Feeling is the Work

Media Links:
Website: delvepsych.com
Instagram: @delvepsychchicago
YouTube: youtube.com/@DelvePsych20
Substack: delvepsych.substack.com

Participants: Hosts: Ali McGarel, Adam Fominaya
Guest: Kara Britzman

Overview of Big Ideas:
• Feeling is the work — Kara Britzman joins Ali and Adam to explore what it means to move beyond intellectualizing and actually experience emotions in therapy.

• Mentorship matters — Kara traces her lineage of training all the way back to Carl Rogers.

• Emotion-focused therapy — How activating emotion during a session promotes lasting change.

• Neurodivergent clients — Especially adults with autism and ADHD — face gaps in research and clinical fit.

• CBT’s limitations — Cognitive behavioral therapy often backfires for clients with pathological demand avoidance (PDA).

• Relational therapy — A more adaptive approach that honors the individual’s lived experience.

• Diagnostic humility — Labels can guide, but what matters most is how the client experiences their inner world.

• Trust is a choice — A closing reflection on how mistrust can be more damaging than vulnerability.

Breakdown of Segments:
• Welcoming Kara and an update on Delve’s low-fee and pro bono offerings

• Kara’s origin story and early mentorship at NIU

• What makes emotion-focused therapy effective

• Helping clients who intellectualize emotions access their felt experience

• Somatic entry points and the mind-body link

• The shifting landscape of adult autism and neurodivergence

• Problems with CBT and PDA in therapeutic work

• Kara’s preferred tools and the value of a flexible, integrative approach

• The difference between external and internal validation in diagnosis

• Ending quote from Adam’s whiteboard: “I’ll do more damage not trusting anyone”

References & Further Reading:
• Greenberg, L. — Emotion-Focused Therapy

• Barrett, L. F. — How Emotions Are Made

• Neff, M. — Self-Care for Autistic Burnout: A Neurodivergent’s Guide

• North American PDA Association — Resources on Pathological Demand Avoidance

• Relational therapy frameworks (e.g., Safran & Muran)