Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
49. Radical Acceptance of Clients (with Dr. Nathan Castle)
20 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Therapist defensiveness is a recurring theme in stories of bad therapy. In this week's episode, Suza...
48. In Defense of Bad Therapy (with Angela Caldwell, LMFT)
13 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week's story from Ashley has all the markings of bad family therapy. But did the interventions ...
47. VBT in History (1980s): Satanic Panic and Recovered Memory Therapy
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A satanic panic in the early 1980s culminated in the McMartin Preschool abuse trial, the then-longes...
46. Curious Interventions
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week's story from Alison is a throwback to high school and all of Carrie and Ben's greatest fea...
45. VBT in Focus: Dr. Scott Miller and Dr. Daryl Chow on Deliberate Practice
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Miller and Daryl Chow return to the podcast to discuss their new book, Better Results: Using D...
44. Supporting Clients with Disabilities (with Joy Wolf, LCSW)
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What should therapists know about working with individuals with disabilities? In this week's episode...
How Should Therapists Respond to Coronavirus?
13 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An urgent conversation about the role of therapists in doing the most public good during the coronav...
43. Specialization and Ethical Responsibility (with Curt Widhalm, LMFT)
09 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week's captivating story from Paloma brings together themes of postpartum depression and therap...
42. VBT in History (1970s): Was the Stanford Prison Experiment a Sham?
02 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Philip Zimbardo rode the impact of the Stanford Prison Experiment to international renown. Perhaps h...
41. Less Advice, More Transparency
24 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week's story from Farah touches on many common themes of bad therapy: disempowerment, unsolicit...
40. Exploring Bad LGBTQ+ Therapy (with Dr. Joe Kort)
17 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today's guest Danny shares his outrageous experience of being told to urinate in a cup so his therap...
39. Making Sense of Mean Therapy
10 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today's guest Kat shares her experience with a therapist who was unnecessarily cruel in her approach...
38. VBT in History (1960s): The Gloria Tapes
03 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 1964, Dr. Everett Shostrom had a brilliant idea: record short videos of the same person receiving...
37. You Can Be a Therapist for $16 (with Jordan Dunbar)
27 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the UK, anyone with $16 can become a certified psychotherapist and begin seeing clients immediate...
36. Please Renew Your License
20 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In America, psychotherapist licensure requirements vary – often absurdly – from state to state. ...
35. What is Pastoral Counseling? (with The Reverend Meredith Harber)
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The exploitation of uneven power and emotional vulnerability is, of course, not limited to the field...
34. VBT in History (1950s): The DSM-I and Thou
06 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-I) was published with the inten...
33. Boundary Entanglements
30 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today's story from T is a cautionary tale about a therapist causing harm by blurring boundaries arou...
32. When No Therapy is Bad Therapy
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. In today's episode, the absence of bad therapy i...
31. How Important is Therapist Attachment Style? (with Jon Hook)
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Jon Hook, PhD student at Western Michigan University, is contributing to research on how the coding ...
30. The Money Episode
09 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Do client fees impact therapy outcomes? How should therapists talk with their clients about money? S...
29. VBT in History (1940s): Old-Timey Psychoanalysis Propaganda
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1940s, a new ad campaign appeared on the silver screen to promote psychotherapy. Yes, the ext...
28. VBT in Focus: Dr. Chris Hoff on Curiosity, Knowing, and Failure
25 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Chris Hoff hosts The Radical Therapist podcast and YouTube channel. He joins us to discuss postm...
27. The Negative Effects of Therapy (with Jørgen A. Flor)
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A small percentage of clients experience negative effects from therapy. Why is it so difficult for t...
26. "If You Say Yes to This..."
11 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"If you say yes to this, we'll have to end our therapeutic relationship." The context of this quote ...
25. VBT in History (1930s): Were Lobotomies Ever a Good Idea?
04 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1930s, a handful of aspiring medical luminaries imagined that mental illness could be fixed b...
24. Misadventure Therapy (with Will Dobud, MSW)
28 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Adventure therapy: nature, healing, strength, and camaraderie. And sometimes emotional abuse, strip ...
23. Very Bad Graduate School
21 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode, our guest Ashley recalls her experience as a graduate psychology student looking...
22. A Clinic On Unprofessionalism (with Katie Vernoy, LMFT)
14 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Professionalism in psychotherapy is often hard to define, but it probably doesn't include being twen...
21. VBT in History (1920s): Very Bad Supervision
07 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Ben "Manfred" Caldwell joins us in make-believe 1920s Berlin to discuss Max Eitingon and the sur...
20. When Therapists Need Therapy
30 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Your therapist is having a bad day. Will this impact the quality of counseling? If you ask the thera...
19. How Military Mental Health Care Works (with Julie Payne, LMFT)
23 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Tricare is government managed health insurance given to United States military personnel and their d...
18. VBT in Focus: Dr. Scott Miller on Better Results
16 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What is at the root of very bad therapy? The common feeling that something is lacking in the educati...
17. The Thorny Terminator
09 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What constitutes bad termination? In the words of Justice Potter Stewart, "I shall not today attempt...
16. VBT in History (1910s): Too Many Eugenicists
02 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Lewis Terman was one of the most influential innovators in educational psychology and IQ testing. He...
15. Child's Play (with Megan Costello, LMFT)
26 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Young children need play - not interrogation - to help them learn and form relationships. Today's gu...
14. Women Don't Want to Work
19 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 2019, there somehow exists at least one psychotherapist who feels that it is helpful to tell a fe...
13. Cuddle Therapy
12 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine a spectrum of unethical therapist conduct. Far, far toward the most extreme end, just before...
12. VBT in History (1900s): Some A+ Oppression Right There
05 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Adolescent girls should be sent to the country to prepare for housewifery and motherhood. So writes ...
11. The Intake Process is a Mess (with Dr. Daryl Chow)
29 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Gathering client information: good. Transcribing client responses into a computer while facing a wal...
10. On Harm Reduction Therapy (with Lauren Cohn-Frankel, AMFT)
22 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode is a deep dive into the nuances of harm reduction therapy. How does stigmatization, ...
9. Empathy First, Paperwork Later
15 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The quality of the therapeutic alliance is one of the largest predictors of successful therapy. What...
8. Projections of Body Image Bias (with Rachel Coleman, LMFT, CEDS)
08 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Societal messages around health, beauty, and body image can contribute to problems that lead individ...
7. Boundaries and Institutional Power
01 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode features a story about a therapist who pleaded with her client to help with research...
6. Zimbabwean Granny Wisdom
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In Zimbabwe, hastily trained "Grannies" were found to be significantly better at treating depression...
5. Please Don't Tackle Your Clients (with Dr. Ben Caldwell)
17 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Therapists are not supposed to tackle their clients*. But what are the ethical limitations in trying...
4. Race, Rupture, and Repair (with Dr. Dana Stone)
10 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Dana Stone joins us to unpack our guest Carol's experience with a therapist who chose a stance o...
2. Doubting a Client's Gayness
27 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If a person claims to be gay, should you ever doubt them? Ben shares his story about winning $50 bet...
1. EMDR for Dummies (with Curt Widhalm, LMFT)
27 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
EMDR is a groundbreaking, controversial, and maybe not-that-special psychotherapy treatment. We expl...
Ep. 0: An Ultra-Brief Intro
20 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Carrie and Ben share why they decided to start a podcast about bad therapy. What can be learned from...