The notion that suicides increase during the holiday season is as traditional as "Santa Claus"--and, according to statistics dating back at least a decade, just as illusory.  In fact, research actually shows suicide rates to be the lowest in December!  According to Dan Romer, a researcher at the Annenberg Public ...
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A number of years ago, I was conducting a workshop in Pittsburgh.  At some point during the training, I met Dr. Jan Pringle, the director of the Program Evaluation Research Unit in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Pittsburgh. Jan had an idea: use outcome feedback to improve ...
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I'm still reeling from the experience in Anaheim this last week.  I met so many leaders in the field, heard so many presentations on cutting edge clinical practice--as well as was reminded of some "classic" principles of effective psychotherapy. One of the people I met was colleague and friend, Michael ...
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From December 9-13th, eight thousand five hundred mental health practitioners, from countries around the globe, gathered in Anaheim, California to attend the "Evolution of Psychotherapy" conference.  Held every five years since 1985, the conference started big and has grown only larger.  "Only a few places in the US can accommodate such a ...
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Dateline: Chicago, Illinois December 7, 2009 I've just finished packing my bags and am heading for the airport.  Tomorrow the "Evolution of Psychotherapy" begins.  Nearly 25 years after volunteering at the first "Evolution" conference, I'm back a second time to present.  Tomorrow, I'll be talking about "Achieving Clinical Excellence."  ...
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Hans Christian Andersen, the author of such classic stories as The Ugly Duckling and the Emperor's New Clothes, once wrote, "Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale of all."  That sentiment is certainly true of my own life.  For the last 16 years, I've been privileged to travel around the world conducting training and ...
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Dateline: November 28, 2009 Brisbane, Australia Crown Plaza Hotel Pelican Waters Golf Resort & Spa As their name implies, LifeLine Australia is the group people call when they need a helping hand.  During the last leg of my tour of eastern Australia, I was lucky enough to spend two days working with ...
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Sitting in my hotel room in Brisbane, Australia.  It's beautiful here: white, sandy beaches and temperatures hovering around 80 degrees.  Can't say that I'll be enjoying the sunny weather much.  Tomorrow I'll be speaking to a group of 135+ practitioners about "Supershrinks."  I leave for home on Saturday.  While it's ...
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Greetings from beautiful Melbourne, Australia!   For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be traveling the up and down the east coast of this captivating country, conducting workshops and providing consultations on feedback-informed clinical work. Actually, I’ve had the privilege of visiting and teaching in Australia about once a year beginning ...
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I've just returned from a week in Denmark providing training for two important groups.  On Wednesday and Thursday, I worked with close to 100 mental health professionals presenting the latest information on "What Works" in Therapy at the Kulturkuset in downtown Copenhagen.  On Friday, I worked with a small group ...
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For the last 7 years, I've been traveling to the small, picturesque village of Brattleboro, Vermont to work with clinicians, agency managers, and various state officials on integrating outcomes into behavioral health services.  Peter Albert, the director of Governmental Affairs and PrimariLink at the Brattleboro Retreat, has tirelessly crisscrossed the state, promoting ...
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Early last summer, I received an email from my long time friend and colleague Don Meichenbaum alerting me to an article published in the April 2009 edition of the Behavior Therapist--the official "newsletter" of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies--critical of the work that I and others have done on ...
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Ohio is experiencing the same challenges faced by other states when it comes to behavioral health services: staff and financial cutbacks, increasing oversight and regulation, rising caseloads, unrelenting paperwork, and demands for accountability.  Into the breach, the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health & Family Service Providers organized their 30th annual ...
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I have in my hand a frayed and yellowed copy of observations once made by a well known trainer of horses. The trainer’s simple message for leading a productive and successful professional life was, “If the horse you’re riding dies, get off.” You would think the advice straightforward enough for all ...
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A few weeks ago, I announced the first International “Achieving Clinical Excellence” (ACE) conference to be held at the Westin Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri on October 20-22nd, 2010.  You can now register for this and all other ICCE events, by clicking here.  Through a variety of keynote addresses and workshops, participants ...
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If you've been following me on Twitter, then you know that last week I was touring and teaching in different spots around Europe.  First, I presented two days in Copenhagen.  Then I keynoted the British Association of Counseling and Psychotherapy Conference in Newcastle, England.  Early Saturday morning, I flew from London to ...
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