About the Consortium
Providing strong, effective, and empathic psychotherapy is both a privilege and a challenge.
Psychotherapists must be present cognitively, physically, and emotionally in a way that is unique from other professions.
Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium was established in 2020.
Emphasis on Diversity
Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium values and actively nurtures a culture of belonging. We strive to provide careful attention and respect to intersectional identities and to explicitly oppose oppression and injustice in all we do.
We approach every training and consultation group from a diversity affirming perspective, recognizing that our behavior as individuals and as a nonprofit shapes our community. This is an active and ever-evolving process as we consistently grow from the unique experiences of who we are and who we serve in a complex world. At Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium, we continuously work to develop inclusive, culturally affirming, and belonging practices to best meet the needs of those with whom we interact.
Our commitment to anti-oppression and belonging translates into education and consultation aimed at enhancing the practices of psychotherapists across geographical regions.
Founding the Consortium
Psychotherapists benefit from clinical community and continuous learning. However, clinicians often become siloed in independent practices or in settings with limited opportunity for educational growth. In many practices it is challenging for licensed clinicians to access interdisciplinary consultation and ongoing training in science-based interventions. Furthermore, support for grappling with the stressors of providing therapy may be lacking. Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium makes empirically supported training and interdisciplinary consultation accessible for those who wish to serve clients ethically and independently.
2020 brought changes to the world and to the field of mental health. Psychotherapists found themselves adapting quickly with limited support while themselves experiencing rapid upheavals. Isolation and disengagement can lead to burnout, ethical slips, and vicarious trauma. However, research has shown that engagement in professional consultation and ongoing, meaningful learning is protective to the psychotherapist and can improve quality of service provided to their clients. Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium intends to enhance belonging and connectedness for licensed mental health professionals.
Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium was founded by trauma-focused therapists with backgrounds in diversity, inclusion, belonging, and anti-racism work. Our founders have extensive experience in providing psychotherapy, consultation, and training remotely via telemental health long before pandemic changes forced the world online. One goal of Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium is to ensure that independently practicing clinicians are adequately prepared to not only avoid doing harm but instead to excel in meeting the needs of those seeking them out.
Recognizing the benefit of consultation and education, our founders researched opportunities to find these resources in a singular, cost-effective program specifically for independent psychotherapists. None could be found. Recognizing this gap and the importance of mental health services, Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium emerged.
Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium is informed by psychotherapists who have experience working in large medical systems and training hospitals where regular didactic and continuing education were present on a weekly (and even daily) basis, and where clinical consultation was formally available, as well as informally available at every open office door.
Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium is a national network and community specifically created for psychotherapists to gain the same benefits provided by training hospitals, but with greater emphasis in diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism practices
Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium is a consortium of clinicians working in constellation with a steadfast commitment to ongoing ethical education and consultation of the highest order.
Board Members
Frequently Asked Questions
My therapist is a member of Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium, what does that mean?
The Polaris Badge on a private practice denotes a current member of Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium. Members of Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium approach their work through a social justice and anti-oppressive lens. We recognize that work toward social justice and culturally affirmative mental health practices is ongoing and in a constant state of becoming. Polaris Psychotherapists are independently licensed mental health providers from many different geographic locations who have made an intentional commitment to continuously furthering their education.
Members of Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium work independently in their own private practice settings and locate themselves within a diverse range of personal positionalities. As independent mental health providers they represent a variety of disciplines and educational/ training backgrounds (including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, and psychiatric nurse practitioners). In addition, Polaris Psychotherapists represent many different theoretical orientations and are trained in a wide scope of evidence-based and science-based practice modalities.
All members, and by extension their clientele, benefit from the ability to regularly consult with such a diverse group of peers. As a core component of membership these mental health providers have agreed to continuously strive to improve their work through on-going training and consultation above and beyond that which is required by their respective licensures with attention paid to the value of interdisciplinary work. This means that any Polaris Psychotherapist is regularly consulting with other members and seeking out additional learning opportunities regardless of the knowledge and experiences they already bring to their practices.
We believe that in an ever-changing world learning and growing as mental health professionals never stops, no matter our level of training and expertise, and have therefore made a steadfast commitment to continuous improvement. As it says in our mission statement. While the Polaris Psychotherapist Consortium is purposely built for mental and behavioral health therapists, the underlying intent is that through our work together in empowering and guiding ourselves, we will be better able to provide comprehensive and effective care for those we ultimately serve: our clients or patients.
Why is the consortium specifically committed to anti-oppression work and, within that framework, why is there an additional focus on anti-racism work?
Why is interprofessional consultation important?
Consultation serves a central role in professional competency and personal health for psychotherapists. Interdisciplinary professional interactions assist psychotherapists in staying informed of changes in the field, gaining insight into diverse concerns, and receiving support while doing challenging work. Consultation enhances a psychotherapist’s ability to effectively serve their clients or patients
To learn more:
Therapists’ Perspectives on the Effective Elements of Consultation Following Training
Introduction and Overview of Consultation
How does consultation work across geographical regions?
Polaris Psychotherapists Consortium offers group consultation weekly using a secure, HIPAA-compliant video conferencing platform that is free for members to use. Group calls are established with consideration for different time zones and community needs. In addition, board members are available for individual consultation by request.