All posts tagged: therapy

The Big Divide in Approaches to Therapy

The Big Divide in Approaches to Therapy

Published by Jenni Sidey

For many years, I operated under the assumption that, as a therapist, I was supposed to be the expert in the room. I thought my role was to lead the charge, offer insightful observations, and provide suggestions about how clients should approach their lives and relationships. But around COVID, I discovered therapeutic approaches that challenged that assumption. In Hakomi and Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed therapy, there is an emphasis on helping clients access their own inner wisdom rather than relying solely on the therapist’s interpretations and advice. My role began to feel more like that of a midwife, helping clients bring forth and integrate what is already within them. The idea is to create the conditions in which qualities such as calm, clarity, compassion, and self-understanding can become more accessible. This means allowing clients to lead the way, sometimes described as “riding the tail of the comet.” Ironically, this is much harder than it sounds. It requires me to let go of my interpretations, advice, and even my well-intentioned agendas. Instead, I am learning to …

How Psychodynamic Therapy Can Change Problematic Behavior

How Psychodynamic Therapy Can Change Problematic Behavior

Published by Jenni Sidey

People often recognize that certain behaviors, or avoidance of certain actions, are causing difficulties, yet still find themselves repeating the behaviors. They may be aware that they drink too much, repeatedly lose their temper, take on more responsibility than they can manage, or avoid confronting an unfair boss. Understanding the sources of these behaviors is useful, but insight by itself does not necessarily lead to change. Psychoanalytic approaches have traditionally eschewed targeting behavioral changes, believing that such efforts do not address the core issues that contribute to problems. Problem-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy (PrFPP) (Busch, 2022) works to identify specific problems, explore the psychological factors that contribute to them, and help patients develop more adaptive ways of responding to their relationships and environment. Such efforts include identifying the context and emotions, early experiences, representations of self and others, and intrapsychic conflicts to address and change problematic inhibitions and behaviors (Busch, 2018; Busch, 2025). Identifying Problematic Inhibitions or Behaviors PrFPP identifies behaviors as problematic when they cause recurrent difficulties for the patient and the patient seems unable to …

Graphic Novels About Therapy for World Mental Health Day

Graphic Novels About Therapy for World Mental Health Day

Published by Jenni Sidey

October 10 is World Mental Health Day! Mental illness, as well as the therapies and medications that are often needed to help people feel their best, is still too often treated as a taboo subject. Graphic novels about therapy, like the ones listed here, center characters–fictional and nonfictional–who overcome the stigma and show us the power and relief that comes with asking for help…while only occasionally having to deal with world-ending disasters. Add these graphic novels about therapy to your TBR. You’ll find relatable stories, whether or not you struggle with your mental health. Chances are if you don’t personally relate, you know someone who may. Get 15% off annual All Access memberships for a limited time in celebration of Book Riot’s 15th anniversary! Savings amount to more than 3 months of free unlimited access to our entire content archive, plus features like Collections and the New Release Index. Claim your savings and start leveling up your reading life. Everything Is an Emergency by Jason Adam Katzenstein This darkly funny graphic memoir explores Katzenstein’s experiences with obsessive-compulsive disorder. After …

Feeling Your Way to Change With Experiential Therapy

Feeling Your Way to Change With Experiential Therapy

Published by Jenni Sidey

If you’re an over thinker or have previously been to therapy, you may understand your patterns and even know why you feel the way you do. However, this insight alone may not be enough to fully change how you feel about your situation. This can be such a frustrating experience. So why does this happen? You can intellectually understand your fears, beliefs, or lived experiences come from the past or are irrational, yet your nervous system continues to respond as if the threat is happening in the present. These reactions are due to implicit emotional memories, or emotional learnings that your body stores when the experience is overwhelming or unable to be processed fully. How Bottom-Up Therapies Work With Implicit Memories Experiential approaches, such as Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Coherence Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Somatic Experiencing (SE), all have one thing in common: They move beyond intellectual insight to work directly with emotional experience. Instead of staying in …

Applying Trauma-Informed Care in Psychedelic Therapy

Applying Trauma-Informed Care in Psychedelic Therapy

Published by Jenni Sidey

By Sara So, L.C.P.C. Psychedelic experiences can be intense and unpredictable, leaving patients especially vulnerable. For people with a history of trauma, that vulnerability requires thoughtful care. That’s where trauma-informed care (TIC) comes in. Trauma-informed care recognizes that traumatic experiences can have lasting effects on a person’s emotions, relationships, body, and sense of safety. It encourages providers to create conditions that promote safety, choice, trust, and a sense of control while reducing the risk of re-traumatization. These principles are particularly important in psychedelic-assisted therapy. What Is Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy? Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) combines a psychedelic substance with psychological support or psychotherapy. Depending on the treatment or research protocol, therapeutic approaches may include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), or other forms of psychotherapy. PAT generally includes three stages: Preparation. The patient and therapist build a therapeutic relationship, discuss what to expect, establish boundaries, and prepare for the emotional and physical effects of the psychedelic. Dosing. The same therapist supports the patient during the psychedelic experience, helping maintain physical and psychological safety while encouraging …

