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

Understanding the Psychological Impacts of Leaving Afghanistan, Part 1: Military Veterans An interview with Rob Bates, SFC IN USA ret., MA, LMHC, on how veterans may be responding to the US leaving Afghanistan after 20 years at war. Curt and Katie talk with Rob about his service in the military and how it has impacted his view on therapy and being a therapist. He explains how he typically works wi...

What the Grief Just Happened? An interview with Sonya Lott, Ph. D, on how COVID has impacted our experience of grief. Curt and Katie talk with Sonya about the types of grief people are experiencing and how people have been coping thus far. We explore what prolonged grief is and the risk factors that contribute to it as well as tips to support clients. We also talk about the need for therapists to...

Asian American Mental Health An interview with Linda Yoon, LCSW, on specific mental health needs of Asian American clients. Curt and Katie talk with Linda about what therapists often get wrong when working with Asian clients and colleagues. We explore the model minority myth, fetishization of Asian women, and the complexity of the heterogeneous group that falls under the term “Asian American.” We...

How to Fire Your Clients (Ethically) Curt and Katie chat about how to appropriately terminate with clients when icky situations arise. We explore how therapists can develop an ethical decision-making process to protect themselves against possible complaints to ethics boards. We also talk about how privilege plays a role in icky terminations and how therapists can work to balance their safety and s...

How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome to Leave Your Agency Job An interview with Patrick Casale, LCMHC, LCAS, about how impostor syndrome and other barriers can get in the way of therapists moving forward into private practice. Curt and Katie talk with Patrick about what it takes to make the leap from negative work situations and become a “therapist wizard.” We also look at lots of creative ideas on h...

An Incomplete List of Everything Wrong with Therapist Education An interview with Diane Gehart, LMFT, on what works in therapy and where the field is headed. Curt and Katie talk with Diane about the overwhelming amount of information new therapists must learn in school and how this impacts their confidence. We also explore how the field is moving towards synthesizing theories and how this will imp...

Psychiatric Crises in the Emergency Room Interview with Kesy Yoon, LMHC and James McMahill, LMFT Kesy Yoon, LMHC: As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), I am dedicated to helping my clients understand who they are and how they fit into the world around them. Over the past six years, I have worked in a variety of mental health settings with individuals from all walks of life. Currently, I wo...

Why YOU Shouldn’t Sell Out to BetterHelp An interview with Jeff Guenther, LPC from TherapyDen about the ins and outs of affiliate partnerships. Curt and Katie talk with Jeff about the offer he received from BetterHelp and why he turned it down – taking some time to discuss the therapist businesses and influencers who have chosen this partnership and the subsequent backlash from the online therapis...

The State of the Profession in a COVID World Curt and Katie chat about the current state of the Mental Health Profession. We give our opinion on a recent report from SimplePractice, looking at what they included as well as what we think is missing. We explore how COVID has impacted burnout rates and give action steps professionals can take to support each other as we continue to move forward as a...

Modern Therapist’s Consumer Guide on SimplePractice Curt and Katie talk with Howard Spector, CEO and Diana Stepner, VP of Product for SimplePractice. We look at how SimplePractice has been envisioned, the company values, and the details of the product, so you can decide if SimplePractice is the Practice Management System for your private practice. This is the Modern Therapist Consumer Guide, a ser...

Being a Therapist on Both Sides of the Couch An interview with Rwenshaun Miller, LCMHC, where he shares what therapists get wrong when understanding the client perspective and how to genuinely connect with clients. Curt and Katie chat with Rwenshaun about tough questions on racial bias in diagnosing and the impact of systemic structures in Black and brown communities. They also discuss a vision fo...

At Least 3 Reasons Continuing Education Sucks Curt and Katie chat about why continuing education is usually pretty ineffective. We dig into a listener question related to repackaged, introductory level, uninspiring presentations. We look at the systemic concerns related to CE standards as well as the difficulty balancing high quality education with affordability. We explore research that shows tha...

