In this episode, Fred discusses how in college he got very interested in spiritual questions and read books, learned how to meditate, thought a lot about deeper meaning and opened a vegetarian restaurant in Santa Cruz. After having his first child, he went to graduate school and decided to do his dissertation on the topic of forgiveness, which was something that he struggled with in his own life, describing himself as “dramatically unable to forgive”. He shared that the dissertation was a great success and received a lot of media attention, which set him in this direction in his research. He shared how they went for a secular approach, because a religious approach involved a lot of tribalism, and they were all essentially different portals to enter into the work of forgiveness. They integrated mindfulness and a Buddhist influenced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which were not common in psychotherapy then. We discussed my interpretation of his work and how I’ve conceptualized is as forgiveness is for you, not for the other person who did the harm. Fred discusses the term “trauma” and how sometimes it is used in situations that may not be trauma, and labeling it that way can lead to blame, rather than the empathy for what one has gone through and allowing the person to cope with their life right now. He discussed how forgiveness can allow us to be more connected to what is happening with one’s life, right now, in the present. He shared that an essential part of forgiveness is acknowledging our vulnerability, which never goes away, and accepting that vulnerability and not blaming that which reminds us of how vulnerable we are. He said he learned more about mindfulness from Jon Kabat Zinn, Ph.D. and how when you increase awareness, you increase choice. We discussed his work with people from Northern Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Sierra Leon, Columbia and people after 9-11 and how one of the hardest parts related to forgiveness is when there are different sides, as forgiveness may lead the person’s “side” to label them as a traitor. In discussing how to forgive when the person is not safe because they may not be out of the situation, like Israel and Gaza, this lead to a discussion of what makes us safe. He shared that often armoring up, becoming bitter, and trusting others less and being more guarded may feel like it’s protecting us, but it also limits our capacity for love and joy. He shared that mindfulness helps us bring ourselves back to the now and in this very moment, we are usually safe. He explained that our threat response overreaches, and combatting that overreach is important to connect us to our present safety and abundance that we may have. He discusses his new workbook, The Forgive for Good Recovery Workbook, that helps people through a process of forgiveness. He leaves us with one of his favorite quotes about forgiveness: "It’s giving up all hope for a better past".

Frederic Luskin, Ph.D. is a psychologist in Counseling and Health Psychology from Stanford University where he has been teaching for the past 30 years. Currently, he is on the faculty for the Stanford School of Business Executive Education program where he teaches mindfulness, emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and positive psychology to executives from all over the world. He serves as Director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects, researching the positive effects of forgiveness for a healthy and happy life. Fred is one of the world’s recognized authorities on forgiveness of self and others. He’s been interviewed and featured in such media outlets as The New York Times, O Magazine, Today Show, LA Times, Time Magazine, Huffington Post, and CBS Morning News. In addition, he’s published 3 books and dozens of articles on forgiveness. His book Forgive for Good is the best-selling secular self-help book published on the topic of forgiveness.

In this episode, Jeff Greenwald—world champion tennis player, licensed therapist, and sports psychology consultant—offers a rare glimpse into the intersection of clinical therapy and high-performance coaching. Jeff highlights how anxiety has become the predominant struggle both inside and outside of sport, often crippling athletes and families alike. Drawing on nearly three decades of experience, he explains how his dual training allows him to work not only on performance enhancement but also on the deeper roots of anxiety, perfectionism, and family dynamics that shape an athlete’s experience. He shares how he integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing, and Somatic Psychotherapy, tailoring each to the unique needs of athletes. Jeff clarifies how sports psychology typically focuses on attention control, motivation, and performance skills, while clinical practice digs into family systems, emotional regulation, and underlying anxiety. Listeners will also hear about Jeff’s practical frameworks, including the four dimensions of focus (narrow/broad, internal/external) and his “remote control” metaphor from The Mental Edge for Young Athletes. These models help young athletes understand they have multiple tools at their disposal—but it’s their responsibility to choose and apply them in the heat of competition. A major theme of the conversation is Jeff’s emphasis on the “permission to miss.” With statistics showing that 70% of kids quit sports by age 16, Jeff underscores the importance of helping athletes reframe mistakes, embrace imperfection, and cultivate a mastery mindset focused on growth and process rather than outcome. Over time, athletes learn to anchor their confidence in the skills they can control—their routines, effort, and perspective—rather than in outcomes they can’t. This framework not only reduces anxiety but also fosters resilience, freedom, and joy in sport. He also shares how parents can best support their children—not by rushing in to fix, but by validating their experiences and normalizing their anxiety. As a competitive athlete himself, and still competing internationally, Jeff has demonstrated how you can transform from a tentative, perfectionistic mindset to a full realization of your ability through the mastery mindset, which also catapulted him to world No. 1 in his age group. He shares how this breakthrough was instrumental to his work and how grateful he is to be in a position to help the thousands of athletes he has worked with over the past 27 years.

