Listen to Dr. Gaztambide narrate the Prologue of this piece: Prologue “When are you going to stop splitting like this?” I almost spilled my coffee. I often wondered why shrinks talk like this-using words like “splitting” and “distortion” and “automatic thoughts” as if they were a part of everyday language. They’re not. But we do […]
Considerable literature exists on the value of supporting first-generation college students (FGCS) since Billson and Terry (1982) coined the term, “first-generation college student” to describe students whose parents did not attend college. However, there is limited research on first-generation graduate students (FGGS), especially those in health service psychology programs. Motivated in part by the American […]
The importance of considering individual differences and diversity in our clinical work has rightly received increased attention in recent years. The relevance of individual differences and diversity to all aspects of the professional services psychologists provide is clearly articulated in the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Ethics Code, APA, 2010) in Principle […]
Schizophrenia is a disabling, chronic psychiatric disorder that occurs in approximately 1% of the population (Goldner, Hsu, Waraich & Somers, 2002; Mueser & Jeste, 2008). It has severe consequences for patients with the disorder, as well as their caregivers who often present with high levels of psychological distress (Awad & Voruganti, 2008). In addition to […]
The most consistent and robust predictor of outcome in psychotherapy is the quality of the client-therapist relationship (Lambert, 2013). While we know that therapists’ overall competence and client factors, such as motivation, are relevant and important to treatment, the client-therapist relationship is considered essential to effective treatment, at least in most therapies (Norcross & Lambert, […]
Introduction As the people of the United States become even more culturally diverse, psychotherapists are required to develop their cultural competence. Health disparities persist with regard to many cultural identities including race, class, sexual orientation, and ability (Gehlert, Mininger, Sohmer & Berg, 2008; Smeldy, Stith, & Nelson, 2003; Sue & Dhindsa, 2006). Furthermore, treatment offered […]
In today’s rapidly growing multicultural society, psychotherapists are faced with the complex task of working effectively with clientele whose psychosocial dynamics include increasingly diverse cultural values, beliefs and attitudes that the psychotherapist is either not aware of or not prepared to engage as part of the therapy.