An Alternative Perspective on Psychotherapy: It is Not a âCureâ
Kev Harding argues against conceptualizations of therapy as a âcureâ to an âillnessâ and instead offers alternative approaches.
We Still Buy the Lie That Chemical Imbalances Cause Depression
From Quartz: Despite its inaccuracy, the chemical imbalance theory of mental illness continues to persist in public consciousness. The prevalence of this myth may be...
Review Questions Long Term Use of Antipsychotics
Patients who recover from a single episode of psychosis are often prescribed antipsychotics long-term, despite a lack of evidence for this practice
Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood: A Tale of Psychotherapy
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and not knowing which one to take, I stood straight, watching my life pass me by. But in therapy, I began to feel the knots of my life come alive inside me. The point is not just to talk, it is to feel your story inside, to hear your silences, and to realize who you are⌠and who you can be.
Study Highlights Mental Health Consequences of Parent Emotion Suppression
New research suggests that when parents model emotion suppression strategies in social interactions, their childrenâs approaches to social engagement may suffer.
Non-Pharmacological Interventions More Effective For Health in Schizophrenia
Review compares the effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for improving physical health outcomes in people diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Busting 7 Myths About the Practice of Psychotherapy
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.
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.
Therapy Gets More Effective Over Time While Antidepressants Decrease in Effectiveness
New review of long-term depression data finds psychotherapy more effective over time whereas antidepressants decrease in effectiveness.
Integrating Indigenous Healing Practices and Psychotherapy for Global Mental Health
As the Global Mental Health Movement attempts to address cross-cultural mental health disparities, a new article encourages integrating traditional healing practices with psychotherapy.
âNew Course on ‘Making Sense’ of Trauma, Creating a Coherent Narrativeâ
PsychAlive is releasing a new blog and e-course on âMaking Sense of Your Life,â with psychologists Lisa Firestone and Dan Siegel. They draw upon the...
The Medicalization of Conversation
Language, and how we use it, are important to counsellingâs conversational work. As a counsellor, my language for understanding and addressing client concerns often fits poorly with the diagnostic and treatment language used to manage services within that system.
How to Promote Community Inclusion in Mental Health Practice
Practitioners and public leaders identify methods and barriers for integrating those diagnosed with mental health issues into community life.
Alternative Therapies for Adolescent Depression as Effective as CBT, Study Finds
Brief psychodynamic and psychosocial interventions help maintain reduced depressive symptoms
Psychologists Push For New Approaches to Psychosis: Part 1
Psychologists and people with experience of psychotic symptoms publish a report on new ways of understanding psychosis.
An Open Letter to Howard Stern, the “Poster Boy for Psychotherapy”
Dear Howard Stern: What may come as a surprise to you is that the quality of talk therapy that was available to youâtime-intensive, in-depth sharing of feelings, exploring childhood traumas, examining and changing difficult personality traitsâis steadily becoming unavailable to the average American.
BPS Releases Review of Alternatives to Antipsychotics
BPS releases report encouraging behavioral interventions for people with dementia, rather than antipsychotics
Publication Bias Inflates Perceived Efficacy of Depression Treatments, Study Finds
Researchers report the cumulative effects of major biases on the apparent efficacy of antidepressant and psychotherapy treatments.
Researchers Make a Case for a âTheory of Nothingâ in Psychology
What meaning do psychological constructs really hold, and how are they operationalized and statistically modeled within psychology research?
Pilot Study Adapts Open Dialogue for US Health Care
In an article for Psychiatric Services, psychiatrist Christopher Gordon and his colleagues report on the results of a one-year feasibility study attempting to implement...
Rethinking Madness and Medication: Researcher Discusses Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal and Survivor Movements
New understandings of medication and withdrawal experiences warrant rethinking conceptualizations of health and âmadness."
Study Finds No Correlation between Personality at 14 and 77
This result calls into question popular notions about the correlations between personality and later-life achievement and health outcomes.
What is Contributory Injustice in Psychiatry?
An article on contributory injustice describes the clinical and ethical imperative that clinicians listen to service users experiences.
Study Finds Hearing Voices Groups Improve Social and Emotional Wellbeing
Hearing Voices Network self-help groups are an important resource for coping with voice hearing, study finds.
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?"
