number of Kate/Katies that Curt had to deal with on the episode.
The difference between marketing and branding
The importance of marketing in developing a business
Relationships, ownership as part of the branding process
How to stand out, become distinctive
What therapists should consider when developing a brand
How your unique selling proposition relates to the development of your branding and marketing
How therapists’ goals for their lifestyle and their individual picture impacts ideal client
Niche and saying no to the clients who are not in your wheel house
The challenge of being a generalist, fear of repelling too many clients
Why you need to have a brand that clearly inspires your ideal clients
The mistakes therapists often make in branding and connecting with your ideal clients
Clear planning, following up, and tracking for your marketing
Taking ownership of how you are perceived by your ideal clients
How brands evolve, especially as you add businesses, business partners, side hustles, etc.
How to become business partners and clarify how you work together
The mission, values, and operations ties to the brand
How your personal brand can be logistically experienced by the public (aka make sure you keep track of all of your websites)

Relevant Resources:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links:

Kate and Katie’s website = www.privatepracticestartup.com

The A to Z Cheatsheet: Essentials for Building and Growing Your Dream Private Practice - https://a-z-cheat-sheet-download.gr8.com/

Donald Miller – Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen

Jeff Walker - Launch: An Internet Millionaire's Secret Formula to Sell Almost Anything Online, Build a Business You Love, and Live the Life of Your Dreams

Russell Brunson

Gary Vaynerchuck

Connect with us:

Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

How to BE a Therapist Nov 25, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about Person of the Therapist training. We talk about a revolutionary training model that starts with who a therapist is and what will come up for them as a therapist – rather than setting unreasonable expectations of blank, neutral, perfect therapists.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Person of the Therapist training – addressing the whole person therapist
The work of Dr. Harry Aponte at Drexel University
Looking at how pulling from your own history can impact how you approach the work in the room
The importance of finding your own personal themes and challenges, owning your own story
Innovative classes that start graduate programs with personal growth and insight
Normalizing reactions and individual differences from the beginning of our education
How close the line can be between education and therapy
The fallacy that therapists can be blank or neutral
The drive toward Evidence Based Practices
The depth of supervision that occurs when focusing on the person of the therapist
The problem of siloed areas of the field and how bringing it back into the same room
The vulnerability required for the depth of this work
The ability to increase maturity of the therapist more quickly through this type of work
The importance of structure and containment to do this type of work
Teaching self-awareness and self-monitoring
The power of building supportive community to do work more in the open, to decrease shame and perfectionism
Learning how to give respectful, structured, effective feedback – exercising your empathy muscle
How building resilience and connection can improve the profession as a whole
Increasing distress tolerance and capacity for taking feedback
Looking at the benefit of doing this work at all stages in your career

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Dr. Harry J Aponte

Person of the Therapist Training Model by Dr. Harry Aponte

Claudio & Watson: Perceived impact of the Person of the Therapist Training model on Drexel University Master of Family Therapy postgraduates’ clinical work

Kissil, Carneiro, & Aponte: Beyond duality: The relationship between the personal and the professional selves of the therapist in the Person of the Therapist Training

Watson: Doing it right: Branding the Person of the Therapist Training model in Drexel University’s Master of Family Therapy program

Aponte & Ingram: Person of the Therapist supervision: Reflections of a therapist and supervisor on empathic-identification and differentiation

Relevant Episodes:

Therapist Haters and Trolls

That’s Unethical

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Your Tango Article: Head of UPenn’s Mental Health Services Dies By Suicide

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Making Access More Affordable Nov 18, 2019

An interview with Michael Blumberg, LCPC, about mental health care as a basic human right. Curt and Katie talk with Michael about the tension between access and therapist financial stability. We look at ideas to support access while being thoughtful about your own financial needs.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Michael Blumberg, LCPC

Michael Blumberg is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and group practice owner in the Chicago suburb of Glenview. Michael founded and manages Glenview Counseling Group, a multi-disciplinary psychotherapy group practice, where he treats clients with OCD & complex anxiety and manages the daily operations of the practice. Michael also co-founded a business focused solely on the business aspects of group practice ownership called Group Practice Builders with his friend and colleague Maureen Werrbach. Together they plan and facilitate an annual conference called the Group Practice Owners Summit which draws attendees from across the US and abroad.

In this episode we talk about:

How Michael defines Mental Health Care as a Human Right
The idea that all people, regardless of ability to pay, have the right to be emotionally and psychologically well
Pushing back against mental health and wellness as an extravagance
The conflict between access and running a private practice
The concern that if this is a human right, clinicians might be conscripted into service
If large organizations can’t make access available, how can small therapy practices do anything?
Ideas for how small therapy practices can make a difference in providing mental health access
How to make the choices in how much you make, how you increase access
The importance of individuals making these decisions for themselves based on their own needs.
Advocacy as another way to increase access and work in prevention
The tension between access and time or financial stability for individual clinicians
The Starfish Thrower
How the education system promotes sacrifice by the therapist
Do what YOU can do and be thoughtful about it
How to get creative and dismiss preconceived notions of what SHOULD be done
The balancing act if you open yourself to the idea that you should personally provide access
How these principles fit into the #moderntherapist ideas

Therapist Suicide Nov 11, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about a recent news story related to Dr. Gregory Eells, the Executive Director of the Counseling and Psychological Services at University of Pennsylvania, who died by suicide in September 2019. We talk about how the understanding of risk factors, the changing face of our profession, and calls for self-care are insufficient to address the mental health needs of mental health professionals.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Therapist death by suicide
The life and work of Dr. Gregory Eells
The risk factors for therapist suicide: our own mental health concerns, highly challenging our work is, the changing work environments, burnout and isolation.
The insufficiency of “self-care” as a solution and what it infers about the mental health professionals who are unable to employ it
The systemic issues leading to poor mental health in the professionals
University counseling centers – the increasing percentage utilization, a look at how access and services have been affected
How new legislation that could improve the situation is still insufficient
A call for early intervention, comprehensive services
How caseloads are impacted by limiting services to clients with the highest level of need
Moral injury in addition to “burnout”
Suggested solutions for individuals and for systems
The importance of assessing capacity and need
What types of things to assess: (culture, demographics, etc.)
Getting creative, while assessing true capacity (time, energy, personnel, space, mental/emotional, sustainability of effort)

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Psychologist suicide: Incidence, impact, and suggestions for prevention, intervention, and postvention

Dr. Eells’ TEDx talk on Resilience

Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2015 Annual Report

AUCCCD Survey 2018

Who helps the caregiver? Penn counselor’s suicide highlights how experts aren’t immune from struggles

It’s Not Burnout, It’s Moral Injury by Dr. Zubin Damania

Center for Collegiate Mental Health 2018 – Clinical Load Index

Penn Today: A Conversation with new CAPS Director Gregory Eells

Relevant Episodes:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

SEO Guide for Therapists Nov 04, 2019

An interview with Dr. Rachna Jain, of Profitable Popularity, talks with Curt and Katie about SEO best practices as well as things to consider when deciding what level of SEO to employ. We also look at how to proactively protect your online reputation and how to repair it.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Rachna Jain

Dr. Rachna Jain is a clinical psychologist and internet marketing expert who helps service professionals attract new clients from the internet. Her company offers website design, search engine optimization, and other marketing support for therapists- whether they want to build a thriving local practice or a bigger, national platform.

Rachna has been quoted in more than 500 major media publications, including Fortune Small Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, has guested on NPR and other top radio, and has also appeared on NBC's Today Show. The author of five books, she is additionally an avid jewelry artist and digital photographer. Her jewelry and photography have been sold nationally. She can be reached at ProfitablePopularity.com.

In this episode we talk about:

How Rachna got into SEO
The differences that need to be considered in creating an online presence when you’re a therapist versus other service-based businesses
The importance of specialization
How to decide whether you should do your own SEO
The risk of getting a negative review and the importance of knowing what to monitor
How SEO has changed, how the internet has changed
The difference between organic and paid rankings, the current challenges in getting highly ranked organically
Right-sizing your SEO efforts, setting reasonable expectations
The reasons to avoid doing SEO when you’re a new business
Why to get SEO: capacity, client retention capability, and high enough fee for ROI
Things that positively impact ratings on google
Pros and Cons of blogging
Strategies for reputation management: Own your google results for your name
Addressing Yelp (a high authority site)
Reputation repair strategies
Building profiles at least as place holders to manage reputation
Where to invest money on online marketing (and where not to)
The problem of the wrong visibility
How much time to spend on SEO each week, decision-making on doing SEO or outsourcing
When people can shift from looking locally to creating a larger platform (or aim toward thought leadership)
What you need to launch a larger platform

Defining the Therapy Movement Oct 28, 2019

Live Podcast: Curt and Katie are live at Therapy Reimagined 2019. We talk about what the #therapymovement aspires to accomplish. We talk about the broken educational system, the need for a livable wage, the ways we can improve our profession, and stronger ways that we can show up for our clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The origin story of the #therapymovement
What needs to be changed in our profession
The conversations we are having and need to continue having
Conversations with #moderntherapists about education and therapist-ways-of-being
How continuing education needs to shift to support the actual job
The difference between what graduate programs teach and what the work actually looks like
What do we do to improve the profession?
The importance of a livable wage
#postthepay
The threat on our scope of practice if we don’t have adequate numbers
The need to improve the quality of the therapists that come out of the educational system
The importance of getting new voices into the conversation
Looking at what therapy has been versus what therapy can be
How to step into leadership in this #therapymovement
The way to effect change, both in our office and the world
The importance of being present to help keep our clients alive
Now what?

Impaired Therapists Oct 21, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about therapists who become impaired – by substance abuse, cognitive decline, their own mental health concerns, burnout, etc. The challenges of addressing impaired therapists given the ethics codes, the lack of effective means to make complaints, and the difficulty in finding effective solutions.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The definition of Impaired Therapist
The lack of recent research on the topic
The types of impairment: substance abuse, cognitive decline, mental health concerns, burnout
Why and how therapists can become impaired
Looking at how therapists are more likely to have these impairments
The responsibilities and challenges of observing impairment of others (especially depending on the role, supervisor, supervisee, colleague)
The ethical responsibility to pay attention to your own potential impairment
The challenge of making a complaint related to an impaired therapist
Looking at the ethics code, with the responsibility to approach impaired colleague first
How the interaction in the Facebook groups is not necessarily taking care of this responsibility well.
The harm of shaming therapists – and the importance of supporting each other
The impact of the power differential on having these difficult conversations
The negative impacts on clients and treatment team members from impaired therapists
What is the difference between impaired therapists and bad therapy?
The importance of the response and introspection related to impairment
What we’re supposed to do when we identify an impaired colleague, supervisor, or supervisee
Who are the gatekeepers? Why is it important?
A strange foray into the thoughts on vigilante therapists and the #cardigancartel

Donald Trump in Therapy Oct 14, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about how politics have started coming into the therapy room. We look at how the election of Donald Trump seemed to increase clients (and therapists) actively bringing world events into the therapeutic work.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The shift from avoiding politics, religion, etc. in therapy to having it be central in therapy conversations
How Donald Trump’s presidency (and the impacts of his administration) show up in the room
What can happen when therapists share their political views with their clients
The fear, trauma, and grief that has become more present in the conversations about the world at large
How an informed client population means that therapists need to be aware of both the events and the potential impacts on individuals (and groups).
The importance clients have started placing on political similarity or safety to express their viewpoints, even in the intake phone call
Research on political disclosure in therapy, perceived similarity of political views, and the impact on therapeutic alliance
The risk of falsely assuming alignment or over-disclosing political views with clients
Looking at when political/philosophical conversations are just fun and not helpful
The different impacts of the events of the day based on demographics and identity
Opening space, using caution, observing to continue to have these conversations be therapeutic
How burnout can impact these conversations
Counter Transference and whether your own reactions should come into the treatment room with your clients
Looking at how true reactions can be used in treatment, the bias of remaining neutral
The potential for complex conversations that can heal with our clients
The instinct to try to “correct” clients with opposing viewpoints (and the damage that can do)
How therapists should prepare for being in the room for these conversations, and take care of themselves in the process.

Sex and Shame Oct 07, 2019

An interview with Eliza Boquin, LMFT on what therapists miss when they don’t talk about sex with their clients. Curt and Katie talk with Eliza about how judgment, shame, and discomfort can come into the therapy room and create barriers for patients talking about their sexual health.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Eliza Boquin, LMFT

As a Licensed Psychotherapist, Relationship & Sexuality Expert, Eliza Boquin works with couples & individuals to overcome past traumas, emotional pain, and destructive relationship patterns so they can begin to enjoy more healthy, satisfying, and pleasure-filled lives.

You can find her working with clients at her private practice in Houston, TX, hosting workshops, and at public speaking events helping people gain the skills to reach their life & relationship goals.

She is also an active mental health advocate & co-founder of Melanin & Mental Health, LLC which promotes mental health awareness in the Black & Latinx communities. She & her business partner, Eboni Harris, are changing the face of therapy with their website, national therapist directory, Between Sessions podcast and "Therapy is Dope" merchandise.

She has also been featured in Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, Fatherly, Bustle, ThriveWorks, Good Therapy, Stylecaster, Business Insider, Houstonia Magazine, and on Houston's Amazing 102.5 FM, and KBXX 97.9 FM - The Box.E

In this episode we talk about:

Eliza’s story and how she got into sex therapy
How trauma, shame, misinformation can impact sexual health
The importance of removing shame and judgment from conversations about sex
How to address the absence of sex in relationship therapy
Opening conversations that are safe and non-shaming about sex, in the assessment
What therapists miss when they don’t bring sex up with their clients
The problem with pathologizing sexual concerns
Typical therapist training around sex
The importance of education and normalization
The types of life events that can impact sex life
Additional training for therapists to understand all kinds of sex
The types of phone calls a sex therapist might get
The amount of misinformation, sexpectations
The faulty expectation that partners should know what to do
The challenge of not knowing what turns you on, being disconnected from one’s body
Societal expectations that impact the sexual experience
The shame about bodies entering the sexual relationship
Exploring sexual education stories, cultural impacts, messages about sex
How people respond to sex therapists
What therapists get wrong about sex
The impact of bias and the medical model
Sex positivity, inclusion

In it for the Money? Sep 30, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about money. We look at the financial needs of therapists, the perspective of clients and the public that we charge too much OR that we should not want money; the common martyrdom expectation that can negatively impact therapists and the profession.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Controversy about therapists wanting money
What is expected of therapists - martyrdom and a vow of poverty?
Financial stability and needs of therapists
The consumer perspective – am I just a paycheck? Or do you really want to help me?
The importance of your WHY
The perspective of the profession based on how much money is charged by most professionals
Providing a social/relational service for money - Are we “emotional prostitutes?”
The difficulty in assigning monetary value on what we do
The goodness of our hearts and the sympathetic plea of our clients
The difficulty in demonstrating and describing the value of therapy
The challenge of fee setting in private practice
The dynamics of insurance or social service programs impacting the clinical relationship
The common questions – Am I just a paycheck? Am I important enough to help?
The danger of therapy becoming transactional, especially when you’re burned out and under compensated
Therapist perspective on making money, especially given the lower paid and unpaid work at the beginning of the career
How the profession’s current set up impacts therapists’ ability to make money
Comparison to other similar professions (like doctors) – both in their training and career trajectory, looking at why they end up making more
The sliding scale problem - Are we rescuing our clients?
The shame of having financial needs
Self-worth being conflated with fee-setting
Exercise of thinking/feeling into your fee vs practical fee setting based on financial needs
The need for therapists to figure this out, so they can become more comfortable with making sufficient money to sustain their careers!

When Clients Die Sep 23, 2019

An interview with Debi Frankle, LMFT on how therapists can navigate when clients die. We look at what to do when clients die by suicide, die based on high risk lifestyles, or long-term illnesses. We also talk about the complicated emotions that therapists face in this isolated grief.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Debi Frankle, LMFT

Debi Jenkins Frankle is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Grief Specialist and Trainer. Debi has been working with grievers for over 25 years. She and husband, Mark Frankle LMFT, are the co-founders of the Calabasas Counseling and Grief Recovery Center. Debi is the founder of Private Practice Grief Workshops and Trainings for Mental Health Professionals as well as the FB group for therapists: Private Practice Grief.

Debi’s areas of expertise are grief and trauma. Debi has led trainings for grief counseling professionals throughout the United States and Canada. Debi is a past president of San Fernando Valley chapter of CAMFT, past committee co-chair of the Crisis Response Network for SFV CAMFT and a member of the Association for Death Education (ADEC).

In her spare time, she plays in dirt and hangs out with dogs (and her husband too!).

In this episode we talk about:

How therapists can handle when a client dies by suicide
Legal and logistical considerations
The importance of grounding yourself and seeking out consultation with a trusted colleague
The stigma leading to therapists avoiding disclosing when clients die by suicide
Considerations in contacting the family of the client and how to handle the conversation
The complicated emotions that therapists can face as professionals and as grievers
Deciding to go to the funeral
The isolated grief that therapists face
How grief can be different when a client dies by something preventable, or something they caused - disenfranchised grief or discounted grief
The uniqueness of the therapist’s response
The different types of losses and the reactions we have to them
The emotional reactions that therapists should allow in treatment (and should not allow)
The importance of doing your own work regarding your own losses
How therapists can defer the conversations in treatment away from the necessary grief work
How to manage the rest of the caseload when you’ve experienced a personal loss or a client has died
The modeling we can do for our clients
What happens when your therapy dog dies and how to manage that with your clients
The work we need to do to be better at working with grief overall

Who Gets to Have Therapy? Sep 16, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about therapists’ responsibility for mental health access and the (sometimes moral) decision about whether one focuses on income or providing treatment to all. We look at a living wage, the mental health system, entrepreneurship, and capitalism.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Is mental health access a universal right?
Group Practice Owner’s Summit 2019 where Katie got some wild ideas, especially during the talk by Maureen Werrbach and Michael Blumberg: Mental Health Access as a Human Right
The moral dilemma regarding raising your fees to the point that you are only working with people who can afford it
The extremes of martyrdom and pure entrepreneurship/capitalism
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a place to assess where we identify human rights
The distinction of the system providing mental health access and individuals providing this access
Homelessness, mental illness, and addiction
Where systems and social services are best able to take care of mental health and other concerns
Larger mission and vision of how to impact the world
Taking care of your needs as a therapist/person first before society
The systemic issue of not providing all therapists a living wage and therapists needing to go into entrepreneurship to survive
The potential impact of universal mental healthcare on entrepreneurship and the field
The concern about stagnation and stifled innovation
The power of passion and motivation in the work
Finding creative ways to increase access, while not negatively impacting your bottom line
How to make individual decisions about mental health access versus the therapist’s individual income
Self-actualization - #topofthepyramid
How the system impacts which therapists are able to continue practicing
Draw bridge effect of later career therapists not treating newer therapists how they wished they were treated
Locus of Control impacting decision-making
The poor treatment of employees, low wages as contributing factors
The system impacts on people at all levels
Basic Needs - #bottomofthepyramid
Profit First versus clients who do not bring revenue in
Beyond Basic Needs - #middleofthepyramid
The salary needs that connects to optimal happiness
Questions about how to address these concerns and which to address first

Trauma Informed Work Place Sep 09, 2019

An interview with Kristin Martinez, LMFT, about how trauma informed practices apply to the workplace. Curt and Katie talk with Kristin about her person-centered management, the benefits of treating employees well, and the risks of managing individuals as though they were cogs in a machine.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Kristin Martinez, LMFT Kristin Martinez is a licensed therapist who developed a process of management coined: Person Centered Management. She developed Person Centered Management through her own experience and expertise in trauma informed psychotherapy and being a leader in several organizations. Kristin owns a consulting firm and a group therapy practice. Prior to being a business owner, Kristin spent over 10 years in the mental health field as case worker, therapist, and administrator in private, contracted, and government entities. She has experience as a Director in Logistics prior to entering the field of mental health and knows the power of good teaming.

