Ili Rivera Walter, PhD, LMFT

Which of these will you try in 2024?

Book store haul. 📚

Read any of them?

No two clients are the same, no two relationships are the same, no two therapists are the same. 💛

I am teaching Contextual Family Therapy for Beginners this evening (Thursday, Sept. 21, 6 PM EDT). It's a free workshop through the Florida Family Therapy Alliance, with a small fee for CEs. This is an opportunity for you to learn more about this theory, or to review your knowledge.

Link to registration is here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/contextual-family-therapy-for-beginners-tickets-612329823987

A day in the life of a therapist. 😂​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Or, maybe it's that I am an INFP. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Five Ways Vicarious Trauma Can Sneak Up On You As A Psychotherapist​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​1. Overworking
2. Feeling bored in your work
3. Saying "no" to everything
4. Constantly thinking about money
5. Believing, "I shouldn't feel this way"

Thanks to for sharing her expertise!

Read more at http://familytherapybasics.com/blog 👍🏼

Who's going? 🙋🏻‍♀️

2024 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium Join me in-person or virtually for the 47th annual mental health professional gathering. Engage with inspiring speakers and learn from like-minded individuals.

"After a busy day, I want to sit and watch crappy Netflix TV shows, even though I know the data suggests that if I worked out or called a friend I’d be happier. But to do that I have to fight my intuition.

We need help with that, and you don’t get it naturally, especially in the modern day. There’s an enormous culture around us of capitalism that’s telling us to buy things and a hustle-achievement culture that destroys my students in terms of anxiety." --Laurie Santos

Yale’s Happiness Professor Says Anxiety Is Destroying Her Students (Published 2022) The cognitive scientist Laurie Santos says “we’re fighting cultural forces that are telling us, ‘You’re not happy enough.’”

An invitation to dialogue, and upcoming free trainings, from .
https://buff.ly/3PlX9RM 👍

Diane Gehart YouTube Live Register to join Dr. Diane Gehart for a LIVE recording of her upcoming YouTube Lectures.

A profile on Bessel van der Kolk, and how trauma became the dominant way we make sense of our lives.

https://buff.ly/45NH3WE

How Trauma Became America’s Favorite Diagnosis Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk’s once controversial theory of trauma became the dominant way we make sense of our lives.

Ethical and legal compliance, to less considered reasons, like branding--see my five reasons for using a comprehensive phone solution in my practice.
https://buff.ly/45v7CAd 📲

Five Benefits of Using A Streamlined HIPAA-Compliant Solution for Phone Calls and Texts with Therapy Clients — Family Therapy Basics More and more, therapists in private practice are choosing to have a hybrid or a fully virtual practice. And, as a result, technology, confidentiality, and compliance (and how these three components of business interact), have become more significant factors in our day-to-day work as therapists. My

Giving difficult feedback--when an employee or supervises has made a mistake, for example, can cause us to pre-plan the tough conversation, anticipate challenges with anxiety, and question our own capabilities. In this article, Melody Wilding offers tips for overcoming feedback fears. 🫥

An upcoming event that may interest you. 💛

Announcing the next talk in our lecture series! On September 28th at 2pm Eastern, Toko-pa Turner will be offering a talk to our community entitled "Dreaming: The World Behind This World."⁠ There is no charge for this talk, but to attend, you must register in advance. Register today: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkcuyspj8iHt1_b2JogoxgU7YSoUPilGtw #/registration

From Toko-pa:
"Every night we fall asleep, dropping our allegiances to the physical world, and an alternate version of ourselves awakens on the other side. We step into a dreaming body; the only vessel that can move in the mercurial dimension of symbol and story. It is a kind of nightly death, as we drop the weight of bones and flesh and abandon the storylines of our lives. Here, where there is no continuity or physical laws, we rely on a set of abilities least prized by our culture. Our greatest capacities are presence, relationality, and flexibility as we wade into the wild and fathomless depths from which the world’s myths were born, and from which all inventions took their origin.

In this talk, Toko-pa asks us to push at the limitations of traditional psychology to conceptualise psyche as something not housed within our own bodies, but as a sacred dimension of reality into which we each have a private gateway. Dreams are the living bridge to this otherworld, and like connective tissue to the wisdom of nature, are meant to shape us as individuals and as a species.Tending to this relationship between psyche and nature, we can learn to follow our inner wisdom to meet with the social, psychological, and ecological challenges of our time."