Jeff Greenwald, MFT, is a world champion athlete, licensed psychotherapist, best-selling author, and one of the world’s leading mental coaches for athletes. With over 25 years of experience helping youth, college, and professional competitors thrive under pressure, Jeff brings a rare blend of elite performance insight and clinical expertise to his work. He is the author of the international bestseller The Best Tennis of Your Life, which has sold over 80,000 copies worldwide, and the new book The Mental Edge for Young Athletes—a groundbreaking guide for building confidence, emotional resilience, and a stronger mindset in sports and life. Jeff has worked with athletes across every major sport and consulted for national teams, Fortune 500 leaders, top junior academies, and competitive athletes at all levels of sport. He is a two-time ITF World Champion and was inducted into the Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame in 2019 for his contribution in the field of sports psychology and success as a world-ranked tennis player. Through his writing, coaching, and speaking, Jeff empowers athletes and their families to navigate the mental game with clarity, courage, and lasting confidence.

In this episode, Michelle discussed how she grew up in a dysfunctional family, and as a child and adolescent, she was always trying to figure it out and understanding why this is happening. She said it wasn’t until she got into recovery from food addiction and codependency, did she get the principles for living that she didn't learn growing up, and this inspired her to become a therapist to help others. She explained that she defines codependency as over functioning in order to get the love, support and validation that you can’t give to yourself. We discussed how the hyper vigilance of being aware of others can be a gift, but at the same time, it can lead to misinterpretation, worrying that if someone is upset, they’re upset at me. We talked about boundaries, and how for many people with codependency they have a hard time saying no because it is threatening, and by pleasing the other, it’s a way of seeking safety and love. She discusses how many people that come into therapy with codependency may not be realizing that they are struggling with codependency, but instead are wanting help fixing a relationship, and not realizing their part in it. She discusses how healing from codependency happens when the person starts befriending themselves and doing less. She talked about how often times, the therapist can’t just point out that the person is doing too much, but instead asking if its working, and helping the client to see they are working so hard to please the other person, but this may only be leading to more anxiety and resentment. She explains that we have to be able to be with ourselves, and love ourselves, to be able to love others, otherwise, we are so afraid of losing the other or them not liking us, that we are scared to be without them and be with ourselves. She discusses how 12 step programs like Al-Anon and CoDA can be a very powerful resource for clients because when they tell their story over and over, they develop a stronger sense of self and realize, I wasn’t bad, I’m not a bad person, I’m not alone, and I’m not defective. She talked about how the goal in recovery from codependency is being able to give without it hurting you. She explains that she encourages clients to take small steps, asking for their needs, stating their preferences, and that these are tests, seeing how the other person reacts. This gives information whether the other person is safe and should be in our inner circle, or we might realize that we can’t be that vulnerable with them, can’t be ourselves with them. She explains that it is important to be gentle with yourself and your clients as they are trying to change these codependent behaviors, because they’re doing the best they can in breaking these pattern and oftentimes there is perfectionism wrapped up in codependency. Lastly, she talked about her psychoeducational groups called Beyond Codependency, which can help accelerate the process of recovery.

Michelle Farris, LMFT is a psychotherapist, codependency expert, and anger management specialist with a passion for helping people break free from codependent patterns and manage emotions with confidence. She’s been featured in several online publications and podcasts, known for her down-to-earth approach and deep expertise. Michelle empowers her clients to stop people-pleasing, trust themselves again, and build the healthy, connected relationships they’ve always wanted. Through her online courses and digital resources, she teaches practical tools for codependency recovery, emotional regulation, self-trust, and lasting relationship success. She teaches a 4 week class, Beyond Codependency, and has a website with free resources for therapists on codependency and anger.