In this episode we talk about:

The idea of best practices for workplaces – Trauma Informed Workplaces, Person-centered management
How Kristin came to identify the need for trauma informed practices not just with clients, but with the therapists and workforce as well
Looking at the community mental health perspective
How current practices lead to burnout at all levels
How to introduce best practices into public mental health
The importance of treating employees as people and developing real relationships with employees
A primer on trauma informed perspective
Look at context of behavior in order to address things like timeliness
The idea of “therapy for the work place”
Best practices for supervising and managing
The myth that this type of work that focuses on the individual takes more time
The risk of burnout and turnover for workplaces that don’t take care of their people
How to introduce these concepts into the classroom
How to infuse hope into the option of working in community mental health
The importance of boundaries, asking for help, understanding expectations
The attempts of these agencies to improve employee engagement and supporting the staff to stay longer
The danger of the silos that different clinicians can be in (i.e., community mental health, private practice, other types of treatment centers)
The benefit of connection with other therapists
How processing your own stuff, making sure to consult, and taking time for self-care needs to be incorporated into a trauma-informed workplace
Suggestions for group or solo practice owners to incorporate these best practices
How Kristin puts her money where her mouth is, in her group practice
Looking at how the workplace can impact each individual, looking at trauma responses for everyone involved (every client, every employee, everyone)
Kristin believes that therapists are too focused on behavior and symptom reduction
The importance of training all staff within interdisciplinary teams, taking care of all staff at levels
The hope of transforming workplaces to make our career more sustainable

Millennials as Therapists Sep 02, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about generational differences in therapists, looking at perceptions (and misperceptions) about Millennials We look at how these differences impact therapy workplaces, supervision, and the future of our field.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Whether or not Curt is a Millennial
Looking at how millennials show up as employees and entrepreneurs
Generational differences in therapists
Common complaint of millennials being entitled
Living life now versus earning your stripes and waiting on retirement
The Four-Hour Work Week
Curt’s theory that Millennials have perfected the dream of the Gen X-ers
The impact of technology on growing up in different generations
Looking at the impact of the recession on the perspective on how to navigate work
The “young upstart” mythology that gets under Boomers’ skin
Gaining confidence earlier due to the access to immense amounts of data that wasn’t around when X-ers and Boomers were growing up
Teaching as equals versus teaching as a superior, looking at collaborative learning
The difference between therapy as work and other professions
The further we remove the therapist from having creativity and ownership from the work, the less value they will get from the work.
The importance of real application of concepts in our education
The tension of enough structured guidance versus enough collaboration/empowerment
Avoiding the helicoptering (supervision, management, etc.)
How technology is impacting the work
The importance of grounding innovation in laws, ethics, and clinical excellence
How coaching might impact our profession, whether there is harm with people jumping to coaching without credentials or training
Instagram Therapists
Different goals for different generations, namely the scourge of selling out
Whether or not Gen X-ers have actually sold old
How things have changed in marketing and how that has impacted newer therapists
When you can claim “expert” status
How strong entrepreneurs can potentially harm the profession

Therapy of Tomorrow Aug 26, 2019

An interview with Paul Puri, M.D., about how we can make therapy better. Curt and Katie interview Dr. Puri about how technology and better clinical training can improve therapy outcomes as well as the responsibility we have as experts to impact social change through education and art.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Paul R. Puri, M.D., Psychiatrist, TV Writer, CMO of OOTify

Dr. Puri is a psychiatrist, TV writer, and an entrepreneur. In his private practice in Los Angeles, he practices multiple forms of psychotherapy, including hypnosis, in addition to managing medications. He attended medical school at University of Rochester, and specialty training in psychiatry at UC San Diego. He is currently a clinical Assistant Professor at UCLA, and the president-elect of the Psychiatric Clinical Faculty Association. In his non-clinical time, he consults and writes for TV, and is the Chief Medical Officer for an online mental health hub, OOTify -- OOTify.com

In this episode we talk about:

How Paul has found the different ways that he is helping transform mental health
The history of psychotherapy and psychiatry and how training changed to match the reimbursement model
How psychiatry training is shifting to reflect the modern needs
How therapy is changing, how technology is entering into the picture, and what is driving research and evidence-based treatments
The importance of therapist matching in the success of treatment (and how machine learning can help this process)
The internal work that therapists have to do to improve their clinical work
The importance of getting different perspectives to become the therapist you are supposed to be rather than becoming a duplicate of your supervisor
How Paul is trying to represent our field accurately and well in his writing on Chicago Med
The impact of entertainment on mental health stigma
The social responsibility of having a larger microphone or platform
How much to push beyond the current reality to effect social change
How we make therapy and therapists better
The noise that has developed in the “personal branding” era of private practice
The responsibility we have to help potential clients find the best fit – and how we are frequently failing at it
The problem with only seeking out “evidence-based” treatment without considering what the evidence means
How to move outside the office and add your voice to the social landscape
The Public Health responsibility we have to educate with the expertise we have
The balance of making sure you’re not weighing in unsolicited, but rather strategically
The nuance of talking about your knowledge without over-disclosing, breaking ethical and legal guidelines, or speaking outside your scope

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Mass Shooters and Mental Illness Aug 19, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about why mass shootings happen. We look at the complexity of the research and how solely blaming mental illness, doesn’t reflect the research and is stigmatizing. We also talk about how to identify risks and what to do to try to prevent violence.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Looking at why Mass Shootings happen
Defining Mass Shooting
The harm that blaming mass shootings on mental illness can cause – stigma, lack of seeking mental health treatment
The limitations and complexity of the research
The dehumanization of others and the role that it can play in the violence
Attribution Model, low self-esteem, moving out to fringe groups, radicalization
Developmental factors including parenting, culture, gender, coercion, history of violence
The difficulty with learning from sound bites
The role of violent media, video games
The importance of differentiating correlation from causation
The most important factor: access to guns
“Aggrieved Entitlement” leading to seeking revenge in a violent way for a perceived or actual victimization
Multi-systemic solutions and what therapists can do to address the situation
Compassion, listening, and connection as a way to intervene prior to radicalization
Seeing from a different perspective than what is “acceptable” for you, to help to build alliance and open opportunities for challenging violent beliefs
Clarifying therapy versus threat assessment
Fighting Fascism in the world and in the therapy room

Responding to Mass Shootings Aug 12, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about how to take care of your clients, your communities, and yourself after a mass shooting. We look at the types of victims, the different stages of response, and treatment considerations.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Responding to the recent Mass Shootings
The different roles that therapists can be expected to play after a Mass Shooting incident
The types of victims of these events (from victims radiating out to people who are learning about these events on social media)
The different stages of trauma response – and the caution to not assume everyone will end up with PTSD
Who is at risk for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
The different factors that can lead to an emotional response to the shooting, regardless of how close you are to the incident
The importance of Psychological First Aid (and how Critical Incident Stress Debriefing can be harmful)
Vicarious and Re-traumatization, triggers, no response
The impact of previous traumas
The importance of community supports and types of community interventions
Looking at how to assess boundaries and be part in the community healing
Post-Traumatic Growth and finding meaning, purpose
How often those with mental illness diagnoses might feel stigmatized when they are scape-goated and should also be supported
How the role that therapists play can impact therapists
The careful assessment of how you can help and what you can offer to people impacted by these events
Important self-care reminders for therapists

Privileged and Biased Aug 05, 2019

An interview with Jeff Guenther, LPC, about how therapy has been whitewashed and biased for a very long time. Curt and Katie talk with Jeff about his efforts to use his privilege to increase inclusion and diversity and to shine a light on biases that we all hold.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Jeff Guenther, LPC

Jeff Guenther, LPC, is a therapist in Portland, OR. He has been in private practice since 2005. Jeff is the creator and owner of Portland Therapy Center, a highly ranked therapist directory. He also hosts a podcast called Say More About That about trending mental health topics. Jeff has launched a new progressive therapist directory at TherapyDen that fights racism, homophobia, transphobia and all other forms of discrimination. Sign up for a profile at TherapyDen and get your first six months free.

In this episode we talk about:

Jeff’s entrepreneurship and his focus on creating access for mental health
Therapy directories and how he came to identify the need to use the directory to fight against racism, transphobia, homophobia, etc.
Using privilege for good and to support inclusion and access for mental health services
Looking at the controversy in developing a progressive therapist directory
The goal to be inclusive, not solely politically progressive
White privilege and bias
The problems with Psychology Today and how this directory is slowly seeming to respond and start addressing racial and gender diversity
The white washing of therapy and the fight to increase access and diversity
Understanding the bias that is being reinforced by Disney Movies
How bias can show up in the therapy room, your marketing, and in your intake
Addressing systemic bias
The history of therapy and how it continues to influence bias
Looking at how implicit bias can be addressed by individual therapists
The biases that are less understood or addressed
The responsibility of therapists to actively work toward societal inclusion
The ability to change things in one generation

All Kinds of Burned Out Jul 29, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about the different types of burnout. We look at the differences between employee and entrepreneur burnout, including how to prevent it and how to treat it.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The difference between burnout for employees and entrepreneurs
How the different nature of how we work impacts how/why we burn out
Employee burnout: cog in the machine, dehumanization, lack of agency
Entrepreneur burnout: hustling for income, decision fatigue, facing change with rigidity
How to prevent the different types of burnout
The importance for putting systems in place to decrease the tendency for entrepreneurial burnout
When passion and obsessive efforts can also cause burnout
The danger of having a lack of balance between passion and rest or personal life
Types of burnout – overload, underchallenged, neglect
Moral Injury, locus of control, and the impact of unhealthy work environments
The challenges of having to work outside of our “zone of genius” in starting a private practice
Different types of shame related to impostor syndrome, “hobby practice,” charging too much
How excuses can get in the way
Ideas on how to address burnout

Black Mental Health Jul 22, 2019

An interview with Patrice Douglas, LMFT, talking about mental health stigma in the Black Community. Curt and Katie talk with Patrice about how she is working to decrease stigma and increase access to competent treatment for African Americans.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Patrice N. Douglas, LMFT, CAMS-I

Patrice N. Douglas is a licensed therapist, Certified Anger Management Specialist, and Certified Parent Child Interaction Therapist in California and Texas. She is currently a doctoral candidate at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles. She is the owner of Empire Counseling & Consultation located in CA, NY, and TX where she specializes in anger management, men’s issues, minority mental health, as well as parenting. Patrice is passionate about decreasing stigmas in minority communities by curating initiatives such a t-shirt campaign that spreads awareness about mental health as well as uses the profits to pay for therapy for those who can’t afford it as well as low cost workshops. She has been featured in Bustle, HelloGiggles, Therapy For Black Girls, and other platforms discussing the various topics surrounding mental health.

In this episode we talk about:

Mental Health Advocacy within the Black Community
Reducing Mental Health Stigma
How awesome Patrice’s Instagram is
The pros and cons about social media and how you can use it to decrease mental health stigma
Patrice’s Infographics and how she has used them (and the response that she has gotten)
The way Patrice has used social media to provide education and has gotten a lot of visibility
Culturally specific impacts of mental health concerns – historical context, religion, lack of trust
Barriers to Mental Health Treatment for African American Clients including cultural mistrust
The impact of slavery, experimentation, institutionalization on access and perspective
The importance of understanding cultural differences, stereotypes, privilege, bias
Advice for Allies – hold space, consultation, understand required competence
Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome – intergenerational trauma from slavery impacting the current generation of Black people
The movement that Patrice is starting to increase awareness and decrease stigma – through t-shirts, infographics
The importance of consultation, cultural humility, historical context

Therapist Haters and Trolls Jul 15, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about haters, heated online discourse that seems to delight in shaming other therapists, Schadenfreude, and the laziness of taking other people down while squandering the opportunity for creativity and positive discourse.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The backlash from haters that is created when you step out as a therapist
The different theories: dehumanizing therapists, protecting the public from bad therapists, pushing back against innovation
Characterizing this dynamic as Schadenfreude (and defining it)
The irony that therapists are not showing positive, healthy communication online
How jealousy and impostor syndrome can show up
The ways that therapist training may contribute to these unhealthy conversations
Dehumanizing people into brands or when people become intertwined with their concept and the idea is humanized
The entitlement that people can feel when interacting with brands, forgetting that there are people behind these brands
The emotionality and righteousness in the communication
The act of bringing other people down in a public forum, rather than raising up own arguments
The plea to bring in alternative perspectives to add to the discourse, rather than focusing on taking the other person down
The laziness in just saying that you don’t like something, a passive “take down”
The reinforcement that trolls get (likes, comments, arguments) and a call to action to stop feeding the trolls
How the bystander role might be relevant
Responsibilities of original posters and commenters
The impact of social media on professional reputation
Curt’s plea to #CitetheStatute
The way that social media can feel like we’re talking to ourselves, or to people who are far removed and somehow not impacted by us
The lack of emotional resources that can impact how we engage with our community of therapists online
The possibilities when we are able to use these social networks for creativity and discourse

Not Your Typical Psychotherapist Jul 08, 2019

An interview with Ernesto Segismundo, Jr., M.S. LMFT about what it means to be “not your typical psychotherapist.” Curt and Katie talk with Ernesto about the overlap with the #moderntherapist and how to navigate the unique challenges of being different as a therapist.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Ernesto Segismundo, Jr. M.S. LMFT

Ernesto Segismundo is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Ernesto received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Biola University and received his Masters of Science degree in Clinical Psychology from Vanguard University. Ernesto has over 10 years of clinical counseling experience working in settings such as group homes, domestic violence shelters, churches, and outpatient programs. Ernesto treats marriage and family relationship problems. Ernesto also treat individuals suffering from depression, anxiety and addiction.

Along with Ernesto’s counseling experience, he has conducted various classes and seminars concerning relationships and mental health related topics such as parenting, substance abuse, maintaining healthy marriages, private practice social media and video marketing and managed care practices.

Ernesto is currently an adjunct professor at Hope International University and owns a group practice called CAV Family Therapy with offices located in Huntington Beach and Fullerton California.

In this episode we talk about:

The return of Ernesto Segismundo
Ernesto’s vision for traveling continuing education
The Not Your Typical Psychotherapist Summit
What it means to be a “not the typical psychotherapist” and the cross-over with #moderntherapists
The difficulty with have “haters” when you break out of the norm
The challenge of trying to do something and then getting shamed for not doing “enough.”
The importance of finding support with people who get it
The big vision that puts you in front of a large audience and makes you vulnerable
What it means to be authentically yourself and keep putting yourself out there
How being yourself is the same as branding – you will attract and you will repel
The social proof that can strongly contribute to these movements
How these movements can contribute to improvements in mental health stigma, mental health access
The importance of celebrating differences and accepting each other as atypical therapists
The benefits and the draw backs of communication on social media
How to effect change or provide feedback to people who are in the public eye
The difficulty when someone is shamed on social media
How you can take care of yourself as someone who is willing to step outside of the box
An Alternate title: Congratulations you now have haters

Summer Slow Down Jul 01, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about how to successfully navigate the changes that occur during the summer when you’re in private practice. We look at how to plan for the whole year, sync your vacations with your clients, get business maintenance done during the summer, and make sure you’re incorporating your own self-care.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The change of pace that often happens when the summer hits
The importance of taking a bird’s eye view of the full year, rather than focusing month to month
How to set your fees to address the time off and missed sessions during the year
Planning your vacation at the same time that your clients will be out
The need to lead by example, showing self-care and boundaries
How to take advantage of down times, so that you are ready for the uptick when the fall hits
The types of assessments that you can do on your practice during the summer
How to move away from panic, by planning financially for the full year
The MTSG challenge: Catch up on your notes in July
Setting yourself up for a more lucrative practice with increasing fees or cleaning up practices
Taking vacations and getting your practice vacation ready
Vacation coverage and helping your practice stay responsive during your vacation
The joy of implementing your systems during the slower times (because it takes time)
The possibility of having a better schedule when the summer ends – assessing and moving to an ideal schedule after moving people around during the summer
Getting training during the summer, so you can actually implement it deliberately
Re-evaluating your personal routines and self-care/self-maintenance
Putting some effort into getting content (social media, blog posts, marketing, etc.) planned out and created
Capitalizing on the creative time out of the office
Evaluating your practice and your business planning

Creating Opportunities Jun 24, 2019

An interview with Marissa Lawton, Licensed Counselor, about creating your own business opportunities when you identify a need in your community (or yourself). Curt and Katie talk with Marissa about how to identify what type of entrepreneur you are, how to identify opportunities, and what to consider when adding these businesses to your therapy practice.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Marissa Lawton, Licensed Counselor and Scaling Strategist for the Solo-Therapist

Marissa Lawton is a licensed counselor, national board-certified counselor, and member of the American Counseling Association. She is also a corporate-trained marketer, girlmom, and brand whisperer who lights up walking solo-therapists through aligned business building strategies. Marissa is the creator of Side Hustle Support Group, a 6-month mentorship that helps therapists capitalize on their experience and education and pair it with their innate stories and superpowers to scale both themselves and their practices through online income.

Her upcoming program, Baby Steps Beyond the Couch, teaches her 90-day methodology for therapists to make their first recurring $1000 in non-clinical revenue. Opening them up to the world of possibilities beyond seeing 1:1 clients. You can learn more about Marissa at marissalawton.com

In this episode we talk about:

Marissa’s background in corporate finance
What happened for Marissa when Lehman Brothers died and her husband was stationed in the middle of nowhere Alaska
How Marissa recreated herself when it became clear that she couldn’t have a conventional job
The entrepreneurial practice of finding a gap to fill and how therapists are actually at an advantage
The strengths that therapists bring to their work
How therapists can miss opportunities due to fear or lack of confidence
How to find your passion and what you need to share
When comparison can hold us back
How we can find needs in our communities, and figuring out
The Four Types of Entrepreneurs and the strengths of each
The need for transparency in business and how that impacts therapists
How to manage the power dynamic when you are a therapist and have another entrepreneurial pursuit
How to talk about determining where clients fit and how to navigate the dual relationships that can develop

Off-Duty Therapist Jun 17, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about how therapists can be called into action in their off time. We look at how being a therapist can impact our relationships, how to put boundaries around your therapist role, and the risks of crossing boundaries between personal and professional roles with your friends and family members.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The different things that therapists might complain about with their therapist friends
How to identify what role you play with the people in your life
How to not do therapy with your friends or others who are seeking “free therapy”
Limit-setting, navigating your loved one’s needs
Becoming a resource, not a therapist
Giving referrals, supporting connection
Specific tactics about how to avoid being the “counselor” for your friends and family members
The importance of empowering the people around you to soothe themselves
When it is hard to take off the therapist hat
Determining how you engage, what emotional energy you have to give after a therapy day
When you may decide to step across the line
Determining which role your friend or family member actually want you to play
How perspective-taking can start irritating the people in our lives and may even lead to you losing your sense of self and identity
The expectations that others can have of us
How to set the boundaries with your friends and family members
The impact of how the role we played in our family of origin can mean a bit role shift after we train to be a therapist
How being an emotional hub can impact you as a therapist in the room
When it is okay to use some of your therapist skills in your relationships
How compassion fatigue and bias can make you a less empathic to your loved ones

Death, Dying, and Grief Jun 10, 2019

An interview with Jill Johnson-Young, LCSW about how we have been trained to handle grief wrong. Curt and Katie talk with Jill about what the Kubler-Ross model is useful for (and what it’s not) as well has how therapists can better deal with grief – for themselves and in their practice.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Jill A. Johnson-Young, LCSW, Grief educator, and CEO of Central Counseling Services of Riverside and Murrieta

Jill Johnson-Young, LCSW is a dynamic and engaging presenter. She is consistently noted for providing thorough and useful information to meet the needs of the audience. Professional and community seminars have returned reviews thanking her for being the best seminar of the conference, for being personable and including questions from the participants, and for both the lecture content and the interactive portions of the programs. Jill is available for presentations about the following issues:

Grief and loss: all ages, all kinds of losses (pets, family, friends, chronic illness and sudden losses, hospice and what to expect, new ways to see grief, coping, how loss impacts the grieving person, others)
Dementia: Losses, involved, coping for those with dementia and those impacted by it, recovery after a loss form dementia, family dynamics in coping with dementia

When she is not out speaking, which is one of Jill’s favorite parts of her career, she is the CEO and Clinical Director of Central Counseling Services in Riverside, California. She is a certified Grief Recovery Facilitator and specializes her private practice work in grief and loss, dementia, trauma, and adoption issues. She has more than a decade of experience with hospice and trains therapists and social workers in areas that include correctly treating childhood trauma, grief and loss, and dementia care. She holds a BA from UC Riverside and her MSW from the University of South Florida.

In this episode we talk about:

Jill’s story and how she has been nicknamed the grief whisperer, the rebellious widow, and a black widow and how she is a grief rebel disruptor
How Elizabeth Kubler-Ross is used incorrectly – it was designed for anticipatory grief
The “common knowledge” about grief that is not really common knowledge
How our society commonly avoids death, dying, and grief – even therapists are afraid of funerals
What normalizing death can do to help your clients, especially children
The importance of integrating a lost loved one into your sense of self
The unexpected consequences of grief
Physical, cognitive, emotional, and relational effects of grief
Therapists’ responsibility when treating a griever
The concept of reconstructing your life after a loss
The differences between typical loss and traumatic loss
How people grieve differently, especially related to roles, development, family dynamics
Why to pull back from deifying the dead
How therapists can handle when their own grief comes up with grieving clients
What therapists (and all people) do wrong when interacting with a griever
How celebrities dying can impact our clients

Interdisciplinary Teams Jun 03, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about treatment teaming as a therapist. We look at why you should do it, things to consider, and what it looks like in different settings.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Treatment teams as the most effective way to work with clients
The education gap for people related to creating treatment teams
The difficulty with the model of the therapist being the primary agent for change
The different roles of treatment team members, especially as a therapist
The distinction between diagnosis for medical necessity and for the clinical case conceptualization
Specific things related to working with psychiatrists
The challenge related to perceived hierarchy within the profession
The value of having a treatment team leader and how to identify who should be the leader
The importance of having a lot of information and additional perspectives
The scope of practice considerations and how to talk with someone who has a different scope
Fragmented communication within treatment teams
Community Mental Health programs that require treatment teaming
The different way that we set up a treatment teams when we’re in private practice
Confidentiality and communication concerns when treatment teaming
How to interact with the other team members
The educational considerations related to treatment teaming
The “mercenary” reason to do treatment teaming

Our Generous Sponsor:

Therapy Reimagined 2019: The Modern Therapist Conference presented by SimplePractice

October 18 and 19th in Universal City, CA – Hang out with the cool #moderntherapists! We are sponsoring our own podcast because we are so excited about the conference!

Grab your continuing education for the year and get trained up on business building, diversity, technology, self-care and all-around amazing professional development this October! Come join us in-person for the same fun we bring to the podcast!!

Use the promo code MTSG50 to get $50 off your full conference ticket.

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Article: Hoge MA, Morris J, Daniels A, et al. (2007). An Action Plan on Behavioral Health Workforce Development. Rockville, Md, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Relevant Episodes:

In-Person Networking

Our consultation services:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Field-Based Private Practice May 27, 2019

An interview Megan Costello, LMFT on taking the best of Community Mental Health into your private practice. Curt and Katie interview Megan about her very successful private practice that is 100% home and field-based. They talk about how to a field-based practice works, including practical considerations.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Megan Costello, LMFT

Megan Costello, LMFT, is a person-centered behaviorist providing in-home counseling for families in Los Angeles. Megan has provided services to clients in their homes or the community for almost 15 years. Megan started her career as a behavioral technician, providing behavioral therapy under the supervision of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) before she moved into a supervisory role for Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) cases (both in- home and school-based cases). Megan continued this work as she obtained her Masters of Science in Counseling at California State University, Long Beach. Megan then added clinical work in community mental health, providing specialized support to children on the autism spectrum with trauma histories. When Megan moved into private practice, she incorporated the best of the in-home and behavioral interventions into her treatment model. She brings practical advice and strategies to her clinical work, providing specialized, comprehensive treatment to higher needs or atypical cases.

In this episode we talk about:

Megan’s perspective and a new model for private practice
How to make applied behavioral analysis more person-centered
The value of being relentlessly client-centered and doing the highest impact work, regardless of how convenient to the therapist
The types of clients who would benefit more from in-home and school-based therapy
The benefits of in-home therapy over in-office therapy
The need to price your services accordingly
How to create an office in your car
How to manage your scheduling
The unique challenges of working in the home, looking at confidentiality, family involvement
The model that requires family and parent involvement
Safety assessments prior to going out to the home
How to assess over the phone prior to starting home-based treatment
Getting parent buy-in for active involvement in treatment for their child

Relevant Resources:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links:

Megan’s website: https://www.megcostello.com/

Megan’s consultation: https://www.megcostello.com/consulting

AND WE HAVE A PICTURE OF MEGAN'S TRUNK ON THE WEBSITE!

Curt’s Facebook Post on the value we place on time

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

It's About Time May 20, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about how we value our time, looking at time when we are generating revenue AND the time when we are not generating revenue.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The initial conversations about time: Curt’s FB post, Jo Muirhead’s Article
Philosophical musings about the value of time
Podcastception: a podcast sparked by a blog post which was sparked by one of our Facebook posts
The value of client hours above other hours
How to value non-revenue time
The types of non-revenue generating time
Valuing time in different ways
The importance of self-care hours for many of our listeners and the lesser value that Curt places on these type of hours
Decision-making when looking at whether hiring someone to do work for your business
The different types of time (self-care, self-maintenance, rest, creative, content creation, work time, maintenance, etc.) and the different types of return on investment for those types (monetary, increased efficiency, positioning, strategic advantage, fulfillment, meaning, purpose, sustainability, quality of life, mission-driven, connection, etc.)
The importance of balancing these types of time to avoid burnout or washout
The unique return of investment for each person
Future-proofing your work (being able to plan for sustained work and retirement)
Looking at your whole career when you think about how you do your work
Burnout or moral injury as risks for clinicians

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Jo Muirhead’s Blog Post: What if Our Time Isn’t Valued in Monetary Terms

James Clear Blog on How to Track Money and Time

Daniel Pink’s book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

Relevant Episodes:

Jo Muirhead’s Podcast Episode: Clinician and Entrepreuner

Howard Spector’s Episode: Investing in Yourself as an Entrepreneur

Our consultation services:

Laura Westmoreland’s Website

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Health At Every Size May 13, 2019

An interview Laura Westmoreland, LMFT on addressing body bias, body shaming, and health at every size (HAES) in therapy. Curt and Katie talk with Laura about the common mistakes that therapists make when working with clients living in larger bodies.

