Bridging Practice & Research
Delve into the intersection of research and practice, where theory meets application. This section highlights how empirical research can inform clinical practice and how practical experiences can shape future research directions.
190 articles found
When Trauma Enters the Therapy Room: Understanding Mistrust and Threat Perception After Childhood Adversity
Introduction Childhood adversity can remain psychologically relevant long after the original circumstances have ended. Experiences such as abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, instability, and exposure to violence may influence how people interpret safety, trust, and interpersonal cues, including those associated with rejection, criticism, betrayal, or potential harm. In psychotherapy, these effects may not always appear as […]
Diana-Irina Iordache, MSc
October 31, 2026
The Subjective Side of Objectivity: The Person Behind the Therapist
If you ask a surgeon why they became a doctor, you will probably hear a story about a grandmother having heart surgery, a brother fighting cancer, or a childhood spent in and out of hospital waiting rooms. No one asks the surgeon whether their grandmother’s bypass will make them feel shaky in the operating room. […]
Shoshana Twersky, PsyD
October 19, 2026
Beyond the Hours: Clinical Supervision as Professional Identity Development
There is a moment in the development of almost every new clinician when the focus shifts from leaning on their educational scaffolding and guardrails to a deeper clinical longing for cultivating their own unique clinical voice. Early in training, the question is often, “What am I supposed to do?” With experience, it becomes, “What do […]
Louis Laves-Webb, LCSW-S, LPC-S, MSSW
October 12, 2026
Adult Attachment and the Social Construction of Regret: Revisiting High School Experiences
Abstract Purpose. Attachment theory has been applied to understanding interpersonal processes across the lifespan (Bowlby, 1988), including the experience of regret (Schoemann et al., 2012). Prior research has linked adult attachment to regret in close relationships, yet little is known about how attachment relates to adults’ retrospective evaluations of formative social contexts such as high […]
Audrey Horwitz + 2 more
September 22, 2026
The Family That Never Arrives: An Integrative Framework for Attachment, Ambiguous Loss, and the Ghost Family
A woman receives a warm text from her mother. Hope fills her heart. Maybe this time we can talk honestly. The woman changes all of her plans and contacts her mother ready to repair years of distance. The conversation remains pleasant until she mentions something painful. The words barely make it into the air before […]
Emily Williams, MA
September 9, 2026
When Love Hurts: Acute and Post-Traumatic Attachment Activation
Adults frequently present for psychotherapy in acute distress following the actual or threatened loss of a romantic partner. For some, betrayal, rejection, infidelity, breakup, or divorce can destabilize a significant relationship, along with one’s source of coregulation and sense of self. Unlike bereavement, these losses involve withdrawal by a still-living attachment figure, which sustains hope, […]
Shannon L. McIntyre, Ph.D.
August 11, 2026
Psychosocial Stage Theory as a Model for Treating Homeless Veterans
Introduction Erikson (1950) outlined eight stages of psychosocial development across the developmental lifespan. Within each stage arose a “crisis” that the individual needed to resolve before proceeding cleanly into the next. Unresolved resolution at any stage led to a psychological arrest that hindered the negotiation of the following stages: trust versus mistrust, autonomy versus shame, […]
Michael Pica, PsyD
June 22, 2026
Advancing Precision Mental Health Across Cultures: A Multimodal Ecological Momentary Assessment Study
Improving the Prediction of Early Treatment Responses, Dropout, and Outcome using Daily-Life Data Psychotherapeutic approaches have repeatedly been shown to be effective, with effects comparable to those of pharmacological treatment and, in some cases, showing greater durability over time (e.g., Cuijpers et al., 2023). At the same time, overall treatment success remains modest, with more […]
Fabienne Mink, M.Sc. + 11 more
June 22, 2026
Integrating Mindfulness into Psychotherapeutic Practice
A client once described conflict at work “came out of nowhere.” Meetings would escalate quickly, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and reactive. When we slowed the moment down in session, something different emerged. As the client spoke about a recent disagreement, my favorite question to ask clients is: “What do you notice in your body right […]
Anne Bello, PhD
May 13, 2026
Suicidal Behavior Among Psychologists: Prevalence, Drivers, and Recommended Action Steps
Suicide is a serious threat to public health, and healthcare professionals, including psychologists, are not immune to it. Few experiences are as shocking to psychologists as learning that one of their colleagues has died from suicide. The experience often leaves their patients feeling bewildered or traumatized (Kleespies et al., 2011). This article reviews the prevalence […]
Samuel Knapp, Ed.D., ABPP + 2 more
May 12, 2026
Beyond Symptom Management: Existential/Humanistic Treatment for Combat Veterans
One observation of military veterans who served in Beirut, Afghanistan, and Iraq is their presentation and experience of persistent hypervigilance, avoidance, emotional constriction, and transitional forms of disillusionment. These symptoms may be part of a larger trauma response and mask unresolved affective states that should be addressed as a regular component of treatment. The recommended […]
Michael Pica, PsyD
May 8, 2026
The Projective Assessment Integration System (PAIS): A Guide for Student Clinicians in Training
When administered, scored, and interpreted correctly, projective assessments remain pivotal in assessing emotional functioning, problem-solving, interpersonal style, and linearity of thought. Critics of projective testing point to problems with validity, inter-rater reliability, and subjective preconceptions that may limit the generalizability of the results (Lilienfeld et al., 2000). However, there are a plethora of valid and […]
Michael Pica, PsyD
May 8, 2026