Therapy Chat

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! If you're an EMDR therapist, or a therapist who is interested in learning about psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, this episode is for you! And if you're someone who is interested in learning about how EMDR and psychedelic assisted therapy can be combined, you're in the right place! This week's guest, Rotem Brayer, was a guest on Therapy Chat earlier this year and he came back to discuss how he uses psychedelic assisted psychotherapy with EMDR. I learned a lot from our conversation and can't wait for you to hear it! I'm very curious about the potential for psychedelic assisted psychotherapy to help trauma survivors heal, as I'm hearing more and more positive experiences that people have shared with me. Look for more episodes on the topic of trauma and psychedelic assisted psychotherapy in the coming months! 

Rotem Brayer, M.Ed., LPC, is a certified EMDR therapist, EMDR consultant, and advanced EMDR trainer. He's the founder of the EMDR Learning Community, a community that brings EMDR therapists together and provides education on EMDR therapy and the integration of this modality with other treatment approaches.

Listen to Rotem's previous Therapy Chat interview here: Episode 376

Find Rotem's book, The Art & Science of EMDR, on Amazon here.

Join Rotem's free learning community for EMDR therapists here: EMDR Learning Community.

Rotem's website is here: https://emdartnscience.com/

My friend Dr. Elizabeth Guthrie's free webinar recording and link to learn about her course are found here: Explore Your Healing Garden of Unique Plant Allies. 

My friend Dr. Jamie+ Marich's free webinar recording and link to learn about their course are found here: Not Faking: Dispelling the Myths & Misunderstandings Of Dissociation

Get 50% off when you try HelloFresh using our coupon code! Go to https://hellofresh.com/chat50 and use code chat50 for 50% off PLUS free shipping!

Thank you to TherapyNotes for sponsoring this week's episode! TherapyNotes makes billing, scheduling, notetaking, and telehealth incredibly easy. And now, for all you prescribers out there, TherapyNotes is proudly introducing E-prescribe! Try it today with no strings attached, and see why everyone is switching to TherapyNotes, now featuring E-prescribe! Use promo code "chat" at www.therapynotes.com to receive 2 FREE months of TherapyNotes!!

Find my most frequently recommended resources for learning about trauma here - includes recommended books and trainings.

Get my free PDF 5 Common Mistakes People Make When Searching For A Trauma Therapist here!

Love Therapy Chat? Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts to help more people find the show!

Find a Trauma Therapist on the Trauma Therapist Network:www.traumatherapistnetwork.com

Therapists, Trauma Therapist Network includes a searchable directory as well as a membership community meeting weekly for support, consultation, training and self care. Learn more here! Registration reopens in September, 2023 and therapists can join the waiting list now!

Podcast produced by Pete Bailey - https://petebailey.net/audio

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, returning guest Xanthia Johnson, a DC area psychotherapist, talks about a coaching program she co-founded called the Compassionate Anti-Racism Project. Xanthia shares how she works with individuals, groups and organizations, describing how the program is designed to prevent the emotional flooding of shame interfering with white bodied people's progress toward their goals. As black integrative neuro-psychotherapists with extensive post graduate professional training in trauma-focused therapy and expressive arts, Xanthia and her co-founder Christian are primed to help others realize the emotional and intellectual awareness needed to understand racism, so the journey to ani-racism can begin. They compassionately support white people and organizations who are ready to have courageous conversations about race and learn how to leverage their privilege to humbly support people of color.

In this conversation you'll hear Xanthia explain what she means when she says that she doesn't believe in micro-aggressions. She explains how internalized racism shows up in everyday interactions between white-bodied people and People Of Color, using examples from her daily life. When it came up in our interaction and I did harm, she compassionately supported my reflection and invited me to reconsider my actions in real time, modeling how her program would work with a similar situation. The work of becoming anti-racist requires building tolerance for the cognitive dissonance that arises when we white bodied people are confronted with aspects of ourselves we are ashamed of. 