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Is My New Hangover Fix

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Is My New Hangover Fix

Published by Jenni Sidey

It’s 9 a.m., and I’m painfully aware of how dry my mouth is. My eyes are at the mercy of the lights on the metro as I try to figure out which stop I’m supposed to be getting off at. And I have the shakes. Bad. Before you chastise me, I find myself hungover in the name of investigative journalism. My editor approached me with a simple task: get slightly wasted and see if a thing called hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) would help cure my hangover the next morning. Celebrities like Justin Bieber and LeBron James have raved about its supposed recovery superpowers. Ever up to a request that involves a few bevs, I dragged my boyfriend to the pub, who was slightly puzzled by my sudden eagerness to go hard, and later put myself to bed, unaided. Cut to the next morning: I get to a business called Rebody in the Islington neighborhood of London feeling slightly worse for wear for a quick consultation with co-founder Chris Clare. As he explains the ins and …

The Similarities Between Therapy and Dating

The Similarities Between Therapy and Dating

Published by Jenni Sidey

I once arranged to meet a woman I didn’t know in an unfamiliar part of town. A mutual acquaintance set us up, as they thought we’d be a good match. I remember the trepidation as I decided what to wear for our first meeting and the nervous anticipation as I rang her doorbell. During the hour we spent together, I gradually relaxed. The conversation flowed easily, and she seemed interested in getting to know me, which helped calm my nerves and made me feel at ease. She was older than me and attractive: witty, nice hair, dressed in a similar style to my own. I could tell she’d made an effort, which pleased me, because I’d made an effort, too. We were a good match, and our relationship thrived long term. Similarities Between Choosing a Therapist and Choosing a Partner Choosing a therapist can feel like choosing a partner, and first sessions share many similarities with first dates. They’re risky and anxiety-provoking. We worry whether we’ll have enough to talk about, whether they’ll be kind …

The Empty Promise of Therapy Without a Therapist

The Empty Promise of Therapy Without a Therapist

Published by Daniella Wilson

Therapy can involve a lot of words, but it’s often the pauses that matter most. If you transcribed a session, the pauses would look like nothing: beats of silence, extra breaths, slowing down. But these can represent the crux of the practice: entry points into feeling. My job as a psychoanalyst is to listen as much to silence as to words, to be present with the patient while they’re quiet—to stay with them as they allow their feelings to emerge. I was trained across diverse theories and techniques, but in my clinical work I have found that the cornerstone of the process is feeling. The patient’s emotional experience is the destination and the terrain. But I also feel; I am moved. And the work I do with my patients relies on our relationship and our capacity for mutual feeling. In many ways, the history of my field from Freud on has been a growing acknowledgement of the reality of this relationship—moving from the therapist as sealed off and standing apart, toward approaches that view the …

Samsung Goes to Couples Therapy to Unpack iPhone-to-Android Tension

Samsung Goes to Couples Therapy to Unpack iPhone-to-Android Tension

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Change can be challenging in a relationship, even when you know it’s for the best. Samsung’s new Switchers ad campaign acknowledges that challenge, particularly when it comes to switching from iPhone to Android. Playing on classic therapy talking points, Samsung recruited celebrity clinical psychologist Orna Guralnik to help couples overcome fear, discomfort and anxiety about exploring something new — in this case, purchasing a device outside Apple’s ecosystem. Guralnik helms the documentary TV series Couples Therapy, which follows real-life couples as they attend regular therapy sessions. The show is in its fifth season on Showtime and Paramount Plus. Launched on Monday, days after Apple announced its own foldable, the iPhone Duo, the Switchers campaign particularly plugs Samsung’s new Galaxy Z foldables. It features celebrity pairs with real relationships, including Ciara Miller and Dylan Efron from The Traitors; Carl Schmidt and Aniya Harvey from Love Island; and football icons Nick Foles and Clay Matthews. What Switchers gets right Rather than demoing Samsung’s latest foldable phones in a spec-heavy pitch, the six ads cleverly frame the purchase …

Should Couples Save Their Toughest Conversations for Therapy?

Should Couples Save Their Toughest Conversations for Therapy?

Published by Jenni Sidey

John and his partner Mark are in couples therapy with me, and John always saves up conversations about money—their hot-button issue—until they’re safely ensconced in my office. There are plenty of opportunities for them to discuss financial decisions and complaints at home, but John refuses to because “I know we’ll end up in an argument,” he says. John and Mark aren’t alone; to my surprise, another couple asked me recently whether they should wait until their session to talk about challenging subjects, or discuss them together first outside of therapy. It’s an interesting question. It’s true that many couples come to therapy in the first place because they’re having difficulty working through a challenging scenario and perceive it as a safe space in which to voice their problems and work out a solution. But which comes first? It’s important for me to note here that I (and this is true for other clinicians I know) don’t advocate for any one “side” of an issue. I’m here to moderate the conversation, to facilitate the process between …