Blending the mystical teachings of Sufism in which she was raised with a Jungian approach to dreams, Toko-pa Turner is a Canadian author, teacher, and dreamworker. She founded The Dream School in 2001, from which thousands of students have graduated. She is the author of the award-winning book, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home, which explores the themes of exile and belonging through the lens of dreams, mythology, and nature. This book has resonated for readers worldwide, and has been translated into 10 different languages to date. Toko-pa's work is a devotion to reconciling the relationship between psyche and nature.

In this recent article, from Forbes, the author presents how she grew her side hustle into a thriving business (500K+). Of course, as therapists and business owners, the same can be true of us. The tip that stood out to me as essential: Refer resources to people who won't, or can't, pay. Which stood out to you? https://buff.ly/3L4Uqts 🤔

These 5 Tips Turned My Side Hustle Into A $500,000 Business Despite the economic environment, my company just crossed over $500,000 in revenue. Here are my best tips to help you start monetizing your knowledge as a side hustle.

5 of the Best Ways to Give Effective Feedback: "Set the recipient up for success" is one that stands out to me. Which is most relevant for you?

5 ways to give effective feedback | Zapier Here are examples from professionals across industries of effective feedback they've received. Use these examples to help you deliver effective feedback.

What does "toxic" mean when describing a workplace? Well, it includes disrespect, and a lack of inclusion. Learn how hybrid work can become toxic, if we are not vigilant as workers and colleagues.

Why Hybrid Work Can Become Toxic Toxicity can be an unfortunate reality of some work environments. Toxic cultures share five attributes: they’re disrespectful, noninclusive, unethical, cutthroat, and abusive. Undeniably negative as these attributes are, there is no absolute, uniformly accepted scale against which we can measure a...

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If you are feeling like you want to stop doing therapy, but you are not interested in leaving the therapy field, then you are likely experiencing career burnout, or fatigue. Learn ten simple steps that will help you rekindle some career energy, regardless of your specific situation.👌🏼

The tips are listed on the second image. To read the full blog post, visit: https://familytherapybasics.com/blog/therapists-who-are-burned-out

February is the end of the license renewal cycle in many states. I renewed my NY and PA licenses this month (and more to go in March.)

While we know renewing our licenses is "part of the job," let's not take for granted that it also takes privileges to renew our licenses, including, but not limited to, the cost(s) of continuing equation credits, and renewals. In addition, therapists choose to leave the field on a regular basis (this is not a failure, of course). If you've found your place within this field, and have chosen to continue, then that, in itself, is something to 🥳.

For those of you pre the renewal stage: It can be a challenging time, due to the requirements. Take care of yourself, and also celebrate your steps. 💛

If you renewed your license this month, drop a state abbreviation and 🙌🏼 in the comments.

Finally took a minute and ordered it.

Have you read it?

"Once you experience enormity, it lingers everywhere you look, and wants to be every word you say." --David Levithan ☀️

A day of rest . . . 🌱​​​​​​​​
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Sabbath​​​​​​​​
Sunday​​​​​​​​
Self-Care Day​​​​​​​​
No-Work Day​​​​​​​​
Shut-In​​​​​​​​
Sacred Day​​​​​​​​
Holy Day​​​​​​​​
Day Off​​​​​​​​
I Don't Have To Run Day (80s reference 😊)​​​​​​​​
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Do you take one? What do you call it?

Some therapists are done with the profession. 🙅🏽‍♀️

Low reimbursement from insurance, increased competition from large therapy brokers, and the lack of a national license are three top reasons I hear from therapists considering leaving the psychotherapy profession.

Which of these reasons is a frustration you’re experiencing right now? Comment below.

If you haven’t yet read this week’s post on the subject, find it at: https://familytherapybasics.com/blog. 💛

Open Path Psychotherapy Collective has updated their policies to include three meaningful changes.

1. The client participation lifetime membership fee is now $65.

2. The sliding scale range has increased by $10 for both individual and couple/family therapy.

3. Student interns are now able to join the directory. 🙌🏼

Therapists:

Contact [email protected] for more information.

Complete the application to be listed on Open Path via this link (my referral link): https://openpathcollective.org/open-path-therapists/application-full/?ref=2048

Questions? Post in comments.

When seasons change. When life transitions. Always. ☀️

Happy New Year, Friends!

I’ve been reading this week about ways to approach a new season with gentleness and self-compassion. As well as ways to “opt-out” of any goal-setting, or change-making.

I am somewhere in the middle—having spent some time reflecting on what matters most (my values and priorities), and how I’d like to nourish these in the coming months.

What is your approach to this new season, if any? 💛