From time to time, I use props in my therapy sessions. They’re great for introducing a sense of play, and for mediating the interaction between me and my client(s). I’ve used the Hoberman Sphere pictured above to demonstrate cognitive concepts to my group therapy clients, opening and closing the sphere to demonstrate flexibility and constriction. Each time, my clients are absolutely alert and attentive. After the demonstration, we pass the sphere around, with each member flexing it to demonstrate their current state.

The barriers that arise during talk therapy can often be overcome by using props, since they support kinesthetic engagement. (Of course, some clients are as resistant to props as they are to speaking.) Sometimes I use a shawl (any length of cloth or rope or even a flexible band would do), holding one end while my client holds the other. We pull, sometimes gently, sometimes firmly, each trying to match the give and take of the other. It’s a dance, but a...

If you’re a “talk therapist” like me, you’re used to knowing a client mainly through their story: what they talk about. This typically includes a developmental history, significant life events, and key relationships, all within the context of symptoms from which the client wants relief. But this isn’t the only way to proceed.

I trained in Somatic Experiencing, an approach developed by Dr. Peter Levine to address trauma. Somatic Experiencing sets aside the story to work instead on felt sensation in the body. By setting aside the narrative, clients are able to work their way through trauma by feeling their way through it - noticing sensations that arise, developing the capacity to contain them, and allowing them to resolve.

While Somatic Experiencing is primarily associated with trauma treatment, I use SE skills to work with clients addressing anxiety and other states of “over-activation,” including irritability, anger, and chronic pain. You...

Every therapist gets stuck now and then when working with a client, unable to move things forward. While often this gets called "client resistance," doing so ignores the fact that the therapist is participating in the "stuckness" too. Quite actively. (Or passively, as the case may be.) While there are many ways to get unstuck, I regularly remind myself of things that help.

• Are my verbal responses to the client predictable and repetitive? If so, do I attribute this to (i.e. blame) the client instead of recognizing my complicity? Am I able to change my responses in a way that disrupts the cycle of predictability? I find that when I am able to do so, the work shifts.
• If I'm primarily a "talk therapist," do I find opportunities for somatic engagement? Feeling, sensing? Changing sensory channels relieves us from the confines of speech and language. This can be freeing for client and therapist alike. Sometimes I use props to accomplish this - objects that can be handled between us. ...