In this episode, I speak with Rachel about using Energy Psychology (EP) and Sound Healing (SH) in her psychotherapy work. Rachel describes how she was originally trained psychodynamically and had been in psychodynamic therapy herself. After Rachel learned about EP from her acupuncturist she pursued training in the approach, and found it was very effective with clients. She also worked with an EP psychotherapist and experienced a significant shift. Rachel explains that EP facilitates changes in subtle energy resulting in shifts in behaviors, emotions, physical symptoms, anxiety, PTSD, performance and other issues. Rachel discussed the most well-known EP approach, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Many people have learned it as a technique to help regulate the nervous system. With more in depth training, EFT can be used for a variety of issues one might bring to a therapist. Rachel discusses how she integrates SH into other EP techniques. She has found that it often increases the speed and ease of change. Rachel discussed the significant research support for EP, including numerous double blind, randomized and controlled research studies. Lastly, Rachel shared practical strategies listeners can use to calm their nervous system and also demonstrated the sound produced by her various SH instruments.

Rachel Michaelson, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of California with over 35 years of clinical experience. Along with providing individual and group psychotherapy, Rachel is a clinical supervisor and consultant, who specializes in energy psychology and sound healing. She is a certified Diplomate in Comprehensive Energy Psychology (D-CEP) and has training in several energy-based therapeutic modalities including Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Havening Techniques, Advanced Integrative Therapy (AIT), Tapas Acupuncture Technique (TAT,) Psych-K, Trauma Tapping Technique and other energy medicine techniques. Rachel has developed an Energy Psychology protocol called Release Issues Past and Present which she uses with individuals and in groups and teaches to other mental health providers. When working with clients, Rachel often integrates sound healing by utilizing calibrated tuning forks and chimes to facilitate change. For over 25 years Rachel has been providing training to mental health professionals on a variety of topics including Energy Psychology, Sound Healing, trauma informed care, clinical supervision, law and ethics, telehealth, diagnoses, time and paperwork management, and suicide. Rachel is a past chair of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology’s Humanitarian Committee.

In this episode, I speak with Nigel about his work with Integrative Attachment Therapy (IAT). He discusses how his studies with Dan Siegel, M.D. and his meditation training in the Tibet Bon Dzongchen, led him to be very interested in what is a “mind”, how it works, what its about, and how ti develops. He discussed how attachment is the basis for the development of the mind, which we create "bottom up in our relation to others. He explained that the key developmental processes for the mind include attachment, care and nurturance, social rank, sexual identify and safety. He said that the novel part of the work that Daniel Brown, Ph.D., the coauthor of Attachment Disturbances in Adults: Treatment for Comprehensive Repair, was using an ideal parental figure to repair what had or had not been established in development. Nigel talks about the three pillars of IAT, where the therapist and client are collaborating on the work they’re doing together at the beginning of the session, doing the imaginal intervention of the ideal attachment figure, and then using metallization to process the experience and gain new awareness. He explained that they are helping a client to connect with the felt experience of feeling safe, seen, being able to trust and other elements of experiencing a secure attachment with this imagined parental figure. He shared that the conditions for a secure attachment include embodied trust, felt safety, being good enough, that its ok to explore, being able to down regulate the nervous system, and knowing your a good person. He spoke about how transference is encouraged to be shared directly with the therapist, and discussed using metallization, rather than using the therapist to provoke transference and letting it build up and then be worked through. We also discussed his work with psychedelics and its ability to help clients to integrate experiences in a different interpretive map.

Nigel Denning, M.Psych, MA is a Counselling Psychologist and Director of Integrative Psychology and Medicine in Melbourne, Australia. Nigel is Research Fellow at Australian National University. Nigel has been involved in developing the Three Pillars of Attachment Repair and Integrative Attachment Therapy with David Elliott and Traill Dowie and developing the IAT Training Program. Nigel is a nationally recognized expert in family violence, institutional abuse, trauma and attachment-focused practice. Nigel is also clinical lead in several psychedelic medicine trials and a trainer in psychedelics and holotropic breathwork, having studied under Stanislav Grof. In addition, Nigel is a long-term meditation practitioner and teacher in the Tibet Bon Dzogchen tradition. Nigel has a profound understanding of how Eastern practices affect the mind and their subsequent connection to psychotherapy. Nigel is a jovial and kind person who is passionate about improving the world one mind at a time.

