Below is some information that it is essential to understand if you’re working with transgender and non-binary (T/NB) individuals, drawn from my professional and personal experience. It is not an exhaustive discussion, and of course you shouldn’t assume what any individual client has experienced, but I think it’s a good starting point. Before getting to […]
I’ve thought about this question off and on since I started going to school to become a therapist, and then in the years since I started practicing. The answer has changed over time, and I assume it will continue to change – though at this point it feels more like fine-tuning the answer, and modifying […]
“Anti-capitalism,” along with Socialism and Democratic Socialism, has been gaining traction in recent years, likely in response to growing economic disparity and suffering around the world. What role, if any, does this have in a therapy setting? I think a good starting point, before discussing anti-capitalism, is to define capitalism itself: “Capitalism is an economic […]
My purpose in writing this is to discuss what I have experienced working with clients who have expressed concerns about what is happening in Israel/Palestine, and the reactions to it in the U.S. Before I get into that, I want to be transparent about where I stand, rather than writing from a neutral position – […]
In recognition of World Mental Health Day I wanted to share a quick technique I use with clients, which I have called my “Mental Health Checkdown”© (working title). But first I think it’s important to set out the context that it emerged from, specifically how I conceptualize the idea of “mental health” (recognizing that I […]
Since it is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month I thought it would be a good time to post some of my thoughts and observations about working with people who experience suicidal ideation. Some of my thoughts and ideas come from personal experience – periods in my own life of feeling varying degrees of suicidal ideation – […]
This is the first of what I am planning to be monthly blog posts connected to the general theme of mental health systems as a form of oppression. Over the course of the coming year I will write other posts – some of which will expand on some of the ideas discussed below. I do […]
Systemic racism permeates every aspect of American life, and in particular the criminal legal system. The criminal legal system is perhaps the primary institutional force behind it, and the harm inflicted on people of color by this system is widespread and devastating. This is a simplified (VERY simplified) flow-chart showing of the criminal legal system […]
I’ve been spending some time recently trying to figure out how I can engage in the anti-racist protests and activism that’s been going on – then I realized that it wasn’t that I didn’t know, it’s that I was nervous about how my involvement might be received. So now I’m taking the advice that I’ve […]
[This was an excerpt from a paper I wrote as an MSW student] The concept of “Continuous Traumatic Stress” (CTS) emerged from research in Apartheid South Africa and later in conflict areas to discuss traumatic stress that is not in the past, but is present and is reasonably foreseeable into the future. It has been […]
[This post is a lightly edited excerpt of a paper that I wrote as an MSW student in 2018] Feminist Therapy is a meta-theory more than a specific modality. In my own work with it, I find that its purpose is to inform my overall practice with clients in a way that emphasizes empowerment and […]
[This is an excerpt from a paper I wrote as an MSW student in December 2017] Feminist Therapy is a meta-theory more than a specific modality. In my own work with it, I find that its purpose is to inform my overall practice with clients in a way that emphasizes empowerment and an egalitarian working […]