How To Address Therapy Clients' "Undercurrents" and Stress In Therapy

September 1, 2021 Ili Rivera Walter, PhD, LMFT

Feeling confident when offering therapy to families is a goal for many therapists and counselors. When we face the limitations of an individual perspective on treatment, we are left to wonder, “What theory, or techniques, can help this client comprehensively?”

Dr. Scott Sells explains two techniques from the Family Systems Trauma Model (FST) that will reframe family problems and help lead to second-order change. FST is applicable to your work whether you see individuals, couples, or families.

The Importance of Using Metaphors and Metaphoric Tales as a Therapeutic Intervention

April 21, 2020 Carolina Díaz

Using Metaphor as a Therapeutic Intervention

Metaphor is a figure of speech that consists of naming, describing, or qualifying something through its similarity or analogy to something else. It’s not just about songwriting or poetry-- we use metaphors all the time. After all, we all “fall in love” or “get stuck” at some point in our lives.

In the psychoanalytic approach, metaphors have always been very important, since the unconscious mind is

Family Therapy Basics Research RoundUp: Winter 2020

January 28, 2020 Ili Rivera Walter, PhD, LMFT

Research RoundUp, Winter 2020 | Family Therapy Basics

This post includes brief summaries of four articles, and two books I read recently. Three articles are from 2017, and one article is from 2019. I found the articles from 2017 as I researched topics for a few classes I was teaching last fall.

All articles are from the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. As a MFT, I always start my research in this journal.

My regular disclaimer for these posts is: While MFTs are referenced throughout the summaries, the information is relevant to all psychotherapists, regardless of discipline.

Trauma and Ambivalence In Therapy, with Dr. Robert T. Muller

October 29, 2019 Ili Rivera Walter, PhD, LMFT

In the following video, my guest is Dr. Robert T. Muller, author of Trauma and The Struggle to Open Up. Dr. Muller and I discuss the topic of clients’ ambivalence toward their trauma histories, how this ambivalence is challenged, naturally, through clients’ life experiences, as well as how the ambivalence may show up in the therapeutic encounter.

To view the video, or read the transcript,