For many years, Becoming a Therapist: What Do I Say, And Why? by Suzanne Bender, MD and Edward Messner, MD has served as a guidebook for those learning about psychotherapy and educators, providing readers with practical information on a wide range of topics. The revised edition includes important information on practicing psychotherapy in today’s evolving world, discussing teletherapy and social media.
Revised and Expanded for the Digital Age
This trusted guidebook and text helps novice psychotherapists of any orientation bridge the gap between coursework and clinical practice. It offers a window into what works and what doesn’t work in interactions with patients, the ins and outs of the therapeutic relationship, and how to manage common clinical dilemmas.
Featuring rich case examples, the book speaks directly to the questions, concerns, and insecurities of novice clinicians. Reproducible forms to aid in treatment planning can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8½” x 11″ size.
New to This Edition
- Reflects two decades of technological changes—covers how to develop email and texting policies, navigate social media, use electronic medical records, and optimize teletherapy.
- New chapters on professional development and on managing the impact of therapist life events (pregnancy and parental leave, vacations, medical issues).
- Instructive discussion of systemic racism, cultural humility, and implicit bias.
- Significantly revised chapter on substance use disorders, with a focus on motivational interviewing techniques.
- Reproducible/downloadable Therapist Tools.
Foreword written by Nhi-Ha Trinh MD MPH, Director of the MGH Psychiatry Center for Diversity.
Praise for Becoming a Therapist: What Do I Say, And Why?
“I have reviewed all sorts of books about how to practice psychotherapy. Becoming a Therapist is still my favorite and most useful resource….The updated second edition addresses important societal changes and clinical advances, and is absolutely essential. Anyone who practices psychotherapy or is training to become a practitioner should have a copy on the shelf. Without question, this is the most valuable resource I have encountered about the difficult and immensely rewarding art of psychotherapy.”
— Steven Schlozman, MD, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
“For years, I’ve recommended Becoming a Therapist to trainees seeking a thoughtful, accessible approach to learning psychotherapy, as well as to faculty supervising them. The second edition is even better than the first, expanding its reach to so many topics relevant for 21st-century practice….Reading this book is like conversing with the authors about a range of everyday tricky situations in clinical practice, and leaving with a treasure trove of ideas, scripts, tools, and further resources to try out.”
— Donna T. Chen, MD, MPH, University of Virginia
WATCH: Dr. Suzanne Bender discusses the newest edition of Becoming a Therapist: What Do I Say, And Why?
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Edward Messner, MD, until his death in 2006, was a Senior Psychiatrist at Mass General Hospital and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. |
Suzanne Bender, MD is a Staff Psychiatrist in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, part-time, at Harvard Medical School. Within the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology (GI) and Nutrition Department at MGH for Children (MGHfC), she is the Co-Director of the MGHfC Pediatric GI Psychiatry program. Dr. Bender teaches a weekly year-long course on child and adolescent psychodynamic psychotherapy in the MGH/McLean Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program. She has received five departmental teaching awards and three departmental mentoring awards from the graduating classes of the Child Psychiatry Fellowship.