Very Bad Therapy

147. Termination Session

Thank you for listening!

146. Patreon Selects: Carrie-Ben Therapy (aka CBT 2.0)

Carrie and Ben create their own model of therapy. Goal setting! Psychoeducation! Exploitation and worrisome sales tactics! What does it say about psychotherapy when our p

145. Patreon Selects: Book Review - All Therapy Books

All therapy books have an oddly similar message: *This* form of therapy is the one that truly matters, and *this* science/philosophy/whatever is the key to understanding

143. Patreon Selects: Fun With the Psychology Today Profile Generator

Life can be hard at times. Do you want to feel more visible and important in your relationships? Are you curious about why every Psychology Today profile looks the same?

142. VBT Study Hall: Client Testimonials and Reviews

Social proof has become a crucial element of consumer decision making in the Internet era. So why don't the vast majority of therapists ask their clients to give testimon

141. "Not All Christians…" (with Josh Foster, LCPC)

What is religious trauma, and why do some therapists refuse to work with clients who use that language? In today's episode, Jeremy speaks about his experiences with thera

140. VBT Study Hall: What Does "Trauma-Informed" Mean?

Trauma-informed therapy is…what, exactly? And is trauma actually stored in the body, or is that just a clever narrative that a few enterprising gurus have used to sell bo

139. Politics in the Therapy Room (with Dr. Ben Caldwell)

Let's get controversial! Is it a good idea for a therapist to project their own political views onto a client? For today's guest Ruth, the answer is a resounding "no." We

138. Patreon Selects: Is EMDR a Cultish Pyramid Scheme?

No, EMDR is not a cultish pyramid scheme. With that out of the way, why is EMDR training so expensive when its theoretical foundations are supported by dubious (at best)

137. VBT Study Hall: Evaluating Research

How do we know which psychotherapy research is trustworthy? Dr. Alex Williams and Dr. John Sakaluk help us search for evidence in all the logical places: the replication

136. Very Bad Group Therapy

What makes for effective group therapy? Cohesion, expectation setting, and as today's guest Thomas can attest to, not having the therapist give the middle finger to a gro

135. VBT Study Hall: Treatment Planning

What exactly is treatment planning and why do some therapists dread having to do it on a regular basis? This episode is Carrie's love letter to treatment plans – why they

134. Neurodiversity and Diagnosis (with Halina Brooke, LAMFT)

What's so important about a diagnosis? For neurodivergent clients, it can mean affirmation, community support, and access to much-needed services…if the diagnosis is corr

133. VBT Study Hall: Termination

Nothing lasts forever, including therapeutic relationships. Therapy can end in lots of different ways, but what constitutes a good goodbye? We dig into the research on te

132. Some Bad Parts (with Dr. Sheila Addison)

"No bad parts" is a common mantra in therapy – the various parts of ourselves are always working to serve some beneficial purpose. But what happens when a therapist commu

131. VBT Study Hall: First Sessions

What happens in the first session of therapy? More importantly, why do one-third of clients not come back for the second session? We look for answers in the research on c

130. Gambling Therapy

Is good therapy as simple as whatever activity makes a client feel better? What if that activity is a singular focus on sports betting strategy? In today's episode, we ta

129. Patreon Selects: Will Carrie Ever Get Licensed?

Carrie hasn't worked as a therapist in over a year. Will she ever get licensed, and how is her decision connected to the apparent reality that many therapists are activel

128. VBT Study Hall: The Therapeutic Alliance

You've already heard that the therapeutic alliance is important to client outcomes, but does anyone actually know why? We dig into the research to figure out if ruptures

127. Enlightenment is Not a Treatment Goal (with Dr. Jim Jobin)

Many clients want a spiritual component to their therapy, but what happens when a therapist acts more like a theologian than a mental health professional? Today's guest K