CLINICAL BULLETIN

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the George Floyd Uprising, and the Stop Asian Hate movement, ethnically and racially marginalized individuals in the United States need access to quality mental health care now more than ever. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the national suicide rate peaked in 2018 and has since been on a decline. However, when

How do we know if psychological treatments are effective? To answer the question “Is cognitive-behavioral therapy effective as a standalone treatment for substance use disorder?”, we must first answer the following: “How do we delineate effectiveness from non-effectiveness in evaluating psychological treatments?” In other words, how do we know if a given psychosocial treatment is effective for a given mental

Early behavioral interventions (BI) such as applied behavior analysis (ABA) and early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) are the main established therapeutic interventions for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The current study examined the effect of early BI when delivered in routine clinical care. We included studies that examined the effectiveness of empirically supported early BI treatment programs for children with ASD,

Diversity is not an adjunct descriptor of the U.S. population, but rather, it is a fundamental construct of our country’s demographics which is predicted only to increase. As stated in our nation’s preamble, it is our duty to “establish justice and promote the general welfare” of American people, which includes the protection of our nation’s most vulnerable identities. Thus, it

Investigating transdiagnostic factors across mental disorders is of high importance as transdiagnostic factors can be targeted for both diagnosis and treatment in a diagnostically mixed sample. Rumination is one such potential transdiagnostic factor, whereby one repetitively and passively fixates on symptoms, causes and consequences of distress in a maladaptive way that does not lead to taking action (Nolen-Hoeksema, Wisco, &

Psychological science has advanced knowledge on sexual minority (e.g., gay, bisexual) men’s health, finding that: Sexual minority men experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, and HIV acquisitionthan heterosexual men Sexual minority men’s disproportionate exposure to stigma-related experiences, such as childhood bullying, family rejection, and institutional discrimination, largely explains these disparities These stigma-related experiences give rise to cognitive,

Rigorous and flexible research designs? Although this sounds like a contradiction, it is exactly what we need. Methodological rigor in terms of reliability, validity, and generalizability. Flexibility in terms of adaptation to different individuals seeking help at varying psychotherapy contexts. As clinical psychotherapists, we know about the dilemma that traditional research methods pose for everyday clinical practice. Most of the

It may come as no surprise to patients and therapists to hear that the therapist matters when it comes to the quality of psychotherapy. This contrasts with the perspective of health systems that often view clinicians as interchangeable; or, to researchers who often view therapist differences as a statistical nuisance for which one must control. Findings from psychotherapy outcome research

Before you continue reading this blog, take a moment and reflect for one moment: what do you, as a clinical psychologist, use as a criterion for recovery or therapy success? Do you mainly focus on recovery from symptoms? Or do you use broader criteria, like whether the client is feeling well, and able to develop as a person and be

Older adults experience changes in health, social functioning, personality, and emotional development that occur as part of the typical aging process. These changes are important for psychologists to understand so that symptoms aren’t accidentally dismissed as “normal aging” and also so that older adults aren’t overdiagnosed in situations where their symptoms represent a typical aging process. As an example within

Recent articles by Havercamp et al. (2020) and Shogren (2021) emphasized the importance of using self-report measures to gain insight in the thoughts and feelings of individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ID). Proxies can provide useful observations of an individual’s functioning, but they can never directly observe nor fully understand another person’s subjective mental states such as emotional distress, worries or

The 65 and older population is growing rapidly and is estimated to make up 30% of the nation’s population by 2030 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). In 2012, the Institute of Medicine projected that at least 20% of older adults would experience some mental health concerns (Eden et al., 2012), though they could not have predicted the global COVID-19 pandemic and

There is a myth, which often exists across communities, that Black people do not die by suicide. Anecdotal explorations of suicide, almost 30 years ago, reveal that African Americans view suicide as “a White thing” (Early & Akers, 1993). Due to a myriad of long-standing cultural values that resist suicidal behavior, and encourage resilience, spirituality, and ethnic pride, Black Americans

