The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy

Treating Political Reactionism and the War on ScienceAn 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 PsychologyDr 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 AdopteesAn 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, LMFTMoses 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 BurnoutAn 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/SLaura 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 ClientsCurt 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 EthicsCurt 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 AccentAn 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, LMFTNam 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-HarmAn 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, LMFTAngela 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 FatigueAn 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 DirectiveCurt 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 PodcastAn 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 SanokJoe 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