Learn more about the Compassionate Anti-Racism Project here.

Visit the website for Xanthia's group practice, Urban Playology, here.

The Cleo Wade poem Xanthia shared is called "How to Breathe When You Want To Give Up." Her website can be found here.

The Lucille Clifton quote Xanthia shared is from her poem, "won't you celebrate with me," from Book of Light (1993). 

Get 50% off when you try HelloFresh using our coupon code! Go to https://hellofresh.com/chat50 and use code chat50 for 50% off PLUS free shipping!

Thank you to TherapyNotes for sponsoring this week's episode! TherapyNotes makes billing, scheduling, notetaking, and telehealth incredibly easy. And now, for all you prescribers out there, TherapyNotes is proudly introducing E-prescribe! Try it today with no strings attached, and see why everyone is switching to TherapyNotes, now featuring E-prescribe! Use promo code "chat" at www.therapynotes.com to receive 2 FREE months of TherapyNotes!!

Therapists - Learn from Dr. Jamie+ Marich in a FREE webinar, "Not Faking: Dispelling the Myths & Misinformation About Dissociation," on August 1st.

Find Laura's most frequently recommended resources for learning about trauma here - includes recommended books and trainings.

Love Therapy Chat? Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts to help more people find the show!

Find a Trauma Therapist on the Trauma Therapist Network:

www.traumatherapistnetwork.com 

Therapists, Trauma Therapist Network includes a searchable directory as well as a membership community meeting weekly for support, consultation, training and self care. Learn more here!

Podcast produced by Pete Bailey - https://petebailey.net/audio

In Part Two of this discussion with Dr. Gail Gazelle, a physiclan burnout expert, we discuss Gail's experience with burnout. She shares examples from her own experience and those she's helped with to illustrate what burnout feels like and how it mirrors trauma reactions. She shares what helped her come back from burnout and what others can do to help with recovery. Burnout doesn't have to be a career-ending experience, it can be a transformational opportunity. Listen to this compassionate and down to earth conversation to understand why physicians are burning out, and how they can learn resiliency skills to help them stay in their careers, in this replay episode. This information will be relevant to anyone in a leadership position, even those who don't work in healthcare. 

Dr. Gazelle is a former hospice physician, part-time Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor, and a Master Certified Coach for physicians. After working in the field of end-of-life care for most of her professional career, Dr. Gazelle shifted her focus to another vulnerable population: physicians in the modern American healthcare system.

Visit Gail's website: https://gailgazelle.com/

Gail's book, Everyday Resilience, can be found on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/44q10Ct

Get 16 meals for FREE when you try HelloFresh using our coupon code! Go to https://hellofresh.com/chat16 and use code chat16 for 16 FREE meals PLUS free shipping!

Thank you to TherapyNotes for sponsoring this week's episode! TherapyNotes makes billing, scheduling, notetaking, and telehealth incredibly easy. And now, for all you prescribers out there, TherapyNotes is proudly introducing E-prescribe! Try it today with no strings attached, and see why everyone is switching to TherapyNotes, now featuring E-prescribe! Use promo code "chat" at www.therapynotes.com to receive 2 FREE months of TherapyNotes!!

Find Laura's most frequently recommended resources for learning about trauma here - includes recommended books and trainings.

Love Therapy Chat? Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts to help more people find the show!

Find a Trauma Therapist on the Trauma Therapist Network: www.traumatherapistnetwork.com 

Therapists, Trauma Therapist Network includes a searchable directory as well as a membership community meeting weekly for support, consultation, training and self care. Learn more here!

Podcast produced by Pete Bailey - https://petebailey.net/audio

If you work in the healthcare industry, you know that people are feeling the weight of so much stress from taking care of patients - whether doing therapy or working in medicine or other helping professions. Back in 2020, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C spoke with physician burnout expert and coach Dr. Gail Gazelle. Listen to this compassionate and down to earth conversation to understand why physicians are burning out, and how they can learn resiliency skills to help them stay in their careers, in this replay episode. This information will be relevant to anyone in a leadership position, even those who don't work in healthcare. 