Interview with Laura Westmoreland, LMFT

Laura Westmoreland, LMFT identifies as a white woman living in a larger body, cisgender, straight, and able-bodied; her pronouns are she/her. She acknowledges that she has white privilege.

She works with individuals, couples, and families who want to explore what is holding them back from leading the life they desire; both personally and professionally. The key to her work is the relationship developed. Together with her clients, she can create a brave space; a brave space requires stepping out of your comfort zone, risking vulnerability, and being curious.

Laura believes...

what we struggle with provides insight and can help us grow
connection is key; reciprocal relationships require effort
regularly engaging in pleasurable activities fosters joy and happiness
in nourishing mind, body, and soul
that self-compassion is vital to wellbeing
all bodies are good bodies

In this episode we talk about:

The importance of inclusion related to body diversity
What body bias looks like in a therapist office
Health At Every Size (HAES)
The challenges of living in a larger body
The war on obesity and walking into a war zone
The medicalization of body diversity with words like “overweight” and the pathologizing of different bodies
The danger of colluding with the diet culture
The controversy that exists within the eating disorder community related to HAES
Focusing on the client’s lived experience, rather than the societal expectations
Sorting through when larger bodies suggest symptomology of a mental health or trauma concern versus when someone is healthy in a larger body
Showing curiosity around what “feeling fat” means, rather than suggesting a diet or fix
The danger of prescribing to people living in larger bodies what we would treat in eating disorder clients (i.e., restriction)
How a clinician’s body bias can negatively impact treatment efficacy
Intuitive eating – paying attention to hunger and satiety cues
Joyful movement, rather than trudging to the gym
The importance of finding your healthy practices
Assessment best practices
Harvard Implicit Bias Tests
The different biases that Curt and Katie hold around body sizes
Bias and microaggressions that can show up in the therapist office
What therapists can look for when assessing whether clients feel comfortable in their own bodies

Relevant Resources:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links:

FB: Laura Westmoreland Lmft

IG: haes_therapist_in_la

Twitter: @haestherapistla

Intuitive Eating Website

Be Nourished

Jeffery Hunger’s Publication

Harvard Implicit Bias Tests

(Association for Size Diversity and Health) ASDAH

Dr, Vincent Felitti talks about the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study

Dr. Scott Miller: Feedback Informed Treatment

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Is CBT Crap? May 06, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about evidence-based practices, clinician training, and when even the evidence base can go wrong.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How we know better than the evidence
The need for evidence-based practice in community mental health
Funding, efficiency, and diagnosis
The difference between the clientele in public mental health and private practice
Evidence-based practices pros and cons
The science, the efficacy, replicability of EBPs
The pros and cons of EBPs in community mental health
The need to include individual factors in EBPs
EBPs versus relational style (and how they may not be mutually exclusive)
The question about personality characteristics of CBT therapists
The opinion about rapport being missing from EBPs
How training jumps to EBP, to the detriment of the relationship
The problem with people who overuse or oversimplify the need for each orientation
Strong clinical orientation versus the “eclectic” or “integrative” psychotherapy
The Medical Model
The challenge of training therapists in relational skills and how to be a better therapist, rather than teaching specific handful of skills
The importance of proving efficacy, getting funding for services
Treatment decision-making and collaboration in public mental health versus private practice
The complexity of actual clients and the need for more than just one EBP to use for treatment
The problems with new clinician training related to EBPs

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Dr. Ben Caldwell

Modern Community Mental Health: An Interdisciplinary Approach by Kenneth Yeager, David Cutler, Dale Svendsen, and Grayce M. Sills

Relevant Episodes:

Therapist Know Thyself

Our CALL FOR SPEAKERS!!

Our consultation services:

So You Want to Plan a Conference

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Neurodivergence Apr 29, 2019

An interview Joel Schwartz, PsyD on neurodiversity, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and neurodivergence. Curt and Katie talk with Joel about how often our natural spectrum of neurodiversity is pathologized.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Joel Schwartz, PsyD

Dr. Joel Schwartz is a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in the South Bay of Los Angeles County. He specializes in therapy and testing for the misunderstood. As a therapist, he is warm, compassionate, and strongly humanistic, allowing for all the oddities and unexplored aspects of his clients to emerge and be validated. As a testing psychologist, Dr. Schwartz specializes in difficult and complex cases.

Dr. Schwartz grew up in Southern California. He developed an early interest in psychology, strangely enough, from a childhood filled with science fiction stories. These stories often provided fascinating looks into human psychology and the human spirit. Dr. Schwartz attended UCLA as an undergrad where he conducted research in the field of neurolinguistics. From there, he attended Yeshiva University’s Ferkauf School of Clinical Psychology for his Master’s and Doctorate degree. He has worked in various settings including colleges, clinics, a federal prison, and residential treatment centers. Through his experience with a vast array of individuals he has stuck with one important lesson among many; as the psychoanalyst Harry Stack Sullivan said, “We are all more human than otherwise.”

In this episode we talk about:

The problem of the medical model
Looking at neurodiversity as a spectrum and a natural part of life
Defining neurodiversity and neurodivergence
Looking at differences as okay, and not disordered
Traditional versus neurodiversity affirmative practices
The strain of compensatory behaviors when one is neurodivergent and trying to fit in
Problematic assumptions that do not welcome neurodivergent folks
Practical ways to create an office that supports the full spectrum of neurodiversity
The importance of clear instructions, options, and sensitivity to the different
Radical acceptance
The freedom and relief of not having to learn, when everything is explained.
The debate about ABA and behavioral interventions
The social justice aspects of working with neuro-minorities
The importance of representation of neurodivergent people in all aspects of society
Autistic people are demanding representation, are consulting, and are acting in roles
Looking at the nuance of radical acceptance – when intervention is required, rather than acceptance
The problem of behaviorism leading to repression and dissociation
Having the goal of decreasing a behavior, shouldn’t be the final goal
The problems of having ABA therapists not address their own emotions
The problem with having neurotypical people setting goals for neurodivergent people
Looking at the invalidation of modifying behaviors
How to balance what society will accept as well as validating the person
How do we set them up for success, without pathologizing their behavior
Self-regulatory behaviors – comparing them to coffee drinking
The need to move toward societal change

One Hundred Apr 22, 2019

Curt and Katie reflect on 100 podcast episodes, what the experience has been like, and where we want to take the podcast next.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How much we appreciate listener connection and feedback
Self-reflection on the previous 99 episodes
A new hashtag: #teamcurtie
Our switch from 2 episodes per week to 1 episode per week
How podcasting has improved our speaking and thought processes
The impact of hearing from listeners of the podcast at the conference
How we recorded and put out the Therapist Safety episodes
Our goal to catalyze the diverse voices in our community to stand up
How we have made mistakes publicly in order to have healing conversations publicly
The level of disclosure we have on the podcast
The surprise that our moms aren’t the only people listening every week
The way we talk about our profession in order to improve it
How we are going to grow and change the podcast
What are #moderntherapist conversations (and what are not)
Guiding principles of what we’re talking about
How we are different from other groups, other podcasts
The origin of the podcast as a marketing plan for a conference, and then it evolved into its own thing

Relevant Episodes:

Therapist Safety

Attracted Clients

Let’s Talk About Race Again

Vulnerability, the News, and You

Social Media and Video Marketing with Ernesto Segismundo, Jr M.S. LMFT

Take Action Like a BOSS

Becoming a Group Practice Owner with Maureen Werrbach

Our CALL FOR SPEAKERS!!

Our consultation services:

www.facebook.com/groups/therapreneurs

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Let's Talk About Race Again Apr 15, 2019

An interview Yin Li, LMFT about Asian American and Pacific Islanders in therapy and as therapists. Curt and Katie talk with Yin about how often AAPI individuals are not included in the conversation about racism, culture, and mental health.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Yin Li, MA LMFT

Yin Li a marriage and family therapist licensed in California and Oregon and founder of Theralane. She works primarily with Asian Americans on a range of concerns ranging from challenging family dynamics, chronic relationship difficulties (romantic, love, family, work), life transitions, career challenges, identify questions, high functioning depression, and anxiety. Yin is very passionate about normalizing mental health, wellness, and therapy services in Asian communities. She has spoken and provided workshops on Asian American Mental Health and Wellness. For white identified clinicians working with Asian Americans, Yin is available for consultation.

Website www.theralane.com

Email: yin@theralane.com

Instagram: @theralane.counseling

In this episode we talk about:

Being called out by listener, Yin Li about not talking about Asian American and Pacific Islanders in our conversations about Race to date.
Thoughts on why AAPI individuals are often left out of the conversation or ignored
The “Model Minority” myth
The problem of using aggregate data
Language barriers and self-segregation
The problem of not knowing what we don’t know
Deep-rooted racism in the United States
How do we identify and address our blind spots
The factors that might enter into the perspective of AAPI individuals on getting therapy or entering the therapy profession
What to do when you identify this blind spot
Looking at what can be missed when working with AAPI clients
How race might come into the room, even if it is not the primary reason for treatment
Family immigration stories, language differences
Hoping space for cultural stories and the context in which your client lives
The problem of not talking about race with Asian American clients
How to get over the nervousness of talking about race with AAPI clients
How do the conversations relate to the needs of the client, with intention
The problem of addressing race and culture to check a box – which comes from a place of privilege
The complexity of mixed race – looking at unique factors
How integration as an individual is impacted by where one lives, with whom they live (e.g., AAPI child adopted into a white family, living in 2 cultures)
The importance of exploring the individual experience due to the complexity of the conversation
Developmental stages of cultural and racial identity
The impact of where you live on your sense of self
Marriage and Family Therapists: only 0.4% are AAPI
The assumption in all of therapeutic education that clients are white
The common requirement for AAPI therapists to learn on their own how to effectively treat AAPI clients
The value of consultation
What educators and professional associations can do to improve the situation
Calling out when the education is not enough
Messages Yin Li has for Asian American therapists

Clinical Marketing Apr 08, 2019

An interview with Katie Read, LMFT about what it means to be a Therapreneur and the frequent mistakes that therapists make when writing their websites. Curt and Katie interviewed Katie about the unique challenges for therapist marketing and how to use Motivational Interviewing to improve your website.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Katie Read, LMFT

Katie Read, LMFT, helps therapists grow...then OUTgrow...their practices! Katie helps clinicians overcome scarcity-mindset, get clear on their most meaningful work, create highly-converting websites, and create additional income streams in coaching, consulting, course creation, and more!

Connect with Katie here:

www.katieread.com

www.facebook.com/therapreneurcoach

In this episode we talk about:

How crappy therapist websites are
The desire to move beyond the therapist office
What a “Therapreneur” is
How to outgrow the old ideas of what therapists can be
When therapists are pushed down for being “too big”
Debunking the idea that therapists are shy and mousy
What happens when you look beyond the office
The problems most therapists make when writing the copy for your website
The importance of using the clients’ language when describing clinical concerns
The scourge of psychobabble, academic, or jargon language used in websites
How to include your achievements and CV information on your website, if it is relevant for ideal client
What therapists bring to the marketing game
Why videos are important for your marketing
How to use Motivational Interviewing to write your website
The awful truth that we all respond to scarcity marketing
The unique challenge for marketing therapy (without scarcity as a possibility)
Where the marketing questions can go wrong
The tendency of therapists to copy other therapists in their marketing and water down their voice
Why so many people use Brene Brown quotes
Designing your profile to speak to your ideal clients
How to find your voice and the language you can use to speak to the clients you serve
The importance of Niche for marketing, specialization, training, and efficacy
The fear of turning away clients – and why that is short-sighted
How to grow by niching down sufficiently for your area

Attracted Clients Apr 01, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about what to do when your clients report sexual or romantic transference. We look at how to explore these feelings, how to set boundaries, and what you need to be cautious about.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How normal it is that clients become attracted to their therapists.
The level of safety and intimacy in therapy can be so attractive to clients that they become romantically attracted to their therapist.
Examples of how this type of attraction can show up in the room
The caution to wait to jump to “Are you hitting on me?”
Looking at what is appropriate and inappropriate, especially given cultural differences
How supervisors can advise their supervisees in these situations
The difference between a misunderstood connection and physical attraction – and thoughts on how to handle each one
How physical appearance can impact the pre-treatment expectations
A study on Attractive Business Women – the idea of the Femme Fatale
Looking at how being gorgeous might impact your clinical work
Be authentically yourself, with the understanding of what societal bias could come up
When the clients start responding to the therapist as an individual, rather than the therapist or the therapy relationship – looking at transference/counter-transference
How hard it can be to talk about the client’s sexual attraction in the therapy room
Holding space – acceptance with clear boundaries
Making sure to address safety
Exploring the interplay between emotional intimacy and the expectation for sexual intimacy
How to set the boundaries in the psychotherapy relationship when attraction has been disclosed by the therapist
The caution to avoid shaming the client and how to do so
The importance of consultation during these types of situations
Factors that can impact these types of interactions in the treatment room
The safety factors and risks to be aware of, when facing sexual or romantic transference

Our Generous Sponsor:

Thanks again to our sponsor Katie Read! Katie helps therapists grow and they OUTgrow their practices. If you're in GROW mode, she can help you grow faster by knowing exactly how to create your therapist website to get the most possible calls with her two courses, Client Machine and Website Whisperer! If you're ready to OUTgrow your office, Katie helps clinicians know the exact right steps to add big extra income streams in coaching, consulting, or courses! Check out www.katieread.com for more information.

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Article: Attractive businesswomen viewed as less trustworthy 'femmes fatales'

Therapy Reimagined 2019: Sign up here to get notified when the details are released.

Our CALL FOR SPEAKERS!!

Our consultation services:

Selling the Couch Podcast

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

The Mental Load of Therapists Mar 25, 2019

An interview with Shira Myrow, LMFT about how therapists carry a mental load for their clients, in addition to the load they carry as entrepreneurs and people. Curt and Katie talk with Shira about how to identify (and intervene) when therapists uncover this dangerous burden.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Shira Myrow, LMFT

Shira Myrow is a licensed marriage and family therapist, mindfulness educator and founder of the mindfulness based Yale St. Therapy Group based in Santa Monica where she works in private practice. Shira specializes in relationship intelligence—treating couples and marriages with a focus on rebuilding attunement, improving attachment, and creating emotional literacy. Shira also works with individuals in transition looking for love, in break up recovery or going through divorce. Shira has a special focus on treating adult children of severely mentally ill parents with attachment injuries, including parents with borderline personality disorder, bi-polar and schizophrenia. Shira is also a writer and a regular contributor for Goop online magazine.

You can learn more about Shira and contact her here:

Website www.shiramyrowtherapy.com/

Email: therapy.smyrow@gmail.com

Instagram: @shiramyrowlmft, @yalesstreettherapy

In this episode we talk about:

The definition of Mental Load, with some of the history of the concept
Curt’s admission that Katie is carrying the mental load of this business relationship
Invisible emotional labor of managing daily lives and relationships
The invisible emotional load that therapists carry for clients and how that might be leading to less respect from other medical professionals
How the mental load from work can negatively impact personal life
The importance of intentional disconnection from the work when going home.
How the mental load can stay in your body, even when you mentally or emotionally disconnect from the work
How mindfulness can help address this challenge
The danger of privileging productivity above all else
The idea of how to incorporate this knowledge into therapist training
The complexity of business ownership, modern life, the connectedness afforded by technology
The onslaught of information that we get as individuals in the world AND as therapists
Attunement and presence in session, with self-regulation, so you can do the work without feeling cold and disconnected
Allowing versus suppressing emotions – so you can observe and have emotions pass
Tips for identifying when the mental load is having an impact, how to prevent or respond
The negative impact of stress on our bodies
How society has acclimated to unhealthy levels of stress and technology
The unreasonable expectations that come from being plugged in
Losing empathy and connection
The human struggle to incorporate mindfulness
Economy of effort
“Life shouldn’t be reduced to a to do list” - Shira Myrow

Outside Obsessions Mar 18, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about how therapists’ outside passions and pursuits can come into the therapy room. We talk about the thought, consideration, and intention that can help these elevate your practice, rather than hurt your clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Curt’s obsession with running marathons and talking about running in his therapy sessions
How your outside identity, hobbies, obsessions, etc. can impact your therapy sessions, your branding
How to identify if you can bring your outside stuff into the room
Acknowledging things that are obvious to clients, but with sensitivity and conscientiousness
When you need to align your niche with your outside passions
The possibility of triggering your clients and how to handle that
When your outside activities positively impact your work
The need to avoid over-identification when sharing hobbies or obsessions with your client
Self-disclosure is for the benefit of the client
Identifying what is yours and what is your client’s
How deliberate practice informs this decision
Grounding yourself before session, refocusing and making sure you stay present during session
How these activities can make ideas and interventions more tangible
The danger of advice giving when you are truly passionate about your activities
Making sure to be intentional about your relationship and your treatment by reviewing treatment goals prior to each session
Deliberate practice as a mechanism to make sure these obsessions don’t come into session in a negative way
Shared interests leading to connection and then short-hand that helps to move the relationship forward
Honesty and authenticity in the therapeutic relationship

Integrative Psychiatry Mar 11, 2019

An interview with Lana Benedek, MD, integrative psychiatrist, on how psychiatry can be practiced differently (not just prescribing medication). Curt and Katie talk with Lana about the importance of focusing on the whole person and incorporating lifestyle changes and commonsense health practices like diet, exercise, sleep and mindfulness in the quest for sustained wellness.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Lana Benedek, MD

Lana Benedek, MD, is an integrative psychiatrist, consultant and teacher who has worked for more than 15 years with adolescents and adults, helping them to resolve issues of anxiety, depression and addiction. Throughout her career, Lana has been keenly interested in empowering individuals to create long-term healing beyond prescription medication and give them the tools to create lasting well-being. To that end, she has practiced mindfulness meditation and yoga for more than a decade, using it as a foundation for her own life and her approach to treatment. She currently facilitates mindfulness-based therapy groups for individuals with anxiety, depression and addiction throughout Los Angeles, including at the Mind Body Tree House and Resolutions Treatment Center. Additionally, she is on the clinical faculty of the University of Southern California (USC) where she teaches psychiatry trainees about mindfulness and self-care to reduce burnout and stress. Early in her medical career, Lana became interested in the marriage of medicine and other modalities of healing. During medical school while working on the pediatric ward of Howard Hospital in remote Zimbabwe, Lana became attuned to our society’s dependence on external medical treatments, which led her to begin practicing yoga and meditation. Later working with clients in the faculty practice, at USC and within the student health center at University of California at Los Angeles, she saw the benefits of incorporating mindfulness-based practices within her therapy.

You can learn more about Lana Benedek, MD at https://drbenedek.com.

In this episode we talk about:

What Integrative Psychiatry is and what it is not
The importance of mind, body, and community
Why to focus on root causes and not symptoms
How psychiatry can actually focus on least invasive methods, rather than going straight to medication
Strengths, individuals’ ability to heal themselves
Integrating traditional and alternative methods for healing
Walking your talk as a practitioner
The goal of sustained wellness, rather than symptom remission
Mindfulness and mindfulness-based therapies
How the system has evolved to having psychiatrists being the prescribers
Risks and benefits of medication
How medicine cannot address the underlying causes of symptoms
The risk of dependence and withdrawal
The importance of the scientific rigor in choosing interventions
When clinical experience and values-based medicine are needed
The importance of an anti-inflammatory diet: vegetables, good fats, legumes, lean proteins, nuts and seeds, whole grains
How your diet can make you depressed
Exercise is just as good as an antidepressant for your mood
The importance of sleep
The commonsense ways to help yourself feel better
How to collaborate with an integrative psychiatrist
Promoting Mental Wellness
Looking at strengths and the whole person, rather than symptoms within a rigid treatment framework
Psychoeducation on the causes of your mental health concerns

Antitrust for Therapists Mar 04, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about antitrust laws – how they impact therapists, how to avoid concerns, and what to pay attention to when you’re a therapist.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Sherman Antitrust Law
Why antitrust laws are important
Looking at insurance companies and the discrepancy that therapists are more held to antitrust than insurance companies for complicated reasons
Therapy practices are businesses and in competition with each other
Price Fixing and Market Share agreements
The problem and risk with group boycotts
The difference between colluding and discussing publicly available information
How competition discussing fees in small Facebook groups can lead to price fixing
The Cardigan Cartel
How to communicate fees and discuss insurance issues without getting into antitrust issues
Individuals on insurance panels are still competitors
How Antitrust can be anti-consumer
What the risks are for discussing pros and cons of different insurance panels
How to avoid anti-trust problems
Why you should talk to an attorney if you’re concerned
How interstate commerce relates to antitrust and how Insurance Plans can play a game to get out of all of this
The differences between employees who can strike and separate businesses banding together
How Single-Payer relates to this topic
How associations play into this and why they can survey their members on fees and other aspects of their businesses
The difference between being responsible as a business owner and following the trends
Sharing information, without making decisions and planning together
How often therapists or other healthcare providers get in trouble for antitrust concerns, as well as related licenses
Publicly available information is safe to discuss
Share information, but don’t put a call to action to do something with your colleagues

Beyond Selling the Couch Feb 25, 2019

An interview with Melvin Varghese, Ph.D., on how he has created and nurtured three therapist-related businesses. Curt and Katie talk with him about how he decided what to create and how he manages these endeavors.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Melvin Varghese, Ph.D.

Melvin Varghese, PhD is a psychologist in private practice (melvinvarghese.com) in Philadelphia where he works primarily with entrepreneurs and leaders. He's also the founder of Selling The Couch (sellingthecouch.com), a podcast and blog that helps mental health practitioners build careers in and out of the therapy room. He has also started a podcasting course and a community for helpers and healers who podcast, called the Healthcasters (sellingthecouch.com/the-healthcasters). He has also created the STC Directory (sellingthecouch.com/directory), a resource to help private practitioners better connect with one another.

