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Why Goal Setting Matters (and Why It’s Often Messy)
Let’s talk about therapy goals. Not the kind you scribble down to appease insurance, but the kind that actually help a person—yes, a real, complicated, beautiful human—find movement inside the mess. Let’s be real for a second—goal setting in therapy sounds simple on paper. Somewhere in grad school, we were all handed worksheets and told…
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Client Work: The Art of Pacing, Retention, and Deep Work in Therapy
If you’ve ever found yourself staring at your schedule, wondering why your caseload feels like a revolving door—clients in, clients out, no stable middle—you’re not alone. Therapists often lament the struggle of building a full caseload, but the real culprit isn’t always the lack of clients; it’s the lack of pacing and depth in therapy.…
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The Illusion of Safety: Why Couples Therapy and IPV Should Never Mix
Couples Therapy is Not a Fireproof Safe Let’s start with a scenario. You’re a well-intentioned therapist, sitting across from a couple who claims they “just have communication issues.” The tension is thick, the air static with unspoken grievances. One partner—let’s call them Alex—keeps their gaze down, shoulders tight, barely speaking. The other—Jordan—takes the lead, talking…
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What Would You Do? A Day in the Life of a Therapist, Supervision Edition
So, You’re a Therapist… That Must Be Nice, Just Sitting and Nodding All Day 🛋️ Oh, if only it were that simple. If you’ve been in this field long enough, you’ve definitely heard this before. And if you supervise pre-licensed therapists, you know they’re quickly learning the truth: Therapy isn’t just about nodding thoughtfully and…
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The Supervision Table: Nourishment for the Journey to Licensure
The Hunger for Growth Becoming a psychotherapist isn’t just about showing up to classes, reading thick textbooks, and somehow absorbing years of theory through osmosis. No, the real transformation happens in the room—when you sit across from a client for the first time, when you stumble through an intervention that lands flat, when you grapple…
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Clinical Documentation in a Politicized World: A Therapist’s Guide to Protecting Clients
The Weight of the World in the Therapy Room Clients walk into our offices carrying more than just personal struggles—they carry the weight of the world. The news cycles, political shifts, legal changes, and social tensions have infused daily life with uncertainty. As mental health professionals, we hold space for their fears, anxieties, and grief.…
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The Art of Play: How to Document Creative Therapy Approaches Without Losing the Magic
You’re sitting across from your client, who’s narrating an epic battle in their favorite video game. Their character—an archer—is dodging dragons, leaping from cliffs, and working with a team to conquer an enemy fortress. There’s a spark in their eyes as they describe the strategy, the team dynamics, the feeling of triumph. You know that…
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Casting Clarity: The Witchy Guide’s Magical Approach to Socratic Questioning in Therapy
Stirring the Cauldron: What is Socratic Questioning? “Imagine, if you will,” the Witchy Guide begins, “that each client who walks through your door is carrying a tangled ball of yarn. Each string represents a belief, a thought, an emotion—twisted and knotted together in a bewildering mess.” She pauses, twirling a finger in the air as…
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The Haunted Forest of Therapy: Navigating the Ethical and Legal Paths as a Pre-Licensed Therapist
“There’s a haunted forest every therapist must walk through. For the pre-licensed, it’s dark and dense—every path lined with the glowing eyes of ethical dilemmas and the eerie whispers of legal uncertainties. For the seasoned licensed therapist, it’s a familiar stroll, albeit one with occasional ghostly reminders of past mistakes.” Understanding the Haunted Forest: The…
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Rethinking Therapy Fees: Why What You Do is Worth More Than the Hourly Rate
Imagine this: You’ve just wrapped up an intense session where you supported a client in navigating through the stormy waters of childhood trauma. As you take a deep breath, you glance at your calendar. The next hour is reserved for following up with voicemails, responding to a pile of emails, updating client notes, and completing…
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Transformative Supervision: Mastering the Art of Asking Questions
Why Asking Questions Matters More Than Just Giving Advice Let’s be real—being a clinical supervisor is no small feat. You’re juggling the roles of mentor, evaluator, counselor, cheerleader, and sometimes even a pseudo-therapist for your pre-licensed clinicians (all while probably not getting enough coffee). Just a reminder: supervisors don’t actually “therapize” their supervisees—no matter how…
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How to Ethically Market Your Skills as a Pre-Licensed Therapist in Private Practice (Without Fear… or Boring Sales Tactics)
Graduate school prepares you for many things—managing client emotions, offering support, and fine-tuning that all-important “therapeutic silence.” But when it comes to business skills, specifically how to market your services, most of us left grad school feeling a little… lost. While this post focuses on pre-licensed therapists, the marketing strategies shared here are just as…
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When You’ve Gotta Hit the Pause Button: A Therapist’s Guide to the Art of Staying Human (and Professional)
We’ve all been there. You wake up, and suddenly it hits you—today is not the day for holding space for the complexities of the human condition. Maybe it’s a cold that’s knocked you off your feet, maybe it’s an unexpected crisis in your own life, or maybe you’re just human and need a mental health…
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From Sorcerer to Therapist: How Doctor Strange Can Teach Us the Power of Slowing Down
Embracing the Journey: Lessons from Doctor Strange for Pre-Licensed Therapists Remember Doctor Strange? The brilliant but just a little arrogant surgeon who thought he had it all figured out—until life hit him with a cosmic smackdown? He’s a perfect example of why pre-licensed therapists need to slow down and embrace the journey rather than trying…
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The Hermione Granger Guide to Managing After-Session Activities in Therapy
We’ve all experienced that moment in therapy when a client returns, admitting they didn’t complete their after-session activities—sometimes more than once. And as therapists, we know these moments can offer valuable insights into deeper emotional patterns and blocks. So how do we help clients work through this resistance? Let’s take a page out of Hermione…
The Nerdie Therapist 