Dr. Gazelle is a former hospice physician, part-time Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor, and a Master Certified Coach for physicians. After working in the field of end-of-life care for most of her professional career, Dr. Gazelle shifted her focus to another vulnerable population: physicians in the modern American healthcare system.

Visit Gail's website: https://gailgazelle.com/

Get 16 meals for FREE when you try HelloFresh using our coupon code! Go to https://hellofresh.com/chat16 and use code chat16 for 16 FREE meals PLUS free shipping!

Thank you to TherapyNotes for sponsoring this week's episode! TherapyNotes makes billing, scheduling, notetaking, and telehealth incredibly easy. And now, for all you prescribers out there, TherapyNotes is proudly introducing E-prescribe! Try it today with no strings attached, and see why everyone is switching to TherapyNotes, now featuring E-prescribe! Use promo code "chat" at www.therapynotes.com to receive 2 FREE months of TherapyNotes!!

Find Laura's most frequently recommended resources for learning about trauma here - includes recommended books and trainings.

Love Therapy Chat? Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts to help more people find the show!

Find a Trauma Therapist on the Trauma Therapist Network:

www.traumatherapistnetwork.com 

Therapists, Trauma Therapist Network includes a searchable directory as well as a membership community meeting weekly for support, consultation, training and self care. Learn more here!

Podcast produced by Pete Bailey - https://petebailey.net/audio

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, in a replay episode from early 2022, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Dr. Lindsay Gibson, a developmental psychologist based in Virginia Beach, Virginia who has authored several books on the effects of being raised by parents who are emotionally immature. Lindsay explains how our identity and sense of self form around attachment experiences in childhood and the challenge of focusing on our own self care needs when we were raised in an environment where our emotional needs were unmet. Lindsay's newest book, Disentangling From Emotionally Immature People, is coming out soon and Lindsay will be returning to Therapy Chat soon to talk about it! 

Learn more about Dr. Lindsay Gibson's work, books, and all of her offerings at her website: www.drlindsaygibson.com

Get 16 meals for FREE when you try HelloFresh using our coupon code! Go to https://hellofresh.com/chat16 and use code chat16 for 16 FREE meals PLUS free shipping!

Thank you to TherapyNotes for sponsoring this week's episode! TherapyNotes makes billing, scheduling, notetaking, and telehealth incredibly easy. And now, for all you prescribers out there, TherapyNotes is proudly introducing E-prescribe! Try it today with no strings attached, and see why everyone is switching to TherapyNotes, now featuring E-prescribe! Use promo code "chat" at www.therapynotes.com to receive 2 FREE months of TherapyNotes!!

Therapists: bilateralstimulation.io is a free and simple tool used by more than 10,000 EMDR therapists worldwide to provide bilateral stimulation to their clients, during both telehealth and in-person EMDR sessions. With their software, you can provide visual and auditory BLS, and with their groundbreaking remote tactile buzzers you can even provide tactile BLS over the internet!

The basic version of their BLS tool is free, and for Therapy Chat listeners, they offer an extended two-month trial of their paid version as well as a special discount on their remote tactile BLS buzzers. Visit bls.software to learn more and claim your special offer! 

Find Laura's most frequently recommended resources for learning about trauma here - includes recommended books and trainings.

Love Therapy Chat? Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts to help more people find the show!

Find a Trauma Therapist on the Trauma Therapist Network:

www.traumatherapistnetwork.com 

Therapists, Trauma Therapist Network includes a searchable directory as well as a membership community meeting weekly for support, consultation, training and self care. Learn more here!

Podcast produced by Pete Bailey - https://petebailey.net/audio

This week's episode features a recording of a Facebook live from last week. Host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C had a conversation with friend and colleague Melissa Wesner, LCPC on the hot topic of burnout in helping professionals and caregivers in general. Laura and Melissa discussed how burnout is affecting mental health professionals; identifying burnout and compassion fatigue symptoms using the ProQOL measure; and how to create an action plan to address emotional, physical, spiritual and relational needs including small changes that are sustainable. 

