Scott Smith LCSW

Crossing line between good and bad anxiety — Harvard Gazette Psychologist offers three strategies to keep worry from interfering with everyday life.

news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

“The brain can learn that most anxiety-provoking situations are not actually dangerous, and that creates the opportunity to learn that you can handle the distress that arises when you challenge yourself.“

Getting Started in Psychotherapy What patients and therapists both need to know.

Succint, eloquent advice for anyone entering therapy for the first (or second, or third) time😊

open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

#ERICHFROMM ON FREEDOM AS ESCAPE FROM IT

"Most people are convinced that as long as they are not overtly forced to do something by an outside power, their decisions are theirs, and that if they want something, it is they who want it. But this is one of the great illusions we have about ourselves.

Why Psychotherapy Should Busy Itself with Building Character Strengths, Not Reducing Symptoms More than symptom reduction, clients want outcomes like self-understanding, enhanced self-agency, and greater social engagement from therapy.

Why Psychotherapy Should Busy Itself with Building Character Strengths, Not Reducing Symptoms - Mad In America www.madinamerica.com/2025/07/psyc...

Where your fear is, there is your task. - Jung

A #squirrel gets gently brushed and clearly enjoys it.
When the scratching stops, it taps for more. This reaction is common in #mammals, as grooming and gentle touch can trigger calming responses and even release endorphins.

It’s Amazing What White Evangelicals Are Willing To Ignore….

"You boy! What tariff is it today?"

One useful adage suggests that one should formulate the interpretation and think about it four times before verbalizing it.
- Glen Gabbard

Periodically we should remind ourselves that if helpful suggestions and sympathy from people were sufficient to work out a significant emotional problem, nobody would need a therapist.
- Nancy McWilliams

I spent my training years missing empathic opportunities and fighting against an internal pull toward "fix-it" statements...I would have been the master if fix-it statements were helpful. They aren't.
- Suzanne Bender (with Edward Messner), 𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡

The Therapist in the Machine | Jess McAllen The latest mental health care disruptors seek to sideline humans altogether. Enter: the AI therapy bot.

Wait.

You’re telling me that Talkspace sued PsiAN for $40 million in damages after PsiAN sent a private letter to the American Psychological Association asking them to investigate the company for quality control concerns?

thebaffler.com/salvos/the-t...

Erich Fromm, The Heart of Man (1964)

Relational know-how is not only what clients prefer from their psychotherapists but is strongly predictive of effective psychotherapy…Alliance-building skills, genuineness, and positive regard far outstrip the effectiveness of techniques, regardless of theoretical orientation.
- Enrico Gnaulati

Great advice on helping someone who is grieving.

“If you only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.”

— Montesquieu

The supply of interpretations far exceeds the demand.
- Harry Stack Sullivan

Evasion of peer review is a hallmark of pseudoscience.

But even more insidious is the obviation of scientific scrutiny by publishing in pseudoscientific journals that exist to provide an illusion of scientific legitimacy.

The cartoon shows a bull sitting on a couch in what looks like a therapy session with a therapist holding a notepad. The bull is saying, “I mean, I know it’s coming and I think to myself ‘hold it together, man…’ But then he waves that red cape and I just lose it!”

Silly psy cartoon for the weekend!

Regardless of their intentions—even if they believe they’re doing the right thing—grifters worsen health outcomes.

They sell fake cures, pseudoscience, and false hope—and that’s a real problem for anyone needing assistance with mental health or illness.

Mental health misinformation is rampant on social media.

In our new study, 33% of popular mental health videos on TikTok that offered advice and information were misleading.

These videos were watched over 1 billion times.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....

Anecdotal evidence reliable?

One man says “yes.”

Nearly 800 prisoners now helping to battle Los Angeles fires Incarcerated firefighters working to battle the widespread Los Angeles brush fires are paid between $5.80 and $10.24 per day, plus $1 for active emergencies.

Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 charges but won't face any punishment — and will be back in the White House this month.

Nearly 800 prisoners are now helping to battle Los Angeles fires, making as little as $5.80 per day.

A tale of two justice systems.

"Where is your million dollar donation to Trump's inaugural fund?"

things to ask therapists who say they’ve never encountered transference or countertransference:

• your work always proceed smoothly and without hindrance?

• ever thought about a customer between sessions?

• always gotten paid in full and on time?

• think words are the only way we communicate?