The Whole Therapist

Abby and Kellee broach the topic of using touch in the therapy space with both adult and child clients. They discuss the healing benefits of touch from various therapeutic modalities. Abby and Kellee talk through the sacredness of wordless healing. They explore their relationship with touch personally and within the field and how it’s evolved.  Topics Touched on: Theraplay: https://theraplay.org N...

Abby and Kellee spend time exploring how we know when we as therapists are taking clients' progress, lack of progress, emotions, behaviors, etc. personally. They share their own stories of taking it personal, and strategies that can support the therapist to move out of this space and back into attunement with the client. Topics Touched on: Lisa Dion: https://lisa-dion.com Robyn Gobbel: https:...

Abby and Kellee continue to wonder and wander their way through the multi-seasonal book series. Come laugh together under full moon energy in Chapter 5 of   “The Development of a Therapist.” by Louis Cozolino. They model humility, uncertainty, and the importance of humor as we engage this emergent field.  Topics Touched on: The Development of a Therapist: Healing Others- Healing Self: https://www....

Abby and Kellee continue the multi-seasonal book series and  offer continued discussion of Chapter Four: Surface Level and Deep Level Narratives, Part Two!  in  “The Development of a Therapist.” by Louis Cozolino. They use a powerful question offered by Cozolino to guide their conversation, and share personal narratives parts of them hold, in addition to practical applications when working with cl...

Abby and Kellee continue the multi-seasonal book series and  explore Chapter Four: Surface Level and Deep Level Narratives  in  “The Development of a Therapist.” by Louis Cozolino. They use chapter four to explore the beauty in sitting with deeper client narratives and the need for family of origin work. Topics Touched on: The Development of a Therapist: Healing Others- Healing Self: https://www.a...

Come join us as we take a pause on our book series and explore the concept of Structure in the therapy space! Abby and Kellee use their own personal and professional experiences as they reflect on how Structure relates to Boundaries.  They discuss the value to clients and clinicians in holding Structure, and leave some questions for listeners to reflect on in their own lives and practices. Topics...

Get ready to smile the whole way through! Abby and Kellee use humor and self-reflection as they explore concepts in chapter three like: self-awareness in the therapy space, process over content, tracking themes, and “listening with the third ear.” They discuss imposter syndrome coming up for them as they re-read the book with this community, and of course throw in a great garden analogy. Topics To...

Abby and Kellee continue the summer book series and  explore Chapter Two: Therapist Imagination  in  “The Development of a Therapist.” by Louis Cozolino. They use chapter two to explore "shuttling," the need for ongoing consultation, and laughter around engrained assumptions like wearing headphones to record.  Kellee and Abby share the felt sense behind 'trusting the process.' ...

Abby and Kellee begin to explore chapter one of their summer book series using, “The Development of a Therapist.” They use chapter one to explore how therapists’ and clients’ left and right brain show up in the therapy space. Kellee and Abby share what it means and feels like to use and blend poetry and science for healing purposes.  Topics Touched on: On Being with Krista Tippett: https://onbeing...

Share the love! Abby and Kellee explore the benefits for both therapists and clients sharing and receiving resources with each other. They talk through ways to share books with clients and highlight the need to walk alongside clients while they read a book the therapist has recommended. Abby and Kellee discuss the importance of pairing right brain processing when recommending a book to a client.  ...

Abby and Kellee explore making mistakes in the therapy room, and the shame that becomes very alive and present for therapists. They share their own stories of mistakes with clients, the shame they felt, and ways they have learned to regulated through these moments. They also include an audio clip from a professor at a local university who shares his own mistake as an intern therapist and the shame...

Topics Touched on: Abby and Kellee explore healing others and having to hold boundaries with our own families and friends. They express the grief that can be present when healers see their own family or friends suffering but needing to maintain the boundary of not becoming their healer. They also hold the relief that may come for some knowing they cannot be the healer for their friends our family....

Self-disclosure. What is it? When do we use it? When is it helpful? When can it be harmful? Abby and Kellee discuss the importance of awareness around the intention of the therapist’s disclosure. They ask when does self-disclosure create expansion and joining for the therapist and client? Kellee and Abby give examples of when disclosure has been helpful or not helpful for them as clients, and thei...