Melissa Wesner, LCPC is the Founder of LifeSpring Counseling Services, a group practice in Maryland that strives to provide hope, healing, and empowerment through the collaborative process of therapy. She is also a Certified Brainspotter and Brainspotting Consultant who offers Brainspotting Intensives to leaders, executives, and small business owners. 

Visit Melissa's practice website here: https://lifespringcounseling.net/ 

Melissa's membership community for therapists in the Greater Baltimore area: https://lifespringcounseling.net/community-for-therapists

Complete the ProQOL online here:  https://proqol.org/proqol-measure

Trauma Therapist Network is a wonderful place for therapists to find the antidote to isolation: connection! Therapists, you can get a discount on your first month using code TTNSAVE20 at https://go.traumatherapistnetwork.com/join ! Doors close 6/30, but if you click this link when registration is closed you'll find the waiting list there!

Get 16 meals for FREE when you try HelloFresh using our coupon code! Go to https://hellofresh.com/chat16 and use code chat16 for 16 FREE meals PLUS free shipping!

Thank you to TherapyNotes for sponsoring this week's episode! TherapyNotes makes billing, scheduling, notetaking, and telehealth incredibly easy. And now, for all you prescribers out there, TherapyNotes is proudly introducing E-prescribe! Try it today with no strings attached, and see why everyone is switching to TherapyNotes, now featuring E-prescribe! Use promo code "chat" at www.therapynotes.com to receive 2 FREE months of TherapyNotes!!

Therapists: bilateralstimulation.io is a free and simple tool used by more than 10,000 EMDR therapists worldwide to provide bilateral stimulation to their clients, during both telehealth and in-person EMDR sessions. With their software, you can provide visual and auditory BLS, and with their groundbreaking remote tactile buzzers you can even provide tactile BLS over the internet!

The basic version of their BLS tool is free, and for Therapy Chat listeners, they offer an extended two-month trial of their paid version as well as a special discount on their remote tactile BLS buzzers. Visit bls.software to learn more and claim your special offer! 

Find Laura's most frequently recommended resources for learning about trauma here - includes recommended books and trainings.

Love Therapy Chat? Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts to help more people find the show!

Podcast produced by Pete Bailey - https://petebailey.net/audio

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Brooke Bralove, LCSW-C about a tool she uses to support trauma survivors called Accelerated Resolution Therapy. Listen in as Laura asks all the questions about this method, called ART for short. Also, doors are now open for new Trauma Therapist Network community members! 

Brooke Bralove, LCSW-C is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, psychotherapist, sex therapist, Basic Accelerated Resolution Therapy Practitioner, and Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator, specializing in treating adults, couples, and groups with depression, anxiety, and relationship challenges. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University’s School of Social Work. Additionally, she is a graduate of the Washington School of Psychiatry's Clinical Program on Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and the National Group Psychotherapy Institute. Ms. Bralove has maintained a private practice in the D.C. metro area for more than 18 years.

Visit Brooke's website here:  https://brookebralove.com/

Trauma Therapist Network is a wonderful place for therapists to find the antidote to isolation: connection! Registration is currently open to new members and you can get a discount on your first month using code TTNSAVE20 at https://go.traumatherapistnetwork.com/join ! Doors close 6/30, but if you click this link when registration is closed you'll find the waiting list there!

Get 16 meals for FREE when you try HelloFresh using our coupon code! Go to https://hellofresh.com/chat16 and use code chat16 for 16 FREE meals PLUS free shipping!

Therapists: bilateralstimulation.io is a free and simple tool used by more than 10,000 EMDR therapists worldwide to provide bilateral stimulation to their clients, during both telehealth and in-person EMDR sessions. With their software, you can provide visual and auditory BLS, and with their groundbreaking remote tactile buzzers you can even provide tactile BLS over the internet!

