Assessment & Treatment
Focused on the critical aspects of assessment and treatment in psychotherapy, this section offers resources, guidelines, and discussions on effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to improve client outcomes.
280 articles found
Balancing Alliances With Couples and Families
Many therapists in training, and even experienced therapists, anticipate working with couples and families with trepidation. As family therapists and researchers, we understand that trepidation, and indeed, sometimes find ourselves experiencing these same feelings! However, we know that understanding systemic interactions really helps in learning to work with couples and families; thus, we offer some […]
Laurie Heatherington, Ph.D. + 2 more
November 12, 2019
Making the Leap From Group to Private Practice
It is so quiet in here this morning that I can hear the soft ticking of the clock in my bookcase. Some days it still feels odd not hearing colleagues in the hall, the click of keyboards in the billing office, or cheery receptionists answering calls out front. A steaming mug of coffee is at […]
Bethany Detwiler, Ph.D.
November 12, 2019
Working with the Cultural Outsider in Psychotherapy
Many people who seek psychotherapy were either brought to the United States when they were young or born here with parents who are often trying to adapt to a new culture and language. Children of immigrants have to navigate being surrounded by peers who look and speak differently, and in many cases, their caretakers rely […]
Dennis Portnoy, MFT
November 10, 2019
Considering Social Class in Our Clinical Practice
Attending to client background, lived experiences, and interactions with mental health systems is essential to provide competent and effective care. As psychotherapists, we are well aware of the importance of the common factors and do our best to establish a strong working relationship with our clients to help them thrive. The last thing we want […]
Mindi Thompson, Ph.D.
September 15, 2019
On Cheap Psychotherapy
On March 16, 2019, the esteemed international magazine The Economist published an article titled “Talk is Cheap: What Disasters Reveal About Mental-Health Care.” The article extolled the virtues of using lightly trained “psychotherapists” to deal with emotional problems in countries that have a shortage of mental health professionals. After highlighting the role of stressors such […]
Roger P. Greenberg, Ph.D.
September 2, 2019
“Let’s Talk on the Fourth Floor”
Our idea, which three of us came up with nearly simultaneously, was born out of good intentions. We noticed that our most vulnerable students were often reluctant to go to our university’s counseling center. Our idea was to bring psychotherapy services to the place where they felt most comfortable, the floor of the student union […]
Paul Kwon, Ph.D.
September 2, 2019
How to Set Up Your Private Pay Fees and No Show Policies with John Clarke
The Business of Private Practice The Professional Practice Committee of Division 29 recently had the opportunity to ask entrepreneur and psychotherapist John Clarke about his thoughts on setting your out-of-network fees and “no show” policies in private practice. In this video, he shares his perspective on how to balance the humanistic and business side of building a private […]
John Clarke, MA, EdS, NCC, LPCC, LPC + 1 more
August 30, 2019
Stranger Things and Social Skills
If you have seen Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” watched the long-standing TV sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” or were friends with gamers in the last 45 years, you’ve likely had at least a passing exposure to Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), one of the most popular table-top role-playing games (TTRPG). Though D&D unduly provoked fear among those […]
Elizabeth D. Kilmer, M.S. + 1 more
August 4, 2019
Guideline Orthodoxy and Resulting Limitations of the American Psychological Association’s Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of PTSD in Adults
Abstract This article introduces the special issue in which we explore problems and limitations inherent both in the development and implementation of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Adults. As Chair (Christine A. Courtois) and member (Laura S. Brown) of the guideline development panel, we […]
Christine Courtois, Ph.D. + 1 more
July 8, 2019
Relationships and Responsiveness in the Psychological Treatment of Trauma
Abstract The therapeutic relationship and responsiveness/treatment adaptations rightfully occupy a prominent, evidence-based place in any guidelines for the psychological treatment of trauma. In this light, we critique the misguided efforts of the American Psychological Association’s (APA, 2017) Clinical Practice Guideline on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Adults to advance a biomedical model for psychotherapy and thus […]
John C. Norcross, Ph.D. + 1 more
July 8, 2019
Responsivity to Patients’ Early Treatment Beliefs as a Form of Evidence-Based Decision Making
Although using an empirically supported treatment package to treat specific mental health problems may represent a good starting point, there is growing recognition that evidence-based practice (EBP) involves more than the uniform application of such standardized interventions. One of the main research findings driving this perspective is that global therapist adherence to a specific treatment […]
Alice E. Coyne, PhD + 2 more
June 23, 2019
Crossing the Distance Between You and Me
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 […]
Benjamin N. Johnson, M.S. + 1 more
June 23, 2019