Therapists on the Hostage Negotiation Team and Supporting Police Work: An interview with Dr. Andy Young
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
Release Date: 09/12/2022
Private Practice Planning for the Future of Mental Healthcare: An Interview with Maureen Werrbach
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
Private Practice Planning for the Future of Mental Healthcare: An Interview with Maureen Werrbach Curt and Katie interview Maureen Werrbach of the Group Practice Exchange on upcoming trends for mental healthcare. We talk about what is predicted, how to prepare your private practice for success in 2023, and how to plan for unexpected changes to our profession. Transcripts for this episode will be available at ! An Interview with Maureen Werrbach, LCPC, The Group Practice Exchange Maureen Werrbach established The Group Practice Exchange after starting her private practice, Urban Wellness, and...
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Penny Wise and Pound Foolish: Thoughts on investing and getting paid as a therapist
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
Penny Wise and Pound Foolish: Thoughts on investing and getting paid as a therapist Curt and Katie chat about money: considerations for investing and getting paid as a therapist. We look at typical unpaid opportunities and how to decide whether to do them. We also talk about client care practices that may take time, but could keep clients. Transcripts for this episode will be available at ! In this podcast episode we talk about money mistakes that many therapists make We talk a lot about making sure that therapists get paid, but thought it was worth talking about when therapists...
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How to Manage Your Practice as a Traveling Therapist: An Interview with Kym Tolson, LCSW
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
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Smarter than SMART: How therapists can improve goal-setting with clients
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
Smarter than SMART: How therapists can improve goal-setting with clients Curt and Katie chat about setting goals. We look at why goals are important to therapists, SMART goals (what they are, what works and what doesn’t), and how to move beyond SMART goals to more robust goal setting and behavior design. This is a continuing education podcourse. Transcripts for this episode will be available at ! In this podcast episode we talk about how to strengthen your goal-setting skills Many therapists learn SMART Goals and objectives as the primary tools for creating treatment plans. Oftentimes, goal...
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Navigating the Social Media Self-Diagnosis Trend
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
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What Therapists Should Know About Sexual Health, Monkey Pox, and the Echoes of the AIDS Epidemic: An Interview with Mallory Garrett, LMFT
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
What Therapists Should Know About Sexual Health, Monkey Pox, and the Echoes of the AIDS Epidemic: An Interview with Mallory Garrett, LMFT Curt and Katie interview Mallory Garrett about sexual health as well as the current concerns related to Monkey Pox. We discuss what therapists usually get wrong when working with sexual health, what therapists need to know about STIs, as well as Monkey Pox. We talk about the relevant history of the HIV/AIDs epidemic and the community responses to Monkey Pox. We also look at how therapists can be most helpful to clients within our scope of practice. Resources...
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It’s the Lack of Thought That Counts: Ethical Decision Making in Dual Relationships
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
It’s the Lack of Thought That Counts: Ethical Decision Making in Dual Relationships Curt and Katie chat about dual relationships. We talk about the types of dual relationships, how often therapists get in trouble for these types of relationships, how to manage dual relationships, and the ethical decision making process to go through to decide whether to engage in a dual relationship. This is a law and ethics continuing education podcourse. Transcripts for this episode will be available at ! In this podcast episode we talk about ethical decision making to navigate dual relationships We take a...
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How Can Therapists Help Couples Recover from Infidelity?: An Interview with Dr. Talal H. Alsaleem
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
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Why Aren’t Men Becoming Therapists Anymore?
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
Why Aren’t Men Becoming Therapists Anymore? Curt and Katie chat about the lack of male therapists and the decreasing number of male students in the profession. We look at current statistics and reported experiences of men in the field. We also dig into what needs to change to balance gender representation and increase the number of men becoming therapists. Transcripts for this episode will be available at ! In this podcast episode we talk about male therapists Continuing forward within men’s health month, we are looking at the state of the profession for male therapists....
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Why Men Don’t Stay in Therapy
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
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info_outlineTherapists on the Hostage Negotiation Team and Supporting Police Work: An interview with Dr. Andy Young
Curt and Katie interview Andy Young about hostage (crisis) negotiation and his work with SWAT and crisis negotiation in Lubbock, TX. Content warning: discussion of violence, suicide, and homicide. We talk about what therapists can do within police departments, the interplay between mental health and law enforcement, what that work looks like – especially when involved in crisis negotiation, and skills therapists need when working in these settings. We also look at trauma response and how it is handled when things go south.
Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!
An Interview with Dr. Andy Young
Dr. Andy Young has been a Professor of Psychology and Counseling at Lubbock Christian University since 1996 and a negotiator and psychological consultant with the Lubbock Police Department’s SWAT team since 2000. He also heads LPD’s Victim Services Unit and is the director of the department’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team. He has been on the negotiating team at the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office since 2008 and is on the team at the Texas Department of Public Safety (Texas Rangers, Special Operations, Region 5). He is the author of, “Fight or Flight: Negotiating Crisis on the Frontline” and “When Every Word Counts: An Insider’s View of Crisis Negotiations.” He was recently added as a third author for the 6th Edition of “Crisis Negotiations: Managing Critical Incidents and Hostage Situations in Law Enforcement and Corrections”.