The basic version of their BLS tool is free, and for Therapy Chat listeners, they offer an extended two-month trial of their paid version as well as a special discount on their remote tactile BLS buzzers. Visit bls.software to learn more and claim your special offer! 

Follow Laura on TikTok (/@therapychatpod) where video clips from Therapy Chat episodes are being posted, along with other short form video content.

Find Laura's most frequently recommended resources for learning about trauma here - includes recommended books and trainings.

Love Therapy Chat? Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts to help more people find the show!

Thank you to TherapyNotes for sponsoring this week's episode! TherapyNotes makes billing, scheduling, notetaking, and telehealth incredibly easy. And now, for all you prescribers out there, TherapyNotes is proudly introducing E-prescribe! Try it today with no strings attached, and see why everyone is switching to TherapyNotes, now featuring E-prescribe! Use promo code "chat" at www.therapynotes.com to receive 2 FREE months of TherapyNotes!!

Find a trauma therapist near you at Trauma Therapist Network's trauma therapist directory. www.traumatherapistnetwork.com Trauma is real, healing is possible and help is available. 

Podcast produced by Pete Bailey - https://petebailey.net/audio

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Annie Schuessler of The Rebel Therapist ®. First, Laura mentioned the high incidence of helping professionals leaving their fields due to stress and burnout, and how this conversation inspires hope for helpers who feel stuck and are considering changing careers. Annie and Laura talked about how helpers and healers can pivot when the day to day is leading them to exhaustion and overwhelm. Annie's program that helps private practice therapists pivot is opening and she has a special offer, detailed in the show notes!

Annie Schuessler is a business coach and the host of the podcast Rebel Therapist® where she shares stories of people creating unique and innovative businesses. She was a therapist in private practice for 20 years, and a business coach for over 10 years. Her mission is to help people trained as therapists create and launch exceptional programs beyond the therapy room. She lives in San Francisco with her spouse and two children. When she’s not recording a podcast or working with her clients, you can find her trying to convince her family to play Catan with her or watering one of 75 house plants. 

Annie Schuessler of Rebel Therapist is opening early registration for Create Your Program, her process to help you create and sell your own signature program beyond private practice. Folks who sign up between June 19th and June 26th, 2023, will get 3 extra months of access before live calls begin. Register here: https://rebeltherapist.me/create

Find all of the resources on Annie's website here: https://rebeltherapist.me/

Listen to Rebel Therapist® here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rebel-therapist/id1229921995 

Find Annie on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/annieschuessler 

Trauma Therapist Network is a wonderful place for therapists to find the antidote to isolation: connection! Registration is currently open to the waiting list. Join the waitlist now and you'll receive an e-mail offer for early access and a special discount! Doors close 6/30 and Early Access ends 6/20!

Get 16 meals for FREE when you try HelloFresh using our coupon code! Go to https://hellofresh.com/chat16 and use code chat16 for 16 FREE meals PLUS free shipping!

Therapists: bilateralstimulation.io is a free and simple tool used by more than 10,000 EMDR therapists worldwide to provide bilateral stimulation to their clients, during both telehealth and in-person EMDR sessions. With their software, you can provide visual and auditory BLS, and with their groundbreaking remote tactile buzzers you can even provide tactile BLS over the internet!

The basic version of their BLS tool is free, and for Therapy Chat listeners, they offer an extended two-month trial of their paid version as well as a special discount on their remote tactile BLS buzzers. Visit bls.software to learn more and claim your special offer! 

Follow Laura on TikTok (/@therapychatpod) where video clips from Therapy Chat episodes are being posted, along with other short form video content.

Find Laura's most frequently recommended resources for learning about trauma here - includes recommended books and trainings.

Love Therapy Chat? Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts to help more people find the show!

