Climate Change, Mental Health and Collective Action: An Interview with Jennifer Freeman
In an interview with MIA's Akansha Vaswani, narrative therapist Jennifer Freeman calls for a shift away from individualistic approaches to 'eco-anxiety' and toward responses that connect us all to a counter-tsunami of action for the planet.
“A Burden and a Privilege” – Clinical Psychologists Look Back on Their Life’s Work
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...
Brief Trauma-Focused Psychotherapies Effective for Children with PTSD
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Writing Therapy both reduce PTSD symptoms in children who experienced a single traumatic event.
“Are All Psychological Therapies Equally Effective? Don’t Ask the Dodo”
The Guardian reviews the hypothesis that all therapies are equal, in light of recent evidence, finding that ". . . we shouldn't assume that the...
Constructing Alternatives to the DSM: An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Raskin
Dr. Raskin discusses psychotherapists’ dissatisfaction with current psychiatric diagnostic systems and explores alternatives.
Correcting Misconceptions of Trauma-informed Care with Survivor Perspectives
Trauma-informed approaches have the potential to promote recovery but must involve survivors and service-users to prevent the experience of retraumatization within psychiatric and mental health services.
What Care for the Criminally Insane Can Teach Us
In this piece for The Pew Charitable Trusts, Michael Ollove reports on Oregon's model of intense care and supervision for those found guilty except for insanity.
"Oregon’s model...
Social Prescribing May Improve Self-Esteem and Mental Well-Being
Systematic review suggests social prescribing benefits individuals with mental and physical health issues, but more program evaluations are needed.
Providing Trauma Informed Brief Counseling to College Students
Recommendations on how to provide trauma-informed, short-term counseling to college students who have experienced sexual assault and interpersonal violence.
JAMA Article Challenges CBT as Gold Standard for Psychotherapy
A review of CBT research findings raises questions about its status as the “evidence-based” psychotherapy of choice.
12 Ways to Help Kids Cope With School Anxiety
In this piece for USA Today, Candy Grande offers 12 non-drug approaches for helping kids cope with school-related anxiety, such as having a discussion about...
Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Interventions Target Depressive Symptoms
A new study finds self-coldness predicts depressive symptoms and supports self-compassion as a buffer.
Beyondmeds.com
Beyond Meds presents alternatives to psychiatry, along with information and support for withdrawal and recovery.
“New Counseling Toolkit Helps Boys and Girls Club Address Kids’ Real-Life Issues”
The staff at Minneapolis’ Southside Village Boys and Girls Club are implementing  a specially targeted free interactive counseling toolkit designed by a team of volunteers...
Mental Health Recovery Narratives Play Central Role in Trauma-Informed Care
New research synthesizes insights from 45 studies to construct a conceptual framework relating different elements of recovery narratives to trauma-informed approaches to care.
The Evidence-Based Long-Term Treatment for Depression
While antidepressants are the most commonly used long-term treatment for depression, the efficacy of these drugs after one year is unknown. In a commentary for The Lancet, psychiatrists Rudolf Uher and Barbara Pavlova suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) now has the most substantial body of evidence for long-term treatment for major depressive disorder.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Psychosis: A Valuable Contribution Despite Major Flaws
The core of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, is the idea of simply accepting, rather than trying to get rid of, disturbing or unwanted inner experiences like anxiety or voices, and then refocusing on a commitment to take action toward personally chosen values regardless of whether that seems to make the unwanted experiences increase or decrease. This idea is consistent with the emphasis in the recovery movement of finding a way to live a valued life despite any ongoing problems, but ACT has value because of the unique and effective strategies it offers to help people make this shift.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Does Not Exist
Since the 1980s, a type of psychotherapy called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has become dominant. Like it or loathe it, CBT is now so ubiquitous it is often the only talking therapy available in both public and voluntary health settings. It is increasingly spoken about in the media and in living rooms across the country. Yet when we speak about CBT, what are we talking of? For CBT only exists - as we will see - as a political convenience.
More Research Needed on Climate Change-Related Ecological Grief
Researchers outline the concept of ecologically driven grief due to climate change and recommend future research to better understand the psychological impact of climate change.
Psychiatrist Who Revolutionized Family Therapy Dies at 96
From The Washington Post: Salvador Minuchin, the psychiatrist who played an instrumental role in pioneering family therapy, died on October 30th at age 96. Minuchin was...
Fantasy Video Game Zaps Depression in Adolescents
SPARX, an interactive video game in which significantly depressed adolescents shoot down "GNATs" (Gloomy Negative Automatic Thoughts) in a quest to restore the balance...
Process Oriented Approaches to Altered and Extreme States of Consciousness
When John Herold went to see a Process Work counselor, they talked about how his experience of extreme states had been disruptive in his life, but how these states also had value. The counselor compared John's experience with drinking an entire bottle of Tabasco sauce all at once. Why not instead, the counselor suggested, "try being just a little psychotic all the time?"
A New Model of Service
What should the relational and emotional stance of the therapist be? Just who exactly is the therapist in relationship to the person coming to see the therapist? What is the therapist's job, exactly? What should the therapist's disposition be toward the person sitting across from them? What kinds of assumptions or presumed power come with the label therapist and are those assumptions harmful or helpful?
Sunday Music: “Even Out of Severe Depression There Comes Insight”
Maria Popova provides some excerpts about music, madness and therapy from the new book, Joni Mitchell: In Her Own Words, from the iconic Canadian...
Psychotherapy is THE Biological Treatment
Psychotherapy addresses the brain in the way it actually develops, matures and operates. The process for brain change involves deactivation — disuse, not utilizing the old brain map; and then creating a new one. Psychotherapy can deactivate maladaptive brain mappings and foster new and constructive pathways.