Meet the Experts: Interviews with Leading Authorities in Mental Health

TPI presents a series of recorded conversations with mental health experts, many of whom you may recognize by name, and whose work is familiar to you. These conversations present the person behind the work, giving you a glimpse into how they got into their field of expertise, and how they developed their work in that field.

Bookmark this page and check back periodically for new conversations.

Conversation with Gerald Davison: How One Psychologist's Changed Stance on Sexual Reorientation Therapy Influenced a Field

In 1976, Gerald (Jerry) Davison became the first prominent psychologist to publish an article in a major journal that examined the ethical implications of providing change-of-orientation therapy to LGBTQ clients.  But the stance he took was the result of an evolution in his own thinking; that personal evolution both mirrored and then helped to inform an evolution in thinking in the field.

An upcoming Netflix documentary focuses on the circumstances that led to Jerry’s then-courageous stance and the events that followed.

In this video, Jerry talks with Amy Ellis and Rod Goodyear about his experiences in making the documentary.  It includes his observations about advocacy, and how “everything we do in therapy is political.”

Conversation with Bryan Reuther, PsyD: Taking a Humanistic-Existential Approach to Therapy and Supervision

Dr. Reuther is an Associate Professor at Indian River State College, Assistant Director of the Trauma Resolution and Integration Program at Nova Southeastern University, and a licensed psychologist.

An expert in dissociative phenomena and humanistic and existential orientations, Dr. Reuther shares his own journey towards embodying a humanistic-existential orientation, and how he applies this to both training/supervision and client care.

During this informal conversation with Amy Ellis, Bryan addresses populations and specific issues that may lend themselves to a humanistic-existential approach, as well as strategies for intervention.