A while back I got to do an online video recording as part of a Psychotherapy Networker course titled, Essentials of Treating & Preventing Suicide: Perspectives from the Experts

Not having watched the final product, I can’t be certain of exactly how many minutes of me embarrassing myself are integrated into this course. I say “embarrassing myself” because of feeling self-conscious and insecure about being included in the line-up of experts featured on the video. Here’s the list of featured presenters:

Craig J. Bryan, Psy.D., ABPP

Janina Fisher, Ph.D.

David Jobes, Ph.D., ABPP

Rita A. Schulte, LPC

Stacey Freedenthal, Ph.D., LCSW

John Sommers-Flanagan, Ph.D.

Anne Marie “Nancy” Wheeler, JD

Burt Bertram, Ed.D.

The course provides up to 10 hours of continuing education. Check it out here: https://catalog.psychotherapynetworker.org/sales/afc00138630_essentialstreatingpreventingsuicide_organic-137862

I’m acknowledging my insecurity about being put in the line-up with these experts only because it’s real, and because I believe it’s natural and important to own up to personal feelings of vulnerability. I suspect Brené Brown would agree. All of the books, videos, and workshops that Rita and I do are imperfect. Although I wish they were beyond critique, they’re not, and sometimes I think readers, viewers, and participants can gain just as much, and even more, from seeing our genuine mistakes.

While I’m on the subject of suicide assessment and feelings of vulnerability, I should also mention a much longer and potentially even more insecurity-activating continuing education video I did with Victor Yalom and Psychotherapy.net. The Psychotherapy.net videos (there are three) include over seven hours of content, much of which includes footage of me doing partly real and partly simulated client-counselor demonstrations. These video demonstrations are intermittently punctuated by pithy conversation between Victor and me. You can check out the Psychotherapy.net videos here:  https://www.psychotherapy.net/video/suicidal-clients-series

One especially nice thing Victor did when marketing the Psychotherapy.net videos was to gather positive blurbs or testimonials. I hadn’t seen them all, but I saw them today, scrolling across the Psychotherapy.net screen, and they’ve helped calm my imposter syndrome-insecurity-vulnerability. Thanks for that Victor! And thanks to Brittany Pollard and Quentin Hunter and Ken McCurdy, and Marianne Schneider Corey and Jerry Corey and Julie Clay . . . reading your comments is an emotionally soothing experience.

Thanks to anyone who takes time to read these blogs. I appreciate it. Also, thanks for your commitment to making the world a better place. Wherever you are, I hope you’re as well as possible, given the current challenging situations we’re facing here on planet Earth.

Please share these resources if you feel they might be beneficial.