Beyond the Couch

Men often enter therapy carrying powerful messages about strength, vulnerability, anger, and what they are permitted to feel. This episode explores how therapists can move beyond stereotypes, better understand the social pressures shaping men’s emotional lives, and create therapeutic relationships that invite honesty, accountability, connection, and meaningful change.

This episode, Deanna Barrett and I discuss Community Affinity Networks—spaces designed to foster connection, representation, and belonging among members. We talk about why these networks matter, how they can strengthen relationships across the profession, and the role they play in helping members feel seen, supported, and connected. You will also hear how they can get involved and contribute to building a more engaged TAMFT community. Enjoy!

In this episode, Marion Vickerman and I talk honestly about therapist insecurity—the doubts, comparisons, and internal pressures that can show up at every stage of clinical work. Rather than treating insecurity as a weakness, we explore how it can become an invitation to greater self-awareness, humility, supervision, and growth. This conversation is for clinicians, supervisors, and students who have ever wondered, “Am I doing enough?”

Let’s be honest: most therapists weren’t trained well in sexual health. So what happens when clients bring it up? In this episode, Tim White and I explore discomfort, avoidance, and how to move toward more confident, ethical, and impactful conversations. Join us for part 2 in our sexual health series.

Our next episode starts a series on sexual health with Tim White. He specializes in sex therapy, relationship trauma therapy, sex addiction, and sexual health. We go through the 6 major principles of sexual health, and break them down so therapists can apply them to their own practices. As you'll see, Tim's knowledge and experience in working with sexual health is very impressive. At the same time, we try to make this conversation fun. We believe talking about sex shouldn't be awkward or embarrassing, and we approach this series from that stance. Whatever your beliefs and values are around sexual health, I'm sure there's something for everyone here. Enjoy!

If “treat everyone the same” worked, it would’ve worked by now. In this episode, Joyce Jacquote, Dr. Felicia Holloway, and I talk about what it really means to be equitable. From tests that favor one prototype, to what everyone needs, we give ideas on what equality really means any how we can get there. Our field is prime for approaching this area. Our convictions ought to extend beyond the couch of therapy and into the world of everyone's needs. Enjoy this episode.

Angela Hayes and I continue our DEIJ series with Luce O'Brigid. Luce has a deep philosophy of Inclusion that speaks to all people, heaven, and ourselves as therapists. The conviction in Luce's beliefs of inclusion are inspiring, contagious, and humbling. As people who work with people, this episode speaks directly to us. What an important area of DEIJ, our profession, and of what it means to be a people of inclusivity. Enjoy this episode!

What's the difference between being addicted sex or drugs? How do we even define addiction? How does addiction start in someone's life? Jeffrey, who specializes in sex therapy, helps us talk through these questions. He also leads us through gaming addiction, social media addiction, and the overarching philosophy behind being addicted. As therapists, this episode is broadly useful to our clients and to what people are living with in their addictions. Enjoy this talk with Jeffrey.

We continue our DEIJ series with Elliott Connie, who is helping us think through Justice. Elliot is a Solution-focused Brief Therapist, he goes all over the world training therapists, and he is also a lead thinker in DEIJ. He shares with us personal stories of how he’s encountered injustice, how he’s overcome those experiences, and how he has advocated for Justice. We also talk about why this is important to our field and how we, as licensed professionals, have the responsibility to advocate for Justice. Elliott is an amazing person to talk to, and we’re very lucky to have him support TAMFT. Enjoy this episode.

We're with Dr. Matt Brown, host of the Manspace podcast. He specializes in working with men's mental health in his practice, which is why we're talking about toxic masculinity in this episode. Dr. Brown and I go over our own definitions of toxic masculinity, the responsibility men hold with it, and why this is important to our lives. Toxic masculinity has the potential to leak into our everyday interactions, and Dr. Brown and I help make us aware of its impact. This is useful for clinicians, but it's also helpful for everyone who deals with harmful issues of masculinity. We dig deep into our psyche to think through what it means to be a masculine presence today.