In this episode we talk about:

How the podcast Selling the Couch got started
Additional options for therapists
The multiple income stream mindset for therapists
Melvin’s transition into being a father and how it impacted his businesses
Creating alternative revenue streams when life happens
Moving away from only being paid for “butt in seat time.”
The guilt when generating income without being present
Melvin’s immigration story and how it has impacted his business mindset
Deciding on income streams (it is profitable, is it scalable)
There is no such thing as “passive” income
How to sustain creative energy on new products or services
Thinking through the energy and time needed for the sustainability of the alternative income stream
Just because you have an idea, doesn’t mean it is a good idea (long-term and sustainable)
Building business around family (rather than fitting family in around business)
Thinking through how to start and then scale products
The upfront mental, emotional, and creative energy for launching alternative income streams
Setting an end goal
Focusing on one project at a time
Solidifying, streamlining, and delegating before moving to the next project
Time management, time blocking
How Melvin does market research
Testing products with Beta Testers
Where Melvin gets data, i.e., how do therapists get clients
Using and breaking down technology
Learning from mistakes
The difficulty in sustaining a lot of projects
Looking to make an impact and leave a legacy, rather than making money

Relevant Resources:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links:

Katie’s appearance on Melvin’s podcast

The Healthcasters Course

The STC Directory

Apple Insider (books on Steve Jobs)

Book: The One Thing

Book: 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

The Call for Speakers for Therapy Reimagined 2019

7 Psychological Stages of Chronic Pain (and it also applies to chronic illness)

Relevant Podcast Episodes

Open to Opportunities

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Joining Your Association Feb 18, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about why to join your professional organization, how to best take advantage of the benefits of your membership, and what associations actually do.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Why to join your professional organization
What your membership fees go to
Advocacy efforts, legislation
Finding the cultural fit for your professional organization
Joining based on your license, the focus of the org, education
The tools that professional organizations provide to their members
The power of numbers in advocacy
Networking and getting referrals within your local chapter
Community building
Learning and growing
Relationship building
How to assess return on investment on joining
Opportunities for leadership, education, networking
Creating friendships
Differentiating yourself within your local community
Decreasing isolation
Gaining perspective on your work/business situation
Continuing Education
Making an impact on how your professional organization operates
Communication about the current state of affairs
Needed information for both pre-licensed and licensed individuals
Magazines, Scholarly Journals
How to get involved, show up consistently
Committees, projects, volunteering
How to approach the situation whether you’re an introvert, ambivert, or extrovert
Benefits to your business, network and community, education, advocacy, and fun
Vote for Curt Widhalm, LMFT for President-Elect of CAMFT

Managing Chronic Pain and Illness Feb 11, 2019

An interview with Daniela Paolone, LMFT about how she treats clients with chronic pain and illnesses while navigating her own diagnosis. Curt and Katie talked with Daniela about how typical therapy doesn’t work for these clients, providing practical strategies for treatment and therapist self-care.

Interview with Daniela Paolone, LMFT

Daniela Paolone is a Marriage and Family Therapist who is licensed in California and Wyoming and offers support to those impacted by anxiety, depression, life transitions, chronic pain, chronic illness, and medical trauma. She provides online and in-person counseling to California residents and offers online counseling to Wyoming residents.

As a therapist with chronic health conditions, she utilizes her personal experiences and professional training in her counseling work. Daniela’s integrative approach helps her clients learn new ways of coping so that they can live more fulfilling lives and feel empowered as they move through life challenges, such as medical illness and chronic pain.

Daniela also offers workshops and consultation support for mental health professionals. She also provides community presentations focused on pain management, stress management, sleep solutions and more. If you want to learn about where she is presenting next, you can sign up for her newsletter here. When you sign up, you will also receive a free guided meditation as thank you gift.

In this episode we talk about:

Why Daniela decided that she wanted to go into working with chronic pain and illness as her area of specialty
What was missing in the treatment she had seen for chronic pain and illness sufferers
The need for structure and for understanding
How she has decided how to disclose about her own diagnosis, medical procedures, etc. based on relevance and relatability
The specific challenges of being a younger person who has chronic illness
Modeling needs and self-care to clients
Themes of isolation and not being understood
Being a Spoon-y
What therapists often get wrong when working with chronic pain sufferers
The need to do a good job of assessing functioning, what they can do in a typical day
Understanding the neuroscience of pain and how it impacts their ability to do deeper, insight-oriented work
The conversation about attendance, options when someone (client or therapist) are having a flare-up (like online services)
The need for a more flexible cancellation policy
Understanding their schedule of doctor’s appointments
The idea of consulting with the other medical professionals on their team
The work in session around navigating doctors, their illness
The need for a case management hat at times
Putting a focus on building skills and support
Looking at scope of practice when you have had your own medical journey and have knowledge.
How to share information through a psychoeducational lens

Relevant Resources:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links:

Daniela’s website: www.westlakevillage-counseling.com

Spoon Theory: https://butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

Functional Medicine defined: https://drhyman.com/about-2/about-functional-medicine/

Dr. Datis Kharrazian: https://drknews.com/about-dr-datis-kharrazian/

When is it Discrimination?

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

On the APA Guidelines for Boys and Men Feb 04, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about the 2018 APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men. We talk about the definition of masculinity and each of the guidelines, looking at what they explain well and where they miss the mark.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Discussing whether these guidelines would be created
The importance of teasing out the differences across demographics, genders, etc.
The complexity of men and what the guidelines address
The definition of masculinity and Curt’s problem with it
The concept of many masculinities
The shifting perception of masculinity and femininity
Toxic masculinity as the extreme
The places where the guidelines miss the mark
Comparing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Michael Cerra
The stuff that is “no duh.”
Discussing intersectionality, the impact of culture, sexism, power, privilege on how men develop
Biological, evolutionary, and societal impacts on sexism for men
Challenging the idea that we actually value all the different types of masculinity
How the educational guidelines miss the need to adjust how schools operate
What is missed or misrepresented about bullying
How the guidelines address violence
The problem with the data on violence – looking at convictions versus how many are committed
The concept of “boys will be boys”
Physical differences that lead to stand up and be protective
The thought that the Guidelines are not acknowledging the biological or physical differences between men and other genders
The types of responses men have toward taking care of their health
How to embrace masculinity as an element of diversity and not thinking that masculinity is bad
Differentiating toxic masculinity from masculinity (i.e., pathologizing masculinity)
How this can be perceived in the #metoo era
The shifting of what is acceptable for men and potential impacts of these shifts on boys and men
How advocacy is addressed in the guidelines, especially looking at intersectionality

Relevant Episodes:

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men

Podcast: Hardcore History

Therapy Reimagined 2019: Sign up here to get notified when the details are released.

Our consultation services:

Anger Management Essentials

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Open to Opportunity Jan 28, 2019

An interview with Anita Avedian, LMFT, CAMS-IV, about her ability to identify opportunities for entrepreneurship. Curt and Katie talk with her about how she has thrived as a therapist and a business owner, even though she doesn’t see herself as a “visionary” or “strategist.”

Interview with Anita Avedian, LMFT, CAMS-IV, Executive Director of Avedian Counseling Center, Executive Director of Anger Management Essentials

Anita Avedian is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and has been practicing psychotherapy since 1996. She opened her practice in 2001 and continues to see clients in Sherman Oaks, Hollywood, Glendale, and Woodland Hills. Avedian Marriage and Family Therapy Corporation was formed in 2018, where Anita merged Anger Management 818 and her private practice into a group practice. Her specialties include working with relationships, anger, social anxiety, general anxiety, and addictions. Anita is the Executive Director of Avedian Counseling Center, with 8 locations, helping people work towards improving their daily lives and relationships.

Anita is very involved with the professional community. Anita is the co-Founder and President of the California Chapter of NAMA, and the Founder of Toastmasters for Mental Health Professionals. Anita is an active member of the Armenian American Medical Society (AAMS) and the Armenian American Mental Health Association (AAMHA). She also volunteers to help organize the mental health segment of the annual Glendale Health Festival.

In this episode we talk about:

How Anita started and succeeded at a number of different businesses
Learning about business and entrepreneurship
The importance of networking and building relationships
Following the path in front of her, toward leadership, business, entrepreneurship
The additional education she engaged in, so that she was able to learn what she needed to do
The path toward all the offerings she has created: a book, creating a curriculum and certificate program, multi-location group practice, managing office space, speaking and presenting, new endeavors
How collaboration and fun has led her into opportunities that she didn’t expect
Anita claiming that she doesn’t have vision, but has made herself available to the possibilities
How she now assesses opportunities for time, feasibility, etc.
How she is able to let go of ideas or projects that are not working
How she makes decisions and identifies needs in her communities
The strategy she takes to expand offerings
How and why she says no
How her work naturally progresses
Why some people miss out on opportunities
The ability to trust opportunities to be there when they are needed
Doing what she enjoys, building the relationships she wants, in order to live a good life (rather than just to get referrals)

Relevant Resources:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links:

Anita Avedian’s website

Anger Management 818

Shrink Sync

Avedian Counseling Center

Phone number: 818-426-2495

Simon Sinek’s Start With Why

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

When is it Discrimination? Jan 21, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about how niche, safety considerations, or competence can be used by therapists to discriminate against specific classes of people. Specifically looking at therapists who decide to no longer work with men.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How therapists might be discriminating when they refuse to work with a specific gender
Niche, specialization, scope of competence (or scope of excellence)
How to assess whether you are discriminating or providing the highest level of care (i.e., referral)
Having a thoughtful process and clear conversation to help clients find the best match
Assessing safety in deciding who to take into your practice
The importance of good screening tools
The problem of refusing to see clients when you are fearful of a whole protected class of individuals
Marketing to your ideal client to help the clients you’re best suited to help call you
When there is a competence issue to be a therapist when you are not able to work professionally with specific protected classes
The role that past traumas and wounding experiences have on our ability to be effective therapists
Self-awareness versus discrimination
The argument about whether we “have to” serve everyone who reaches out to us for help
Options when you don’t feel capable of serving specific issues or specific classes of people
Referring out, learning more, working on your own triggers
The standard that therapists are held to
How not to discriminate – helping clients to make an informed choice, providing professional assistance (referring out)
When you must see clients according to the ethics codes
How to take care of yourself as a therapist
Respecting that we are human beings with limits, while still understanding the higher standard that we are held to

Let’s Talk About Race Jan 14, 2019

An interview with Stevon Lewis, LMFT on Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Privilege and Bias. Curt and Katie talk with Stevon about how white therapists and therapists of color can (and should) open up conversations on these important topics, looking at why it is so hard and why it is critical we do so anyway.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Stevon Lewis, LMFT

Stevon Lewis is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing in Torrance, CA. He earned Bachelors of Arts degrees in Psychology and Afro-Ethnic Studies from California State University, Fullerton. He also has a Master’s of Science degree in Counseling with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University, Long Beach. Stevon began his therapy career in 2007 as a therapist at a community mental health agency in Long Beach working with the families of adolescents involved with the juvenile justice system. Currently, Stevon is the Director of Counseling Services at Woodbury University, a small private university in Burbank, CA. There he oversees the psychotherapy for all students, supervises two licensed clinicians, two associates, and provides consultation to faculty and staff.

Stevon has a private practice in Torrance where he works with adults struggling with Impostor Syndrome, depression, anxiety and stress, and couples experiencing difficulty in their relationships as a result of poor communication and unmet expectations.

In addition, he is the Past President of the Long Beach-South Bay Chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

You can learn more about Stevon at: www.stevonlewis.com.

In this episode we talk about:

Barriers that therapists of color face that white therapists do not
How the curriculums of our clinical programs are based on white norms (and thoughts on what we should put in these curriculums to address this bias)
The different perspectives that are missed when we rely on these white norms
The othering of people of color in these programs
How race and ethnicity come into the room
How to obtain the information that you need, seeing the world from other perspectives
The bias that can come up and turn into microaggressions
How to seek knowledge without putting the responsibility of teaching on the people of color around you
The value of curiosity and Google, cultural humility
Ideas for productive conversations about culture, race, ethnicity
How to identify what you are responsible for
The impact of historical trauma, racial injustice, and slavery on the conversations now
A deeper look at bias and the impact of individual and societal bias on our interactions
The pain of shame, defensiveness, and perceived divisiveness that might hinder our progress
The importance of white people talking about race, and of white allies
How to identify if your program is pushing you to be white-normed
Ideas to translate the lessons to apply to you as an individual and calling out “this isn’t going to work for me”
Encouraging the conversations about how we are perceived by society and how that can impact the relationship in the room
The idea that we can have feelings about the clients we see – the need to be conscious about it and releasing guilt about negative or neutral feelings about our clients

Take Action Like a BOSS Jan 07, 2019

Curt and Katie talk about the difference between talking about what’s wrong and actually doing something about it. Katie shares her BOSS acronym for making decisions and taking action.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Taking action rather than just talking about what needs to change
Identifying what you want to take action on
Experimenting, finding what you’re motivated to actually do
The big goals that we have pursued and continue to act on
Making commitments to others can help move action forward
Vision, goals, and connecting to like-minded people to accomplish goals
Creating the structure to be able to accomplish big dreams
The challenges in our profession that warrant consideration for taking action
A call to action to think about the conversations you’re having and identify actionable steps for creating change
Katie’s acronym for making decisions: BOSS (Bold Objective Selective Strategic)
Finding your big bold vision
Creating your personal mission statement
Looking at logistics (time, energy, timing, etc.)
Saying yes also means saying no
Creating the plan – scheduling tasks, not creating a to do list
The importance of structure and support

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

CAMFT (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists)

#therapymovement

Therapy Reimagined 2019: Sign up here to get notified when the details are released.

Our consultation services:

CAMFT (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists) Legal Advice

CYA for Court Dec 17, 2018

An interview with Nicol Stolar-Peterson, LCSW, BCD, Expert Witness aka The Court Chick, on how to prepare for court, what to put in your court policy for your informed consent, and how she created an alternative revenue stream.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Nicol Stolar-Peterson, LCSW

Nicol Stolar-Peterson, LCSW, BCD is an expert witness as it relates to child abuse, sexual abuse, CPS, family violence and child custody. She worked for CPS for over 11.5 years as an investigator, forensic interviewer and adoptions social worker. Nicol is the founder and director of Kids Court & Counseling Center, 501c3, that helps children prepare for court testimony and appearances if they are victims of crimes, witnesses to crimes, in foster care and/or going through a litigious custody battle where testimony occurs. Nicol is appointed as the court’s expert on family law matters as the designated child custody evaluator.

Nicol also enjoys speaking on the concept of “the permission to succeed and the risk of being happy.” Her book is coming out in 2019 and guess what the title is? “The permission to succeed and the risk of being happy.” Nicol also sells Rodan & Fields as an independent consultant and helps other’s build a business of residual income around their families and their lives. This is a complete departure from her “day job” and it brings her joy and inspiration helping other’s build their own business.

You can find Nicol at www.therapistcourtprep.com and www.nicol.live.

In this episode we talk about:

Nicol’s story of how and why she became interested in court
How Nicol created Therapist Court Prep
Court Policy to put into Informed Consent
What needs to be discussed at the beginning of treatment related to court, writing letters, etc.
Do NOT ignore your subpoenas
Setting fees for court-related activities (can do flat rate)
Going to court is not our job
Scope of practice, dual relationships related to court-requirements
Do not make a child-custody recommendation unless you are appointed by the court
The importance of getting clear on what you can do as a therapist, counselor, social worker, psychologist
How the therapeutic alliance causes bias in a legal setting
Observation versus Opinion – and how you can get in trouble when you add your opinion into custody cases
Imagine reading letter on the stand to determine what you should be putting in that letter
The threat of a bench warrant when you ignore subpoenas
Litigious times when clients weaponize therapists
Subpoena for records does not mean a treatment summary
When in court, don’t guess – say I don’t know
Don’t try to hide treatment information
How to set court rates, rates for writing letters
The value of preparation when going to court
What to wear for court
Success stories from court

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links:

Zynnyme

Sherry Shockey-Pope and Therapist Practice in a Box

Evidence Code 730

Free Court Letter Cheat Sheet on Therapist Court Prep

Dr. Pamela Harmell

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Modern Therapists Strike Back Dec 10, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about union therapists and a strike in California. We look at antitrust, labor disputes, implications of striking, and how to improve working conditions, treatment, and outcomes.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

A strike by the Union of Health Care Workers at Kaiser Permanente in California
Historical perspective on Kaiser Permanente
Union statement on why they are striking
The Union asks from Kaiser
Our desire to be objective
The ideas that we support: increased mental health access, improved mental health treatment, and positive work environments, fair wages, and sustainable work standards
How union workers increasing wages impacts nonunion clinics
The different perspectives on what the discussion is about and why the strike is happening
How change can happen, what conversations might be happening
Being adversarial, being productive, and when they are mutually exclusive
Things to consider while therapists are striking
The offer for crossing labor lines and why that can be problematic clinically
The current state of Kaiser mental health care and the possibility of what could be
The financial priorities that Kaiser has put on their required improvements
Reflections on how the strikers may be feeling or handling the situation

Relevant Episodes:

Article from San Francisco Examiner

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Statement from National Union of Healthcare Workers

The Statement from Kaiser

Saving Psychotherapy by Benjamin E. Caldwell

Therapy Reimagined 2019: Sign up here to get notified when the details are released.

Our consultation services:

TeleHealth Certification Institute

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Millennials and Telehealth Dec 03, 2018

An interview with Marquita Johnson, Licensed Professional Counselor and Millennial Dating Coach, on incorporating technology in your clinical work with millennials. We look at tele-mental health and other ways that technology can positively impact therapy.

Interview with Marquita Johnson, LPC, MDiv, NCC, BC-TMH, CPCS

Marquita Johnson is a graduate of Mercer University with a Master of Science in Community Counseling and Master of Divinity. Marquita received her undergraduate degree from Georgia State University in Psychology & Sociology. Currently, Marquita is pursuing a doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision at Walden University. She is a licensed professional counselor, nationally certified counselor, board certified tele-mental counselor, and certified professional counseling supervisor. Marquita’s specialties include women, dating, divorce, step-families, and grief related to loss in relationships. In an effort to promote healthy relationships, Marquita started offering coaching services to help millennials who are dating. While working as a college counselor she found that students were struggling with intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships. Hence, she has embraced the call as Atlanta's "Millennial Dating Coach." Marquita’s private practice is located in the heart of Atlanta: Millennial Counseling, Coaching, and Consulting.

In this episode we talk about:

Marquita’s work with millennials and how she incorporates technology in sessions
Tele-mental Health
Reasons to incorporate telehealth into treatment
The differences between in-person and telehealth sessions
How to assess and prepare your clients for telehealth
How to engage and use the technology to increase the connection over video
Transitioning between in person and telehealth
The skills needed to assess body language, nonverbals, etc. when you are not getting the in-person experience
Connecting with a client’s presence while online
Making sure to have environment that is free from distractions, that you have a good internet connection, and that you are working on a HIPAA compliant platform
The importance of looking in the camera and how to adjust your communication patterns to address the differences
Consciously talking about how technology will impact the conversation
How to incorporate your theoretical orientation AND technology into your work
The limitations of technology in treatment
When telehealth is not indicated
The need for separate entities for coaching and therapy
The types of continuing education that is helpful to set you up for success

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy

Millennial Dating Coach Website

Our Generous Sponsor:

Thanks again to our sponsor, Motivo!

Motivo provides clinical supervision online through a HIPAA compliant video platform. Motivo was started by Rachel McCrickard, a LMFT who attended Azusa Pacific University in CA. Rachel had a difficult time finding quality affordable supervision after graduate school. After state licensure boards began allowing online supervision, she became inspired to take action. Therapists are able to search through a directory of quality clinical supervisors, licensed in states throughout the country. Session rates range from only $40-60 per hour.

To find out more, go to www.wearemotivo.com or email hello@wearemotivo.com. You can also call them at 470-231-1256. Mention the Modern Therapist podcast and receive your first session for free.

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Clinical Versus Business Decisions Nov 26, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about how to make sure that you are making decisions that respect clinical and business principles AND meet the requirements for laws and ethics.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Treatment strategies that are based on evidence-based practices, that may need extra information up front to avoid seeming coercive to families (i.e., required sessions, frequency or length of treatment)
The importance of defining the unit of treatment in the initial assessment
What needs to happen in the conversations with the clients
What is the treatment need?
How treatment orientation can impact business decisions
What limits you can set related to requirements for parents in treatment for children
Addressing treatment within the therapeutic alliance, in the treatment planning process, rather than holding to business parameters that go unaddressed clinically
Consciously discussing boundaries and compliance with treatment model, not allowing for clinical drift or an unacknowledged broken frame
The fear of challenging clients, fear of losing income
Looking at whether you can provide the level of treatment required
Whether we should be as flexible as our clients
Balancing our needs with the needs of our clients looking at both clinical and business reasons to determine how flexible to be
Bad clinical decisions that are based on business inflexibility
You don’t want business policies to overshadow the clinical decisions and clinical efficacy
Setting pricing strategies – doing bulk pricing or monthly pricing can get very complex and there are a lot of legal and ethical considerations
When we must sacrifice for our clients and when we can hold the boundaries
Separating assessment from treatment
Referring to treatment teams
The importance of good consultation to help talk through cases
The ethics codes do not require that you keep a client indefinitely
Ethical termination and referral options

Relevant Episodes:

Managing Client Cancellations

Asking for Money

Ending Therapy

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Angela Caldwell, MFT at the Self-Injury Institute

DBT

Therapy Reimagined 2019: Sign up here to get notified when the details are released.

Our consultation services:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Clinician AND Entrepreneur Nov 19, 2018

Clinician AND Entrepreneur: An interview with Jo Muirhead

An interview with Jo Muirhead, chief life changer and business coach, on how self-promotion positively impacts your clinical work. We also talk about how therapists need to invest in their business training to be a successful entrepreneur.

Interview with Jo Muirhead

Jo is Uber passionate about private practice. You should see the video on her home page of her website. She loves to empower clinicians to build profitable and sustainable businesses through doing more of the work they love, the way they love to do it (www.jomuirhead.com).

