After journeying through the Family Dialogue process, estranged family members often end up adjusting the very notion of what togetherness means. Read more

Sharing how Rich Simon impacted our lives—and the field as a whole. Read more

Has anything changed in the way we classify trauma? Does anything need to change in terms of how we treat it? According to therapist Mary Jo Barrett, yes... Read more

In one violent Chicago neighborhood, embattled gang members see themselves as UPOWs—urban prisoners of war. To introduce them to a new set of survival... Read more

Far too often, trauma survivors appear to progress in therapy and then go home and fall right back into the same old patterns of negative emotion and... Read more

A group of innovators and leaders look back over different realms of therapeutic practice and offer their view of the eureka moments, the mistakes and... Read more

When a client has been sexually abused, it can be difficult to find the balance between creating safety and challenging old patterns. Read more

A therapist shares about handling a client when attraction pushes the boundaries. Read more

In this brief video clip, Mary Jo explains why bringing the family into therapy should be our first stop when treating trauma. Read more

If we don’t open up the one-on-one therapeutic cloister, trauma sufferers may never learn how to engage in the give and take of real-life relationships. By... Read more

We all know that the collaboration between therapist and client is the keystone of therapy. What many therapists may not realize is how much clarifying... Read more

Mary Jo talks about the first stage of trauma treatment, where she teaches clients about the natural cycle of growth in order to discover how they prefer to... Read more

Sometimes ethical violations we face with our clients become so subtle and complex that we risk alienating clients when we’re trying our best to protect them. Read more

Mary Jo Barrett talks about grounding during session to be in the moment. Read more

Increasingly the general public has come to regard therapists as just another kind of service provider, rather than a potential Svengali. Thus the relative... Read more

As the status of therapist has shifted from an oversized figure with Svengali-like powers to an overworked and underpaid service provider at the mercy of the... Read more

There's no more emotionally demanding work than that with an incestuous family. A therapist offers an uncensored look at the fear, loathing, and fascination of... Read more

The Family Dialogue Project grew out of my attempt to help therapists, abuse survivors, and their families caught in the meshes of terrible conflicts from... Read more