Thank you to TherapyNotes for sponsoring this week's episode! TherapyNotes makes billing, scheduling, notetaking, and telehealth incredibly easy. And now, for all you prescribers out there, TherapyNotes is proudly introducing E-prescribe! Try it today with no strings attached, and see why everyone is switching to TherapyNotes, now featuring E-prescribe! Use promo code "chat" at www.therapynotes.com to receive 2 FREE months of TherapyNotes!!

Find a trauma therapist near you at Trauma Therapist Network's trauma therapist directory. www.traumatherapistnetwork.com Trauma is real, healing is possible and help is available. 

Podcast produced by Pete Bailey - https://petebailey.net/audio

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Dr. Han Ren (she/they) who is doing big things on social media to normalize C-PTSD symptoms, promote liberatory psychology and anti-oppression work and show that being human is not a problem - even if you’re a mental health professional. In fact, as a mental health professional it can be an asset to share your lived experience. 

Dr. Han Ren is the co-owner of Pivot Psychology in Austin, Texas. She has a background in school psychology and primarily works with high achieving young adults at present. In this conversation she explained the concepts of liberation focused psychology and anti carceral movements and provided some resources for listeners to learn more via Instagram accounts; and she and Laura discussed how therapists may inadvertently shame clients due to our own fears and lack of understanding of the most effective ways to help clients change coping strategies which were once helpful, but now cause problems. 

Han shares a compassionate perspective on the function of “maladaptive” coping strategies, seeing them as adaptations which helped the individual survive during traumatic experiences. She talks about how our behavioral interventions that aren’t relational can cause clients to feel shame and then use masking instead of feeling safe to show up authentically and actually receive the help they’re coming to therapy for. Listen to this thought provoking episode and let us know your thoughts!

Dr. Han Ren’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.han.ren/ 

Dr. Han Ren’s group practice based in Texas: https://www.pivotpsychologyatx.com/ 

Dr. Han Ren’s Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drhanren 

Resources for learning about Anti-Carceral/Liberation Psychology via Instagram as mentioned in this episode:

Body Justice Therapist Allyson Inez Ford https://www.instagram.com/bodyjustice.therapist/

Project LETS https://www.instagram.com/projectlets/

Fireweed Collective HJ: https://www.instagram.com/fireweedcollectivehj/ 

Dr. Jennifer Mullan: https://www.instagram.com/decolonizingtherapy/ 

Learn more about CAMS Care: https://cams-care.com/resources/educational-content/

Additional resources for this episode:

Find Therapy Chat on TikTok at: https://tiktok.com/@therapychatpod 

Get 16 meals for FREE when you try HelloFresh using our coupon code! Go to https://hellofresh.com/chat16 and use code chat16 for 16 FREE meals PLUS free shipping!

Follow Laura on TikTok (@therapychatpod) where video clips from Therapy Chat episodes are being posted, along with other short form video content.

In partnership with the Academy of Therapy Wisdom, I invite you to a FREE live webinar presented by my colleague, Akilah Riley-Richardson. In this webinar, she will examine how systemic trauma and relational privilege play out in couples therapy. And she’ll show how we can empower couples to develop healthy intimacy nonetheless. Register here for free and learn about her upcoming course that she talked about on last week's Therapy Chat episode which you can hear at this link. I'm in this course now and I think it's excellent!

Janina Fisher has a new FREE webinar about healing the shame which is a common reaction to trauma. Register here to learn how to address this difficult emotion in therapy with trauma survivors!

Therapists, Trauma Therapist Network membership is now accepting new members. We now have new membership levels and options for Group Practice Owners and Canadian therapists! Get the details and join the waiting list to receive first access when membership reopens here: https://go.traumatherapistnetwork.com/join ! What is TTN? Go here to check it out! 

Find Laura's most frequently recommended resources for learning about trauma here - includes recommended books and trainings.

Love Therapy Chat? Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts to help more people find the show!

