Guest Editors: Trisha L. Raque-Bogdan, PhD and Amanda M. Mitchell, PhD

Submission Deadline: December 31, 2020

Psychotherapy invites you to contribute research or clinical manuscripts for a special issue on addressing health in psychotherapy.  We particularly encourage papers with an emphasis on social justice, advocacy, equity, and/or anti-racism as they relate to psychotherapy and health. 

The intersection of clients’ mental and physical health concerns is receiving increasing attention by psychotherapists across settings including private practice, integrated primary care settings, academic medical centers, and community mental health.  A recent survey of health service providers found that over 62% of respondents indicated providing direct care to clients with at least one health condition, with obesity, diabetes, and cancer most commonly presented (American Psychological Association, 2016).  Psychotherapists are involved in addressing primary, secondary and tertiary health prevention and promotion efforts, psychological and behavioral risk factors for health concerns (e.g., sleep, stress management), patient–physician communication (e.g., addressing health concerns in primary integrated care), patient adherence and self-management, psychosocial burdens of health concerns (e.g., coping with a chronic health condition), and/or exposure to discrimination or violence as predictors of health concerns (e.g., minority stress, racism’s role in health disparities).  

From a research perspective, we invite quantitative, qualitative, and/or meta-analytic papers integrating health concerns in the context of psychotherapy.  Submissions may focus on, but not be limited to, the following questions: What is the effectiveness of psychotherapy interventions in addressing intersecting physical and mental health concerns?  To what extent do these interventions assess for psychotherapy processes and/or therapeutic common factors?  To what extent are these interventions culturally responsive?  Paradigms such as QuantCrit and Intersectionality that may advance our understanding of how health justice may be achieved in psychotherapeutic interventions are encouraged.    

From a clinical perspective, we invite papers describing how psychotherapists address health concerns using psychotherapeutic interventions.  Psychotherapists are positioned to attend to systems of which clients are a part (e.g., family, health care, work environment, political) as they impact health. Application of an Intersectionality paradigm that attends to power, oppression, and privilege is encouraged. Case examples could include, but not be limited to, client background and presenting health concerns, verbatim clinical dialogue, theoretical conceptualization and intervention implemented, and assessment of the intervention effectiveness. 

Manuscripts can be submitted through the journal’s electronic portal, under the Instructions to Authors at: http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/pst/. Please note in your cover letter that you are submitting for this special issue.  The deadline for submitting manuscripts in this special issue is December 31, 2020. Any inquiries or questions regarding topic or scope for the special issue can be sent to Trisha Raque-Bogdan at trisha.raque-bogdan@du.edu or Amanda Mitchell at Amanda.Mitchell@louisville.edu.

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