In this episode, I speak with Peter about his work with “last chance couples” -- couples on the brink of separation who are putting in potentially one final effort in therapy. Peter first gives us a history of how he began specializing in this demographic of couples, the cornucopia of therapeutic models he brings into his work, and the particular challenges these types of couples pose to the therapeutic approach. He speaks about the creative relational movement approach to change which he employs to break a couples’ systemic cycle of fighting. A common issue that these “last chance couples” have, is there is often very little to no internal motivation left to employ a change to their dynamic. Within this creative relational change approach, Peter speaks to the four premises that are important for the couple and therapist alike to understand to get on board with this process, and which of the four premises is most controversial to the field of psychology. He also talks about naming vulnerability as a good way to break the cycle of angry fighting, the challenges of a detached partner, and the often gendered dynamics that can either play into or disrupt the cycle of fighting. Peter shares four research-supported suggestions for couples to increase both the therapeutic credibility and therapeutic outcomes and the five most common “last chance couple” scenarios, including one he discovered after the publication of his book on the subject. Finally, Peter zooms out and leaves us with the big picture concept of how couples can adopt relational values to use as a compass to better guide their relationship on a daily basis.

Peter Fraenkel, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at City College of New York; former faculty at the Ackerman Institute for the Family and NYU Medical Center; and is in private practice in New York City. He is the author numerous peer-reviewed articles and chapters, and the books Last Chance Couple Therapy: Bringing Relationships Back from the Brink (2023, Norton); Sync Your Relationship, Save Your Marriage: Four Steps to Getting Back on Track; and is co-author of The Relational Trauma of Incest: A Family-Based Approach to Treatment. Peter lectures and conducts therapist trainings internationally. He received the American Family Therapy Academy’s 2012 award for Innovative Contribution to Family Therapy. He is a former Vice President and former Board Member of AFTA, a Board member of the Minuchin Center for the Family, and a reviewer for several family therapy journals. Peter is also a professional drummer and percussionist, and has performed and recorded worldwide.

In this episode, I speak with Chandra about her path into trauma-informed work with young children and their caregivers. Raised in San Francisco by parents who worked in child welfare, Chandra was exposed early to stories of trauma and healing. Before age 7, several of her friends lost their parents to cancer, which inspired her to become a doctor. In high school, during an internship on a pediatric oncology ward she noticed that while physical health was prioritized, children’s emotional needs were often overlooked. This realization led her to study psychology. After college, Chandra worked at a residential program with children aged 6–12. She found the children often opened up about trauma during informal moments—car rides, bedtime, or watching TV—highlighting the need to involve caregivers in the healing process. In 1998, Chandra interned with Dr. Alicia Lieberman at UCSF’s Child Trauma Research Program, where she trained in Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), an evidence-based treatment for young children under age 6 who have experienced trauma. She later developed the CPP fidelity framework and co-authored the second edition of the manual. Chandra noted a key challenge: although many parents recognize their child’s trauma, few clinicians are trained to work effectively with young children. Many therapists also avoid discussing trauma directly with young children, which can leave them alone with their experiences. CPP begins with the therapist meeting alone with the caregiver to supportively explore the child’s symptoms, experiences of trauma, the caregiver’s own history, including how past experiences may shape the parent's responses. Then the therapist and caregiver gently acknowledge past traumatic experiences to the child—“speaking the unspeakable”—and help the child process their experiences using developmentally attuned pacing and modalities, including play and art. As children process their experiences they sometimes shift topics or activities or seek physical comfort when they begin to move outside their window of tolerance. Therapists help parents understand this process, attune to their child’s needs, and support their child. CPP has a strong evidence base, including five randomized controlled trials. It has shown positive outcomes for preschoolers exposed to violence and infants and toddlers who experienced maltreatment. Notably, a recent study found CPP is associated with lower epigenetic age acceleration in trauma-exposed children aged 2–6—suggesting a measurable impact at the biological level.

Chandra Ghosh Ippen, Ph.D. is a child trauma psychologist specializing in working with families with children under age 6. She is co-developer of Child-Parent Psychotherapy, the associate director of the Child Trauma Research Program at the University of California, San Francisco, and a member of the Board of Directors of Zero to Three. She has spent over 30 years conducting clinical work, research, and training in the area of childhood trauma and diversity-informed practice. She is also an award-winning children’s book author and has written 5 children’s books as well as the free Trinka and Sam disaster series, which has been translated and distributed to over 400,000 families around the world.