In this podcast episode, we talk about the role therapists can play in crisis negotiation
There have been many calls to defund the police and create roles for mental health professionals in law enforcement. Dr. Andy Young has already been doing this for 20 years. We talked with him about what that experience looks like.
What can therapists do for law enforcement?
- Crisis counseling
- Hostage or Crisis Negotiation support (advising on the negotiation)
- Psychiatric consultation
- Predicting violence or suicide, assessing subjects’ mental health
What is the interplay between mental health and law enforcement?
- Police officers get 40 hours of active listening and mental health
- Officers started out a bit stand-offish, reported increased mental load due to needing to protect mental health professionals at the scene
- Finding value in taking mental health out of scope of law enforcement
- There is a huge importance in developing relationship with the officers
- Specialized training needed that can support integrating mental health providers into law enforcement teams
What does work look like for therapists in law enforcement and crisis negotiation?
- Coaching on communication
- Assessing the situation and the subject
- Strategizing interventions to de-escalate the situation
- Provide context and reassurance to law enforcement professionals
- Hostage Negotiation calls are typically once to twice a month (and not every month).
- There are successful outcomes 97% of the time
How do these law enforcement and mental health providers handle things when they go south?
“There's me and other people like me – therapists who understand the law enforcement culture, and even are trusted by the law enforcement culture – where officers will reach out for additional assistance if they believe that they need it [after a traumatic incident]. And of course, me being around just walking through the halls of the police department, inevitably, somebody will say, 'Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?' and then it gets personal”. – Dr. Andy Young
- Crisis support
- Critical Incident Stress Management
- Mental health providers who are accepted within the law enforcement culture
- The political, investigative and personal elements of a lethal force incident
- Processing and debriefing within the team
What skills should therapists have to work with law enforcement and hostage negotiation?
“People get to make decisions for themselves. And we might be able to coach people on how to land the airplane, but they get to land the airplane themselves. And in my office, that's one thing. But out on the street where there's guns or elevated positions that we can jump off of or innocent people that we can kill. It's the same principle, but at its extreme, and it really tests a person about being able to apply that to yourself and your circumstances.” – Dr. Andy Young
- Pragmatic and understanding the situation you’re in
- Practical, knowing your own limits
- Ability to manage emotional situations calmly
- Navigating the extreme stakes out in the streets
- Understanding law enforcement
The benefit of having a mental health provider on a hostage negotiation team
- Training the team on mental health concerns
- Improving “batting average” on successful outcomes
- The importance of a well-trained team
Our Generous Sponsor for this episode of the Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide:
Thrizer
Thrizer is a new modern billing platform for therapists that was built on the belief that therapy should be accessible AND clinicians should earn what they are worth. Their platform automatically gets clients reimbursed by their insurance after every session. Just by billing your clients through Thrizer, you can potentially save them hundreds every month, with no extra work on your end. Every time you bill a client through Thrizer, an insurance claim is automatically generated and sent directly to the client's insurance. From there, Thrizer provides concierge support to ensure clients get their reimbursement quickly, directly into their bank account. By eliminating reimbursement by check, confusion around benefits, and obscurity with reimbursement status, they allow your clients to focus on what actually matters rather than worrying about their money. It is very quick to get set up and it works great in completement with EHR systems. Their team is super helpful and responsive, and the founder is actually a long-time therapy client who grew frustrated with his reimbursement times The best part is you don't need to give up your rate. They charge a standard 3% payment processing fee!
Thrizer lets you become more accessible while remaining in complete control of your practice. A better experience for your clients during therapy means higher retention. Money won't be the reason they quit on therapy. Sign up using bit.ly/moderntherapists if you want to test Thrizer completely risk free! Sign up for Thrizer with code 'moderntherapists' for 1 month of no credit card fees or payment processing fees! That’s right - you will get one month of no payment processing fees, meaning you earn 100% of your cash rate during that time.
Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:
We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!
www.DrAndyYoung.com
Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:
Treating First Responders: An interview with Yael Shuman, LMFT
Special Series: Psychiatric Crises in the Emergency Room
Who we are:
Curt Widhalm, LMFT
Curt Widhalm is in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the cofounder of the Therapy Reimagined conference, an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University and CSUN, a former Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, former CFO of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com
Katie Vernoy, LMFT
Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant supporting leaders, visionaries, executives, and helping professionals to create sustainable careers. Katie, with Curt, has developed workshops and a conference, Therapy Reimagined, to support therapists navigating through the modern challenges of this profession. Katie is also a former President of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com
A Quick Note:
Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.
Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.
Stay in Touch with Curt, Katie, and the whole Therapy Reimagined #TherapyMovement:
Consultation services with Curt Widhalm or Katie Vernoy:
Connect with the Modern Therapist Community:
Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapists Group
Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide Creative Credits:
Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/
Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano https://groomsymusic.com/