Psychotherapy

Research investigates clinicians’ perspectives on best care practices and the complicated realities of providing care in the face of agency limitations and mechanized interventions.

Researchers argue for plurality and diversity among psychotherapy approaches and question the perceived superiority of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

Researcher examines the impact of client feedback and progress assessment on improvement in outcomes.

In this piece for The Guardian, Susie Orbach describes the importance of therapists' own feelings and emotions in understanding and building relationships with their clients. "Feelings are the...

From Aeon: In the early 20th-century Age of Empire, officials in the British Empire sought to better understand their colonial subjects through the use of...

In this interview for The Guardian, Johann Hari discusses his latest book, Lost Connections, which critiques bioreductionist models of depression and anxiety and emphasizes environmental influences...

Meta-analytic study finds that psychodynamic therapy outcomes are equivalent to those of CBT and other empirically supported treatments.

Instead of an echo-chamber conference, in which treatment “experts” present to other treatment providers, and those with lived experience gather in their own rooms, the ISPS-US conference allowed for the clash of diverse opinions, which could sometimes amalgamate into something greater than the sum of its parts.

Brief psychodynamic and psychosocial interventions help maintain reduced depressive symptoms

How does experiencing physical abuse as an 8 year old shorten one's lifespan? How do insulting words turn into diabetes? Or sexual abuse trigger a heart attack 50 years in the future? Emotional wounds can damage DNA and produce a huge web of destructive effects, but therapy can turn the process around.

From Aeon: For the past several decades, mainstream mental health professionals as well as the general public have dismissed Freud's ideas, turning instead to neuroscience...

NPR reports on study, published in BMJ, that found computer-assisted therapy to be no more effective than care provided by a primary care doctor. "We do still need the human touch or the human interaction, particularly when people are depressed."

Therapists tend to view guilt as a toxic emotion. They are often over-sensitized to the psychological effects of too much guilt—of unwarranted guilt—yet often under-sensitized to the interpersonal effects of someone having too little guilt—the absence of guilt when it is warranted. Guilt is one of the primary social emotions that keeps people socially aware.

"I often have paranoid feelings concerning mental health practitioners even though these are the professionals who apparently are trying to help," writes Jack Bragen...

From ThinkProgress: A new study found that the majority of counselors in the United States are not prepared to identify or treat race-based trauma, which...

A closer look at a new study reporting that the supplement D-cycloserine improved anxiety when used with exposure therapy.

From Psychology Today: It has become increasingly trendy for therapists to talk about sharing their power or even giving away their power to clients. However,...

Speaking on the Essential Pittsburgh radio show, psychologist Brent Dean Robbins, former president of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, discusses how fear drives us toward irrational policies in the wake of terror attacks. He also offers commentary on the Murphy Bill, which he criticizes for unfairly scapegoating those diagnosed with mental illnesses.

In this short audio clip, psychologist Sheldon Solomon discusses what research on our unconscious fears about death can tell us about terrorism, intolerance, and radicalism. “In the wake of the Paris attacks, we examine the worm that some people think is eating away at our core — our fear of death.”

Results from two meta-analyses reveal shortcomings with the growth mindset theory as applied in schools.

Writing on his 1 Boring Old Man blog, Dr. Mickey Nardo reflects on the media frenzy around the RAISE study and asks why the prescription data has not been released. He adds skepticism about the political motives of the potentially overblown results, which he sees as a clear push for increased mental health funding.

From CTV News: A new study found that the risk of premature death increased by 33 percent in people who use antidepressants. Article →

As the Global Mental Health Movement attempts to address cross-cultural mental health disparities, a new article encourages integrating traditional healing practices with psychotherapy.

In this piece for Transcend Media Service, Dr. Anthony J. Marsella critiques the standardization of mental health treatment, arguing that it overlooks cultural and individual...

For British Psychological Society, Christian Jarrett looks at the lives of nine senior psychologists and three senior psychiatrists in Norway. The in-depth interviews, published recently...