Therapy Skills Episodes

Bron and Dr Aaron Frost discuss the importance of deliberate practice in the development of psychologists. They highlight that psychologists can reliably improve their skills by collecting client data and working on the areas that are difficult (like client retention), instead of learning therapy after therapy. We talk about 👉 What role plays should look like 👉🏼 Why step-by-step improvement is the goal to therapist skill development 👉🏾 How to find a deliberate practice supervisor. Guest: Dr A...

Bron and Katherine demystify the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and working effectively with people with a disability. They chat about 👉🏽 Katherine's insights as a Behaviour Support Practitioner 👉🏻 The importance of understanding the functional behaviour of people living with disabilities 👉 Katherine's advocacy work within the disability sector. Guest: Dr Katherine Elliston, Psychologist / Representative on the Australian Disability Advisory Council (Tas), Deputy Community Chair ...

Bron unpacks saying 'goodbye' to clients when the therapist is the one who is ending the relationship. Otherwise known as 'therapist-led termination' or 'unilateral termination', this is something that all therapists will encounter when they change workplaces, take extended leave, or decide that therapy just isn't working with a particular client. Bron takes you through 👉 Ethical considerations in ending therapy 👉🏽 How to tell clients that you are ending therapy 👉🏼 How to process the ending of t...

Bron and Amanda unpack treating generalised anxiety disorder by applying two treatment approaches (CBT and Schema Therapy) to the same hypothetical case. They chat about 👉🏽 The downsides of worry and how it can become problematic for clients 👉🏻 How to set up anxiety treatment for a client using CBT and Schema 👉 Similarities and differences between CBT and Schema techniques. Guest: Amanda Moses, Psychologist and Supervisor at Amanda Moses Psychology LINKS Treating Anxiety: A Manual for Therapi...

Bron and Amanda get passionate about the deceptively simple CBT technique of behavioural activation. They unpack 👉🏽 How to maximise outcomes for clients 👉🏻 When and how to introduce behavioural activation 👉 Troubleshooting difficulties 👉🏿 Adaptations for clients with significant difficulties participating in pleasurable and mastery-focused activities. Guest: Amanda Moses, Author of Treating Depression: A Manual for Therapists and Psychologist at Amanda Moses Psychology THE END BITS Mental Work ...

Therapists usually experience shock! horror! and despair! when they think about recording a therapy session. So let's talk about it. In this episode, Bron unpacks 👉🏽 Why you should record therapy sessions 👉🏻 How to ask for client consent 👉 Recording and storing sessions 👉🏿 Tips for overcoming recording anxiety. Bron's Informed Consent for Recording Sessions Word/PDF template is available to Patreon members - Join for $2 a month. THE END BITS Mental Work is the podcast unpacking the challenges ...

You've prepped a great session for your client but they seem completely uninterested in all of your suggestions - what do you do? Bron and Kate unpack the dilemma of 'nothing sessions'. They chat about 👉🏽 What it feels like to have sessions that fall flat, despite good planning 👉🏻 How to help clients understand what therapy can involve 👉 Ways to increase client engagement in sessions 👉🏿 Tips for wrapping up therapy. Guest: Kate Christie, Psychologist THE END BITS Mental Work is the podcast...

Bron is joined by Emma St John (Sexologist & clinical psych registrar) to unpack how early-career psychs can apply their existing skills to talk about sex with clients. They explore 👉🏽 When is it relevant to talk about sex with clients? 👉🏻 Why it's important to examine our attitudes towards sex 👉 How to talk about sex 👉🏿 Applying our existing therapeutic skills to sex therapy interventions 👉🏾 How Emma became interested in sexual health. You won't find talking about sex nearly as intimidating by ...

If you cry a little inside every time you think about treatment planning, then this episode is for you. Bron is joined by Amanda Moses (Psychologist) to unpack treatment planning in an easy-to-understand, bite-sized way. They chat about: 👉🏻 How to formulate using the 5 P's 👉 How to treatment plan for depression 👉🏿 Ways to deliver CBT for depression 👉🏾 Getting the right balance between over-planning and under-planning for sessions. Mental Work is the podcast unpacking the challenges faced b...

Today on Mental Work, Bron is joined by Nicole Young (Educational and Developmental Psychologist) to unpack everything diagnosis and assessment. They touch on 👉🏽 What are the benefits of diagnosis? 👉🏻 Getting comfortable with *not* taking on every assessment referral 👉 Managing client expectations with diagnosis 👉🏾 The importance of adequate training and practice in assessments. Mental Work is the podcast unpacking the challenges faced by early career psychologists, so they don’t have to go it ...

Do you hate notes? Me too. This episode unpacks the dilemma of keeping up with notes. Bron unpacks about 👉🏽 what goes into clinical notes 👉🏻 practical strategies for keeping up with notes 👉 how to get more efficient at taking notes (electronic vs paper). Mental Work is hosted by Dr Bronwyn Milkins, an early-career psychologist. LINKS Taking notes on iPad tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I2MWtwDgTk My notes template: Template - Progress Notes.pdf THE END BITS Thanks so much for liste...

As early-career mental health professionals, we can't possibly know everything and be able to help everyone. So what do you do when you're not a good fit for your client? Bron takes us through why professional 'fit' is important, how to know when a client is a 'good fit' and a 'bad fit', and provides practical tips for how to navigate difficult conversations in the workplace and in private practice. THE END BITS Thanks so much for listening. Mental Work is the podcast taking a closer look at th...

Bron is joined by Mental Health Nurse, Stephanie, to talk us through how to discuss medication with clients when you're not medically trained. Steph also gives some guidance on how to not let your personal biases enter the room. Bron leaves feeling reassured and less likely to freak out in the future. THE END BITS Thanks so much for listening. Mental Work is the podcast taking a closer look at the everyday challenges faced by early-career mental health professionals, so they don’t have to go it...

Nearly 1 in 2 adults will experience a diagnosable mental health condition in their lifetime - and that statistic includes mental health professionals. There's still a bunch of stigma around having mental illness as a mental health professional, but we think that's bullocks. So in this episode, Bron and Rach discuss why it's important to acknowledge our lived experience and how we can use it to benefit our clients and make work a better experience overall. THE END BITS Thanks for listening! Men...