In this episode, Heather discusses her background and how she came to working with couples in therapy. She discussed how usually, when a partner in a couple has significant PTSD, it is recommended that each do individual therapy, but as she discussed, that doesn’t mean the couple doesn’t continue to struggle in their relationship. She shared how in her research with couples, where one person was a child sexual abuse survivor, the Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy approach was helpful, but it was difficult to complete Deescalation Stage, since there was a great deal of emotional dysregulation and difficulty with mentalizing. Heather discussed her conceptualization of Complex PTSD and how she began starting with cognitive-based interventions to help clients understand trauma, their reactions to trauma, and learn skills for emotional regulation and mentalizing, which is being able to reflect on one’s own perceptions of the other, what the other may be experiencing/thinking, and how one might be being perceived. She explained how helping improve these skills helps to couple to address the effects of the trauma together and then allowing for the couple to do the relationship work. She talked about refining her Developmental Couples Therapy for Complex Trauma approaches, trained other clinicians, writing a treatment manual and conducting research. Heather also shared that she had recently published a workbook for clients, “Healing Broken Bonds: A Couple's Workbook for Complex Trauma” which goes through Developmental Couples Therapy for Complex Trauma step-by-step from a client’s perspective. She describes how it’s being used not only alongside treatment, but independently by couples and individuals. It can be paired with episodes of her podcast Healing Broken Bonds that help walk people through the concepts. ​

Heather MacIntosh, Ph.D., CPsych is a clinical psychologist, Associate Professor, and Director of the Couple and Family Therapy Clinic at McGill University where she is the recipient of the H. Noel Fieldhouse Award for Distinguished Teaching. Heather is author of Developmental Couple Therapy for Complex Trauma a Manual for Therapists and Healing Broken Bonds: A Couple's Workbook for Complex Trauma. She is also the developer and host of Healing Broken Bonds, a podcast featuring couples dealing with the impacts of complex trauma in their relationships. Developmental Couple Therapy for Complex Trauma is an evidence based, psychoanalytically informed treatment approach, developed by Heather, for working with couples dealing with the impacts of complex trauma. Heather is the author of over 60 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and treatment manuals. She is in demand as a speaker at international conferences and workshops as well as a resource for local and national media in the areas of trauma, couple and family relationships and issues, and queer and trans wellbeing. She leads an active funded research program having been principal researcher on over $500,000 in peer reviewed research grants and an active co-investigator on over $7,000,000 more with other internationally recognized colleagues. Heather’s research primarily examines the impact of early life trauma on the process and outcome of couple therapy. In addition, she studies the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ trauma survivors in therapy, in healing their sexual selves, adapting and integrating models of treatment to ensure accessibility and inclusion of Indigenous, racialized, queer, and trans, graduate student therapist trainees and clients. Heather lives and works on land of the Crawford Purchase Mohawk territory “purchased” for settlement by United Empire Loyalists at the end of the American Revolutionary War. MerryMac Farm is in Eastern Ontario, Canada, where she strives to live with the land in peace, and to bring healing through therapy offered in relation with her Icelandic horses, her retired RCMP Musical Ride Horse, three Ojibwe Spirit Ponies, and a cadre of other creatures who bring joy, hilarity, and love to life.

In this episode, I speak with Karen Sprinkel Ancelet about her path to integrating trauma-informed, psychedelic-assisted therapy into her clinical practice. Karen shares how, early in her career, she worked with families whose loved ones had been murdered by a serial killer. She found that the models she had been trained in were not enough to address the profound spiritual trauma her clients experienced as they struggled to make sense of such horrific loss. This realization led Karen to begin practicing Buddhism and eventually to live in Asia, where she deepened her understanding of human suffering. While working with people from Thailand and Tibet who had endured trauma, she witnessed how cultural perspectives shape the ways we make meaning out of tragedy and resilience. She also facilitated group therapy for child sexual abuse survivors, where she discovered that while some approaches were effective for certain individuals, they were not universally helpful. From these experiences, Karen came to conceptualize trauma as impacting the mind, body, and spirit, all of which must be addressed in healing. She describes her initial skepticism toward psychedelic therapies, coming from a place of purism, but shares how her perspective shifted as she learned more about their effectiveness. Immersing herself in advanced training and certification, Karen began working with clients using psychedelics in therapeutic contexts. Karen also discusses the breadth of her training across multiple trauma-healing approaches. She highlights Somatic modalities such as Somatic Experiencing, Hakomi, and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy; Desensitization-based methods like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Brainspotting; and Parts models including Internal Family Systems (IFS), Voice Dialogue, and Ego State Therapy. She explains how client factors often determine which approach is the best fit for a given individual. Throughout our conversation, Karen emphasizes her commitment to helping clients heal from PTSD as efficiently as possible. This integrative vision inspired her book, The Thriving Self: A New Paradigm for Healing the Mind, Body and Spirit and Moving Beyond It, which offers clients a framework to move toward healing without spending years in therapy.

