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

How Can You Create an Ethical Faith-Based Practice? An Interview with Whitney Owens, LPC Curt and Katie interview Whitney Owens, LPC of Wise Practice, about faith-based practice. We look at what therapists can get wrong when considering incorporating faith into therapy. We also talk about what to do (and NOT do) when creating a faith-based therapy practice, specifically talking about ethics, using...

What Can Therapists Do When Clients Don’t Getting Better? Curt and Katie chat about what modern therapists can do when their clients don’t (or can’t) get better. We explore what “getting better" looks like in therapy, what can get in the way of clients improving, how we can support clients who are unable to reach traditional treatment goals, and how clinicians can take care of ourselves while doin...

Are You Actually Neurodivergent Affirming? An Interview with Sonny Jane Wise Curt and Katie interview Sonny Jane Wise, the Lived Experience Educator. We chat about therapists getting stuck in neuro-normative expectations and norms or refusing to accept medication or accommodations as neurodivergent affirming. We look at how you can get more creative and individualized to support neurodivergent ind...

Liability Hot Potato: Defensive Therapy practices that give clients inadequate care Curt and Katie chat about defensive therapy practices. We talk about how therapists avoid liability by practicing defensively, which can harm our clients. We look at common defensive therapy practices, like refusing to see clients with certain types of risk or too quickly hospitalizing someone. We explore the risks...

Special Episode: Modern Therapist’s Consumer Guide on Thrizer Curt and Katie talk with Raunak Sharma, owner of Thrizer, a modern payment processing app for private pay therapists. Thrizer is a modern payments solution built for therapists. You can charge clients securely, receive payments seamlessly, and enable insurance reimbursements automatically. We chat with Raunak about Thrizer as well as hi...

How to Provide Culturally Appropriate Care for African American Families, An Interview with Mercedes Samudio, LCSW Curt and Katie interview Mercedes Samudio, LCSW, about working with African American Families. We talk about what therapists typically get wrong when working with these families, what therapists need to know about working with African American families, how to work cross culturally, a...

The Future Is Now: Chatbots are Replacing Mental Health Workers Curt and Katie chat about what happened with the National Eating Disorder Association and their chatbot, Tessa, as well as new prompts to make ChatGPT act like a CBT therapist. We also look at the risks related to chatbots taking over mental health and crisis services. We also discuss what therapists can do to safeguard their practice...

The Sky is Falling: How Therapists Can Protect Our Industry, Patient-Centered Care, and Our Businesses, An Interview with Dr. Ajita Robinson Curt and Katie interview Dr. Ajita Robinson about innovation within the mental health industry that could threaten therapists in private practice. We chat about Value Based Care in insurance, insurance credentialing companies, and big tech disruptors. We also...

How Do Therapists Develop? Curt and Katie chat about how therapists can be rigid in their thinking at times and then seem to be performing mental gymnastics at other times. We look at the developmental stages of therapists (drawing from William Perry’s work) and identify where therapists get stuck, where they often regress, rebel, or sink into compliance. Transcripts for this episode will be avail...

Teaching Wisdom: Best practices for decision-making to support your clients Curt and Katie chat about decision-making best practices. We look at how we make decisions, what the decision-making process looks like, what can get in the way of effective decision-making, and how therapists can support their clients in making the best possible decisions. This is a continuing education podcourse. Transcr...

Does Your Social Media Make You Look Like a Bad Therapist? Curt and Katie chat about therapists putting out advice on social media. We look at how bad this advice can be and when it can even be harmful. We talk about what makes this advice bad and what to do instead.   Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com! In this podcast episode we talk about therapist influencers giv...

Oklahoma Bureaucrats Want Your Mental Health Records Curt and Katie chat about some Oklahoma legislation about health information exchange. We talk about what a health information exchange is, the concerns with Oklahoma’s legislation related to health information exchange, and how therapists can advocate effectively (as modern therapists in Oklahoma have done).    Transcripts for this episode will...

