The Art and Science of Therapy as Craft

April 4, 2017 Ili Rivera Walter, PhD, LMFT

Dr. Anna Lynn Schooley, professor and family therapist, joined me recently for a conversation about therapy as a craft. AnnaLynn is a professor, clinical supervisor, licensed therapist in mental health and marriage and family therapy. She identifies as a family therapist; as a result, our chat leans toward a systemic view of therapy and clients.

Recently, I have been hearing more and more that master therapists view therapy as a conversational craft. Bill Doherty mentioned it in a talk he gave in November of 2016, and Elliott Connie also emphasizes this point. I invited AnnaLynn to discuss this topic, because she is a master therapist and teacher.

7 Questions for Opening Your Therapy Sessions

November 15, 2016 Ili Rivera Walter, PhD, LMFT

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It's easy to get stuck in a rut with specific elements of therapy structure.

I have a professor that sees every interaction with a client as part of the therapeutic relationship, and therefore, he interacts intentionally with his clients always, choosing his language and messages carefully based on their therapeutic value.

We don't all view our relationships with our clients in the same way, which means this type of scrutiny may not seem necessary to all of us; however, there is merit in evaluating the details of our sessions in order to become aware of habits that may not be yielding the results we desire.

For example, it’s common for opening questions to become casual greetings rather than relationally impactful interactions between therapist and client. Purposeful opening questions are the topic of this post.

Making Sense of a "Failed" Therapy Session

October 25, 2016 Ili Rivera Walter, PhD, LMFT

We all have them--sessions that are a struggle all the way through and that leave us feeling defeated. Even as a seasoned therapist, I’ve been caught off-guard by the unexpected failed session. The truth is, no matter our level of experience, we will have these sessions here and there, and I suppose my point in writing this post is to remind you (and myself) that we shouldn’t be surprised by them. After all, we are fallible.

That's the reason the word failed is in quotation marks throughout this post. There are no failed sessions, if we learn from them.

When we take lessons from these sessions

Two Simple Questions That Will Transform Your Therapy Work

August 30, 2016 Ili Rivera Walter, PhD, LMFT

As therapists, we often work with clients that are connected to a variety of systems, and those systems also become our extended working environments (or additional “customers”). The consideration of these extended environments set systemic practice apart from individually-oriented practice. It also contributes to the possibility of therapists losing track of what’s most important for clients, due to external systems representing varied, and sometimes competing, interests. Furthermore, all the information (a.k.a. “content”) that comes with working from an inclusive, systemic lens can obscure a clear clinical focus.