Karen Sprinkel Ancelet, LMFT is a licensed psychotherapist with more than 30 years of clinical experience, practicing in California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Michigan. She specializes in trauma-informed care and integrates a broad range of evidence-based modalities, including EMDR, Brainspotting, Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems (Level 3), and HeartMath. Karen is also a Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) provider with advanced psychedelic training through MAPS, Fluence, and Three Cups. She graduated with a Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research from CIIS. In addition to her clinical practice, she serves as a consultant, educator, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and Continuing Education provider. A pivotal chapter in Karen’s life was her time living in Asia, where she conducted her master’s research on trauma healing following violent crimes in Tibet, Southeast Asia, and the United States. Deeply impacted by these findings, she returned to Asia for several years to further her exploration. Today, Karen weaves together the ancient wisdom of meditation and mindfulness with contemporary approaches such as EMDR, Brainspotting, Flash, EFT, IFS, and Somatic Experiencing to guide and support her clients in their healing journey.

In this episode, I speak with Sam about his career and what lead him to become an Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy trainer, teaching EFT in The United States and throughout Latin America, S​pain and the Caribbean. Sam discussed how his clients lead him to EFT when, although he had trained in multiple models of couples therapy, his clients were saying they felt like the therapy wasn’t going deep enough for them. He shared that he had been reading about attachment theory and John Bowlby’s work, and then took a workshop in EFT from Sue Johnson, Ph.D. He said he fell in love with the model and explained how it helped him see the struggles of couples he was working within a different light, and through the lens of attachment, he could see beyond their conflicts and struggles and see their protests at disconnection as longing for connection. We discussed how Sue asked him to become a trainer in EFT, and asked him to bring EFT to Spanish-speaking countries, as he was originally from Mexico City and spoke Spanish fluently. Sam shares about the countries he has provided trainings in and we discussed cultural nuances that he has found in Latin American cultures and with other cultures. He discussed how the expression of love and the expectations of closeness are influenced by culture, and also how all human beings, regardless of culture, have the fundamental need for connection and safety. We discussed dynamics in Latin American culture that relate to gender, socioeconomic status, relation to family, collectivism and individualism, and how these may appear in couples therapy. In addition to Sam’s cross cultural work, we also discussed his work on Forgiveness, and a training he had first done with Dr. Michelle Gannon on apologies and how important they are to healing Attachment Injuries. Sam now teaches Master Classes on Attachment Injuries and Forgiveness with fellow Argentinean Trainer Natalia Gilabert. We left off commenting on the book Sam coauthored for the APA called Deliberate Practice in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, and trainings he is offering in-person this September in San Diego with Dr. Lisa Palmer Olsen, and online in 2026.

Sam Jinich, Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice, licensed in California since 1995, and currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is an internationally recognized Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Trainer, Supervisor, and Certified Couple Therapist, endorsed by the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT). Sam teaches EFT to therapists across the globe in English and Spanish. In North America, his trainings feature English-language didactic presentations with the option of bilingual experiential role plays—reflecting his belief that Latinx bilingual therapists should learn in the language they are most comfortable with, while deliberately practicing in the language they use clinically. A respected leader in the EFT community, Sam co-founded the Northern California Community for EFT (NCCEFT) and served as its EFT Trainer until 2025. He is also a past president of the San Francisco Psychological Association. Over nearly three decades, he has trained thousands of therapists, taught at multiple universities, published scientific research on trauma and family dynamics, and coauthored the APA book Deliberate Practice in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. Sam is the Clinical Director of the San Francisco Consultancy in Emotionally Focused Therapy (SFCEFT). Sam will be co-leading an EFT Externship in San Diego in September 2025, and an online EFT Externship in May 2026. Learn more at www.drsamjinich.com or on the ICEEFT website.