Sexism exists in many forms and across different levels: internally (e.g., a girl believing she is not good at math simply because she is a girl), interpersonally (e.g., a supervisor asking the only woman-identified employee to make lunch reservations), and structurally (e.g., a law prohibiting abortion). Studies have found that sexism is associated with poor physical (e.g., premature death) and

Although many individuals do well after leaving the military, the transition from military to civilian life can be challenging for some military veterans. Understanding how veterans fare when they leave service is important to inform early intervention and prevention efforts. To date most research aimed at identifying veterans at risk for poor post-military outcomes has focused nearly exclusively on identifying

Anxiety sensitivity refers to fears of anxiety-related sensations (e.g., your chest feeling tight) because of catastrophic beliefs about what those sensations mean (Reiss et al., 1986). Although anxiety sensitivity was originally studied in relation to panic- and anxiety-related disorders, it subsequently has been conceptualized as a transdiagnostic measure of distress intolerance and a risk factor for important health behaviors (Otto

As clinicians and psychotherapists, we are called to care for the mental health and well-being of the people who come to us. When working with minorities, this also means that we must be aware of the social system we navigate and how social norms, stereotypes, and biases may affect us and the person(s) we take care of in the clinical

Over about the last 50 years, clinical research has proven without a doubt that psychotherapy significantly alleviates the symptoms of a wide range of mental illnesses, for example, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and addictions (Lutz et al., 2021a). However, psychotherapy can only unfold its effects when the patient receives an adequate “dose” (Nordomo et al., 2021), meaning

Emotion regulation is the process of influencing one’s emotional experiences, including how intense an emotion is, how long the emotion lasts, and even what emotion one is feeling (Gross & Thompson, 2007). Understanding how people regulate their emotions well is a key question of interest for both basic and applied psychology researchers. However, basic and applied researchers have developed relatively

The ways in which client and therapist political values affect the therapeutic process has been a neglected factor in clinical practice, with many clinicians committing “culturally-competent malpractice” in this area (Redding, 2020).  A client’s sociopolitical values (“SPVs”) are often central to their identity and can affect their relationships, including their relationship with the therapist. Likewise, the therapist’s values can affect

Often times the field of clinical psychology assumes a “deficit-based” approach to minority mental health. Consistent with the medical model that frequently drives assessment and case conceptualization, a deficit-based approach focuses attention on problem behaviors, “maladapted” adjustment, and psychopathology. Over-emphasizing deficits in minority mental health can be problematic for two central reasons. First, it can place more emphasis on the

Life as we knew it changed almost overnight with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. To date, almost 100 million people have been infected with and approximately 2 million of those have died from the SARS-2-CoV 2019 virus (COVID-19). What’s not accounted for in these numbers, however, is how many people have been impacted by the pandemic without actually contracting

When one thinks about burnout, one spontaneously thinks of job burnout. Images that come to mind often involve the over-burdened nurse or doctor, the over-stretched worker or the over-busy manager. Rarely do we think of overloaded parents. And yet, parents too can have too much on their plate. And they too can burn out when no one lifts their burden.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has markedly altered the landscape of mental health care in the United States. Since the start of the pandemic, a large proportion of therapeutic services have moved online, facilitating treatment at a time when in-person services are less accessible but mental health needs are growing, in no small part due to the widespread effects of the pandemic,

When we think of eating disorders, we often picture a very thin, white woman. Consistently, this is how eating disorders are often portrayed in the media. However, diverse groups of people experience eating disorders, and there is growing evidence that eating disorders and associated thoughts and behaviors might be more prominent in minoritized individuals—including racial and ethnic minorities, sexual and

To say that 2020 has been a “hard” year is almost facetious. The truth of the matter is, for many people 2020 has been a series of struggles at the hands of two pandemics, one that was novel and the other that was not. In being frank, 2020 was arguably disproportionately more difficult for Black people than any other group.

Whether striving for personal growth or seeking ways to overcome difficult challenges and adversities, resilience has become an ideological goal pursued by many. There is an abundance of research on what defines resilience (e.g., bouncing back from adversity to positive indicators of functioning; Southwick et al., 2014), the indicators of resilience (e.g., traits, characteristics, and resources; Luthar et al., 2000),

Being healthy is good for happiness, but does happiness also lead to better health? Correlational research shows that people with more positive emotional styles are three times less likely to develop symptoms of a cold or flu after deliberately being exposed to the rhino or influenza virus (Cohen, Alper, Doyle, Treanor, & Turner, 2006). And in a famous longitudinal study,

When a patient is undergoing treatment for a substance use disorder (SUD), one of the greatest risks for relapse is encountering the drug itself, or, something that reminds the patient of using the drug (i.e., a “trigger” for use). For example, let’s say an individual who recently quit smoking cigarettes sits down at a table outside of a coffee shop

Racism against Black Americans has a long history in the United States, but it is getting worldwide attention due to recent tragedies, including the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police. Psychologists, businesses, and the government have all responded to the current movement to address racism. The public responses have been focused on overt racism that is

Self-knowledge is highly valued in contemporary society; one needs only to browse the psychology or self-help sections in any bookstore to be confronted with a gamut of books touting the need for self-reflection as a means of better understanding one’s thoughts and actions. Similarly, in modern clinical psychology, the importance of self-reflection is promulgated in an overarching approach to clinical

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) causes a great deal of mental and physical distress, and can significantly reduce a person’s quality of life. There are a number of effective treatments for PTSD that are available, but many people do not make meaningful improvements and are left with residual symptoms that cause persisting problems (Koek et al., 2016; Larsen, Fleming, & Resick,

Distress tolerance is often conceptualized as one’s ability to tolerate and withstand negative or uncomfortable emotional states. Distress tolerance was initially studied primarily in relation to risky or dangerous behaviors like smoking and nonsuicidal self-injury. However, with continued research, distress tolerance has emerged as a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology (Leyro et al. 2010) and is being increasingly recognized for

What is the public health significance of this article? Clinical practice guidelines are increasingly important in healthcare. However, in order to maximize their use in informed decision making as part of care, it is critical to have an understanding of the potential harms and burdens of treatments in addition to the potential benefits. Currently, there is a paucity of data

In practice, clinical psychologists typically focus on diagnosing and treating specific mental health conditions. As a consequence, the social needs and priorities of clients have often been down-played or treated as secondary considerations. However, this approach is rapidly changing as accumulating evidence shows that loneliness—the distressing feeling that our social relationships are not meeting our needs – has substantial negative

A recent article out now by Sosoo, Bernard, and Neblett (2019) titled “the influence of internalized racism on the relationship between discrimination and anxiety” shows that different types of race-related stress, particularly racial discrimination and internalized racism, may combine to adversely impact mental health over time. Specifically, in their study, Sosoo and colleagues found that Black participants who endorsed greater

Every clinician is familiar with patients who describe their complaints in a way that raises concerns as to the plausibility of their symptom reports. In these patients, the frequency (‘I have panic attacks every hour’), intensity (‘my pain is always 10 on the 0-10 numerical pain rating scale’), and/or co-occurrence (‘I have panic attacks, experience pain, hear voices, and suffer

“Jenna” was an adolescent who presented for treatment at a specialty clinic after having been in therapy for several years. During that time, she had been having several panic attacks per day and met criteria for multiple anxiety disorders. She had dropped out of school, had increasing depression symptoms, and had been hospitalized several times for suicidality. By the time

It is commonly believed that video games are inherently unhealthy for individuals and for society as a whole. For example, a recent statement from the US President linked video gaming to extreme violence and mass shootings in the United States: “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are

A client presents with problems of anxiety. Most distressing to the client is his excessive worry about a number of things that he finds difficult to control and is negatively affecting his life. Using current classification systems like the DSM, we may initially conclude that this presentation can best be described as generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). We know there is

Our field has accumulated a lot of empirical support for the use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in treating a wide range of mental and behavioral health problems. However, these gold-standard CBT treatments remain extremely difficult to access, leaving wide gaps between those who need psychological care and those who actually receive it (Wang et al., 2005). Technology offers exciting

Over the decades, the American Psychological Association (APA) and other professional psychology organizations have provided considerable leadership towards the advocacy of equality. This commitment has undergirded the call for multicultural competency and humility in professional clinical practice and research and across a range of individual and group differences.  While clinical psychologists are called to multicultural competency and humility—via education, training,

Prescriptive authority for psychologists has been hotly debated for decades, with literature identifying various stakeholder opinions, but minimal scholarship addressing training or outcomes (Heiby, 2010; Muse & McGrath, 2010; Robiner et al., 2003).  Robiner, Tompkins, and Hathaway summarize training programs of various health professions that prescribe for mental health patients. Their study compares the training for psychologists to prescribe to

It is hard to ignore the growing interest in telemental health care provided via videoconferencing (TMH-V). Similar to Skype or Facetime, TMH-V allows providers to deliver psychotherapy, medication management, or assessment to clinics without on-site mental health services or directly to patients’ homes. TMH-V can increase access to mental health care for a wide variety of patients, including those who:

Several effective treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exist, yet nearly half of patients continue to have significant symptomatology after receiving them (e.g., Foa et al., 2018). Augmentation is a way of improving outcomes from standard treatments by adding something before, during, or after standard treatment. Augmentation can work in lots of different ways, and might mean faster or greater

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), deemed a “well-established” intervention for the treatment of child and adolescent anxiety (Hollon & Beck, 2013), typically addresses anxiety using a two-pronged approach. In the first half of treatment, children and adolescents (referred to throughout as youth) are taught a series of coping skills to “fight the worry monster.” For example, during cognitive restructuring sessions, youth

During the 1970’s, psychological researchers began using randomized controlled trials–just like in medicine–in order to scientifically evaluate the effectiveness of different kinds of psychotherapies. Some time later, after a critical mass of controlled psychotherapy trials were published, a Task Force from APA Division 12 synthesized this literature. Division 12 produced a continually updated list of therapies that appeared to have

Mentalizing is the psychological capacity to reflect and understand behavior in terms of internal mental states, such as thoughts, feelings, and intentions (Fonagy, Gergely, Jurist, & Target, 2002). A rapidly growing body of empirical evidence supports the notion that deficient mentalizing is a psychological mechanism underlying various psychopathologies (Katznelson, 2014); likewise, the promotion of mentalizing is seen as a common

Joyce is a woman of 63 years. Like almost one in five older adults, she struggles with feelings of depression. In her case, important life events seem to be related to these depressive feelings, as she recently retired and also lost her husband just two years ago. In her own words, she feels that life is meaningless: “I believe I

Parents and the public are increasingly concerned that adolescents’ rapid adoption of the smartphone and other modern technologies is harming their mental health, and it is not uncommon for them to ask clinical psychologists and other mental health practitioners for guidance. Unfortunately, much of the research in this domain has yielded mixed results, which makes it difficult to offer concrete,

For the past 60 years, psychological research as a whole has been dominated by the deficit model of psychopathology that centers on disorder, damage, and mental illness. Thus, the focus of psychology has been mostly on what goes wrongwith individuals rather than on what goes rightwith them, especially among minority populations such as immigrants. Indeed, the vast majority of immigration-focused

Gender affirming medical interventions (GAMI) are interventions that some, but not all, transgender or gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals seek in order to bring their primary and secondary sex characteristics in line with their own affirmed gender. These interventions can include hormone treatments, genital surgery, chest surgery, hair removal, tracheal shave or speech therapy. There are a variety of reasons why

Numerous studies support the effectiveness of online therapy (Backhaus et al., 2012; Bee et al., 2008), but little research has been conducted to determine whether computer-mediated communication (CMC) could impact crucial relational aspects of psychotherapy such as empathy (Terry & Cain, 2016). Empathy relates to our capacity to understand and, to some extent, feel what other individuals feel without experiencing

Technological developments in e-mental health represent an exciting new frontier for psychologists. While these developments bring opportunities, they also pose numerous challenges.  The rise of mental health technologies targeted directly at consumers is at risk of becoming a growing pipeline of alternative treatments with little or no supporting evidence.  In recent years, this issue has been well examined in relation

This SCP Blog piece by Drs Papalia, Spivak, Daffern, and Ogloff discusses a recent meta-analytic review of psychological treatments for violent offenders published in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. Worldwide, violence is a significant public health problem in terms of its effects on victims, the quality of life for offenders, and the economic burden on correctional services, the health sector,

Increasingly, there is greater awareness that college students have high levels of clinically significant emotional problems, and despite a broad consensus about the need to clarify the scope of the problem and develop actionable solutions, our understanding of college student mental health remains limited. Toward addressing this gap, the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative(WMH-ICS) has sought to:

Although considered the gold standard psychological treatment for many mental and behavioral health conditions, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) continues to be delivered at rates far below what research and expert recommendations suggest. Indeed, recent estimates suggest that as few as 5 percent of individuals with depression or anxiety receive CBT or other evidence-based psychotherapy (EBP). Despite the enduring under-use of

Opioid misuse has drastically increased in the U.S. since the late 1990s, resulting in a devastating public health impact on communities and families. Opioid overdose fatalities continue to rise, and almost 12 million people misused prescription or illicit opioids in 2016. Given its widespread impact, adequate response to the opioid crisis will require involvement of the entire health care community.

There is nothing short of a changing of the guard occurring in the United States healthcare system, writ large, including the mental health system. While resources for traditional mental health services have been shrinking steadily over the last three decades, resources for mental health services delivered in public health contexts, such as primary care, are expanding. The new, much heralded

Search for “mental health”, “stress”, “depression” or “anxiety” on the iOS or Android app stores and you’re confronted with a bewildering array of choices. While many of the apps appear well made, trustworthy, and are supported by positive user reviews, the vast majority of these have not been scientifically tested. Some may use evidence-based techniques and models, often drawn from

Under the current administration, the past year has seen dramatic shifts in immigration policy, including increased immigration enforcement, travel bans targeting primarily Muslim countries, the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and the rescission of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Salvadorans, Haitians, and Nepalese (The White House, 2017). Although some of these policies are being litigated,

This SCP Blog by Dr. J. Cobb Scott discusses a recent meta-analysis  published in JAMA Psychiatry that addressed the association between cannabis use and cognitive functioning in adolescents and young adults. The US has experienced substantial shifts in policy and perception regarding cannabis, or marijuana, use over the past decade.As of 2018, cannabis has been legalized for adult recreational use in 9

During the past decades there has been a rapidly growing interest in mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) like MBSR or MBCT. Although a number of clinical trials on MBIs have been conducted, the evidence base for MBIs is promising but still limited. Nevertheless, a rapid dissemination of MBIs has taken place and it can be argued that, in the case of MBIs,

This SCP Blog piece by Drs. Levy, Springer, and Tolin discuss a recent meta-analytic review of remission in CBT for anxiety disorders published in Clinical Psychology Review.  The efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders is well established, at least in terms of pre- to post-treatment reductions in anxiety severity.  CBT generally outperforms waitlist controls, placebo controls, other psychological treatments

This blog piece is a Q&A with Dr. Samuel Lustgarten on a recent article in Clinical Psychology: Science & Practice: “Technology use in mental health practice and research: Legal and ethical risks” (Lustgarten & Elhai, 2018) What legal and ethical risks do you think would be most surprising to the average psychologist in clinical practice? When I talk with other

This SCP blog piece by Dr. Miya Barnett  discusses a recent article published in the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology on the role of lay health workers in addressing disparities in access to evidence-based practices. Multiple evidence-based practices have been developed and shown to be effective for treating common mental health disorders, such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and disruptive behavior

This SCP Blog by Dr. Anu Asnaani is sponsored by the Diversity Committee of SCP and briefly explores contemporary issues in understanding immigrant mental health needs and challenges to detection and treatment of psychological distress in our global communities. One of our increasing challenges as mental health professionals domestically and internationally is ensuring we are meeting the needs of the

This SCP Blog by Dr. Kathryn McHugh discusses a recent article published in Clinical Psychology Review about why gender matters in the study and treatment of substance use disorders. For many years, knowledge on the nature and treatment of substance use disorders was based on research conducted in males. The vast majority of research on substance use in women has

This SCP blog piece by Drs. David Barlow and Matthew Gallagher discusses a new article in JAMA Psychiatry pertaining to the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders. Significant progress has been made in recent decades in identifying effective psychosocial treatments for anxiety and mood disorders. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) treatment protocols for specific disorders such as panic disorder are

This SCP Blog post by Brittany Speed, Brandon Goldstein, and Dr. Marvin Goldfried discuss their recent publication in CP:SP addressing the role of assertiveness training in clinical psychology. Although psychotherapy has been in existence for over a century, the field has struggled to build upon research findings with consistent, accumulating evidence. One reason for this problem may be because we

This SCP blog by Zalewski, Goodman, Cole, and McLaughlin corresponds with a new Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice article titled, “Clinical Considerations when Treating Adults who are Parents.” Flight attendants always instruct passengers to secure their own oxygen masks before assisting others. This simple practice reflects that parents can best help their children after ensuring their own well-being.  This basic

This SCP blog by Karen Slade, Psy.D. correspondents with a new article in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology titled, “Outcomes of Psychological Therapies for Prisoners with Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. All over the world, people held in our jails and prisons experience far greater levels of mental illness than the general population including PTSD, major

by Ava T. Casados about her recently published article in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice Society holds negative attitudes about mental illness, and these attitudes form a stigma that impacts many individuals on both interpersonal levels (e.g., blaming, name-calling) and institutional levels (e.g., employment discrimination). The stigma experienced because of one’s mental illness can in turn exacerbate psychological symptoms and

by Brittany M. Merrill, MS, Amy R. Altszuler, MS, & William E. Pelham, PhD Children with ADHD experience problems in daily life functioning in school, with their family, and with peers. Rather than focusing on symptoms of ADHD, treatment providers should focus on these impairments in daily life functioning when making recommendations, as these problems are the reason parents and teachers

by Joyce Chu, PhD & Amy E. Leino, PhD Equal rights to equal access and equal care. Few would disagree with the position that the racial and ethnic minorities of our nation deserve the right to receive the same quality of care for mental illness as White individuals. Yet, striving for equal treatment has proven to be a complicated endeavor.

by Brent W. Roberts, PhD Can you change your personality traits? We know from hundreds of observational studies that personality traits can and do change. The fact that personality traits are not “set in plaster” naturally leads to the question of volitional change—if someone or some institution sets about to change personality, can it be done? This question had long

You have probably heard it a million times – there is a technology revolution and mental health services are not exempt. In both research and the private sector there is much buzz about the potential of technology to transform mental health service delivery (Jones, 2014; Kazdin & Blasé, 2011). Case in point, Dr. Tom Insel recently stepped down as the

Behavioral Activation for Depression During Pregnancy: Results from a multi-site pragmatic randomized controlled effectiveness trial – an SCP blog piece by Drs. Hubley and Dimidjian For many, being pregnant is one of the most important and enjoyable moments in life.  For others, life changes during pregnancy can become major challenges and 1 in 7 pregnant women become clinically depressed (Gavin

Is “Abnormal Psychology” Really all that Abnormal – a blog post by Jonathan D. Schaefer, a doctoral student of Clinical Psychology at Duke University An assumption held by many—including many mental health professionals—is that people who suffer from one or more mental disorders constitute a small, troubled minority. This assumption is reflected in both the way we talk about mental

Do Beliefs About Biology Matter for Mental Health? by Kate MacDuffie and Tim Strauman about their newly published article in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice Imagine that you have just visited a mental health professional and received a diagnosis of depression.  You have just been given a name for the distressing emotional state which, prior to your appointment, felt confusing and unpredictable.  The

By Joseph Franklin, PhD and Jessica Ribeiro, PhD Suicide. For most people, this word conjures up images of someone who is extremely sad. Someone so lonely, stressed, or defeated that they’ve decided that they’d be better off dead. Some clinicians might add to this picture related characteristics such as emotion dysregulation, substance abuse, or impulsivity. Some researchers may include a

Dr. Katie Eklund discusses the use of universal screening scores to predict distal academic and behavioral outcomes among school-aged youth. Research has well-documented poor school-related outcomes for students with behavioral and emotional concerns, including lower academic achievement, higher rates of suspension/expulsion, increased absenteeism, and lower graduation rates (e.g., Lane, Carter, Pierson, & Glaeser, 2006). As up to 20% of school-aged

This blog piece by Dr. Douglas Samuel from Purdue University discusses a recently published article in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.  It is well-established that the approaches to diagnosis differ substantially between clinical practice and research settings. Whereas the typical research study collects data using either a semi-structured interview administered by a research assistant or a self-report questionnaire completed by

Guest blog author Dr. Torrey Creed discusses a recently published article in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology focused on implementing trans diagnostic cognitive therapy in diverse community settings with the Beck Community Initiative. Decades of research have led to evidence-based practices (EBPs) for a wide range of behavioral health concerns and populations (e.g., Hofmann et al., 2012), but

The type of parenting a child receives can have profound impacts on the life trajectory of that child. For example, in contrast to punitive parenting we know positive parenting practices affords children many life advantages, including, building secure attachments, accelerated language development, greater readiness for school, reduced risk of antisocial behavior and substance abuse problems, improved physical health, and greater

Classifications of mental disorders are a necessary evil. Without a comprehensive, consensual list of the kinds of problems human beings experience, the field of mental health would be continually swamped by the task of describing the nature of each person’s problem. Communication between professionals would break down. Selecting treatments and identifying conditions for research would be a free-for-all. Tracking the

Naturally, we all want to get better at the things that we do.  Psychotherapists too may like to think that as they gain experience, they are continuing to develop their skills and improve the services they provide.  Knowing that therapists contribute significantly to clients’ outcomes (explaining approximately 5% of variance in outcomes; Baldwin & Imel, 2013), therapists’ ability to improve

by Candice A. Alfano & Simon Lau, Department of Psychology, University of Houston A common saying in the military is that when one person joins the whole family serves. This phrase took on new meaning in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001. Subsequent combat operations required unprecedented rates of lengthy and repeated service member deployments. For many

Social influences are a primary contributor of heavy drinking among young adults (Neighbors, Lee, Lewis, Fossos, & Larimer, 2007). Social norms refer to a specific source of influence defined as typical behavior (descriptive norms) or typical level of approval (injunctive norms) in a given reference group. For the purposes of our discussion we will limit our focus to descriptive norms.

About two decades ago, psychologists who develop and study psychotherapy interventions began to recognize that publications on the efficacy of new psychotherapies were not sufficient to change practice. Shortly thereafter, research emerged that indicated that manuals and workshops alone were also not sufficient to change practice (see Herschell et al., 2010 for a summary). We are now at a point

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has earned a position of high regard in the scheme of evidence-based treatment of psychological disorders. Yet, it shares some of the same difficulties faced by psychotherapy and medical practice in general. One such major problem is dropout. Dropout is the client’s discontinuation of treatment against the recommendations of the clinician. When this happens, many questions

Emotional processing theory posits that the therapeutic benefits of exposure include habituation to the distress triggered by trauma memories (Lang, 1977) as well as their reorganization (Foa, Molnar, & Cashman, 1995). Trauma narratives among people with PTSD have been observed to have greater sensory, perceptual, and emotional references and interrupted temporal, causal and logical connections (O’Kearney & Perrott, 2006). Habituation

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), in its current format, was developed and implemented as an anti-depressive treatment in the 1970`s (Beck et al., 1979.). Ever since, the method has been in worldwide growth, gaining recognition and appraisal on its way to becoming the dominant force in the world of psychotherapy. Until recently, no thorough attempt had been made with regards to

Intimate partner violence (IPV) represents a significant clinical problem among veterans and service members. Numerous studies indicate that veterans and service members with greater posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms are at particularly high risk for IPV use (Marshall, Panuzio, & Taft, 2005; Taft, Watkins, Stafford, Street, & Monson, 2011). With large numbers of returning U.S. military members, there is an increasing

Direct-to-consumer marketing: The next wave of dissemination and implementation? Most Americans are familiar with the pharmaceutical advertisements that are featured in many forms of media. Many of these advertisements are for psychopharmaceutical interventions, which have recently been surpassing efficacious psychological treatments in outpatient mental health care (Olfson & Marcus, 2010). While traditional dissemination and implementation efforts (e.g., targeted at the

This blog piece by Dr. James Boswell discusses a recent study published by his research team in Psychotherapy entitled, “Implementing routine outcome monitoring in clinical practice: Benefits, challenges, and solutions.” In their seminal paper, Howard, Moras, Brill, Martinovich, and Lutz (1996) suggested using standardized session-to-session measures of patient progress to evaluate and improve treatment outcome by using data-driven feedback. In doing

This piece by guest blogger, Dr. Sara Becker, summarizes ideas from her recent manuscript, Direct-to-Consumer Marketing: A Complementary Approach to Traditional Dissemination and Implementation Efforts for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Interventions, published in the March 2015 edition of Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. Increasing the Use of Effective Behavioral Treatments through Direct-to-Consumer Marketing  One of the greatest challenges facing

This is a blog piece by Damion Grasso, Ph.D. (Division 12 Web Editor) that explores how we communicate information about treatment effectiveness to our patients. It draws from recent articles that discuss methods for translating results from psychotherapy research into probabilistic information that aims to inform treatment consumers. David is a middle-aged man who just one year ago was assaulted and

This blog piece by guest blogger, Dr. John Pachankis, on behalf of Division 12’s Education and Training Committee, discusses recent efforts to establish evidence-based treatments for mental health and co-occurring psychosocial concerns (e.g., alcohol use, sexual compulsivity, sexual risk behavior) among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients. John Pachankis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology

Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12, American Psychological Association) Response to NIMH Strategic Plan The Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12, American Psychological Association) represents the interests of clinical psychologists in the United States.  Its mission is to encourage and support the integration of psychological science and practice in education, research, application, advocacy and public policy. We thank NIMH for

Neurorehabilitation and Modular-Based Psychotherapy for the Co-Management of Nervous System Injury and Comorbid Psychopathology  – By Saritha Teralandur Saritha is a second year M.S. student at DePaul University. Her research interests include child and adolescent psychology and neuropsychology.  This blog piece explores neurorehabilitation, a personalized, multidisciplinary treatment approach designed to concurrently address impairment caused by nervous system injury, as well

The latest editions of the Advances in Psychotherapy – Evidence-Based Practice Book Series (Hogrefe Publishing) include Autism Spectrum Disorder and Headache. Autism Spectrum Disorder (Vol. 29, 2015) by Joseph, Soorya, and thrum (ISBN 978-0-88937-404-1) is a straightforward yet authoritative guide to effective diagnosis and empirically supported treatments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The book starts by reviewing DSM-5 and ICD-10 diagnostic

In a new article in Clinical Psychology Review, Lindhiem and colleagues describe a meta-analysis on the importance of client preferences for treatment satisfaction, completion rates, and clinical outcome. As the number of treatment options for different mental health conditions increases and clients have more resources available to learn about varying treatments, the idea of shared decision making has come to

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA; P. L. 111-148) is ushering in a new era for the training and education in clinical psychology. Yet, little is known about the potential impact of this healthcare reform on our field moving forward. In our article (Chor, Olin, & Hoagwood, 2014), we describe features of the ACA-funded Mental and

With increased attention paid to the high prevalence of unaddressed mental health problems among our youth, there is a growing demand for increased capacity of mental health care in pediatric primary care (PPC) practices . There are two good reasons why the PPC setting can make a large impact in detecting and managing child and adolescent mental health problems. First, almost all

By now many of us are familiar with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) 2009 launch of a new initiative called the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project. RDoC continues to be a work-in-progress with the primary goal of developing a classification system for mental health disorders that is dimensional and that links to neurobiological systems. The proposed framework is

Risk of lifetime exposure to a potentially traumatic event (PTE) increases exponentially across the lifespan until non-exposed individuals are rare.1 Although a minority of individuals in the general population develop trauma-related emotional and behavioral problems,2 this is not true of multiply traumatized or poly-victimized individuals.3-5 These experiences can start to accumulate very early in life with potential to disrupt normal