How to Stay in Your Lane to Support Diversity and Inclusion An interview with Dr. Joy Cox, PhD, on tapping into the strength of community and genuine relationships to understand and address systemic oppression. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Joy about intersectionality, the harmful stories we can tell ourselves about people who are different from us, and what we can do to best support diversity and...

Why You Should Stop Trying to Convince Clients to Change An interview with Hillary Bolter, LCSW, on Motivational Interviewing. Curt and Katie chat with Hillary about what MI really is, what therapists often get wrong when supporting clients in making changes, and the importance of how therapists show up for this evidence-based model.   It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a thera...

Post Pandemic Practice Curt and Katie chat about what our practices can look like post pandemic. We explore the creativity that the pandemic has inspired and what the clinical and business implications might be for continuing in flexible modalities. We talk about logistics, clinical evaluation, and ethics related to the options available for the clients. We also talk about how to take care of your...

Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy An interview with Dr. Craig Heacock, M.D., about innovative treatments in psychiatry. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Heacock about psychedelic-assisted therapy – looking at efficacy, safety, and risks for these promising treatments (ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA) for depression and trauma. We also discuss the debate about medicalization versus legalization of these subs...

Serious Mental Illness and Homelessness An interview with California State Senator Henry Stern and Dr. Curley Bonds, Chief Medical Officer for Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health about legislation and programmatic changes needed to better serve highly vulnerable individuals. Curt and Katie talk with both Senator Stern and Dr. Bonds about the limitations of Laura’s Law and the Lanterman-...

Fixing Mental Healthcare in America An interview with Dr. Nicole Eberhart and Dr. Ryan McBain from the RAND Corporation. Curt and Katie kick of their special series related to the problems and potential solutions in the mental healthcare system. We interview Drs. Eberhart and McBain about the study they authored related to the structural concerns in the mental health system as it is currently buil...

It’s NOT a Chemical Imbalance An interview with Dr. Kristen Syme on the situational and cultural impacts on depression. Curt and Katie talk with Dr. Syme about the role anthropology can play in helping to challenge long held assumptions in psychology. We look at conceptualizations for depression and suicidality and how the over focus (in the Western world) on the individual as the agent for mental...

Partners of Therapists Curt and Katie chat about how our job and training can impact our partners. We look at the benefits like emotional intelligence, resilience, and perspective. We also look at the challenges therapists and their partners face when trying to navigate being in relationship while one partner is navigating this career. Suggestions about how to navigate conversations and confidenti...

Bilingual Supervision An interview with Adriana Rodriguez, LMFT, about how to support bilingual, bicultural therapists. Curt and Katie talk with Adriana about her experiences as a clinician as well as her perception of the systemic concerns that bilingual/bicultural therapists face. We also dig into common work challenges for these clinicians, the ethical and competency concerns monolingual superv...

Therapy with an Audience An interview with Doug Friedman, LCSW, the host of Your Mental Breakdown, on why he chose to record therapy sessions for his podcast. Curt and Katie talk with Doug about the logistics and benefits of publicly providing therapy. We also look at how podcasting can decrease stigma and open up flexibility to learn as a therapist (rather than rigidly holding to a modality or to...

Episode 200: Mail Bag! Curt and Katie reflect on 200 episodes, answer questions and respond to feedback from listeners. We explore the tension between making a good living and providing affordable mental health care to consumers. We dig into paying prelicensed individuals, antitrust concerns, training centers, ethics codes, app therapy, setting fees, and therapist career trajectories.         It’s...

Why Therapists Quit Part 2 Curt and Katie chat about the response from listeners to our episode on why therapists quit. We look at the differences in responses (those who felt angry and those who felt validated) as well as our reasons for doubling down. We also dig into the differences between pessimism and realism, pairing our realistic take on the current problems with a call to action that aspi...

Infertility and Pregnancy Loss An interview with Tracy Gilmour-Nimoy, LMFT, on understanding infertility as well as pregnancy and infant loss. Curt and Katie interview Tracy, a certified perinatal mental health professional, on what the medical and mental health professions often miss related to reproductive health and pregnancy. We dig into the basics and common mistakes as well as the harm cause...