Hello and good morning to anyone else trying to stay informed about current events, ethically engaged, and also be a functioning person who cares for others. It’s a lot of hats for one nervous system. Welcome.

We hope the holidays gave you moments of actual rest, meals you didn’t have to plan, and at least one day where you didn’t check email. We’re grateful to be back with you.

Happy holidays, friends! 🎄🍪🥛❄️🍾 We’re stepping away for the next two weeks to rest and reset. We’ll see you again on Wednesday, January 7th, when hopefully we'll all no longer be negotiating with ourselves to finish “just one more thing.”

Every day of December feels like opening a tiny therapist advent calendar: Will it be a crisis? A cancellation? An “I forgot we had therapy today”? If you squint and reframe, it’s festive, in its own way.

It’s that time of year when Mariah Carey has defrosted, twinkly lights are everywhere, and therapists quietly hope clients don’t bring them anything they now have to ethically navigate.

Therapists know Thanksgiving isn’t just about food (although the food is good). It’s a holiday layered with history and revisionism. However you spend the holiday, be it feasting, mourning, napping, or surviving family systems in the wild, we hope you get at least one moment of peace on Thursday.

Thanksgiving is next week in the U.S., which means if you haven’t already rehearsed your “that’s an interesting perspective” face for family politics talk, there’s still time.

This week’s edition comes to you from Cornwall, England, where Marianne and Ann met in person to talk about all things "Therapist Brief" and immediately confronted the real transatlantic divides: Celsius vs. Fahrenheit, washing machines built for elves, and No Ann, cream tea is not a sexual act. Cultural quirks aside, the conversations and the coastlines did not disappoint.

Last week, we introduced a new section: Therapist Resource Spotlight, because most of us are better at finding tools for our clients than for ourselves. If you know of an organization/organisation, fund, or project that supports clinicians, send it our way. We’d love to share it in a future issue.

Halloween is near, but let’s be honest — we have our own kind of horror movies. Like when your client says, “I remember when you told me...” and you pray that whatever you said was actually good.

In honor of Digital Parenting Week, we’re talking Roblox safety and how to keep kids protected online. It also happens to be National Massage Awareness Week, so we're sending this reminder for you to schedule one, or at least do the therapist version: find a tennis ball, a wall, and a questionable level of determination.

Marianne’s gone full 'Autumn Watch' (if you're in the UK you know; If you're in the US scroll for the link and add it to the list of charming British TV you've yet to watch!) and adopted a small clan of badgers. Ann’s not far behind. She went Desert-Core in Joshua Tree this past weekend- sound bath n'all. We're fine. Everything's fine.

It’s that confusing part of fall where it’s sweater weather at 8 am and heatstroke by noon. It’s a perfect metaphor for emotional regulation: layers are everything.

Cultural reflexivity is ongoing work. Last week, Ann learned that, since Brexit, “Europe” no longer includes England in Marianne’s book. This week’s revelation is that candy corn barely exists in the UK, which is just as well, because it tastes like candle wax in a sugar costume. 👻

The leaves are turning colors, the air is a little crisper, and the promise of restarting my SSRI to proactively treat my seasonal affective disorder is on the horizon. Happy fall (cough, Autumn), everyone!

It’s September 17th: Q3 taxes were due a few days ago (in the US), schools are back in full swing, and we’re officially under 100 days from Christmas. Plus, you still have 13 more days to listen to the classic song “September.” We've entered the season where the IRS, Santa, and Earth, Wind & Fire all want a piece of your attention.

It’s hard to believe a month has already passed since our very first edition of Therapist Brief. The response has been incredible. You’ve been so generous with your encouragement and feedback. Though, of course, it makes sense since most of you are therapists. Thank you sincerely for making this such a supportive start.

It was Labor Day weekend here in the U.S., so we took some time off to rest. This week’s edition is a little shorter, but we hope you’ll enjoy it. We’ll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming.

Labor Day is next Monday here in the U.S. — or Labour Day if you’re our co-writer Marianne, who somehow juggles being a therapist and an elected official in the U.K. (truly, every day is Labour Day for her). If you’re in private practice, we know the pull to work holidays is real when you're your own boss; there’s no such thing as paid time off. We hope you find a way to step back and take the day. You’ve earned it.

Thanks (and apologies) to everyone who opened our quiz email on Sunday night. What you saw was our first draft, not the polished final version we meant to send. Let’s just say we’re learning as we go. The screenshot of texts below pretty much sums up what it was like on our end. Thanks for letting us experiment (and occasionally face-plant) in your inbox. We know how full your days are, and the fact that you make space for us means more than we can say.

If you ever took a Cosmo quiz in the ‘90s or a BuzzFeed quiz in the early 2000s (or last week), this one’s for you - except it’s about AI, ethics, and the impact on client care.

The best thing about AI note-takers isn’t the time they save. It’s that they’ve finally stopped me from accidentally putting an “i” before the "t" in the abbreviation “clt.” My dignity thanks them.

Thank you for joining us for this first edition! You made it - notes undone, coffee reheated, and still showing up. We see you, and we made this newsletter for you