Light Up The Couch

Mara Sammartino, LCSW, explores how clinicians can support Hispanic and Latino/x/e clients with cultural humility, curiosity, and respect amid heightened fear and safety concerns. She offers practical guidance for building trust, addressing systemic stressors, and reducing barriers to care. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost m...

Boris Kisilev, MD, explores how cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship can affect patients and the people who care for them. He offers practical guidance for addressing anxiety, grief, trauma, treatment-related mental health symptoms, caregiver stress, fear of recurrence, and the need for coordinated, multidisciplinary support. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Earn CE credit for listen...

Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, explores how cognitive impairment and dementia can show up in clinical work. She offers practical guidance for adapting communication, supporting caregivers, preserving dignity, and expanding care when clients need more support. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT.  Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited pod...

Dr. Julia Macaronis explores ethical, culturally responsive supervision practices, offering concrete strategies for addressing power, positionality, feedback, gatekeeping, and cultural humility in support of safer learning environments and supervisee growth. Presentation. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE credits for an entire...

Dr. Londyn Miller, LMFT, examines mental health leave in the workplace, helping clinicians identify how occupational stressors, systemic influences, and functional impairment converge, while providing practical strategies to support assessment, stabilization, and return-to-work planning. Presentation. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited pod...

Dr. Kristin Dempsey, LMFT, LPCC, and Ali Hall, Juris Doctor, explore how motivational interviewing evolves in real-world practice, helping clinicians move beyond core skills to navigate context, systemic influences, and the complexities of change, while applying a flexible, process-oriented approach that supports engagement, autonomy, and meaningful progress. Presentation. Earn CE credit for liste...

Dr. Nancy Grechko explores how stigma, trauma, and emotion dysregulation shape borderline personality disorder, helping clinicians reconsider diagnostic assumptions, recognize internalized and overlooked presentations, and apply a trauma-informed lens to support more accurate, compassionate care. Presentation. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unli...

Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge explores how early nervous system dysregulation shows up in children, helping clinicians recognize signs of overload or shutdown and apply a regulation-first lens to support stabilization and engagement. Presentation. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE credits for an entire year, with some of the strong...

Robin Abbott, OT, explores how the vestibular system shapes emotion, attention, and behavior, helping clinicians recognize when dysregulation may be sensory-based and apply a body-based lens to support regulation. Presentation. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE credits for an entire year, with some of the strongest CE approvals...

Kelly Higdon, LMFT, and Miranda Palmer, LMFT, review the growing use of artificial intelligence in psychotherapy and explore both its potential advantages and important ethical and practical limitations for clinical care. Presentation. This episode has been proudly sponsored by AutoNotes, an AI-powered clinical workspace helping therapists save time on documentation while supporting ethical, HIPAA...

Dr. Beth Mullen-Houser, LPC, and Hanna Soumerai Rea, LICSW, examine how therapist reactions to suicide talk influence clinical care, integrating research and Internal Family Systems informed practice to offer strategies for staying grounded and connected in high-stakes sessions. Presentation. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE c...

Dr. Matt Zakreski, PsyD, examines how clinicians can distinguish sensory overload from behavioral concerns and develop individualized sensory support plans that promote regulation and engagement. Presentation. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE credits for an entire year, with some of the strongest CE approvals in the country (A...

Daniel Lobel, PhD, discusses the adult impact of growing up with a parent or caregiver with borderline personality disorder, with a focus on mistrust, identity development challenges, and therapeutic support for healing. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT.Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE credits for an entire year, with some...

Helen Bennett, counsellor and psychotherapist, explores hormone-aware therapy practices and how hormonal shifts can influence neurodivergent presentations in clients assigned female at birth, with a focus on reducing distress, improving clinical understanding, and avoiding misdiagnosis. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT.Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost member...

Jordan Harris, PhD, LMFT-S, LPC-S, shares how recognizing resistance as a timing cue, not a clinical failure, can transform therapeutic responsiveness through process coding and feedback-informed treatment principles. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT.Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE credits for an entire year, with some of...

Robyn Miller, PhD, outlines the real-life emotional, legal, and logistical burdens that fall on clients, loved ones, and colleagues when clinicians lack a clear professional will, and she offers practical steps for creating a thoughtful plan that protects everyone involved. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT.Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unli...

Dr. Peter Addy, LPC, LMHC, integrates foundational set and setting concepts with core therapeutic competencies to support clinicians working with clients who use psychedelics while outlining ethical responses, harm reduction strategies, and ways to incorporate these experiences into ongoing treatment. Interview with Elizabeth Irias. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-c...

Sarah Bergenfield, MA, IFS educator, explains how Internal Family Systems can help autistic clients reduce overwhelm, understand their parts, and build confidence through self-compassion and predictability. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT.Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE credits for an entire year, with some of the strong...

Dr. Keith Klostermann, LMFT, MHC, shares practical, evidence-based ways to use early feedback data to spot dropout risk, repair ruptures before clients vanish, and foster lasting engagement and progress. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Quick Note: You may notice a little clicking in Beth’s audio during this episode — turns out her microphone needed replacing, which she discovered after recor...

Dr. Elyssa Helfer, CST, LMFT, explores the ethical and cultural dimensions of kink-affirming therapy, helping clinicians distinguish between abuse and healthy erotic expression to enhance ethical competence and cultural humility. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE credits for an entire year,...

Dr. Matt Zakreski, PsyD, reframes “deficits” as different operating systems, highlighting neurodiversity across giftedness, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and OCD (the "big five"), and explores how clinicians can adapt care with supports that build on clients’ strengths and maximize skills. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membersh...

Lara Okoloko, LICSW, traces codependency’s roots in addiction culture, exposing the cultural and clinical gaps created when vague definitions pathologize normal caregiving. She then introduces evidence-based strategies that promote autonomy and reduce harm. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE...

Dr. Jaimee Arnoff reviews evidence-based strategies to help caregivers support adolescents facing suicidal ideation or self-harm, including guidance on boundary setting, safety planning, and recognizing when to escalate to emergency services. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT.Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE credits for an...

Linda Hershman, LMFT, examines how later-in-life parental divorce disrupts rituals, relationships, finances, and caregiving for Adult Children of Divorce (ACODs), highlighting ways to validate their grief and foster resilience across family systems. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT.Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcast CE credits...

Amanda Ann Gregory, LCPC, offers a critical look at forgiveness in trauma therapy, clarifying its elective role and its distinction from reconciliation, as well as providing practical tools to help therapists integrate these concepts responsibly into treatment. Interview with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Earn CE credit for listening to this episode by joining our low-cost membership for unlimited podcas...