Therapy Chat

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week I'm welcoming back a guest who was first on Therapy Chat a few years ago - Akilah Riley Richardson, MSW, CCTP. Akilah is a therapist specializing in relationships who is the author of the new book, "Marginalized Couples in Therapy: Interventions for Healing From Systemic Trauma" with WW Norton Mental Health publishing. Akilah shares that those wh...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week I’m sharing my conversation with attachment expert and author Dafna Lender about how she works with parents to help their children. As a family therapist, Dafna explains she spends at least 50% of the work with the parents, learning about what they experience physiologically and emotionally during stressful interactions with their kids. She talks about how s...

This week I'm sharing my recent interview with Dr. Cathy Malchiodi, a leader in the trauma, expressive arts and art therapy fields. In our conversation Cathy explores the transformative power of expressive arts therapy in healing from traumatic experiences. She discusses the evolution of arts-based approaches, the importance of movement and sensory processing, and the distinctions between art...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week I interviewed Cynthia Schwartzberg about her innovative approach to therapy known as Harmonic Brain Healing™. Cynthia, the author of The Curious Voyage to Authenticity: A Rule-Breaking Guide for Personal Growth," is a Brainspotting trainer with whom I took my Phase 2 training. We talked about the impact of trauma on memory and the importance of rhythm in...

As Black History month ends and Women's History month begins, this week's episode is a conversation with Dr. LaNail R. Plummer, author of The Essential Guide for Counseling Black Women. Dr. Plummer, the Counseling Department Chair at Trinity University, explains that while many Black women seek therapists who look like them, with only 4% of the mental health workforce made up of Black wome...

Therapists and other helping professionals are being stretched to our limits during these stressful times, and this episode is intended to support us, so we can maintain our capacity to support our clients. This week I'm replaying my previous conversation with Dr. Rebecca Eldredge about why rather than being self-indulgent, self care is an ethical imperative for all of us in the helping profes...

This week's episode is a replay of a previous conversation with Dr. Gail Gazelle, a  former hospice physician, part-time Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor, and a Master Certified Coach for physicians. Gail discusses her own experiences with burnout and how all exhausted and burned out physicians, healthcare professionals and other leaders can cultivate resilience for long, fulfilling...

This week's episode is a replay of my previous conversation with Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, author of Trauma Stewardship and founder of the Trauma Stewardship Institute. We discussed the problem of burnout among helping professionals, and how it is possible to recover. Laura is a funny and wise guest, and if you're feeling overwhelmed, you may appreciate this episode.  We discussed trauma e...

Happy New Year! This week, I'm reflecting on 2025 and looking ahead to 2026, with some inspiration from some of 2025's wonderful podcast guests. It was a year! I hope you will find some ideas about how you can go forward with hope in 2026 through the wisdom shared by these guests.  Resources Francis Weller’s newest book, In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Uncertain Times Dr. Sab...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, as a follow-up to last week's episode on Family Estrangement, I'm speaking with Marriage and Family Therapist Dr. Tracy Dalgleish about the complexity of in-law and extended family relationships. We discussed how "good girl" conditioning and other cultural expectations contribute to tension when families join together through marriage. I tal...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat + Happy New Year! This week's guest is Dr. Sharon Martin, LCSW, who specializes in family estrangement in her practice in San Jose, California. Sharon, a TTN member, is the author of the Better Boundaries Workbook as well as her newest book, Cutting Ties WIth Your Parents. Sharon and I got together on Instagram Live to share our thoughts on family estrangement afte...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! In today's episode, I'm bringing you a replay of my conversation with with Kristen D. Boice, LMFT, an EMDR and Brainspotting therapist who is the owner of a trauma-focused group practice called Pathways to Healing in Noblesville, Indiana. Kristen D. Boice is a licensed marriage and family therapist with over 20 years experience and owner of a group private cou...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! In today's episode, I'm bringing you a replay of two of my conversations with Rotem Brayer, talking all about EMDR and Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy.  If you're an EMDR therapist or a therapist who is interested in learning about psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, this episode is for you! And if you're someone who is interested in learning about...

