Are Mental Health Practioners Afraid of Research and Statistics?
A few weeks back I received an email from Dr. Kevin Carroll, a marriage and family therapist in Iowa. Attached were the findings from his doctoral dissertation. The subject was near and dear to my heart: the measurement of outcome in routine clinical practice. The findings were inspiring. Although few ...
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Psychologist Alan Kazdin Needs Help: Please Give
Look at this picture. This man needs help. He is psychologist, Alan Kazdin, former president of the American Psychological Association, and current Professor of Psychology at Yale University. A little over a week ago, to the surprise and shock of many in the field, he disclosed a problem in his ...
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Achieving Clinical Excellence Conference 2013: CALL FOR PAPERS
Horsholm, Denmark Spent the weekend with the planning committe for the 2013 Achieving Clinical Excellence Conference. Committee members came in from all over the world--the USA, Romania, Holland, the UK, and Denmark--to finalize speakers, the conference venue, and mock up the logo for the conference brochure and advertizing. Like last time, we are ...
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The ICCE Feedback-Informed Treatment Manuals
September 12, 2011 Copenhagen, Denmark Fall is in the air. For me, that means the start of the travel season. For the next two weeks, I'll be traveling throughout Scandanavia--this week in Denmark and Norway. It's great to be back on the road meeting clinicians and consulting with agencies about ...
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Is Psychotherapy Dead?
"AMERICANS PREFER DRUGS" screams the headline posted by the Reuters news service and attributed to Consumer Reports--one of the most respected periodical for the average American reader. "NEARLY 80 PERCENT TAKE A PILL FOR DEPRESSION," the article continues. Read a little further and do some searching around on the internet and a different story ...
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Deliberate Practice: What’s all the fuss about?
Whatever they might be engaged in—dancing, singling, teaching, or doing therapy, top performers make “it” look so easy. Witnessing such a performance inspires awe and wonder, leading many unitiated to whisper about some being lucky, “born with talent.” How else can one explain the superior abilities of those we admire? ...
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Becoming FIT: The 2011 Training of Trainers
August 10th, 2011 Chicago, IL The first week of August was one of the hottest weeks on record in Chicago. It was also the location of the hottest training on "feedback-informed treatment" (FIT)--the 5th Annual "Training of Trainers" weeklong intensive training. We worked intensively over 5 days preparing an international group ...
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Yes, More Evidence: Spanish version of the ORS Validated by Chilean Researchers
Last week, Chile. This week, Perth, Australia. Yesterday, I landed in Sydney following a 30 hour flight from the United States. I managed to catch the last flight out to Perth before all air travel was grounded due to another ash clound--this time coming from Chile! I say "another" as ...
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How Much More Evidence Is Needed? A New Meta-Analysis on Feedback-Informed Treatment
Received an email from friend and colleague John Norcross, Ph.D. Attached were the results of a meta-analysis completed by Michael Lambert and Kenichi Shimokawa on Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT) which will appear in the second edition of his book, Psychotherapy Relationships that Work (Oxford University Press). For those who cannot wait, you ...
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The World Did Not End: What it a Bad Thing?
May 25th, 2011 Chicago, Illinois On Saturday the 21st of May, 2011 the world was supposed to come to an end. It did not. My question: was that a bad thing? Would it have been better if, as the now twice wrong Prophet Harold Camping predicted, the world had ended ...
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The Mystery of Mastery: Excellence Takes Center Stage in the Psychotherapy Networker
The Psychotherapy Networker has long been the most popular periodical among practicing clinicians. Rumor has it that the magazine has 80,000+ subscribers and sells over 120,000 copies of each issue. If you want to know what therapists are thinking and talking about, the Networker magazine is the place to look. ...
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The "Fragile Balance": Putting the Pieces together at the 2013 Achieving Clinical Excellence Conference in Amsterdam, Holland
Dateline: May 8th, 2011 Copenhagen, Denmark It is with great pleasure and high expectations that I announce the second "Achieving Excellence Conference" to be held in Amsterdam, Holland on May 16th-18th, 2013. The title of the 2013 ACE conference is, "Putting the Pieces Together: The 'Fragile Balance,'" emphasizing the steps, practices, and ...
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The Cryptonite of Behavioral Health: Making Mistakes
Most people readily agree that its important to "learn from mistakes." In truth, however, few actually believe it. Mistakes are like cryptonite, making us feel and, more importantly, look stupid and weak. As a result, despite what we might advise others, we do our best to avoid making and admitting them. ...
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Why is this man laughing?
May 4th, 2011 Copenhagen, Denmark Just finished my first day of a two week trip covering spots in Denmark and Holland. Yesterday, I traveled to Copenhagen from Hilo, Hawaii where I was presenting for the Hawaiian Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. Dr. Gay Barflied (pictured on the far left ...
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The "F" Word in Behavioral Health
Since the 1960’s, over 10,000 how-to books on psychotherapy/counseling have been published—everything from nude marathon group therapy to the most recent “energy-based treatments.” Clinicians have at their disposal literally hundreds of methods to apply to an ever growing list of diagnoses as codified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of ...
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Changing Home-Based Mental Health Care for Good: Using Feedback Informed Treatment
Some teach. Some write. Some publish research. Arnold Woodruff and Kathy Levenston work for a living! Kathy Levenston specializes in working with foster and adopted children. Arnold Woodruff developed the first intensive in-home program run by a community services board in Virginia. He has over 30 years of experience, and has served as the President of ...
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