How Therapy Works

In this episode, we explore recent neurophysiology about how painful affects can be "detoxified," or healed, to the point where they are no longer threatening and no longer trigger avoidance. In particular, we look at how exposure therapy works and …

In this fifth episode, Part 2, we build a catalog of all the different types of dysfunctional patterns encountered in a psychotherapy practice. Having a matrix with just so many possibilities makes it easier to clarify just what kind of …

In this fourth episode, we explore details that are true of all dysfunctional patterns, then we turn to a catalog of all the different types that are encountered in a psychotherapy practice. This is part 1 of two that relate …

To whet your appetite for an efficient new way to improve your therapy skills, regardless of orientation, we are offering this way to guide your sessions by cycling through just four questions. Enjoy! And if you want more, the same …

Welcome to our Podcast, How Therapy Works, a nondenominational guide to psychotherapy. In this first episode, Amelie Southwood asks questions and Jeffery Smith, MD shares a new way to think about psychotherapy. We begin by focusing on the problems clients …

Our second episode highlights the Affect Avoidance Model, a universal and nondenominational way to look at the problems treatable with psychotherapy. Key Points The affect avoidance model views any psychological dysfunction that can be addressed through psychotherapy as the result …

This Episode homes in the emotions that trigger maladaptive patterns. Key Points Avoidance patterns are shaped more by psychological development at the time they are “invented” than by the nature of the affect being avoided. Strategies for distancing affects are …