In this episode we talk about:

Jo’s story of being told she couldn’t build her business and doing it anyway
Being an entrepreneur and thinking bigger than what is in front of you, thinking ahead of your clients
The tendency for therapists to follow “the rules” to their detriment
What an entrepreneurial clinician means
Self-promotion and marketing
How professional organizations and ethical codes are behind the times related to self-promotion
The tendency of people to judge others in the FB groups
Getting in the head and the heart of your client, so you can give them something of value
What we miss in the therapeutic relationship when we stay too clinical
How consumers have changed since the dawn of the internet
The differences across countries related to practicing therapy
The importance of understanding what is going on in the world and how it impacts what you can do as an entrepreneur
Looking at the code of conduct or ethics code to determine how you behave as a professional
How therapists get in their own way by only “investing” in the free stuff to learn business
What to do when you don’t know what you don’t know
The trouble with jumping too early into alternative revenue streams
Managing expectations around what you can make and how to set up your business
The difference between alternative revenue streams and marketing tools
The most harmful myths that have been put out there about entrepreneurship
How so many people access information and don’t implement it
The shocking truth that not everyone needs to be in private practice
Working out what works best for you
Investing money AND time in building your business
What you should invest in first, when building a private practice
Getting clarity on who you are, what you do well, and how you move forward
Jo’s pushing against the “7-Step System” models that so many coaches use
Jo’s best advice for therapists wanting to become entrepreneurial clinicians

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy

This is Private Practice

Jo on Facebook

The Entrepreneurial Clinician by Jo Muirhead

PURPLE CO

jomuirhead.com

Previous Episodes Mentioned:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Agency and School Drama Nov 12, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about how to handle the drama that can happen at your work or school setting. We talk about when to take action and when it is more important to manage the logistics and protect your reputation and employability.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

What to do when your agency or your program closes out or there is DRAMA
How it works within a school program that closes
Making decisions when you have to face this type of crisis
Making sure to get information to help you with your decision making
Balancing supporting your peers and taking care of yourself
How to do due diligence to move forward
Understanding the motivations of all parties involved
Looking out for your own best interest
Navigating and understanding the rumor mill
Understanding how rumors, drama, etc., can impact you personally
Sorting through when you should stand up and advocate and when you keep your head down
Creating an exit plan
Reputation management
The problem with getting frozen
The caution required when you decide to stand up for someone else (especially when you don’t have all the information)
Choosing your battles
Protecting your own reputation and employability
Managing your resume
How the way you talk about what has happened will reflect on you
Making sure to remain professional
Discussing the reasons that Curt and Katie work for themselves
Identifying when you can live with the drama and when you need to move on
Handling logistics to take care of your needs
Assessing what is worth it

Relevant Episodes

Interview Strategies for Therapists

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Group

Therapy Reimagined 2019: Sign up here to get notified when the details are released.

Our consultation services:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Vulnerability, The News, and You Nov 05, 2018

Interview with Dr. Abigail Weissman

Abigail (“Abi”) Weissman is a California clinical psychologist, earning her doctorate in Clinical Psychology (PSY 27497) with a dissertation on helping psychologists to be supporting, respectful, and effective with their transgender Jewish clients. She holds a Master of Arts in Human Sexuality studies that focused on femme lesbian identity and completed a Certificate in Sex Education. She serves as a Member At Large – Professional Practice, of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Psychological Association. She is also the Chair of the LGBT Committee for the San Diego Psychological Association. A self-proclaimed “super queer” she loves to empower others, especially those who wish they could be their full queer, transgender, religious, liberal, activist, polyamorous, and/or kink selves, but hold themselves back because they are scared they will be unloved, unemployed, and rejected by their loved ones and communities. Abi provides individual and group therapy for LGBTQIQAP-identified clients as well as training for other professionals on how to be more LGBTQIQAP-affirming in clinical practice and in business. Her pronouns are she, her hers. You can learn more about Abi and her group practice Waves, A Psychological Corporation, at www.wavespsych.com.

In this episode we talk about:

Vulnerability during the recent events as a member of impacted, marginalized communities
Abi’s comfort level with talking about being Jewish, queer, lesbian, trans (or “trans-esque” in her parlance)
How she decides how to present herself, how she tells her story, her level of safety
How Abi “leans in” whenever she feels unsafe – how sharing who she is first, makes her feel safer
Civil and social justice advocacy as a therapist
Her hesitation to talk about LGBTQ as a single community and the problem with “lumping” them all together. The importance of hearing all the different, unique perspectives.
Sitting as a leader in your therapy room and feeling vulnerable as the events in society impact you personally
Holding hope for therapy clients as well as for society, and grieving for her own losses and feeling her own fears and her own despair
Reflecting on the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue shooting as well as reactions to the memo seeking to make gender binary – both how Abi is reacting personally and what she is hearing (and not hearing) from her clients
Where Abi is finding her hope, healing, and getting her support
The ways that antisemitism still shows up in daily life (even in small ways)
Having to choose how she shows up as an activist with these intersectional needs that aren’t respected
How thoughtful she is about where she lives and what she stands up and does for her community
What therapists often get wrong related to LGBTQ
The frequent problem of othering people within the therapist community who happen to be LGBTQ

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Waves, A Psychological Corporation: www.wavespsych.com

Abi’s availability for consultation: https://www.wavespsych.com/contact

The book Abi was talking about related to bringing ancestors into the room: Native American Postcolonial Psychology By Eduardo Duran, Bonnie Duran

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Ending Therapy Oct 29, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about termination of treatment, both when it is planned and when it is unplanned. We look at best practices, challenges, and how to handle it the best way you can.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

When to start talking about termination during treatment
Setting expectations for the end of treatment
How to address client’s instinct to “ghost” from treatment
Normalizing the different paths to ending treatment
Different reasons that you may not be able to complete treatment
Planning ahead to diminish negative impacts of abrupt terminations that are out of your control
Providing referrals, closure, and understanding that even that doesn’t always create positive outcomes
The elements of a positive termination
Managing expectations of what health and healing are and what would qualify someone to finish treatment
Highlighting strengths and progress as well as on-going goals and challenges
Acknowledging the relationship you’ve had with the client
Processing your own response to the termination
What to look at and learn when your client abruptly terminates
Requesting termination sessions when someone decides to end suddenly – things to consider
What to do when your client ghosts you
Closing the client’s chart

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Therapy Reimagined 2019: Sign up here to get notified when the details are released.

Our consultation services:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

21st Century Divorce Oct 22, 2018

An interview with family law attorney Laura A. Wasser, Esq. Curt and Katie talk with Laura about the process of divorce, collaboration among professionals, and the creation of her online divorce mediation platform, it’s over easy.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Laura A. Wasser, Esq. C.E.O. of it’s over easy & Host of The Divorce Sucks! Podcast

Attorney Laura Allison Wasser is an author, entrepreneur, and Family Law expert. She is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the online divorce platform, it’s over easy. Laura has represented celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Ryan Reynolds, Angelina Jolie, Jimmy Iovine, Maria Shriver, and Stevie Wonder, but she maintains that divorce is the great equalizer—it terrifies everyone. Laura’s made it her mission to change that by creating it’s over easy, which gives divorcing couples an easy to use resource to dissolve their marriage that is accessible (and affordable) to everyone.

In this episode we talk about:

Laura’s background in Family Law, her book It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way
How Laura perceives the importing distinctions between being an empathic “divorce” lawyer and being a therapist
How people can navigate through divorce by yourselves, without needing to bring in a divorce attorney
The different mechanisms to get a divorce and how to decide which referral to make
How Laura collaborates with therapists and decides to refer to therapists
The importance of handling divorce well for moving forward in your life
Her opinions on how to help families get through the process
Boundaries that attorneys should set within their work
Her referral network, how she develops her referral network
The turn off of therapists talking too much about their own experiences
Reminding ourselves that we are being observed by those who we are collaborating with
The shock of mental health providers breaking confidentiality with her
How she launched her product out to the market (online divorce platform)
Her logic on how she created the platform, with all the pieces considered
The flak she got from some other attorneys
Connecting divorcing individuals to all the resources they need to move through the process effectively
Addressing the broken, clogged up court system
How to create closure when getting divorced
The power of helping people get the knowledge they need

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

It Doesn’t Have to be That Way: How to Divorce Without Destroying Your Family or Bankrupting Yourself by Laura Wasser

it’s over easy

it’s over easy blog: Co-Parenting with an Asshole

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

So You Want to Plan a Conference Oct 15, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about the ups and downs of planning Therapy Reimagined 2018. We share tips and tricks for planning an event as well as things we’re going to do differently next year.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Reflecting on Therapy Reimagined 2018
The importance of planning ahead
Creating time and space to do something extra
How to create buzz and excitement throughout a long event
Messaging and marketing
The importance of creating a cohesive marketing plan from the beginning
The loss of creativity and perspective when you are super busy and overwhelmed
Delegating when something grows bigger than you can manage on your own
The danger of burnout when working TOO much, even when you are doing something you love
Taking care of the details and creating templates for the next year
Event planning and negotiating with the venue – knowing what you don’t know
Planning ahead – not just creating stuff to use now, but actually making templates and structures that are repeatable
Getting and supporting sponsors
Creating relationships and leveraging them to grow the movement
Being very clear with the information that sponsors, speakers, and exhibitors can and should share, and when. How important it is to be specific.
Being directive, respectful, and specific on how people can help and participate
Understanding that we packed WAY TOO MUCH into 2 days
Thinking through your whole schedule from the participants’ perspective
Making sure you put forward clear instructions for your participants
The challenge we had with continuing education sign in and certificates (#fail)
How to vet speakers, working with them earlier in the process, the details that are important
Taking care of the technological aspects of presenting multiple speakers
Looking at it as a production, versus an “educational event”
Getting feedback from everyone who attended to improve (our deliberate practice)
Announcing the tentative plans for Therapy Reimagined 2019
How to incorporate feedback and criticism into future decision-making, and how important it is to be responsive

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Katie Read Katie Write

#therapymovement

Relevant Previous Episodes:

Own Your Awesome Business (with Kelly Higdon)

Addressing The Burnout System

Our event this year:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Our consultation services:

Barbara’s Insurance Billers Referral List

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Busting Insurance Myths Oct 08, 2018

An interview with Barbara Griswold, LMFT – Curt and Katie talk with Barbara about what it is really like to have an insurance-based private practice. We look at the common myths and strategies to navigate taking insurance.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Barbara Griswold, MFT, practice consultant, and author

Barbara Griswold, MFT, is a practice consultant and the author of Navigating the Insurance Maze: The Therapist's Complete Guide to Working with Insurance -- And Whether You Should (www.theinsurancemaze.com), now in the newly-updated seventh edition. She invites therapists to contact her through her website to get answers to insurance questions, for practice-building support, and to subscribe to her free monthly e-newsletter to keep abreast of the ever-changing world of insurance. In private practice in San Jose, California, Barbara has been interviewed on NPR's “Morning Edition," and her articles have appeared in Psychotherapy Networker and The Therapist magazines. She is a past member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapist’s State Ethics Committee and Board of Directors, and former Oral Licensing Examiner for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

In this episode we talk about:

The impressions that we often have about taking insurance
Why to take insurance: Accessibility of services, full practice with a waitlist without a waitlist, trade off on costs and fees taken
The small marketing steps needed to maximize insurance practices: provider directories, website
Expanding your practice beyond wealthy clients – increasing diversity and accessibility, capacity for long-term therapy
Taking insurance without selling your soul
Barbara never makes a clinical decision based on insurance
Sorting through the common myths about taking insurance
What makes you appealing to insurance panels
Requirements for getting onto panels
The online “filing cabinet” for applying for insurance – CAQH
The importance of niche and specialization – even for insurance
Strategies for pointing out your value to insurance panels
Learning what the contracted fee is on an insurance panel and how to negotiate up front
How to ask insurance panels for a raise
The real truth about the paperwork
Improving reimbursement rates and timeline to be paid
Using an insurance biller
What to do when insurance panels say they are not accepting new providers in your area

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

CAMFT (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists)

CAQH

Navigating the Insurance Maze: The Therapist's Complete Guide to Working with Insurance -- And Whether You Should (www.theinsurancemaze.com)

Office Ally

Barbara’s Webinar on Progress Notes

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Addressing the Burnout Machine Oct 01, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about taking personal responsibility to decrease the impacts of the “Burnout Machine” that is the mental health profession. We look at what should go into an ideal work place and actions each of us can take to improve our own situation as well as the system as a whole.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Looking at how to create better systems for mental health workplaces
Magical places that could provide adequate pay, training, and emotionally-focused supervision
The importance of incorporating the appropriate employee support into budgets
Employee engagement versus turnover
The need for larger conversations with stakeholders to improve things systemically
Sorting through the challenges and benefits of efficiency and productivity
Looking at training supervisors
The faulty notion that therapy isn’t about the therapist
The need for the business or administrative aspects – we can’t get rid of them.
Employee, employer, or entrepreneur skills are required for the system to work
Balancing the focus on the clinician as a member of the system, a professional, and as an individual
The risks of human connection within an employment situation
The benefits of exploring the emotions and human connection on professional development, client outcomes
Looking at the expectations around supervision that are described in graduate school
Addressing the parallel process within the supervisor/supervisee and therapist/client
The power differential in becoming a supervisor and navigating the relationship
Knowing ourselves at all developmental stages
The impact of “Supervision of Supervision” groups
The unfortunate scenario where people are rushing to licensure without meeting their developmental stages
Being able to support prelicensees’ primary needs of survival (providing financial stability) so they can slow down and take care of their developmental stages
How to set up a career that works for you
How to identify opportunities to move the profession forward
Assessing your own capacities to improve your career and the profession
The problem of being cynical and complaining about the system instead of taking action
Taking a personal look and personal responsibility for your career

The Burnout System Sep 24, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about how the mental health system is set up to lead to burnout. We look at how therapists typically develop over their careers and how educational, licensing, regulation, and business factors can get in the way of this development.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The shift from therapist development focus to a focus on client-care
Sacrificial Helping Syndrome, Compassion Fatigue, and Burnout
The systemic problems that lead to burnout (education, licensing, regulation, business practices)
The impact of the economy on therapists being able to meet their developmental milestones
The standard developmental stages of therapists
The typical challenges of each stage and how a broken system can make these challenges even harder (or impossible) to navigate
Some of the educational or licensing requirements that seem to go against how people best learn and develop
The challenge of constantly being in crisis (whether it is about getting hours timely, financial strain, or working with clients with high risk) and trying to become a therapist
How the people around us while we are learning impacts how we develop as therapists
The struggle to set up a positive learning environment when you’re starting out as a therapist
The most important time of training (prelicensed years, especially the first 70 hours) being plagued with high productivity and clients with high risk, which lead to moving quickly, not becoming stronger clinicians
The reasons to slow down your prelicensed years for training and personal development and the challenges in doing so
The aspects of training that would be ideal (and seem almost magical and impossible)
Recovery-oriented training, crisis management, trauma-informed systems
The possibilities for improving public mental health and other workplaces to provide a better environment to start and grow as a clinician
EFT-Based Supervision as a good standard
The conversations that we need to have with stakeholders across the system to work toward change

The Neuroscience of Stress Sep 17, 2018

A LIVE interview with Celisa Flores, Psy.D. – Curt and Katie talk with Celisa about what stress does to you and your body and what therapists can do to take better care of their bodies, their brains, and their mental health. Celisa also delves into burnout AND the benefits of yoga and meditation.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Celisa Flores, Psy.D.

Since obtaining a master’s degree in Counseling in 2007 at CSU Fresno and a PsyD in Clinical Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in 2013, Dr. Flores worked as a therapist in a wide variety of mental health treatment settings, with emphasis on Eating Disorders, Mindfulness and women’s issues. Now proudly with Center for Discovery, providing clinical outreach for Ventura County and the Central California region.

With a history of providing individual, group, family, and couples counseling services, as well as therapeutic yoga services, Dr. Flores has focused on evidence-based practices, providing guidance and support in Mindfulness in Recovery, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and other self-empowerment strategies. In addition to training as a therapist, she is a Certified Yoga Teacher, also trained in Mindful Stress Reduction. By integrating a variety of holistic tools into recovery and wellness, she works to create a long-lasting, sustainable wellness plan.

Dr. Flores also provides consultation, teaching and training for students, professionals, and community groups, which have included youth conferences, the CSU school systems, international speaking and NASA. In effort to support other therapists and community members with understanding eating disorders and treatment, she is always open to consider future speaking and training opportunities.

In this episode we talk about:

How (and why) our bodies store trauma
The use of yoga (both poses and principles)
How the fight or flight response (when we don’t fight or flee) impacts our bodies
How our brain has evolved, and how we respond to stressors that are not literally life or death.
Yoga – joining body and breath – to calm the fight or flight nervous system
The importance of the breath in how we feel
Diaphragmatic breathing
The importance of getting out of a narrow view AND in getting out of Fight or Flight in order to be best able to support our clients
Approachable strategies that make small moments of self-care possible
Distress tolerance corners (and activities that are especially good for distress tolerance)
Proactively planning for self-care and distress tolerance coping
What the real consequences of poor self-care are (including rapid aging and current dangers)
Some yoga stretches that you can use in your office (and Curt’s desire to be a yoga therapist)
How to remind yourself that yourself to self-care and how to hold yourself accountable
How meditation changes your brain and how to make it approachable

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

When by Daniel Pink

Gabor Mate

Find Celisa online: her website Linked In

Her email: celisa.flores@centerfordiscovery.com

Previous Episode mentioned:

Being Truly Mindful

Therapy is DOPE Sep 10, 2018

An interview with Eboni Harris, Co-Founder of Melanin and Mental Health – Curt and Katie talk with Eboni about people of color, both clients and clinicians, and what therapists often get wrong about cultural competence, continuing education, and the uncomfortable conversations we need to be having to decrease mental health stigma, racism, and ignorance.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Eboni Harris, LPC, LMFT

Eboni Harris is a licensed relationship therapist, co-founder of Melanin and Mental Health™, Founder of Room for Relations and host of Room for Relations: Sex and Relationship Podcast. Through her education she has learned the skills and techniques to help individuals and couples love better, stronger and longer. Through life she has learned that taking care of yourself is the best thing you can do for you and the ones you love. Her goal is to help adults communicate with clarity and honesty, love with passion and intention and teach their little ones the value of boundaries, compassion and trust.

In this episode we talk about:

Eboni’s story and how she came to co-found Melanin and Mental Health
Connecting therapists of color to help decrease mental health stigma and improve the quality of clinical care for people of color
Creating a directory for clinicians of color
Psychology Today’s lack of ethnic diversity on their magazine
How it feels to be leading a movement, especially when people don’t get it
The Melanin and Mental Health tag line: Therapy is Dope When You Have a Dope Therapist.
The types of training and conversations that need to happen to support the increasingly diverse population of clients
Cultural humility and cultural competence
What therapists get wrong when working cross culturally
The damage done when clinicians dismiss race as a factor
Lack of understanding of cultural, ethnic, gender identity and impacts on life and in the therapy room
Micro-aggressions that can even happen in treatment
The problem with referring out all clients of different ethnicities
The institutional concerns within the mental health profession that provide obstacles both for clients entering treatment as well as clinicians entering the profession
Mental Health Access and the complexity of hiring clinicians or finding therapists who are culturally competent
The role that fear and ignorance that can lead to poor interventions
Responding as a human being, not a member of the establishment (calling the police, CPS, etc.)
Understanding how passive ignorance can be a bigger problem than overt racism
Using privilege and access to help solve the problem and be an ally.
What needs to change in our profession to better support people of color
Understanding healing with a more diverse lens.
The importance of understanding your biases
Uncomfortable conversations that lead to positive change

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Melanin and Mental Health™

Petition to demand more diversity from Psychology Today Magazine

Being Truly Mindful Sep 04, 2018

An interview with Ashley Graber, LMFT – Curt and Katie talk with Ashley about mindfulness and meditation – how to incorporate into daily life, considerations for teaching your clients, and the things that therapists can get wrong when using mindfulness interventions!

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Ashley Graber, LMFT

After 15 years working in Commercial Real Estate in New York City, Ashley Graber changed the direction of her life to the worlds of Psychology and Meditation & Mindfulness. Ashley came to these practices after getting sober and in the decade plus since, she now runs a busy mindfulness-based psychotherapy practice at Yale Street Therapy (www.YaleStreetTherapy.com) in Santa Monica, CA. Ashley is the Director of Curriculum for the next generation meditation app & mindfulness company, Evenflow. Ashley received her clinical degree from Antioch University and has trained extensively in Meditation & Mindfulness practices, earning her certificate in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) through The Center for Mindfulness at UC San Diego. She has also trained in Mindful Schools (teaching mindfulness and meditation to children), Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Ashley was recently on Good Morning LaLa Land, spoke on Resilience at this year’s renowned Wisdom. 2.0 Mindfulness & Technology conference, and is putting her psychotherapy and Meditation & Mindfulness skills into print with a “how to” book for families. Learn more at www.AshleyGraberTherapy.com.

In this episode we talk about:

How Ashley puts her message out widely
Meditation and mindfulness tools that can help clients throughout their life.
Making meditation and mindfulness accessible
The difference between mindfulness and meditation
The importance of avoiding judgment to decrease suffering
Living in the present moment, without a lens of judgment
Shinzen’s equation: Pain X Resistance = Suffering
How we are most awake and alive in the present moment
How to continue to return to the present moment
Important ways to self-assess when thoughts, emotions, behaviors are unhealthy, including looking at the physical sensations in the present moment
The importance of being consistent with mindfulness practice
The requirements for therapists to have a regular practice before teaching clients
How to incorporate practices, getting mentorship and training
Different tools for teaching mindfulness and meditation to clients
Adjustments for clients who cannot sit in meditation, so they can experience mindfulness (especially those who have complex trauma, anxiety)
How therapists can consciously add mindfulness activities to their day.
Slow down the pace between sessions, consciously breathing, weaving some slower moments into your life.
The importance of using your senses, getting outside
Scheduling meditation
Setting reminders
How mentorship works in meditation
The resources of Even Flow (the app, the meditation/mindfulness company)
The different types of certifications and training for mindfulness
The inquiry process after the mindfulness practice (and its importance)

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Evenflow Meditation app

Yale Street Therapy

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Classes

Jon Kabat Zinn

Chris Crotty at AgainstTheStream, Boston

A Bit of Advice Aug 27, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about advice-giving in session, looking at the complexities, pros and cons, and how and when to give advice to clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Why, when to give advice in session
How to process the other pieces before giving advice
Therapeutic techniques that help in problem-solving before giving advice
Gender differences in approaching therapy, including who is looking more for “solutions”
How to assess because each individual has a different capacity to ask for help and/or seek advice
Solution-based advice versus process-oriented advice
The difference between clinical and coaching interventions
Developmental stages of decision-making and how they can impact when and how to give advice
How to assess whether you’ve crossed a boundary with the advice you’re giving
Urgency and crisis-related advice
The importance of seeing from your client’s perspective
Looking at what your advice is based on
The downsides of refusing to give an opinion, not self-disclosing – interacting as human beings can be richer therapeutically
The complexities as well as the pros and cons of giving advice

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Other Relevant Episodes:

What Clients Want

Our event this year:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Our new consultation services:

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Let’s Get Political Aug 20, 2018

An interview with Heather Walker Janz, LMFT – Curt and Katie talk with Heather about being a therapist and being an activist as well as the challenges of being in the public eye during a national campaign. Heather’s call to action: step up and use your voice!

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Heather Walker Janz, LMFT

Heather Janz, LMFT, has established a private practice in California’s central valley serving teens and young adults referred through the Juvenile Justice Center, hospitals, and county mental health crisis centers. Heather inspires her clients and fellow mental health professionals by modeling assertiveness and positive communication through activism and advocacy. She is the current president of her local chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CSJV-CAMFT) and has also been involved in several movements including The Women’s March, Families Belong Together, and March For Our Lives. You can learn more about Heather at www.heatherjanz.com.