This week's Therapy Chat features two leaders in our field, Thomas Hubl, PhD and Dick Schwartz, PhD speaking about the importance of including a collective lens in trauma work. In this conversation, we explored the interdependence of individual and collective healing, the distinction between spirituality and religion, and the importance of addressing legacy burdens and cultural trauma. We talk...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week's episode is a replay where I speak to Libby Murdoch, LPC, CCTP about her Resilience-Focused EMDR therapy training! The concept of building resilience is gaining traction in our field, and it makes sense! Listen in to our conversation as Libby and I discuss her EMDR Basic Training offerings and what's different about her Resilience-Focused approach....

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! In this week's replay episode, we're looking at the many ways to use EMDR. I'm revisiting my conversation with Rebecca Kase, a licensed clinical social worker and yoga instructor, living in Gig Harbor, WA. She is an EMDR Consultant & Basic Trainer, and owner of Kase & CO, an EMDR Training and Consulting company. She is the author of Polyvagal infor...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week's episode is a replay where I interviewed author, EMDR-Certified therapist and Consultant In Training Marcken Volmy, LMHC, about how EMDR can help with betrayal trauma and the impact of broken trust. We explored how betrayal by trusted figures and institutions can shatter one's sense of safety and trust in the world. We also discussed recent examples...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week's episode is a replay from 2021 with Curt Widhalm, LMFT. Curt is a group practice owner, podcaster and EMDR Consultant In Training based in Los Angeles, CA, In this replay episode, Curt explains more about EMDR and how he uses it with adolescents. He explains how he got into using EMDR after experiencing it himself following an accident, and some of the...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week is a replay episode with Ann Beckley Forest and Annie Monaco, two EMDR therapists who together make up Playful EMDR. Ann and Annie talk about how they use EMDR in combination with play therapy with children who have experienced disrupted attachment relationships and trauma. As always, I had many questions and they answered them all. If you found Robyn Gobbel...

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, I'm joined by Therapist and EMDR Consultant Jocelyn Fitzgerald. We discussed the integration of creativity in trauma therapy, exploring the power of EMDR combined with creative arts, which she has used in working with refugees. She shared about her book, EMDR and the Creative Arts Therapies. The conversation also delves into the role of psychedelics in...

This week, I'm speaking with Debra Wesselmann about attachment injuries in children and families. We discussed the importance of early intervention in attachment wounds, the integration of EMDR therapy, and the development of the Integrative Attachment Trauma Protocol for Children. The conversation highlights the complexities of parent-child dynamics in therapy and the profound impact of traum...

This week, in a special 500th episode of Therapy Chat, I shared a behind the scenes look at what happened when I got bad news right before a LIVE, in person interview with Janina Fisher on shame. I talked about the profound challenges of asking for help, especially for those of us who have experienced emotional or physical neglect. In a twist from the usual Therapy Chat episode, I talked about my...

In this week's episode of Therapy Chat, I interviewed the amazing Kim Barthel about the intricate connections between trauma, the sensory system, and healing. We explored the role of the vestibular system, the Vagus Nerve, and the importance of co-regulation in therapy. Kim shares insights from her extensive experience in Occupational Therapy and discusses the impact of developmental trauma on...

This week's episode of Therapy Chat is on a topic which we've covered before - religious trauma. This week's guest, SC Nealy (they/she) discusses the impact of religious trauma and offers additional perspective into the harm it can cause for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Our conversation was fascinating to me, and I hope you'll find many valuable insights through listening to ou...

How can therapists learn to see countertransference as a gift, rather than a problem? This week's guest is Stefanie Klein, LCSW. Stefanie, an SEP and  NARM Master Therapist, is the Assistant Training Director for the Complex Trauma Training Center where she is also a consultant and faculty in the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) and the new SPACE program for psychotherapists. Our convers...