Have you ever had that client that “talks at you,” or noticed you yourself “talking at the client?” Do you ever wonder if words in the therapy room may not be the most optimal for healing? Abby and Kellee spend this episode exploring how “talking”, a left brain skill, must be used intentionally to heal our clients.  Topics Touched on: World Association of Sandtray Therapy Professionals (WASP): htt...

Get ready to talk about money! How do we decide our rates? Abby and Kellee explore their personal relationship with money, and how this impacts their relationship with money as private practice owners. While Kellee and Abby focus this episode on those who have private practices the episode encourages all therapists to become aware of their own relationship with money, and how this lives inside the...

What’s a therapist to do when they feel uninspired? Abby and Kellee use the parallel process of the podcast and being a therapist as they explore the experience of being uninspired. How do we show up for clients when we feel uninspired? Can we trust in our clients’ own process that they will come to therapy inspired and our role is to simply follow them, be with them?  Topics Touched on: Jaak Pank...

Abby and Kellee touch on grief, and the ways it shows up for therapists in the field. They share the need to welcome grief again and again; it cannot be box that is just “checked off.” Abby and Kellee explore ways to set boundaries as therapists navigate the hard work they do in this field.  Topics Touched on: Michael Pollan- https://michaelpollan.com Kate Bowler- https://katebowler.com Follow us:...

Abby and Kellee welcome veteran and new listeners to season 3! They share hopes for season 3, and then move into using the parallel process of welcoming clients into our space for the first time, third time, or 100th time. They challenge listeners to be reflective on how listeners show up for their clients when welcoming them for an intake, after a brief pause, after a rupture, after a planned bre...

Abby and Kellee say goodbye to season two this episode. As they reflect on their own process, they move into exploring process over content within the therapy space. Why would we want to focus more on process over content? What cues let you know you or the client are avoiding processing? How do we move clients into processing when they are heavily guarded?  Topics Touched on: The Keep Going Song-...

Abby and Kellee are beginning to wrap up season two and find themselves recording in a rather silly mood. If you are looking for lightness, laughter, and vulnerability join Abby and Kellee as they explore what their careers would be if they weren’t therapists. Of course, they tie in how this relates to our own security and connectedness to our therapist identity.  Topics Touched on: Rick Hanson- B...

Get ready to ground into this episode as Kellee and Abby explore dissociation. They talk about dissociations being on a continuum, a natural, and normal part of all our lives. They also discuss the brilliance in the body dissociating after trauma and encourage therapist to lean it not run away. Abby and Kellee end the episode offering basic strategies therapists can use to support clients with dis...

Abby and Kellee talk about curiosity in the therapy room from an IPNB perspective. They explore how compassionate and respectful curiosity looks and feels different in the therapy space versus curiosity where we have an agenda; a path we are wanting to follow. Abby and Kellee go on to discuss how we must know we don’t know something to truly be curious with our clients in the therapy space.  Topic...

Have you ever found yourself in a season reaching too far, too fast, too soon regarding a clinical skill or training? Have you worked in a setting where there wasn’t space for a learning curve, or tolerable doses of new clinical skills?  Using a plant analogy Abby and Kellee explore the impact of reaching too far, too fast, too soon with trainings, with clients, and with supervisees Topics Touched...

Abby and Kellee explore differentiation. How do we begin to enter our client’s pain without making it our own? They spend time talking about how growth happens at the edge (the space between). They share times they have made a client’s pain their own and discuss strategies to maintain differentiation.  Topics Touched on: If Women Rose Rooted- Sharon Blackie: https://www.amazon.com/If-Women-Rose-Ro...

Have you found yourself feeling rejected by a client, or attempting to rattle off multiple solutions for them? Abby and Kellee explore how clients who cannot accept care and trust in the therapy space may be showing you a wise part of themselves, a younger part that developed block trust out of childhood maltreatment. They discuss what this can look like with adults and child clients, what it migh...