In this episode we talk about:

Being a therapist during a campaign
How Heather is navigating the complexities of being visible in the campaign where her husband is a democrat running to be the representative for Congressional District 22
The challenges of being a therapist during a national campaign
How Heather has processed her visibility and the campaign with her clients
The unexpected benefits of Heather’s personal life being so public, within her clinical work
The challenges of having different political views than clients – how to process it with clients
The benefits of being on record related to specific more controversial issues
How she has transitioned from having no visibility (as directed in school) to being in most of her clients’ mailboxes
The idea that clients need us to take care of them by being so invisible
How Heather screens new clients in and out to make sure that clients are not sensationalized related to the election
The additional steps Heather will take to protect her clients’ confidentiality on social media
Heather’s lack of confidentiality and how she relies on her ability to remain genuine in all spaces
The surprises that have come during the campaign
How to diminish the impact of the external stuff (campaign or personal matters) and the strict boundaries that Heather holds to shift the conversation to the clinical material
The supports that Heather has put in place to manage her work, the campaign, her own volunteer work
The self-care practices that Heather has put into place, how she has learned to say “no”
Advice for others seeking to enter politics as a therapist
Why it is so important that we step up, even if we don’t know if we’re ready, we can’t wait
How our activism can give our clients hope
How therapists as mental health experts interacting with legislators and staffers can decrease mental health stigma

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Heather’s Website

Andrew Janz for Congress

Bad Business Practices Aug 13, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about the mistakes that therapists make in their business that can impact their clinical practice, their financial stability, and their reputation both with their colleagues and their clients.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The intersection between business and clinical practices
The different mistakes that therapists make like not returning phone calls, being clumsy with intake call and intake process, failing to talk about fees before meeting in person, insurance bait and switch, scheduling snafus in shared offices, lack of control in your space, running late, poor referrals, not getting consent from both parents, clients missing payments and racking up debt
How to improve business practices to improve clinical relationships
Using therapy skills to improve “sales”
Systems to help clients engage in treatment from the beginning
The importance of establishing fees and contracts/consents prior to the first session
Clear parameters can equal clinical safety
Timeliness can equate to trust
The handoff from intake or practice owner to the clinician who will work with the client
Showing confidence in your own work and any referrals you make
Making sure to talk through all of the consents and policies
Communication practices with clients
Taking notes, remembering what has happened in the session
Client experience, customer care
Re-engagement
Deliberate Practice and Scott Miller’s Feedback Informed Treatment
The importance of putting systems in place that support you and your clients

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

SimplePractice

Scott Miller’s Feedback Informed Treatment

Maureen Werrbach with The Group Practice Exchange

Dr. Ben Caldwell with Ben Caldwell Labs

Mixing Modern Therapist live networking events – email us for info: events@therapyreimagined.com

The conversations happening in Our Facebook Group

first.therapyreimaginedconference.com

Other Relevant Episodes:

Making Bank as a Therapist

Deliberate Practice 1: Finding Your Blind Spots

Deliberate Practice 2: Be a Better Therapist

Our event this year:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Our new consultation services:

ZynnyMe Coaching and My Awesome Year

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Own Your Awesome Business Aug 06, 2018

An interview with Kelly Higdon, LMFT of ZynnyMe – Curt and Katie talk with Kelly Higdon about taking ownership as a business owner, creating space and time for play and creativity, defining your own pace, and your own voice – all with the goal of becoming stronger clinicians and increasing mental health access.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Kelly Higdon, LMFT

Kelly Higdon is a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist and the other half of ZynnyMe with Miranda Palmer. Together they created the Business School Bootcamp, a lifetime access business program just for therapists who want to start, grow or retool their practices. She operates from the belief that eradicating mental health stigma and improving access to mental wellness starts with each of us. The better we are at business, the better we can be at serving our communities. When Kelly isn't hanging out with bootcampers or coaching clients, you can find her spending time with husband and daughter or rolling on her skates with her roller derby family.

In this episode we talk about:

The reasons that Kelly joined together with Miranda Palmer, LMFT to create Zynnyme, Business School Bootcamp
How the way you live your life is the way you do business
How avoiding and “just trusting that everything will work out” can hurt your progress in private practice
How therapists recognizing patterns can help us be better business owners
The way that therapists have improved how they approach business over the last few years
How to choose who you spend time with – people who have a business mindset
The importance of accountability and being with people who challenge you
Looking at how the business decisions impact your clinical work and training
Deciding to grow or maintain your same level
Celebrating success rather than constantly looking to grow
Choices about eliminating, delegating, automating, prioritizing, and delaying
You get to define your success and your pace
Kelly’s parking lot method
The fears and doubts, grief that can come up when you don’t take action in your business
The plague of comparisonitis
Finding your own uniqueness, how to avoid being influenced by someone else and entering your own heart space
How business development is like childhood development
How to be more creative and improve your business
How to find your best coach to help you further your business development
The integrity of referring out
The changes in the profession over the last few years
How you can be in private practice and innovate for the whole profession
Breaking down barriers and increasing mental health access

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Business School Bootcamp

ZynnyMe

Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

Our Next Event:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Our consultation services:

Katie’s article on Sacrificial Helping Syndrome

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Therapy Reimagined Jul 30, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about reimagining therapy, starting a #therapymovement, and pulling together a community to put on a conference

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Curt’s love of Legos and the ensuing overuse of this metaphor to describe using building blocks to be creative
This conference we’re putting on and why we named it Therapy Reimagined
The building blocks that are the foundation of therapy, but how we can use them creatively
The individual differences that have been growing the diversity of the profession
Sacrificial Helping Syndrome (Katie’s concept about how clinicians can sacrifice their own well-being for the work)
How the system isn’t working – it relies on us burning out
Why advocacy is important for our profession
The irony and sadness about us going into the profession to be a different therapist and then becoming the burned-out therapist
What it means when we burn out: lack of resources, mental health stigma, poorer outcomes
Creating an action plan for how you will improve the profession
Why strong business practices are important for all of us
Having a big idea and carrying it through
The importance of diversity and our commitment to have diverse faculty and diverse ideas at Therapy Reimagined 2018
How important it is to us to hear from you and develop this community around us for the #therapymovement
A secret message from Katie at the very end

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Katie’s writing about avoiding Sacrificial Helping Syndrome

Dr. Ben Caldwell with Ben Caldwell Labs

Mixing Modern Therapist live networking events – email us for info: events@therapyreimagined.com

The conversations happening in Our Facebook Group

first.therapyreimaginedconference.com

Other Relevant Episodes:

Our Therapy Reimagined speakers on the podcast -

The Fight to Save Psychotherapy - Benjamin E. Caldwell

What Therapists Get Wrong - Paul Gilmartin

Social Media and Video Marketing for Therapists - Ernesto Segismundo Jr.

Make Your Paperwork Meaningful - Maelisa Hall

Be the CEO of your SEO - Perry Rosenbloom

Becoming a Group Practice Owner - Maureen Werrbach

Building Hope for the Next Generation of Therapists - Robin Andersen

Crafting Your Authentic Message - Mercedes Samudio

Our event this year:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Our new consultation services:

Tiffany’s Program: Lean in Make Bank

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Making Bank as a Therapist Jul 23, 2018

Curt and Katie talk with Tiffany McLain about the difficulty therapists have in charging enough to make a living, how ignoring money means you’re missing stuff in the clinical work, and ideas on how to shift your mindset to make bank.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Tiffany McLain, LMFT

Tiffany McLain, MFT is a therapist & consultant whose mantra is, “Full fees are the new black.” Via her business, www.heytiffany.com, she helps therapists in private practice overcome their shame about marketing and making bank so they can help the clients they are truly passionate about serving. She’s been featured in Psychology Today Magazine, Psych Central, Huffington Post, KGO Radio, SF Weekly and Forbes.

In this episode we talk about:

The reasons that therapists have such a hard time charging for therapy
How therapists being upwardly mobile can impact their money issues
How many therapists are often marginalized and upwardly mobile, which can impact our tendency to sacrifice ourselves and put ourselves into the role of martyr
The zero-sum game that a lot of people think is true (but really is not)
Working through your money story and your identity around money
Shifting your mindset around money
Why we have a difficult time charging full fee
The culture of shame regarding talking about money
Money as a symbol of reality and of death
When clinicians are not addressing money stuff they are missing stuff in the clinical work
The danger of pretending that we don’t have needs, limitations, etc. and how that leads to unrealistic expectations for the clinician
How to give back and still make the living that you want
Why not everyone needs to go into private practice
Tiffany’s story of not fitting in and creating her own tribe
How she navigated having a strong brand in her coaching while doing psychoanalytic work in her therapy practice
How Tiffany works with therapy and coaching clients
How therapists get in their own way – getting their fees wrong, not leaning in

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Fun with Fees Calculator

Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

Our Next Event:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Our consultation services:

Social Media and Video Marketing for Therapists

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

That's Unethical! Jul 16, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about people who yell “That’s Unethical” whenever they disagree with what someone else is doing. It could be ethics, but it might actually be legal, clinically relevance, values, morals, what “should” be done or what has always been done – and how to navigate messy decisions.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The tendency of people to yell "That's Unethical!" when they disagree with what you're doing (even if it doesn't relate to an ethic)
The differences between laws, ethics, clinically relevance, personal morals and values, and “shoulds” or what we’ve always done
#citethestatute
Being thoughtful about how we make decisions as a therapist
Emotional versus wise mind arguments
The messiness of reality – things don’t always stack up related to laws, ethics, clinical relevance, etc.
The need to discuss these things, so we can make change when needed
How to sort through the muddiness of real world scenarios where laws, ethics, and clinical interventions don’t line up.
The need to sort through in a case by case basis
Developmental stages of navigating the complexity of these differentiations
Your own values, limitations
The importance of consultation
Facebook group consultation – pros and cons
Seeking consultation on ethical, legal, and clinical complexity

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Dr. Ben Caldwell with Ben Caldwell Labs

Other Relevant Episodes:

Dual Relationships

Dating as a Therapist

Managing Your Online Reputation

How Much is Too Much? (on limit setting, talking politics with clients, etc.)

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

What Clients Want (on the therapeutic relationship)

Our Take on Texts

Our event this year:

Our new consultation services:

America Academy of Pediatrics

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Therapists Conducting Asylum Evaluations Jul 09, 2018

An interview with Marc Sadoff, LCSW, about what therapists can do to support refugees seeking asylum in the United States. We talk about the qualifications therapists need to engage in the asylum evaluation process.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Marc Sadoff, LCSW

Marc Sadoff, LCSW was licensed in 1985 and worked with the Program for Torture Victims Los Angeles from 1997 to 2001. Marc and his colleagues did psychological and medical evaluations to corroborate claims of torture for asylum seekers. In 2000, they presented a half-day workshop for Immigration Asylum Officers on the topic of credibility. They were acknowledged as contributors to a book edited by the Physicians for Human Rights called "A Health Professional’s Guide to Medical And Psychological Evaluations Of Torture" published in 2001. Marc has submitted over 100 psychological evaluations for immigration cases, and has been accepted as an ‘expert in traumatic stress’, 60 of the 60 times that he’s testified in court. Marc’s goal in providing training on asylum is to expand the pool of clinicians who can begin doing pro bono and low fee psychological evaluations for those fleeing injustice and terror. You can learn more about Marc here: www.realhope.com

In this episode we talk about:

Marc’s entry into treating torture and asylum victims
The difference between asylum evaluations and treatment
What the asylum process looks like from asylee perspective and the clinician perspective
The years long process that is asylum seeking, leading to communities requiring sponsorship while waiting for the process to be completed
The clinician’s experience in the asylum process
What is required to complete evaluations for asylum, looking at the practical steps to completing the report
Qualifications for therapists completing asylum evaluations
The current state of immigration and how it has impacted Marc’s practice, his personal takes on it
The plight of unaccompanied minors who cross the border
How therapists can get involved, as a citizen, as a clinician, as an asylum evaluator
How therapists and social workers need to be cautious about what they present related to interviews outside of asylum evaluations

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Marc’s 7 hour course - Webinar on Asylum Evaluations: RealHope.com/webinar-training/

Marc’s information:

www.RealHope.com/webinar-training/ For info regarding the September training.

Email: Marc@RealHope.com

Twitter: @MarcSadoff

IF YOU’D LIKE THE EXTENSIVE RESOURCES THAT MARC PROVIDED US, PLEASE SEND US A QUICK EMAIL AND WE CAN FORWARD THE MULTI-PAGE DOCUMENT TO YOU: podcast@therapyreimagined.com

Professional Organization Statements:

Child’s World America Petition

Diane Feinstein’s Bill: Keep Families Together Act

Action Alert from Southern Poverty Law Center

RAICES

Immigration Resources:

https://www.psychologicalevaluationsforimmigrationcourt.net/blog/

IF YOU’D LIKE THE EXTENSIVE RESOURCES THAT MARC PROVIDED US (INCLUDING THE ONE ABOVE), PLEASE SEND US A QUICK EMAIL AND WE CAN FORWARD THE MULTI-PAGE DOCUMENT TO YOU: podcast@therapyreimagined.com

Our Next Event:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Our new consultation services:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Getting Accurate Referrals Jul 02, 2018

An interview with Alison Fussell, LMFT, Co-Founder of Advekit, about making her dream of stronger, more accurate referrals a reality through the responsive algorithm on her online platform. Looking at the platform, the vision, and the ups and downs of being a startup.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Alison Fussell, LMFT

Alison Fussell is a LMFT and Co-Founder of Advekit - the modern marketing platform for therapists in Southern California. Alison was born and raised in Los Angeles and attended UCLA (Bachelors) and Pepperdine University (Masters). She practiced in a clinical setting for 6 years before starting her company, Advekit. The impetus for Advekit was to bridge the gap between therapists seeking new clients, and clients seeking the right suited therapists per their needs. Alison and her co-founder, Arielle, realized that there was a strong need for an effective platform for both groups to connect, as this concept was lacking in the space. In addition to their matching platform, the Advekit team plans to enhance the therapist and client experience from end to end, with the goal of implementing new tools on the platform and scaling into major cities within the US.

In this episode we talk about:

Alison’s story
Identifying the gap in saturated markets, to help people narrow down and find the right therapist
Shifting from your clinical practice to a “side” business
The struggles of starting a business
Increasing accuracy of referrals
Creating an algorithm to improve matches within Advekit
Accurately portraying yourself to get better referrals, being specific
How you can shoot yourself in the foot when you check off too many boxes on online profiles
Leveraging your clinical skills in other areas in business
Creating a business partnership with complimentary skillsets
Moving from vision to reality
Finding the right steps to move forward
What you need to know about business to move a big idea forward
Reading books and learning on your own
Taking risks
Finding opportunities beyond clinical work

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Advekit

Special Advekit promo code for our listeners: “summer2018” – This will give you 10% off the annual package (normally $270, but for you it will be $243). Enter this code in as you fill out your profile on Advekit.

Relevant MTSG Podcast Episodes:

Referrals Done Right

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Our Next Event:

Our new consultation services:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Hostage Marketing Jun 25, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about ineffective and shady marketing practices that are completely ineffective and bad for your brand.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Laws and best practices related to email marketing
The benefit of opt-in and permission marketing
List building while providing positive content to the people who have subscribed or opted in
Frequency and quality of emails
Technological advances that help you send information only to the people who want it
Segmented lists: client facing, referral sources, topics, events, etc.
The what’s and how’s of the unsubscribe button
Unsolicited texts during the election
The danger of holding people hostage in any form (in person networking, texting, phone, email)
Visibility is not the only goal of marketing
Facebook interactions that are not so cool
Treating people as a number on a mailing list, a like for a FB page, etc.
Excessively marketing – fear based or obsession-based conversations
The huge problem of not being able to unsubscribe
The dangers of burning out your referral sources with unsolicited emails
Creating engaging content
Marketing strategy for different platforms

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

Can-Spam Rule

GDPR

Other Relevant Episodes:

The Dividing Line Between Coaching and Therapy

Our event this year:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Our new consultation services:

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

Certifications for Eating Disorder Specialties (CEDRD, CEDS, etc.)

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Navigating the Food and Eating Minefield Jun 18, 2018

An interview with Robyn Goldberg, RDN, CEDRD, on what all therapists should know about nutrition, disordered eating, and eating disorders, as well as their own biases and relationship with food

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Robyn Goldberg, RDN, CEDRD

Robyn L. Goldberg, RDN, CEDRD, began her career at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles as the in-patient dietitian in the Department of Cardiology. Over the last 21 years she has developed her own private practice in Beverly Hills, CA, where she specializes in medical conditions, disordered eating, eating disorders, Health at Every Size, intuitive eating and pre-pregnancy nutrition. Robyn promotes opportunity to excel in developing a new perspective with food in association with several medical groups. She serves as a Nutrition Consultant for the Celiac Disease Foundation. For the last eight years Robyn was the Nutritional Therapist for the Susan Krevoy Eating Disorders Program at Wright Institute Los Angeles was a consultant for Panda Restaurant Group and teaches the nutrition classes for the Motion Picture Wellness Program. Currently Robyn is the Director of Nutrition Service for The Control Center, an addiction IOP, where she sees all the eating disorder patients. She is a contributing author and is a nationally known registered dietitian nutritionist. She has been quoted in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Fix, Shape Magazine, Fitness, Oxygen, Pilates Style, Diabetes Forecast, BH Weekly and Life & Style. She has been on national television as the eating disorder expert on The Insider. Robyn has a body image and eating disorder group at several addiction centers in Los Angeles.

Learn more about Robyn at www.askaboutfood.com.

In this episode we talk about:

Diet Culture
HAES: Health at Every Size
Food freedom
Collaboration between therapists and dietitians
Treating eating disorders and disordered eating
What to look for in the intake process
Looking at your own belief system and bias around “fat” and “thin”
Why you can't make assumptions about your clients based on what they look like
When to worry about eating patterns of your clients
Orthorexia, Anorexia, Bulimia, Restricting, Binging
Moving away from the idea that there is a “right weight”
What therapists often miss related to eating
How to find experts who work with Eating Disorders (what the qualifications are, what the dangers are when you work outside of your scope)
Who needs to be on the team to treating EDs.
Medical considerations and labs to request
How little most people know about how to screen for eating disorders
The differences between Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Licensed Dietitians, Nutritionists, Health Coaches

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Robyn’s Website: www.askaboutfood.com

Instagram: RobynGoldbergRDN

Academy of Eating Disorders: www.aedweb.org

International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals: IAEDP

Medical Care Standards Guide - Eating Disorders: Critical Points for Early Recognition and Medical Risk Management in the Care of Individuals with Eating Disorders

Certification in Intuitive Eating

Relevant MTSG Podcast Episodes:

Are You Sure You’re a Specialist

Our Next Event:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

What Clients Want Jun 11, 2018

Curt and Katie talk about the therapeutic alliance - challenges of defining it, what clients think about it, and how to incorporate best practices.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The definition of therapeutic alliance and the difficult we have in practically defining it
What actually matters to clients, that makes up the therapeutic relationship
Validating the client’s experience
Looking at the client as a whole person
Therapist honesty
Showing good boundaries
Normalizing the client’s experience
Making eye contact with our clients
Body language, who we present ourselves
Clients feeling heard and respected
The challenge of getting accurate feedback from clients
How to incorporate best practices

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Bedi and Duff Study on Therapeutic Relationship: Client as Expert

Scott Miller

Our new consultation services: The Fifty-Minute Hour

Other Episodes Mentioned:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Our events this year:

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

Dual Relationships – Pros and Cons

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Dating as a Therapist Jun 04, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Millen Umoh, LMFT

Millen Umoh is a New York State licensed psychotherapist currently practicing in Brooklyn, NY. She is a graduate of Pepperdine University with a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology. Millen specializes in working with individuals dealing with relationship break-ups, separation, divorce, unhealthy interpersonal relationship patterns, and other major life transitions. She also has extensive experience treating anxiety and mood disorders. Learn more about Millen on her website: www.millenumoh.com

In this episode we talk about:

Millen’s story, her specialty (and her former blog Psych and The Single Girl)
Unique challenges for therapists on the dating scene
Setting boundaries, having reciprocal conversations, receiving in addition to giving
When to talk about your profession while online dating
What happened when Millen told people she was unemployed
App dating – setting up your bio, what to disclose, how to present yourself
Red flags, when to left swipe
What to do if coming across clients on the app
How to address with clients if they become aware of your dating status
Social Media and informed consent to clarify boundaries
How to approach seeking long-term relationships, when in your career you might want to date
Options for getting out on the dating scene (online dating, app dating, getting out for live events, meeting organically)
Self-disclosure about dating – when it might be appropriate or how to show understanding and knowledge
The perks of dating when you’re a therapist

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Tinder

Bumble

Match.com

Relevant MTSG Podcast Episodes:

Our Next Event:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Dual Relationships – Pros and Cons May 29, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How social media has made the world smaller
Personal branding, marketing, and the move away from the blank slate leading to dual relationships
Digital natives having extensive social media and digital presence before determining they want to be a therapist
Whether to express your opinions on non-therapy stuff
Distinguishing personal, private, and professional online, in-person, etc.
Showing respect, maintaining confidentiality, and boundaries
Encouraging discussions on how to navigate dual relationships correctly (rather than just saying “don’t do it” related to technology)
Translating milieu settings and small towns as templates for how to behave on social media
Curating personal disclosures online
Sharing your personal views does not mean you can discriminate
Whether therapists should do yelp reviews or share their opinions on current events
Healthy dual relationships
Whether or not to google clients or to view their social media

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Ofer Zur’s Article on Googling Clients

Other Episodes Mentioned:

Our Take on Texts

Small Town Sex Therapist

Our events this year:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

Laura Reagan’s Consultation

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Managing Vicarious Trauma May 21, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Laura Reagan, LCSW-C

Laura Reagan, LCSW-C is a clinical social worker specializing in complex trauma in her private practice outside of Baltimore, Maryland. She is also the host of Therapy Chat podcast. Laura offers individual and group consultation with clinicians who work with trauma focusing on addressing the impact of vicarious trauma, as well as creating a trauma-informed practice. Connect with Laura at www.laurareaganlcswc.com.

