Edge of the Couch

In this episode, we dive into a common struggle suggested by one of our awesome listeners: the nagging feeling of not "doing enough" in therapy. Join us as we unpack this topic and ask ourselves the …

This is a highly requested topic that comes with so much charge and tenderness. This week, we’re talking about being rejected by a client. We explore the myriad of rejections that can happen in the r…

This week we are taking it back to the basics-- how to open and close sessions! We share our favourite opening questions/remarks, talk about why it can be valuable to avoid “how are you” as the openi…

This week, we’re sharing how we respond when clients answer with “I don’t know”s. We talk about why “I don’t know” can feel so discombobulating, how to respond effectively and without panicking, what…

No-show and cancellation conversations are some of the most charged and controversial among therapists. There are constant debates about whether to charge for cancellations or not, how much notice is…

Many clients come to therapy with a history of charged relationship dynamics. Maybe they’ve been people-pleasing, maybe they shut others out, maybe they have difficulty being vulnerable with friends,…

If you’re on any therapy forums, part of a therapist group, or even currently becoming a therapist, you’ve undoubtedly seen people talking about therapists leaving the field. One of the most common q…

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed the landscape of therapy. Where before 2020 online therapy was met with a great deal of skepticism and judgment, once in-person sessions were no longer possi…

Major major MAJOR caveat: what clients bring to sessions is important regardless of the ‘size’ of it. We used the terminology “small things” as it felt that it explained the situation in the most pre…

Join us in a candid conversation about policies and power in therapy. We delve into the topic of therapist boundaries, drawing parallels with dynamics with supervisors and bosses. We get real about t…

Let’s imagine that in the course of a session, a client casually mentions something that feels big but the conversation moves beyond it quickly. As the therapist, we may have a sense that we need to …

Shame is often talked about in pop psych, but what does it mean? In this episode all about this tender emotion, we describe how the different theoretical frameworks understand how shame operates and …

In our therapeutic work, we think of ourselves as ‘fellow travellers’ who journey alongside our clients in the evolving, changing, learning etc. But recently we were asked by a listener, “what does b…

We’re back and excited for Season 6!! We’re opening the season with a juicy question that we get a lot - what are practicum supervisors looking for? We can’t speak for all supervisors but we had a gr…

From celebrating clients' milestones and triumphs to helping them navigate the darkest seasons of life, in our final episode of Season 5, we'll share what makes being a therapist especially meaningfu…

Alison McCleary
www.alpenglowcounselling.com
@alpenglow_counselling on Instagram

Jordan Pickell
www.jordanpickellcounselling.ca
@jordanpickellcounselling on Instagram

Edge of the Couch
www.edgeofthecouch.co…

We’ve often joked that if we were to start a counselling school, the basic skills training would look very different than the program we completed together. In this episode, we share with you the fou…

We met on zoom with listeners for a LIVE Q&A episode where members of our community asked questions in real time. We discuss how to help clients sit with their difficult feelings, how to manage the m…

Grief and loss are inevitable parts of therapeutic work. Clients' pain (or anger or confusion) is sometimes so big and it can feel delicate for new therapists to know how to hold all of the bigness. …

There is a welcome discourse about the humanity of therapists. But with this new perspective, we risk losing sight of the reality that some therapists are actively harmful. In this episode, we talk a…