Making Every Therapy Practice Profitable: An Interview with Julie Herres Curt and Katie interview Julie Herres of GreenOak Accounting about her new book, Profit First for Therapists. We explore what profit first is, the unique challenges that therapist face in implementing profit first, the core principles of profit first, mistakes therapists make in implementation, and the benefits of using this...

What is Our Fascination with Anything Vaguely Neuroscience? Curt and Katie chat about our profession’s fascination with neuroscience. We explore the myths about the brain, why therapists lean on neuroscience (even when they really shouldn’t), and how “neuro” is misused and can actually be harmful to our clients.    Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com! In this podcast...

Clinical Work with Sex Workers: An Interview with Jamila Dawson, LMFT and Dr. Theo Burnes, PhD Curt and Katie interview Dr. Theo Burnes and Jamila Dawson on their new book Essential Clinical Care for Sex Workers. We talk about what therapists get wrong when thinking about sex work and sex workers, what common biases therapists hold about sex work, what sex work looks like now, and how clinicians c...

Is AI Smart for Your Therapy Practice? The ethics of artificial intelligence in therapy Curt and Katie chat about the use of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence as part of your therapy practice. We look at what uses therapists are considering, the differences between chatbots and search engines, and basic information on how chatbots work. We explore ethical implications for using chatbots wi...

What Therapists Should Know About Code-Switching: An Interview with Dr. Jameta Nicole Barlow Curt and Katie interview Dr. Jameta Nicole Barlow on code-switching. We explore what code-switching is, the mental health impacts of code-switching, and how therapists can support clients who code-switch. Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com! In this podcast episode, we talk ab...

Why Is Therapy Taking So Long? The causes and solutions for therapeutic drift Curt and Katie chat about the tendency for therapists to drift clinically – meaning that they fail to use evidence-based practices that they have been trained to do. We explore the phenomenon of therapeutic drift, contributing factors, ways to mitigate risk, and what therapists can do to address this tendency that leads...

What Therapists Should Know About Dissociation and Dissociative Disorders: An Interview with Dr. Jamie Marich Curt and Katie interview Dr. Jamie Marich, author of Dissociation Made Simple, about dissociation and dissociative identities. We talk with Jamie about what therapists often get wrong as well as some basics on what dissociation is and how best to understand and treat it (when it actually n...

Understanding Your Money in Private Practice: An Interview with Jennie Schottmiller Curt and Katie interview Jennie Schottmiller, LMFT, CPA, about understanding your numbers when starting a private practice. We explore the simple math that can help you create consistent income and decrease your anxiety about running a business.  Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com! In...

Has Therapy Become the New Religion? Curt and Katie chat about op ed pieces from the New York Times, where there are a lot of opinions on what therapy is and should be. We explore comparisons of therapy to religion, the notion that going to therapy makes one good, safe and dateable, and how therapy seems to have invaded our lives.    Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.co...

Understanding Impostor Syndrome in High Achievers: An Interview with Stevon Lewis, LMFT Curt and Katie interview Stevon Lewison working with high achievers who struggle with impostor syndrome. We explored what impostor syndrome is, how society contributes to impostor syndrome, how you can differentiate impostor syndrome from internalized racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, etc., the emotional i...

Supervision in the Real World: Understanding what makes an effective supervisory alliance Curt and Katie chat about the relationship between supervisor and supervisee in clinical supervision. We explore what makes up a good supervisory alliance, what the research says (and why it is problematic), as well the practicalities of how to create a good relationship and set up a strong supervision meetin...

Sex Therapy with Perfectionists: An Interview with Dr. Tom Murray Curt and Katie interview Dr. Tom Murray about sex therapy for clients with the overcontrolled temperament. We talk about how temperament can affect one’s sex life, what therapists often miss in conversations about sex, and what good sex therapy can look like for these clients.  Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgp...

What Actually is Therapy? Curt and Katie chat about the confusing laws related to telehealth and other technologies that open up questions of how therapy is actually defined. We look at what is not therapy, what constitutes a therapy session, what differentiates therapy from coaching, and how therapists can navigate confusing laws related to texting, telehealth, and interstate communication with t...