In this episode we talk about:

Laura’s story
The definition of vicarious trauma
Preparation to manage crisis intervention, trauma response work, and being on-call
Self-care, debriefing, supportive supervision
The cumulative effects of hearing about clients’ traumatic experiences
Over-work and negative self-concept due to the need to keep people safe
Decreasing feelings of competence and safety
Distinction between vicarious trauma, burnout, and countertransference
The fight or flight response related to secondary traumatic stress
Offsetting the negative impacts of vicarious trauma
Building community and connection
The limits of incident debriefing and the need for therapists to process their own stuff that is brought up by vicarious trauma
The importance of personal therapy, consultation
Critical Incident Debriefing
Taking care of yourself within a trauma-informed practice
The danger of ignoring vicarious trauma (PTSD symptoms)
Managing your emotions without shutting down or becoming disregulated

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Therapy Chat Podcast

Simple Self-Care for Therapists by Ashley Davis Bush

Trauma Stewardship by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky

Laura Reagan’s On-Line Trauma Therapist Community

Laura’ Reagan’s In-Person Trauma Community

Relevant MTSG Podcast Episodes:

Therapist Safety

The Danger of Poor Self-Care

Our Next Event:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Toxic Work Environments May 14, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How therapists can create toxic work environments for themselves and their teams
How therapists can make poor managers (and some suggestions on how to improve)
How to change your environment and when to leave it
How to assess if it is you, your work culture, or both
What makes an environment toxic: unclear or unreasonable expectations, lack of communication, illegal activities, predatory practices toward prelicensed individuals, gas lighting, too much venting
How to advocate (when you can)
What to do when you feel like you can’t leave
Coping strategies when you can’t leave right away (setting boundaries, avoiding the people who are always complaining, asking for what you need)

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Situational Leadership Model

Other Episodes Mentioned:

Giving and Getting Good Supervision

Getting the Supervision You Want

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

The Brand Called “You”: Legal and Ethical Issues in Developing Your Personal Brand

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Delegating Virtually Anything May 07, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Uriah Guilford, MFT

Uriah Guilford is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, the owner of Guilford Family Counseling and the mastermind behind The Productive Therapist, a business that provides virtual assistants to therapy practice owners. He is a technology enthusiast, productivity nerd and a pretty rad drummer. Uriah is always searching for creative ways to provide counseling to youth and families as well as help therapists to get more done, while working less.

You can learn more about Uriah’s businesses here: www.productivetherapist.com and www.guilfordfamilycounseling.com

In this episode we talk about:

Improving efficiency through automation, delegation, and elimination
Differences between an in-person versus a virtual assistant
Managing Virtual Assistants (VAs) using technology
What therapists should delegate first
What to look for in a VA (qualities of successful VAs)
What skills to require and what you can train on
How to make the transition into delegating to a VA
The productivity dip that can happen when you hire someone
The issues and the best practices in adding a team member
Becoming efficient with templates and processes
Getting really good at delegating
What we should be doing – working on the business, CEO strategic thinking, client care

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Uriah’s new Virtual Assistant company: The Productive Therapist – mention the podcast to get 2 hours of free VA services

Zoom Video Conferencing

Our events:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Referrals Done Right Apr 30, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Calling people back
How much time to spend on making referrals
Horrible business and legal considerations like kickbacks, cartels, and antitrust issues
What we’re legally and ethically responsible for related to making referrals
Call logs and why they are useful
Keeping the best interest of the client in mind
What to call referrals from on-line directories and Facebook groups

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Other Episodes Mentioned:

In-Person Networking

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

Our events this year:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

Dr. Ben Caldwell’s Book Saving Psychotherapy

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

The Brand Called You Apr 23, 2018

WE HEARD YOU AND WE’RE MOVING TO ONE EPISODE A WEEK!

ALSO… LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW TO HEAR OUR SPECIAL COMMUNITY MEMBER CODE TO GET EXTENDED EARLY BIRD PRICING THROUGH FRIDAY 4/27/18 ON OUR LAW AND ETHICS WORKSHOP MAY 18TH, 2018!!

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The definition of Personal Branding and what it means for therapists
How to use your authentic voice
How to identify how best to present yourself
How you come across to others, especially to clients
Answering the question, what do I offer?
The danger of mimicking others
Professional bios versus authentic connection
Your professional persona
Why it is important to really represent who you are as a therapist
Ethical reasons to embrace your style (and communicate it well)
How to take off the blank screen or blank slate, looking at the self-exploration that’s needed
How our experiences and our values can impact treatment
Relevant ethics codes related to choosing who you work with, embracing your skill set, and rejecting clients based on demographics
What to put on your website
How fear can get in the way of effectively reaching your clients
How personal branding is the antidote to being “too niched.”

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Other Episodes Mentioned:

Bad Marketing Decisions

What is a Modern Therapist

Are You Sure You’re a Specialist?

How Much is Too Much?

Building the Psyko Therapist Brand

The Fight to Save Psychotherapy

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

Our events this year:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

CAMFT (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists)

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Building Hope for the Next Generation of Therapists Apr 19, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Robin Andersen, LMFT, the Founder of Prelicensed

Robin Andersen is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT 100070), the Founder of Prelicensed, the Business Development Manager for TrackYourHours and TrackYourCEUs, and the President of the San Diego North County Chapter of CAMFT. She is passionate about supporting prelicensed MFTs and enjoys focusing on numerous aspects of the MFT field, including entrepreneurship, leadership, and advocacy. Robin strives to create resources that serve the MFT community and move the profession forward. You can learn more about her current and upcoming projects (including the Psychotherapy Forums) by visiting her website.

In this episode we talk about:

Why she started prelicensed.com and explaining her other current projects, trackyourhours and trackyourceus
Robin’s assessment of the gaps in the field for students, trainees, and associates
The #postthepay campaign and how prelicensed individuals can navigate job searching
The different explanations Robin has heard about why people don’t pay interns and associates
The importance of getting mentorship
Getting and giving support and mentorship
How to advocate as a prelicensed individual
How prelicensed individuals can get in their own way
Robin’s best tips for successfully moving forward in the career

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

AAMFT (American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists)

BBS (Board of Behavioral Sciences)

Our events:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal and Ethical Issues in Developing Your Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Therapists In Therapy Apr 16, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How to find a therapist (and all of the challenges in finding the right therapist)
The potential for a dual relationship and making sure that you can navigate it
The stigma related to shopping for a new therapist
Finding someone who is further along in the career and very skilled to be your therapist
Whether or not therapy should be a requirement in grad school
Whether you can be a good therapist if you’ve never been a therapy client
The importance of using therapy to address current mental health concerns as well as vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, burnout, and the stresses of being a private practitioner

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Articles:

Counselling psychologists' perceptions of the impact of mandatory personal therapy on professional development--an exploratory study

Psychotherapy trainees’ experiences of their own mandatory personal therapy raise “serious ethical considerations”

Therapy for Therapists

Other Episodes Mentioned:

Bad Marketing Decisions

Finding Your Blind Spots

Be a Better Therapist

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

www.zhswealthmanagementgroup.com

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

The 4-1-1 on Your 401K Apr 12, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Katrina Soelter, CFP

Katrina Strelow Soelter is a Financial Advisor with the Zeutzius, Hutchinson, Sosa Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors. She received her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley in Philosophy and German. After graduation, she taught elementary school in the Bay Area, during which time she received her MA from Loyola Marymount University. Motivated by her interest in personal finance and her passion for helping individuals define and achieve the life they want, she changed careers and began working with The Zeutzius, Hutchinson, Sosa Wealth Management Group at Wells Fargo Advisors in 2013. She attended UCLA extension for her CFP® coursework and is a proud CFP® practitioner.

She enjoys exploring the different LA neighborhoods, reading a good book, finding local coffee shops, and giving back to her community. She volunteers as a mentor with the Fulfillment Fund and participates with the Financial Planning Association of Los Angeles, organizations that are close to her heart. She is a member of the Financial Planning Association of Los Angeles, the Cal Alumni Association, and an activator with SheEO.

In this episode we talk about:

Why people should invest their money
How to prioritize and balance paying down debt (like student loans) with investing early for retirement and purchasing a home
Thinking about your savings in buckets (long-term retirement, emergency fund, fun/intermediate planning)
Retirement account options, including the advantages of different retirement plans (SEP, Simple)
Self-directed investing (like Vanguard, Robo-advisors) and target date funds versus actively managed investing with a professional advisor
The differences between stocks and bonds and the importance of understanding the allocation of each within your investments
Fees to be aware of when investing
How and when to consult a professional financial advisor/certified financial planner

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Getting a hold of Katrina:

Katrina.Soelter@wfadvisors.com

Our events:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal and Ethical Issues in Developing Your Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Our Take on Texts Apr 10, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

A disciplinary action related to a therapist accidentally texting her client with something the client found offensive
An argument made related to whether or not therapists should ever text with their clients
Informed consent related to texting (including when your signed consent doesn’t protect you)
Why it is important to think closely about anything you’re putting out there in texts, social media, or any written communication
How to manage boundaries related to potentially being available 24/7 when your clients text
How to discuss with your client any missteps with boundaries
Telehealth considerations
Password protecting your phone
Decreasing your liability by making sure you’re HIPAA compliant
Email mistakes that aren’t really protected by your email disclaimer
All the nuances that can be misunderstood while texting – emojis, punctuation, abbreviations
How to handle private messaging on social media
How to engage in our Facebook Group

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

California Board of Behavioral Sciences

Disciplinary Actions by the CA BBS

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

Articles:

The Legalities and Ethics of Texting Your Psychotherapy Clients

Psychotherapy by emoji: Mental health community wrestles with texting

Text therapy: once my therapist sent me an emoji, I knew it was game over

Other Episodes Mentioned:

Making Your Paperwork Meaningful

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Group

The Psyko therapist youtube channel

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Building the “Psyko Therapist” Brand Apr 05, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Embracing your own personal brand works when you own what you do

Using video can be an effective way of promoting mental wellness

Video has built therapeutic relationship prior to patients coming in for the first session

Pulling in a lot of different identities works best when bringing it together with your passion

Everyone has their own relationship with failure

Livesteam failures and handling online trolls

Therapists and other mental health professionals are the most critical of the crafted brand

Advertise where people are: social media

Humor eases anxieties around mental health issues

Therapists underestimate the power of being themselves

Being appropriately authentic

Find your social support system to better yourself

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Jax Anderson’s website

The Psyko therapist Instagram

A Beautiful Journey Clinic

John Mulaney

Previous Episodes Mentioned:

Bad Marketing Decisions

Social Media and Video Marketing

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the Chief Financial Officer for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Interview Strategies for Therapists Apr 03, 2018

Episode 44: Interview Strategies for Therapists:

Curt and Katie talk about Interviewing for Mental Health Jobs

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age. In this episode, we discuss:

-Filling out applications correctly

-Phone screening process

-Different types of interview structures

-How to handle questions about theory or your practice style

-What employers are looking for

-Professionalism during the interview process

-Deal breakers for employers

-Extroverted vs introverted answers

Previous Episodes Mentioned:

Getting a J-O-B

Our events this year:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the Chief Financial Officer for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Be the CEO of your SEO Mar 29, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

SEO is making sure that search engines understand what your business is about

Sign up for Google My Business

Make sure that your website has appropriate title tags and descriptions

SEO research doesn’t necessarily apply to small businesses

Use synonyms for aspects of your business

Backlinks to other related websites improves your SEO

Guest blogs on others websites should link back to your website

Steady increases are more natural to search engines rather than flooding all at once

Write specific service pages for each type of different services

Links should be spread around to the different service pages

Page ranks are boosted by links that determine the importance in search engine rankings

Have a strategy for blogging & social media that fits with what you are able to provide

Brightervision.com/katiecurt for one month of free website

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Perry Rosenbloom at Brighter Vision

Google My Business

Free month of Brighter Vision!

Previous Episodes Mentioned:

Creating Relevant Ads

Our events this year:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the Chief Financial Officer for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Getting a J-O-B Mar 27, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age. In this episode, we discuss:

Summer is a good time for job training due to a lesser client load

Agencies provide exposure to more clients

Check for jobs online and through in-person networking

Early private practice presence allows for someone else to cover early overhead expenses

Clean up your online presence

Resumes and cover letters need to look good, but might not be read in depth

Tailor your skills responsibilities from previous jobs to the job you are applying for

Thematic experience is stronger…if it fits your plan

Resumes and CVs can be multiple pages

Make sure that your references are going to be good references for your

Not all experience needs to be clinical

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the Chief Financial Officer for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal and Ethical Issues in Developing Your Personal Brand

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Let’s Talk About Sex Mar 22, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Liz Dube, MA, MS, Certified Sex Therapist

Liz Dube – Is a Sex and Relationship Therapist, Speaker, and Blogger who is passionate about helping others increase intimacy and sexual satisfaction in their relationships. She loves speaking on any topic related to sex and intimacy and she has a private practice in Long Beach & Huntington Beach, CA where she helps men, women, and couples get empowered about sex. Please visit her website where she blogs regularly about sex and intimacy: www.talksexwithliz.com.

In this episode we talk about:

Liz’ story and why she became a sex therapist
What therapists get wrong when talking about sex with their therapy clients
Myths about sex that even some therapists believe
Why people come to sex therapy
When therapists should be talking with their clients about their sex lives
Assessing sexual functioning
Language to use when talking about sex and how to desensitize yourself to common language
When to seek consultation and when to refer out
How therapists can experience shame and judgment related to impostor syndrome (e.g., the divorced marriage therapist)
Common misconceptions about sex therapists

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Liz’s website

Our events:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more about Curt at www.curtwidhalm.com.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more about Katie at www.katievernoy.com.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

California Board of Behavioral Sciences

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Getting the Supervision You Want Mar 20, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Our fan mail!
Conversations happening in the Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Facebook Group
How to find the best supervisor you can
Questions to ask in an interview, to determine their supervision style, the personality fit, and their capabilities
Common mistakes supervisors can make in both group and individual supervision
The different aspects of supervision: Clinical, Administrative/Logistical, and Professional Development
Goal-setting for both individual and group supervision
Choosing a supervisor as well as making the best of supervision
Speaking about the process in the supervision room
The challenges related to the power differential
Evaluation and space for feedback
Getting live supervision
Preparing for supervision
Seeking outside supervision when you’re not getting what you need from your assigned supervisor
What to settle for and what to advocate for

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Other Episodes Mentioned:

Giving and Getting Good Supervision

Finding Your Blind Spots (Deliberate Practice Part 1)

Be a Better Therapist (Deliberate Practice Part 2)

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Saving Psychotherapy with Dr. Ben Caldwell

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Be a Better Therapist Mar 15, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Active vs Passive Learning

Continuing Education structure

Role plays as a learning tool

Working with clients outside of your comfort zone

Positive client outcomes

How practicing specific steps is necessary to improve

Going beyond the minimum continuing education requirements is necessary to become above average

Consultants can be found all over the world through technology

Cost factors in approaching your learning curve

Facebook groups aren’t the safest place to get the best feedback

Improving through specific areas comes with an ability to specialize and higher session fees

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Deliberate Practice:

Tony Rousmaniere

Previous Episodes Mentioned:

Finding Your Blind Spot: Deliberate Practice Part 1

Are You Sure You’re A Specialist?

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the Chief Financial Officer for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

CNN Article: Three Women, Suspect Dead After Hostage Standoff in Yountville, California

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Therapist Safety Mar 12, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Information about a recent shooting incident at the Yountville Veteran’s Home
Risks that therapists can face
Making sure that you take care of your own safety first and foremost!
Screening for risk factors from the initial call throughout treatment
Best practices for safety in private practice, agencies, and community-based work
Field safety for home visits (including safety in numbers)
Advocating at your agency, in your community
Tarasoff and the interaction between Mental Health and Law Enforcement
Setting up your room so everyone feels safe
Commonsense practices to keep you safe
Grounding yourself for the work once you’ve made sure you’re safe
The impact of direct and secondary trauma
Take care of yourself

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Go Fund Me: Jenn Gonzales Shushereba Memorial

Community Members talking about this topic:

Nabil El-Ghoroury, PhD, CAE, Executive Director of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

Lauren Adams - @lcswhatever and her tweet about safety

Additional Articles on the Topic:

Gun Violence: Prediction, Prevention, and Policy by the American Psychological Association

APA Resources for Coping with Mass Shootings, Understanding Gun Violence

APA: Stay Safe in Practice

National Association of Social Workers Social Justice Brief: Gun Violence in the American Culture

American Counseling Association: Coping in the Aftermath of a Shooting

Mass Shootings and Mental Illness

Violence Against Mental Health Professionals: When the Treater Becomes the Victim

Homicides of Mental Health Workers by Patients: Review of Cases and Safety Recommendations

Active Shooter Resources

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Creating Relevant Ads Mar 08, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Duane Osterlind, LMFT, CSAT

Duane Osterlind is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist. He is the founder and Clinical Director of Novus Mindful Life Institute Family Counseling and Recovery Center in Long Beach, California and the creator and host of The Addicted Mind Podcast. Duane’s clinical focus is on treating individuals and couples struggling with process addictions using mindfulness and a task-centered approach. His mission, with all clients and their families, is to help people overcome life's challenges and find joy, happiness, and contentment.

In addition to developing original, ground-breaking individual, couples, and family treatment programs, sharing his passion through public presentations, and conducting staff training workshops at educational and treatment centers, Duane enjoys his "hobby" of online marketing. In helping therapists connect with clients using online marketing he creates more possibilities for having a positive impact in the world. You can find Duane online at novusmindfullife.com, theaddictedmind.com, and adwordsfortherapists.com.

In this episode we talk about:

Duane’s story and how he got interested in Google Adwords
The benefits and risks of using Google Adwords to market your practice
How to show up in relevant Google searches
How to weed out people who aren’t really looking for you
How to get the best return on investment on your ad
Targeting by keywords, determining match type for your searches
How to write your ad
A/B Testing
Analytics and how to improve your return over time
Typical spends and ROI

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Google Adwords

Google Analytics

Duane’s Adwords for Therapists

Directories that Duane mentioned:

Psychology Today

Good Therapy

Theravive

Our events:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal and Ethical Issues in Developing Your Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Finding Your Blind Spots Mar 06, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Finding someone better than you challenge you to improve
False Data that often supports our sense of how we good we are
How to know how well you’re doing with clients
Outcome measures, symptom relief, and clients feeling better
Why cases get stuck and why we should be focusing on these cases
Recording sessions and reviewing later to learn about your process and identify your blind spots
How important it is to continue your active learning
How the whole person therapist can bring their growth and training in the room
How to navigate when someone want you to be an expert – looking at your efficacy, cultural factors, and structuring your increased knowledge and growth
Listening closely to your clients
Getting on-going supervision, so someone can continue to push us to grow, identify what you’re missing
Asking to be challenged at your level of development
Identifying who can best supervise you and consult

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Deliberate Practice studies:

Anders Ericcson

Scott Miller

Previous episodes referenced:

Are You Sure You’re a Specialist?

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Maelisa’s Free Crash Course

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Make Your Paperwork Meaningful Mar 01, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Maelisa Hall, Psy.D.

Maelisa Hall, Psy.D. specializes in teaching therapists how to connect with their paperwork so it's more simple and more meaningful. The result? Rock solid documentation every therapist can be proud of! Check out her free online Private Practice Paperwork Crash Course, and get tips on improving your documentation today.

In this episode we talk about:

Maelisa’s story and why she’s so good at paperwork
How to make documentation meaningful to your practice
What your paperwork says about you
What kind of language to use in your progress notes
Improving your own quality assurance
Progress Note templates
Legal and ethical responsibilities for documentation
Consent for treatment considerations
Different policies you should probably consider
Medical necessity and the clinical loop
Treatment plan review
Thoughtful, deliberate treatment
How you’re probably overestimating your memory

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

QA Prep

My Biz Bestie Podcast

Maelisa’s Paperwork Packet

Maelisa’s Meaningful Documentation Academy

Our events:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal and Ethical Issues in Developing Your Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more about Curt at www.curtwidhalm.com.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more about Katie at www.katievernoy.com.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Social Media and Video Marketing

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Bad Marketing Decisions Feb 27, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Similar, non-descript, cliché therapist marketing
Duplicating what other therapists do
Inauthentic personal branding
Ineffective marketing copy
Not having a call to action
Unclear or incomplete contact information
Not having a website or online presence at all
Headshots
Video missteps
Mistakes when creating printed marketing materials
How to stand out

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Psychology Today

Tiffany McClain – Hey Tiffany

Jax Anderson – The Psykotherapist

Fylmit.com

Previous episodes referenced:

In-Person Networking

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Pacifica Graduate Institute

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Investing in Yourself as an Entrepreneur Feb 22, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Howard Spector

Howard Spector is the CEO and Co-Founder of SimplePractice. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Howard has been involved with successful technology companies and has developed and established his first product, TrackYourHours. He has his MA in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from the Pacifica Graduate Institute.

In this episode we talk about:

Howard’s Story – how he went from a previous career to being a therapist to being a tech entrepreneur with TrackYourHours and SimplePractice
Instinctual business decisions, trusting himself, pursuing your own why
The perils of not trusting yourself or your gut
Making decisions from the inside out (not letting society tell you what to do)
Investing in yourself as a small business owner
Ways to evolve your business, generating different streams of income
Business practices needed to be successful in business
Automation and delegation
What should I be doing and what shouldn’t I be doing as a business owner
The irony of therapists charging for time, but not valuing their time
How scary it is to be a business owner and invest in something new
Howard’s decision to not provide phone support for SimplePractice, for now
Why it’s important to be honest about what you can provide in business
What’s coming soon for SimplePractice

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

SimplePractice

Carl Jung

TrackYourHours

Our events:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal and Ethical Issues in Developing Your Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more about Curt at www.curtwidhalm.com.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more about Katie at www.katievernoy.com.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Finding Your Perfect Private Practice Office Feb 20, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Choosing your location
Parking – free and plentiful, street parking, paid parking with and without validation
Personal requirements of the therapist
Client and marketing considerations
Building your referral network
Finding property management that understands the needs of therapists
Communicating effectively with officemates, neighbors, property managers
Awareness of the atmosphere and community
Designing your space
How to prioritize amenities
Waiting rooms
Function and design (and how to balance the two)
How to have your office reflect you
Leasing, subleasing, sharing offices, and contracts
Systems needed to share your office

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

The Fight to Save Psychotherapy Feb 15, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Benjamin E. Caldwell, Psy.D. Dr. Benjamin Caldwell is the author of five books, including Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs, which is now on its fourth edition, and Saving Psychotherapy, which has been the focus of several invited conference presentations. He serves as adjunct faculty for California State University Northridge and The Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. In his role as Chair of the Legislative and Advocacy Committee for the California Division of AAMFT, he has been directly involved in California's first-in-the-nation ban on reparative therapy for minors, and he drove the change in title from "intern" to "associate" for prelicensed MFTs and PCCs. For his advocacy work, he was awarded the AAMFT Division Contribution Award in 2013. He is a California licensed marriage and family therapist (#42723) and maintains a private practice in Los Angeles, specializing in working with couples. In this episode we talk about:

Why psychotherapy needs to be saved, looking at the huge financial barriers to entering the profession and the diminishing amount of money spent on treatment.
The advocacy needed to address training requirements, outdated laws and ethical codes, etc.
The importance of being clear in communicating what we do, how we’re different from each other, and why we do what we do
Why people don’t like or trust therapists
How Evidence Based Practices are impacting the field
Why we’ve not become more effective as a profession
The need to improve therapists, not treatment protocols
The “way of being” of a therapist is more important than the clinical interventions used
Deliberate Practice
How to improve workplaces to take better care of therapists
How to advocate at each stage of your career

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Curt’s almost weekly mention of Scott Miller and his work (and Ben chimes in a lot this time)

Saving Psychotherapy by Benjamin E. Caldwell

Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs by Benjamin E. Caldwell

Ben Caldwell Labs

Psychotherapy Notes

Our events:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal and Ethical Issues in Developing Your Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Are You Sure You are a Specialist? Feb 13, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

What does it mean to be a “specialist” or an “expert”?
The difference between competence and special skills or expertise
Contrasting between clinical focus (or niche or target market) and specialization
How to become a specialist when you start out as a generalist
The ethical imperative to accurately portray your clinical training
Language you can use in marketing when you’re working toward specialization
Certifications – the benefits as well as the challenge to identify legitimate certificate programs
Not allowing the feeling of being “not good enough” to drive you to get a million certificates

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Richard Leslie’s Article Advertising Reminders

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

The Green Cross Compassion Fatigue Therapist Certification

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Compassion Fatigue Feb 08, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Jennifer Blough, LPC

Jennifer Blough is a licensed professional counselor, certified compassion fatigue therapist, certified pet loss grief recovery specialist, and the owner of Deepwater Counseling in southeast Michigan. In addition to counseling individuals and couples, she presents compassion fatigue workshops to animal welfare and veterinary organizations. She is the author of the book To Save a Starfish: A Compassion Fatigue Workbook for the Animal Welfare Warrior, and the host of The Compassion Fatigue Podcast.

