Getting Started as a Therapist. 50+ Tips for Clinical Effectiveness

Getting Started as a Therapist provides students and new therapists with a bridge between education and practice. Written for a transtheoretical audience, the book explores questions and struggles common to students and new therapist supervisees. Readers can find pointed guidance in 52 chapters, spanning five categories. Categories include:

• Establishing better therapeutic relationships.
• What to avoid saying to patients.
• Increasing diagnostic accuracy, understanding why diagnosis is not a dirty word, and how it is critical to a good outcome.
• Specialized topics like how to more effectively talk about self‑injury and learning to use metaphors.
• Professional development such as making the most of supervision and how to limit liability.

The succinct chapters come alive with real‑life examples and are often followed by suggestions for further reading and worksheets that help readers to refine their practice.

CONTENTS

SECTION I: Setting the Stage 1 It’s Not Like on TV; 2 Be Yourself; 3 Therapy isn’t a Race; 4 Don’t Forget the Basics; 5 Forget About Being So Formal; 6 Mastering Your Therapeutic Presence; 7 Body Language Basics; 8 How to Polish Your Summarizing; 9 Find Value in Silence; 10 Strive to Cultivate Substance in Each Session; 11 Ask About Meaning; 12 Be Attentive to Your Intuition; 13 Don’t Rely on Psychological Archaeology; SECTION II: Things Therapists Shouldn’t Say 14 The Big Three; 15 Beware of the “Suck‑It‑Up” Trap; 16 What Not to Say to Anxious Patients; 17 What Not to Say to Depressed Patients; 18 What Not to Say to People Who Hear Voices; SECTION III: Demystifying Diagnosis 19 Ignore Popular Culture Portrayals of Mental Illnesses; 20 In Defense of Diagnosis (Part 1); 21 In Defense of Diagnosis (Part 2); 22 Post‑Diagnosis Considerations; 23 Never Diagnose Based on One Chief Symptom; 24 Re‑Evaluate Historical Diagnoses; 25 Five Quick Tips for More Thorough Assessments; 26 Always Consider Medical Mimicry; 27 How to Evaluate for Medical Mimicry; 28 How to Discuss Diagnoses with Patients; SECTION IV: Special Topics 29 Interview, Don’t Interrogate; 30 Try Not to be Alarmist; 31 Be Familiar with the Defenses; 32 Approach Trauma Lightly; 33 Learn About Self‑Injury; 34 Exploring Therapist Self‑Disclosure; 35 There’s No Need to Rescue; 36 Why Therapists Must Be Salespeople; 37 Learn to Reframe; 38 Getting Friendly with Metaphors; 39 What if Someone Implies, “You’d Never Understand”?; 40 Pay Attention to the Role of Culture; 41 Talk About Medications; 42 Personality Disorders Are Important; 43 Ask for Feedback; SECTION V: Professional Development 44 Consider an Integrative Approach; 45 Limiting Liability; 46 Clinical Supervision Is Vital for Therapist Growth; 47 Take Continuing Education Seriously; 48 Have Clinical Heroes; 49 Improve Your Clinical Skills After Hours; 50 Do Therapists Need Therapy?; 51 Protecting Your Own Mental Health; 52 You Can’t Save Them All