The results of the 2018 annual Family Therapy Basics reader survey are in! We collected 118 survey responses in one week.

I was surprised by some of the information you provided, as well as encouraged by your positive and affirming feedback. Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me about your experience as a reader and blog subscriber!

I take your feedback to heart, and I review your answers when I’m considering what to create next for the library, the blog, as well as other services, to ensure that they will meet your needs.

Here are the survey details:

(If you’d like to compare this answer’s to last year’s, here are the results from 2017).

How old are you?

Please identify your gender.

What is your professional discipline?

Family Therapy Basics Reader Survey 2018-Professional Discipline

What is your work setting?

Family Therapy Basics Reader Survey 2018 - Work Setting

How did you find Family Therapy Basics?

Screen Shot 2018-10-29 at 6.54.06 PM.png

What blog topics most interest you?

Family Therapy Basics Reader Survey 2018 - blog topics

Are you subscribed to the Family Therapy Basics email list?

Family Therapy Basics Reader Survey 2018 - email list

Woo hoo! Almost everyone who answered is on the FTB email list. If you’d like to receive blog posts via email, sign up here.

How often do you visit the Family Therapy Basics website?

Family Therapy Basics Reader Survey 2018 - web visits

Do you follow Family Therapy Basics, or Ili Walter, on social media?

Family Therapy Basics Reader Survey 2018 - social media

This answer was very surprising! I assumed that most email subscribers followed me on social media. I’m so glad I asked this question. It showed me how important it is to stay in touch via email, as well as to be present on social media.

If you answered “yes” above, on which platforms?

Family Therapy Basics Reader Survey 2018

What are your current professional goals?

Family Therapy Basics Annual Reader Survey 2018 - professional goals

How has Family Therapy Basics been a helpful resource?

“You have provided information and inspiration to me and many others. It's exciting to see your business grow!”

“Topics are relevant (family work, supervision setup) and responses feel personal.”

“It has helped me to develop my private practice in various ways. And, it has expanded my personal/professional development.”

“Valuable information and helps me to think about new ideas.”

“The perspectives are great and the information offered and highlighted is so useful.”

“I enjoy the blog posts by an established professional, it helps supplement my education.”

“Learn new things, remember importance of self care, increased knowledge and sense of community.”

“Two ways: approaches to take with clients as well as how to take care of myself as a therapist.”

“It has been helpful to have another clinician be intentional and transparent in her journey as a therapist in a manner that is non-threatening and opens internal (and external) dialogue in the reader.”

“It’s helped me to start my own private practice while still working full time in a residential treatment setting.”

Share your feedback!

If you didn’t get a chance to complete the survey, and you’d like to share your feedback, please contact me, or leave a comment below.

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Questions That Will Keep You Focused And Productive, When Life Has Other Plans: Four Steps for Therapists

Last year, I went through some personal situations that left me feeling, at times, at the mercy of events that were out of my control. As a result, I often felt frustrated—blocked from the things that I wanted to do, by my circumstances. This led to a sort of snowball effect that generated ongoing tension between my desires and my present responsibilities. (Have you ever gone through a similar season?)

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When one or both partners in a relationship have trauma, it can adversely affect the relationship. Relationship satisfaction is lower and marital divorce and separation is higher in those who experienced childhood traumas such as physical or sexual abuse, physical attack, or assault (Whisman, (2006). Results from a study by Riggs (2014) suggest that trauma experienced in adulthood can also adversely affect relationships, and that this effect is compounded if both partners have experienced trauma. As a couple therapist, these statistics can be daunting, as they point toward a need to help members of a couple resolve their trauma while addressing relationship issues.

How To Address Weight Stigma, and Clients' Use of Weight-Loss Drugs, in Therapy

For decades, we have heard about the “war on ob*sity.” Alongside that rhetoric, we have witnessed, been complicit in, or helped to fund the creation of what is now a $4.2 trillion worldwide wellness industry (Wellness, 2018).

But a fat body – a term used descriptively and in recognition of the fact that “ob*sity” is an arbitrary designation at best (Singer-Vine, 2009) and a pathologizing slur at worst – does not in and of itself warrant this veritable economy of body transformation. In fact, research has shown both that body weight is a poor indicator of health and that people can achieve good health at many different sizes (Bacon & Aphramor, 2011).

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My own path to moving my therapy clients online began in 2014. At that time, I knew no therapists who were practicing online, and I knew even less about methods for streamlining my client communication. I began with a Google Voice number, and over the years developed a fully online practice with what I consider to be the best systems for my group practice.

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How To Become Known For Your Expertise: Four Steps for Therapists

During a recent Refreshed Therapist Network Q+A, I was asked by a participant, “How do you do it all? You are so prolific!”

My answer? I do what I feel inspired to do in the moment.

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As a therapist who loves working with couples, I am always interested in ways to enhance my couples therapy skills. For this reason, I invited Elliott to explain the reasons why SFBT is his choice for working with clients, as well as how it creates a contrasting experience for couples that have a history in therapy.

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In today’s post, I offer the next step in developing understanding: Creating your genogram. I explain how to create a basic genogram that you can expand as you continue your exploration.

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In this post, I cover steps for disrupting an argument occurring in a couple therapy session. Intervention on the part of the therapist is necessary during some conflicts, because the arguments can cause further damage in the couple relationship. And, if therapists allow arguments to continue for too long, they can affect the couple’s sense of safety when in therapy.

The main goals of intervention in this case are to: