Does Psychotherapy Reproduce or Disrupt Neoliberal Capitalism?

42
Researchers explore neoliberal influences on interactions in psychotherapy and question whether the radical potential of psychotherapy can counter prevailing social systems.

New Study Explores Approaches to Discontinuing Antidepressants

12
Psychiatrist and psychologist outline pharmacological and psychotherapeutic strategies for discontinuing antidepressants.

Correcting Misconceptions of Trauma-informed Care with Survivor Perspectives

28
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.
healthy guilt

Healthy Guilt and Doing Right By Those We Have Wronged

31
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.

What Does Social Justice Really Mean for Psychologists?

8
Without clarity and consensus around what social justice means, psychologists risk perpetuating injustices that undermine their stated mission.
process work tabasco

Process Oriented Approaches to Altered and Extreme States of Consciousness

21
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?"
projective identification

Letting Negative Projective Identifications Come, and Letting Them Go

28
In the instant I perceive that I’ve succeeded in inducing fear and shame in you, I can feel a palpable relief from my own fear and shame. This process is called projective identification. I gradually learned as a therapist to be aware of when a person seemed to be mysteriously able to create distressful emotional states in me — states that they were themselves subjectively feeling, but weren’t fully aware of.

Prolonged Exposure Reduces Dropout Rates and Symptoms for Individuals with Complex Trauma

20
New study finds that intensive prolonged exposure is a promising treatment option for individuals with multiple trauma experiences.
psychoanalytic struggle

The Psychoanalytic Struggle Against the DSM

44
Let us go back to 1975: psychoanalytic psychiatry was then quasi-hegemonic, and psychopathological models were accepted and used by most practitioners; other behaviourist practices were of minor importance and psychoanalysts had learned to make use of the advances of pharmacology. And yet a shadow was already looming over the picture.

Publication Bias Inflates Perceived Efficacy of Depression Treatments, Study Finds

10
Researchers report the cumulative effects of major biases on the apparent efficacy of antidepressant and psychotherapy treatments.

New Study Investigates Negative Side Effects of Therapy

68
Researchers find that nearly half of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) patients experience treatment side effects.

What Are Best Practices For Psychosis And What Gets In The Way?

32
Research investigates clinicians’ perspectives on best care practices and the complicated realities of providing care in the face of agency limitations and mechanized interventions.

Most Psychology Research Does Not Generalize to the Individual

3
A new study claims that quantitative research in psychology is “worryingly imprecise” and that generalizations may be flawed and misleading.

Early Attention to Life Circumstances and Relationships Improves Outcomes for Psychosis

29
Coordinated care with employment support and family therapy leads to superior outcomes for those diagnosed with psychotic disorders.

Research Finds Parents’ Trauma May Impact Children’s Health

10
Study uncovers some of the intergenerational consequences of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

Psychotherapists Reflect on Lack of Improvement in Therapy

59
Qualitative research examines the experiences of psychoanalytic therapists in their work with patients whose symptoms either failed to improve or worsened.
psychotherapy

Busting 7 Myths About the Practice of Psychotherapy

196
All in all, it is not enough that public policy pundits push for greater access to mental health services. Alongside improving access, there needs to be renewed focus on the quantity and quality of psychotherapy the average American currently receives. Health insurers need to reexamine their false assumptions about the effectiveness of short-term, quick-fix therapies.

Psychologist Debunks Common Misconceptions of Maslow’s Hierarchy

9
Utilizing Maslow’s published books and essays, psychologist William Compton delineates common myths and attempts to respond to them.

Are Students Benefiting From the Growth Mindset Model?

12
Results from two meta-analyses reveal shortcomings with the growth mindset theory as applied in schools.

Researchers Explore Sexuality and Gender in the Context of Psychosis

4
Nev Jones and a team of researchers examine how sex, sexuality, and gender-related content are underexplored in contemporary research on psychosis.

Psychotherapy is Less Effective and Less Accessible for Those in Poverty

13
A special issue explores the connection between poverty, mental health, and psychotherapy.

Prominent Researcher and Psychotherapist Questions “Evidence-Based Therapy”

52
Dr. Johnathan Shedler recently published a paper critiquing how the term “evidence-based” is being used in the field of psychotherapy.

Rethinking Madness and Medication: Researcher Discusses Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal and Survivor Movements

29
New understandings of medication and withdrawal experiences warrant rethinking conceptualizations of health and “madness."

Researchers Advocate for More Robust Informed Consent in Psychotherapy

8
Paper outlines recommendations for more thorough informed consent process in psychotherapy, which authors proclaim is an “ethical imperative."

Researchers Question “Gold Standard” Status of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

28
Researchers argue for plurality and diversity among psychotherapy approaches and question the perceived superiority of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).