Houston Psychoanalytic Society

Online Evening Lecture

The Therapy World Has Changed:

Where are we now and what do people want from therapy?

Linda L. Michaels, PsyD, MBA

with Interlocutor, Felecia Powell-Williams, EdD, LPC-S, RPT-S

Thursday, May 15, 2025

7:30PM – 9:00PM Central Time


Live via Zoom

This event will not be recorded


Registration Fees

HPS Active Member: Free

HPS Student Member: Free

Non-Member: $30


1.5 CME/CEU/CE Credits


Instructional Level: All Levels

Beginner-Advanced

 REGISTER NOW

In these last few years we have witnessed unprecedented upheaval in the areas of politics, social justice, the natural world, and public health. To help our patients and to support our practices, communities and the field as a whole, it is vitally important to understand what people are looking for in mental health treatment, and how they think and feel about the therapies we offer. It’s also crucial that public awareness and appreciation of therapies of depth, insight, and relationship improve. These therapies have been missing from, if not pushed out of, the public consciousness, and are misunderstood, undervalued, and overlooked by the general public.


To assess what people know about mental healthcare, what they really want from therapy, and what stops them from seeking help, the Psychotherapy Action Network (PsiAN) conducted extensive original research with the general public. We first conducted research in 2020, and now have new research to offer a post-pandemic perspective on the attitudes and expectations people have towards therapy, which benefits matter most, what their misperceptions and biases are, and their reactions to apps and AI.


The presentation will also offer a blueprint for engaging and communicating with the public, so that we can help the public gain greater awareness, understanding and appreciation for therapies of depth, insight, and relationship.


LEARNING OBJECTIVES


After attending the program in its entirety, attendees will be able to:


  1. Describe the benefits that the general public seeks from therapy and their attitudes towards issues of mental health care.
  2. Describe the public’s stated obstacles to seeking mental healthcare.
  3. Describe the 4 research-based pillars of how to communicate most effectively with the public to help increase their awareness and appreciation of therapies of depth, insight and relationship.

Presenter

Linda Michaels, PsyD, MBA is a psychologist with a private practice in Chicago. She is Chair and Co-Founder of the Psychotherapy Action Network (PsiAN), a grassroots nonprofit organization that advocates for therapies of depth, insight and relationship. She is a Consulting Editor of Psychoanalytic Inquiry, Clinical Associate Faculty at the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis, the first psychotherapist elected to the Board of the American Psychoanalytic Association in its 114-year history, and a fellow of the Lauder Institute Global MBA program. She is author and co-editor of several articles and the book Advancing Psychotherapy for the Next Generation, and has published, presented, and been interviewed by The New York Times, Wall St. Journal, NPR and other national media on the value of psychotherapy, the therapeutic relationship and technology, and the public narrative about therapy. Linda has a former career in business, with over 15 years’ experience consulting to organizations in the US and Latin America.


Interlocutor Felecia Powell-Williams, EdD, LPC-S is a psychotherapist-psychoanalyst in private practice in Houston. She is Secretary of the Board of PsiAN, President of the Board and a Personal and Consulting Analyst at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies (CFPS) in Houston, and a teacher at the collegiate level. She has presented locally and nationally on various topics, including race and racism. She is author of "A Little Girl's Recovery: An Analysis of a Six-Year-Old Girl Who Experienced Loss" and contributor for the Parent Work Casebook.


REFERENCES

Delboy, S. & Michaels, L. (2025). The therapy world has changed: Where are we now?. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07351690.2024.2423575.


Delboy, S. & Michaels, L. (2021). Going beneath the surface: What people want from therapy. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 41:8, 603-623, https://doi.org/10.1080/07351690.2021.1992232.


Lazar, S. (2018). The place for psychodynamic therapy and obstacles to its provision. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17010057.


Leichsenring, F., Abbass, A.l, Hilsenroth, M. et al. (2018). “Gold standards,” plurality and monocultures: The need for diversity in psychotherapy. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9:159. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00159.


Shedler, J. (2015). Where is the evidence for “evidence-based” therapy? Journal of Psychological Therapies in Primary Care, 4, pp. 47-59.


Steinert, C., Munder, T., Rabung, S., Hoyer, J., & Leichsenring, F. (2017). Psychodynamic therapy: As efficacious as other empirically supported treatments? A meta-analysis testing equivalence of outcomes. American Journal of Psychiatry, 174, issue 10, p. 943-953. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17010057


Wachtel, P. (2010). Beyond “ESTs”: Problematic assumptions in the pursuit of evidence-based practice. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 27 (3), pp. 251-272.


IMAGE of tree from Shutterstock

Agenda

7:30 - 7:35 pm | Introduction

7:35 - 8:30 pm | Presentation by Dr. Michaels

8:30 - 9:00 pm | Presenter-led question and answer session

Disclosures

ACCME Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and Houston Psychoanalytic Society. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.


AMA Credit Designation Statement

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.


Disclosure Statement

The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME's identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support. 

Houston Psychoanalytic Society is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Houston Psychoanalytic Society maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

HPS, through co-sponsorship with the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, also offers approved CEUs for Texas state-approved social workers, licensed professional counselors, and marriage and family therapists.
1302 Waugh Dr. #276, Houston, TX 77019
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