Thank you to TherapyNotes for sponsoring this week's episode! TherapyNotes makes billing, scheduling, notetaking, and telehealth incredibly easy. And now, for all you prescribers out there, TherapyNotes is proudly introducing E-prescribe! Try it today with no strings attached, and see why everyone is switching to TherapyNotes, now featuring E-prescribe! Use promo code "chat" at www.therapynotes.com to receive 2 FREE months of TherapyNotes!!

Find a trauma therapist near you at Trauma Therapist Network's trauma therapist directory. www.traumatherapistnetwork.com Trauma is real, healing is possible and help is available. 

Podcast produced by Pete Bailey - https://petebailey.net/audio

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Dr. Rachel Altvater, a therapist, author and human, on the complexities of grieving, being human and how understanding perspective relates to being our most authentic selves. Laura and Rachel came together while both are grieving recent losses as well. Additionally, Rachel explains the concept of perspective, which is the focus of her new book, "Perspective: Contemplating the Complexities of Our Realities."

Dr. Rachel Altvater (Psy.D., RPT-S™) is an award-winning, pioneering expert, leader, researcher, international trainer, author, and supervisor in the field of play therapy. She is a Licensed Psychologist in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia, and she holds national certifications as a Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™ and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. 

She is the owner of Creative Psychological Health Services, co-owner of North Star Creations, past president of the Maryland/DC Association for Play Therapy, editorial advisory board member for the International Journal of Play Therapy®, advisory board member for Digital Play Therapy™ and AscendantVR, clinical consultant and content creator for Cognitive Leap, and instructor for Hopscotch. Dr. Altvater authored the book Perspective: Contemplating the Complexities of Our Realities, published her research in the International Journal of Play Therapy on technology use in play therapy, and is a contributing author in numerous scholarly texts on implementing digital technologies in play therapy practice.

Find everything Rachel is doing via her Beacon page here: https://beacons.ai/docvater

Purchase Rachel's book, Perspective: Contemplating the Complexities of Our Realities, on Amazon here .

Additional resources: 

Get 16 meals for FREE when you try HelloFresh using our coupon code! Go to https://hellofresh.com/chat16 and use code chat16 for 16 FREE meals PLUS free shipping!

Follow Laura on TikTok (@therapychatpod) where video clips from Therapy Chat episodes are being posted, along with other short form video content.

In partnership with the Academy of Therapy Wisdom, I invite you to a FREE live webinar presented by my colleague, Akilah Riley-Richardson. In this webinar, she will examine how systemic trauma and relational privilege play out in couples therapy. And she’ll show how we can empower couples to develop healthy intimacy nonetheless. Register here for free and learn about her upcoming course that she talked about on last week's Therapy Chat episode which you can hear at this link. I'm in this course now and I think it's excellent!

Janina Fisher has a new FREE webinar about healing the shame which is a common reaction to trauma. Register here to learn how to address this difficult emotion in therapy with trauma survivors!

Therapists, join the waiting list for Trauma Therapist Network membership. We now have new membership levels and options for Group Practice Owners and Canadian therapists! Get the details and join the waiting list to receive first access when membership reopens here: https://go.traumatherapistnetwork.com/join ! What is TTN? Go here to check it out! Registration opens again in June 2023!

Find Laura's most frequently recommended resources for learning about trauma here - includes recommended books and trainings.

Love Therapy Chat? Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts to help more people find the show!

Thank you to TherapyNotes for sponsoring this week's episode! TherapyNotes makes billing, scheduling, notetaking, and telehealth incredibly easy. And now, for all you prescribers out there, TherapyNotes is proudly introducing E-prescribe! Try it today with no strings attached, and see why everyone is switching to TherapyNotes, now featuring E-prescribe! Use promo code "chat" at www.therapynotes.com to receive 2 FREE months of TherapyNotes!!

Find a trauma therapist near you at Trauma Therapist Network's trauma therapist directory. www.traumatherapistnetwork.com Trauma is real, healing is possible and help is available. 

Podcast produced by Pete Bailey - https://petebailey.net/audio