Claiming the lives of over 48,000 Americans per year, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States (CDC, 2018). This number alone may present as shocking to many; however, this number only depicts the amount of deaths due to suicide. It does not take into account the estimated 1.4 million suicide […]
Increasingly, clinical psychology literature points to a relationship between therapists’ self-regulation and their capacity to effectively treat patients. Indeed, theorists have suggested that therapists’ self-regulation – including their capacity to be self-reflective and mindful with patients – tends to facilitate therapeutic empathy (Buechler, 2008), rupture resolution (Safran & Muran, 2000), and mutual recognition (Benjamin, 2018). […]
The interpersonal difficulties experienced by patients diagnosed with a personality disorder (PD) can pose difficulty in negotiating a strong therapeutic alliance between patient and therapist (Muran, Segal, Samstag, & Crawford, 1994; Stern, 1938; Vaillant, 1992; Waldinger & Gunderson, 1984). For instance, therapists of patients diagnosed with Cluster B (i.e., “dramatic, emotional, erratic”) PDs often rate […]
The authors of this article aimed to provide empirical support for an interpersonal therapy intervention for decreasing levels of depression and anxiety for adults in a specific resource-scarce community in India. The team of researchers in the study include members of Columbia University Teachers College Global Mental Health Lab, which investigates empirically supported treatments for […]
Personality disorders are a common phenomenon encountered by psychologists in private practice as well as other health care settings. The prevalence of personality disorders in the general population is estimated to be about 9%, according the results from a National Institutes of Health funded national comorbidity study (Lenzenweger, Lane, Loranger, & Kessler, 2007). Having the […]
In 1988 John Bowlby published a groundbreaking collection of his lectures and essays. He inspired a generation of researchers by asserting that the therapist-client relationship has key features in common with parent-child attachments. Roughly coinciding with the 25th anniversary of Bowlby’s book, four meta-analyses have recently been published. These articles and other summaries take stock […]
Abstract This article, part of a special section on the Relational Foundations of Psychotherapy, describes a particular relational approach called cyclical psychodynamics. Cyclical psychodynamics is rooted both in the relational perspective in psychoanalysis and in an integrative melding of psychodynamic, cognitive–behavioral, systemic, and experiential points of view. Central to its theoretical structure is a focus […]
Dr. Smith talks about her experiences working with Harry Harlow, her thoughts and approach to understanding psychopathology from an interpersonal perspective, the role and power of mental representations of caregivers and siblings, and what psychotherapy can learn from the natural sciences. About Lorna Smith Benjamin, Ph.D. Dr. Smith is a Professor of Psychology at the […]