Millennials as Therapists

Curt and Katie talk about generational differences in therapists, looking at perceptions (and misperceptions) about Millennials We look at how these differences impact therapy workplaces, supervision, and the future of our field.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

Whether or not Curt is a Millennial
Looking at how millennials show up as employees and entrepreneurs
Generational differences in therapists
Common complaint of millennials being entitled
Living life now versus earning your stripes and waiting on retirement
The Four-Hour Work Week
Curt’s theory that Millennials have perfected the dream of the Gen X-ers
The impact of technology on growing up in different generations
Looking at the impact of the recession on the perspective on how to navigate work
The “young upstart” mythology that gets under Boomers’ skin
Gaining confidence earlier due to the access to immense amounts of data that wasn’t around when X-ers and Boomers were growing up
Teaching as equals versus teaching as a superior, looking at collaborative learning
The difference between therapy as work and other professions
The further we remove the therapist from having creativity and ownership from the work, the less value they will get from the work.
The importance of real application of concepts in our education
The tension of enough structured guidance versus enough collaboration/empowerment
Avoiding the helicoptering (supervision, management, etc.)
How technology is impacting the work
The importance of grounding innovation in laws, ethics, and clinical excellence
How coaching might impact our profession, whether there is harm with people jumping to coaching without credentials or training
Instagram Therapists
Different goals for different generations, namely the scourge of selling out
Whether or not Gen X-ers have actually sold old
How things have changed in marketing and how that has impacted newer therapists
When you can claim “expert” status
How strong entrepreneurs can potentially harm the profession

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Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below are 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!

The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

Saving Psychotherapy by Ben Caldwell

Relevant Episodes:

Is CBT Crap?

All Kinds of Burnout

The Dividing Line Between Coaching and Therapy

The Brand Called You

Connect with us!

Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapists Group

Therapy Reimagined 2019

Our consultation services:

The Fifty-Minute Hour

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, 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: http://www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt’s youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: http://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.