Jeffery Smith MD

Psychiatrist Psychotherapist

As a freshman at Stanford I decided I wanted to be a therapist. After Medical School at UCLA, that was still my goal, so I embarked on a career that continues to be my passion after 50 years. I always wanted to penetrate the biggest mystery, how psychotherapy actually works. Gradually as I taught residents a framework for making sense of why humans have the troubles therapy treats and how they change began to emerge, based on a combination of clinical observation and new science that was emerging. About 10 years ago, I realized that the field was in trouble with training too long and complicated and little understanding of how it works, so I began to write for therapists in the belief that sharing powerful ideas with more open minded people woud gradually take hold. The idea was that if you understand what's happening, then it is far easier to know what to do. That
s the theme of my new book, How Psychotherapy Works: Navigating the Therapeutic Space with Confidence. It's coming out on 8/20/26.

Oct. 29, 2026

Ep86 Jeffery Smith MD—How to Trade In a Stubborn Pattern Without Fighting the Part of You That Is Trying to Keep You Safe

Ever read every self-help book on the shelf and still watched the same pattern come right back? Suzanne sits down with Dr. Jeffery Smith, a psychiatrist who has spent 50 years asking what every kind of therapy is doing underneath. Dr. Smith has a new book that explains how psychotherapy works in plain language, written for coaches and others new to the field, and he writes the How Therapy Works Substack. Suzanne brings her coaching and positive psychology background to the conversation, as...

Guest: Jeffery Smith MD

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