In this episode we talk about:

The symptoms of compassion fatigue and how to recognize it
Jen’s story and how she became a therapist for animal welfare professionals
The buffers for “the normal cost of caring”
Self-care and support
Compassion satisfaction (getting joy from your work)
Focusing her practice on animal welfare professionals and pet loss, without closing herself off to others who she can help
The unique challenges of animal welfare professionals and how to support these people with the constant grief and loss associated with caring for animals
Considerations for therapists working with animal welfare professionals
The vegan lifestyle and how it intersects with the clinical work
Suggestions for self-care and coping with compassion fatigue
Animal rights activism
How to empower yourself rather than traumatize yourself in doing the research and work to support your passion and mission
How anger, depression, guilt, and isolation can increase the impact of compassion fatigue

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Pet Loss Grief Recovery Specialist Certification

The Compassion Fatigue Podcast

Deepwater Counseling

Our events:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal and Ethical Issues in Developing Your Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Giving and Getting Good Supervision Feb 06, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Why people become supervisors
Models of supervision
The importance of good supervision
What makes supervision ineffective
The problem with the notion of “training the competition” or seeing supervisees money making machines
How to nurture the next generation
Finding the right supervisor/supervisee match
The different aspects of supervision: administrative, clinical, professional development, consumer protection
Differences between public mental health and private practice supervision
Our anger about people taking advantage of prelicensees
The importance of following employment law
How supervision impacts the profession
The difference between therapy and supervision
What supervisees are responsible for (and what they shouldn’t be responsible for, but often are)
School and supervisors passing the buck – you should learn about this in school, they should train you in supervision

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

CAMFT (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists) Certified Supervision Program

The Developmental Model of Supervision

Reflective Supervision

Recovery-Oriented Supervision

Trauma-Informed Supervision

Seven-Eyed Supervision Model by Hawkins and Shohet

Curt’s Supervision Workshop:

Supervision in Private Practice: Legal & Ethical Issues

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

The Mental Illness Happy Hour Podcast

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

What Therapists Get Wrong Feb 01, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Paul Gilmartin

We so enjoyed talking with Paul!

From 1995 to 2011 Paul Gilmartin co-hosted TBS’ Dinner and a Movie and has been a stand-up comedian since 1987. His credits include Comedy Central Presents: Paul Gilmartin, numerous Bob and Tom albums, comedy festivals and the Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Paul is a recovering alcoholic/addict and has been sober since 2003. He is also an incest survivor and has been in treatment for depression since 1999. He is a big believer in therapy and support groups.

Paul hosts a weekly audio podcast, The Mental Illness Happy Hour, consisting of interviews with artists, friends, listeners and the occasional mental health professional about all the battles in our heads; from medically diagnosed conditions, past traumas and sexual dysfunction to everyday compulsive, negative thinking. It gets about 600,000 downloads per month, has a 5/5 iTunes rating where it frequently occupies the top spot in Self-Help, was chosen by Esquire as one of the best podcasts of 2016 and is featured in the 2013 PBS Documentary "A New State of Mind."

You can learn more about Paul and The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast here: www.mentalpod.com.

In this episode we talk about:

How Paul’s experience of covert incest and battle with depression led to creating The Mental Illness Happy Hour
Paul’s mission to decrease mental health stigma and provide a virtual support group
The power of conversation and community
The importance of empathy and validation
How therapists connect best with their clients
The survey Paul has on his website about what therapists are doing right and what they are really doing wrong.
What therapists are often missing when they become distracted or forgetful
How damaging it is when therapists minimize their client’s feelings, trauma, and abuse
The importance of overcoming “you’re only nice to me because I pay you” for therapists

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

(Katie’s Episode on Mental Pod)

The First Day in Therapy Survey

Curt’s almost weekly mention of Scott Miller and his work

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

The Dividing Line Between Coaching and Therapy Jan 30, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Regulation of therapy versus the “wild west” of coaching
The differences between therapy and coaching
How to have both a therapy and a coaching practice
The confusion that can come from using clinical language to describe coaching
Drawing the line to protect your license (especially for those therapists who are working across state lines)
Telehealth versus coaching in another state
Personal development versus healing
The pros and cons of regulation
What is the recourse for bad coaches
Holding the frame for each type of relationship

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

International Coaching Federation

Consumer Affairs

Better Business Bureau

California Board of Behavioral Sciences

Katie’s Websites:

www.evolvetothriveconsulting.com

www.katievernoy.com

Our events this year:

The Brand Called “You”: Legal & Ethical Issues in Developing a Personal Brand

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Small Town Sex Therapist Jan 25, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Jeanette Tolson, LCSW, CASAC

We so enjoyed talking with Jeanette Tolson!

Jeanette Tolson is the founder of Transcendent Counseling and Consulting. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor in New York. She earned her Masters in Social Work at SUNY Albany and completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Sex Therapy and Sexuality Education at the University of Michigan. Prior to opening her private practice in 2015, she was the Executive Director for a not for profit community recovery organization. Ms. Tolson currently has an academic appointment at SUNY Delhi and has been teaching there continuously since 2009.

Ms. Tolson has worked in a variety of outpatient settings. Her clinical interests include working with relationships from an attachment perspective, LGBTQ issues, recovery from infidelity, and substance use disorders.

You can learn more about Jeanette on her website: www.jeanettetolsonlcsw.com

In this episode we talk about:

Jeanette’s success (and bravery) in having the strong niche of sex therapy in a small town, while filling a private pay practice
Increasing mental health access
The gap related to healthy sexual relationships within typical addiction treatment
Creating a strong niche and getting creative about how you do services and fill your practice
Navigating dual relationships in a town where everyone knows your name
Advanced assessment and decision-making related to who you should see, especially related to inevitable dual relationships in a small town
Leveraging close relationships in business networking
Having a clear vision for your practice, being creative and standing your ground

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Asking for Money Jan 23, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Setting Fees
Ethical codes related to setting fees such as community standards
Anti-trust laws, including The Sherman Act
Solid business practices
The effect of martyrdom and the culture of humility on therapists asking for money
Talking about fees in a hybrid (insurance, private pay) as well as private pay only practices
Considerations for posting your fees on your website
Accepting credit cards, fees and the cash discount
Curt’s argument for accepting Bitcoin (and Katie’s argument for why that is ridiculous)

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

The Sherman Antitrust Act

Bitcoin

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Crafting Your Authentic Message Jan 18, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Mercedes Samudio, LCSW, Parent Coach

We so enjoyed talking with Mercedes Samudio!

Mercedes Samudio, LCSW is a parent coach, speaker, and bestselling author who helps parents and children communicate with each other, manage emotional trauma, navigate social media and technology together, and develop healthy parent-child relationships. Over the course of her career, she has worked with adoptive families, foster families, teen parents, parents navigating the child protective services system, and children living with mental illness. Mercedes started the #EndParentShaming movement as well as coined the term Shame-Proof Parenting (check out the bestselling book here) – using both to bring awareness to ending parent shame. Mercedes is a leading parenting expert and has an amazing following on social media that allows her to reach the hearts of thousands of parents who feel heard and seen on their parenting journey. She has been featured on The Huffington Post, US News and Report, Woman’s Day, LA Parent Magazine, CBS LA, and Kids In The House. Mercedes seeks to empower parents to believe that they are already great guides for raising healthy and happy children.

You can read more about her parenting expertise at https://shameproofparenting.com.

In this episode we talk about:

Shame-Proof Parenting and how therapists can shame the parents they serve
Having a big message and crafting it for your audience
Becoming an Amazon best-seller
Being both a coach and a clinician
Being a geek and using sci-fi and fantasy (especially Star Wars and the Marvel Universe) to talk about family dynamics
Being authentic and vulnerable with your story
Managing vulnerability through a strong sense of self and a supportive community

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Shame-Proof Parenting by Mercedes Samudio

Homework Wars by Mercedes Samudio

Paper Raven Books

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Managing Client Cancellations Jan 16, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Typical cancellation policies
Informed consent
What ethical problems to consider when scheduling your clients
How respect in the relationship plays into attendance
Clinical considerations for cancellation policies
The pros and cons of different lengths of time required for cancellation (24-hour, 48-hour, etc.)
What to do when YOU cancel a session due to illness or emergency
Collecting no show or late cancellation fees
The importance of consistency in following your policies

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

The New Tax Bill and Planning for Taxes in 2018 Jan 11, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Michael Jurenka, CPA

We so enjoyed talking with Mike Jurenka!

Mike has been a Certified Public Accountant since 2006. After graduating from Montana State University, he moved to Seattle and spent the first five years of his career working for Clark Nuber, PS, in Bellevue, WA. His areas of expertise include commercial and individual income tax. His strongest expertise is working with closely held businesses and their owners on tax issues that arise throughout the course of running a business. He consulted with clients at Clark Nuber on accounting for income taxes for large private and smaller publicly traded clients.

In this episode we talk about:

How the New Tax Bill for 2018 in the United States impacts private practice businesses
New limits on deductions and the cap on deductions
Solid business practices
Different business entities and what the heck a pass-through corporation is
The complication of pass-through deductions
Business expenses versus deductions
When and why to incorporate
How to choose an accountant
How to plan for taxes in 2018

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

You can learn more about Michael Jurenka, CPA at www.fjcpas.com

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more about Curt at www.curtwidhalm.com.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more about Katie at www.katievernoy.com.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide NEW Facebook Group!!

Rate and Review our Podcast on iTunes!!

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Managing Your Online Reputation Jan 09, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How to proactively create a positive online reputation
Managing Google – considering what people will find under your name
Clinical mechanisms to get consistent feedback (and of course, Curt talks about Scott Miller)
Claiming your profiles to track reviews and ensure accurate information
How to professionally address negative feedback
Making sure to do self-assessment when getting constructive criticism
Managing One Star reviews on Yelp, Healthgrades, etc.
Engaging appropriately in Therapist Facebook groups
The Screenshot Test from TIPP
The internet is forever and all of your interactions can potentially impact your online rep

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

APA (American Psychological Association) article: One-Star Therapy? by Jamie Chamberlain

CAMFT (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists) article: You, Yelp, and Social Media by Alain Montgomery, JD (requires CAMFT member access)

TIPP (Therapists in Private Practice) Facebook Group

The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide NEW Facebook Group!!

The Therapy Reimagined Conference in Los Angeles in October 2018!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: curtwidhalm.com.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: katievernoy.com.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Getting Personal to Advocate for Compassion, Understanding, and Social Justice Jan 04, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with James Guay, LMFT

We so enjoyed talking with James Guay!

James Guay is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#39252) inspired by seeing his clients transform from being perfectionistic, constantly on the go, feeling empty despite their successes to a place where they can finally truly relax, create a better work/life balance, and be more kind to themselves and others.

He’s also a social justice activist with a mission to help bring more compassion into the world — especially for oppressed minorities. To advance this cause, he’s testified against conversion therapy at California’s State Capital, appeared on Lisa Ling’s Our America show, appeared on various documentaries including VICE, and has been interviewed and/or written articles for Time, NY Times, LA Times, Huffington Post, Rage Magazine and the Advocate.

In this episode we talk about:

Creating understanding and compassion
Overcoming perfectionism
James talks about becoming a “gay activist” and sharing his own story of conversion therapy
How to handle clients googling you when you’ve been real and shared your own story in a real way, especially when it comes into the room
Working within your own community
How advocacy is good marketing
Prevention efforts through social advocacy
Raising your voice to empower your clients
Aligning your work with your mission to stay energized and rejuvenated

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train by Howard Zinn

www.lynda.com

To learn more about James Guay, LMFT: www.livingmorefully.com

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more about Curt at www.curtwidhalm.com.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more about Katie at www.katievernoy.com.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

It’s Time to Think About Your Goals Jan 02, 2018

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Sorting through New Year’s Resolutions, developing goals, and creating habits
SMART goals
Why it’s important to have big goals, but also identify the small steps to get there
Paying attention to the context of your life when creating goals
Assessing what’s realistic and what is an appropriate stretch goal
The importance of accountability
How to balance what you put out there and what you keep under wraps
Celebrating accomplishment
How specific you need to be to create true life-style changes (and how long they really take)
The strategy of goal setting – asking for help, delegating, and deciding what you can just stop doing

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Profit from the Positive by Greenberg and Maymin

Katie’s Embrace Your Leadership Event (in January 2018 in Los Angeles, CA)

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: curtwidhalm.com.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: katievernoy.com.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

The Danger of Poor Self-Care for Therapists Dec 28, 2017

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The definitions of self-care
Legal and ethical codes require clinician self-care
Why self-care is hard for therapists
Active versus passive self-care
Proactive versus reactive self-care
Specific risks and strategies to overcome them

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Netflix

Wine

Napping

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Bridging Cultural and Communication Differences in a Bilingual Psychotherapy Practice Dec 26, 2017

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Carmen Roman

We enjoyed talking with Dr. Carmen Roman!

Dr. Carmen Roman is a bilingual and bicultural psychotherapist with 25 years of experience working in both Mexico and in California. She combines both cultures and both worlds in the session. She specializes in creative expression as a form of treatment for sexual abuse, trauma, and immigration related stress. Some clinical issues she works with are: anxiety, depression, fear, severe trauma, or low self-esteem. Her clients are psychologists, counselors, religious leaders, and people in the entertainment industry. Based on Gestalt therapy she helps her clients to live with awareness, responsibility and in the here-and-now. Aided by the transpersonal psychology she addresses issues of spirituality, the use of meditation and shamanic experiences. She is a specialist in creative expression in therapy at master's and PhD levels.

In this episode we talk about:

Navigating a therapy practice serving 2 countries as well as numerous cultures and languages
Bringing psychotherapy to rural areas and indigenous people
Staying current with the Latino perspective, the language, and what is happening in Mexico
Cultural implications of diverse clientele – not assuming you understand and asking the right questions
The integration of philosophy, anthropology, and psychology
Unique challenges of a bilingual practice
The importance of social justice and “rescuing the dignity” of your clients
The implications of unplanned, unplugged time.

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

To learn more about Dr. Carmen Roman:

Website www.emotionsinharmony.com

Email her at carmen@armoniaemocional.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DraCarmenRoman/

Twitter https://twitter.com/DraCarmenRoman

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/cafecitovirtual

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

A Brief Chat with Dr. Philip Zimbardo Dec 21, 2017

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Philip Zimbardo

We were so honored to talk with Dr. Philip Zimbardo at The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference!

Philip G. Zimbardo is an internationally recognized scholar, educator, researcher and media personality, winning numerous awards and honors in each of these domains. He has been a Stanford University professor since 1968, having taught previously at Yale, NYU and Columbia. Zimbardo's career is noted for giving psychology away to the public through his popular PBS-TV series, Discovering Psychology, along with many text and trade books, among his 300 publications. He was recently president of the American Psychological Association.

In this episode we talk about:

Positive Psychology
Becoming a modern-day hero
Zimbardo’s wife, Christina Maslach and the Maslach Burnout Inventory
Rebranding from working on evil
Curt and Katie geeking out

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

To learn more about Dr. Philip Zimbardo: http://www.zimbardo.com

He was also open for questions: drzimbardo@gmail.com

The Heroic Imagination Project: https://www.heroicimagination.org

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

A Brief Chat with Dr. Michael Yapko Dec 20, 2017

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

Interview with Dr. Michael Yapko

We were so honored to talk with Dr. Michael Yapko at The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference!

Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and marriage and family therapist residing in Fallbrook, California. He is internationally recognized for his work in developing strategic, outcome-focused psychotherapies, the advanced clinical applications of hypnosis, and active, short-term non-pharmacological treatments of depression. He routinely teaches to professional audiences all over the world. To date, he has been invited to present his ideas and methods to colleagues in more than 30 countries across six continents, and all over the United States.

Dr. Yapko has been a passionate advocate for redefining how we think about and treat peoples’ problems, especially the most common ones of anxiety and depression. He has been a vocal critic of medicalizing such problems by calling them illnesses when there is substantial evidence that they are about much more than biology alone. He further questions the all-too-common treatment approach of simply medicating people with drugs whose safety and efficacy are highly questionable.

In this episode we talk about:

Additional reflections on The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference
The importance of psychotherapy
How therapists have shot themselves in the foot
The problem of bioreductionism (we are not only our brains)

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

To learn more about Dr. Michael Yapko: https://yapko.com/michael-yapko/

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Reflections on The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference Dec 19, 2017

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

We reflect on our experiences during the conference as well as share perspectives from a wide array of participants and fellow exhibitors:

Amelia Mosley, Amethyst Kianipur, Arlen Grajeda, Boonie Sripom, Felician Douville, Frances Robbins, Jennie Steinberg, Karin Matthews, Katrina Watkins, Kenneth Rudnicki, Khali Koetting, Mercedes Samudio, and Robyn D’Angelo, Amanda Schaeffer (Good Therapy), Anita Avedian (Anger Management 818), Dana Schwartz (Center for Discovery), Heather Potter (Thera-Link), Howard Spector (SimplePractice), Jo Muirhead, Nancy Milazzo (CAMFT), Nicol Stolar-Peterson (Therapist Court Prep), and Perry Rosenblum (Brighter Vision)

Topics discussed:

#ModernTherapistProblems

#EvolveMore

And how amazing and rejuvenating it can be to go to the Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference and connect with other clinicians!

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

No specific resources this episode, but stay tuned because we have a couple more special episodes from this conference coming this week!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.

Stay in Touch:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Having Fun at The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference Dec 14, 2017

Episode 12: Having Fun at The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference

Survival Guide Tips, Tools, and Name Dropping

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

We’re having a great time at The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference!!

We sat down and talked with so many of the exhibitors and participants.

Adam Luke, Alise Bartley, Ben Caldwell, Chris Williams, Cori Rosenthal, Douglas Evans, Ernesto Segismundo, Frances J. Harvey, Jason Odegaard, Jean Penilla, Jill Johnson-Young, Jo Muirhead, Joanne Holbert, Joey Tapia-Fuselier, Kelly Higdon, Lilia Carey, Maelissa Hall, Melissa Garcia, Miranda Palmer, Rachel McMurray, Saba Harouni Lurie, Sana Vawda, Sandra Miller, Sherry Shockey-Pope, Silvy Khoucasian, Susette Magana, Terry Heptinstall, Uriah Guilford, and Zanetta Van Putten

We have more interviews to come!! Check back!!

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

We’re going to be at Exhibitor Table #142 at the conference. Come visit us to meet us, hop on the podcast or livestream, and to take advantage of our giveaways and raffles. Learn about our exciting events for next year and sign up for opportunities to get extra special rates during our flash sale!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Stay in Touch:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Getting Ready for The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference Dec 12, 2017

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Navigating the conference
Geeking out over therapy
Connecting with colleagues all over the world
Survival Guide Tips:
Plan to support your own stamina
Pick speakers, not topics (don’t miss people this time around – they may not be around the next time)
Go early to get good seats at the big talks
Names we drop
Bandura, both Becks, Chopra, Glasser, Loftus, Meichenbaum, Miller, Minuchin, Morisette, Siegel, Yalom, Zieg, Zimbardo

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

We’re going to be at Exhibitor Table #142 at the conference. Come visit us to meet us, hop on the podcast or livestream, and to take advantage of our giveaways and raffles. Learn about our exciting events for next year and sign up for opportunities to get extra special rates during our flash sale!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Stay in Touch:

The Gift of Therapy by Irvin Yalom

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

How Much is TOO Much? Dec 07, 2017

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

When and how to talk about politics and religion
Authenticity versus poor boundaries
Countertransference, here and now feelings, and following the client’s lead
Remembering that clients don’t have to hold confidentiality for us
How and when to pull back the curtain about why you’re using a specific intervention
Processing (without over-processing) shifts in the relationships, personal disclosure, and human interactions
When to maintain objectivity and when to share your perspective and emotions
Understanding how your appearance affects your clients

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when Katie is speaking for Curt.

Stay in Touch:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Vulnerability, Mistakes, and The Impostor Syndrome Dec 05, 2017

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Vulnerability, self-judgment and the Impostor Syndrome
Being a human being in the room, while holding boundaries
How to cope with clients responding to you, not just “therapy” or “mental health stigma”
Handling mistakes and making repair (and avoiding blaming your clients)
The scourge of perfectionism
Claiming your whole self (even the goofy parts)
What boundaries you should hold related to telling your own story
Inviting feedback from your clients
How being available 24/7 has increased vulnerability

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

No specific resources were mentioned in this episode because we’re just plain lazy. Want to read about vulnerability? Try anything by Brene Brown – she is fabulous!!

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world.

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when Katie is speaking for Curt – which, let’s face it, is in everyone’s best interest.

Stay in Touch:

Credits:

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

Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/

Creating an Effective Schedule Nov 30, 2017

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.

To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

The importance of time management related to trust, competence, and well-being
How to manage your time, energy, and priorities
How often self-care can be pushed out of our schedule (and why that’s so bad)
Steven Covey’s Big Rocks
Putting buffers in, transition time, and back up plans (for after vacation, when sick, etc.)
What a crisis really is (and how non-crises can derail us)
“Just in time” scheduling

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together the resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby.

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world.

Stay in Touch: