Scp Blog Series

The benefits of cultivating compassion have been described for thousands of years and, over the last two decades, an increasing number of therapeutic approaches have been promoting its use in addressing mental health difficulties. As an evolutionary-focused, biopsychosocial therapy model, Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) conceptualizes compassion as a prosocial motivation, characterized by “the sensitivity to suffering in self and others

Group therapy is an effective means to support positive mental health. It also has the added benefit of being cost-effective, because one clinician can treat many clients at once. However, group therapy facilitation is understudied within psychology, so the evidence-base for how clinicians can lead groups most effectively is limited. In a recently published article, we argue that identity leadership

Monitoring patients’ progress and providing therapists with feedback is a powerful tool that can make a significant difference in the effectiveness of psychological treatments. But have you ever wondered why some therapists seem to benefit more from feedback than others? What factors play a role in whether or not feedback leads to better treatment outcomes? To answer these questions, we

Adolescence is an important developmental period during which youth experience key changes in their ability to regulate emotions and behavior, and engage in more reward-seeking and risk-taking behaviors than during childhood (Andrews et al., 2021; Steinberg et al., 2008). Adolescents who have difficulties with emotional and behavioral regulation are at elevated risk for externalizing problems (e.g., defiance, aggression, impulsivity, antisocial

Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders are common and prevalent mental health problems. They include obsessive-compulsive disorder, body-dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania, hoarding disorder, and skin-picking disorder. It is estimated that as many as 1 in 20 people will experience any of these disorders during their lives. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, where mental health problems are on the rise, it is

Emotion regulation seems to lie at the heart of mental health and psychopathology – e.g., maladaptive emotion regulation strategies like rumination, avoidance, and suppression appear to be commonly used by patients across several mental disorders. On the other hand, adaptive emotion regulation strategies like acceptance, cognitive reappraisal and problem-solving are central skills being taught and trained in modern Cognitive Behavioral

Scientists have dedicated a tremendous amount of effort and resources toward understanding potential risk and protective factors for self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB). Some have proposed that cognitive flexibility is protective factor against SITB (Bryan, 2019; Rudd, 2007), and others suggest that this process can increase risk for suicidal behaviors under certain contexts (Nangle et al., 2006; Park & Ammerman,

What if you could select from a menu to create an effective personalized “recipe” for treating each youth receiving psychotherapy? By adding in the right “ingredients,” in just the right doses, a clinician might be able to create an individually tailored “meal” to treat each individual young person. This personalization is an aim of modular youth psychotherapy, which provides a

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

Challenges with mental health occur worldwide. However, the psychotherapies that treat these concerns have been mainly developed by and for people who are White and live in Western countries. Because of this, many efforts have been made adapt psychotherapy to the cultures of people of color and cross-cultural clients. These cultural adaptations are similar to tailoring a pair of jeans

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