Finding Meaning in Psychotherapy Amidst the Trivia and Trivial

April 1, 2018 By scottdm 11 Comments

I don’t know if you feel the same way I do. Looking back, I’m pretty sure its been going on for a while, but somehow I didn’t notice.

Professional books and journals fill my bookshelves and are stacked around my desk. I am, and always have been, a voracious–even compulsive–reader. In the last couple of years, the volume of material has only increased–exponentially so, if I include digital items saved to my desktop.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit: it’s hard keeping up. But that’s really not my problem.

The issue is: I feel like I’m drowning in trivia and the trivial.

How about you? When was the last time you read something truly meaningful?

Increasingly, research journals are filled with studies that are either so narrow in focus as to defy any real world application, or simply revisit the same questions over and over. Just how many more studies does the field need, for example, on cognitive-behavioral therapy? A Google Scholar search on the subject, crossed with the term, “randomized controlled trial,” returns over a million hits!

In terms of translating research into practice, here’s a sample of articles sure to appeal to almost every clinician (and I didn’t have to “dig deep” to find these, by the way, as all were in journals neatly stacked on my desk):

I didn’t make these up. All are real articles in real research journals. If you don’t believe me, click on the links to see for yourself.

Neologisms (#1) and cuteness (#2) aside, their titles often belie a mind-numbing banality in both scope and findings. Take the last study. Can you guess what its about? Satisfaction with life moderates the indirect effect of pain intensity on pain interference through pain catastrophizing. And what findings do you think the authors spent 10 double-column, 10-point font pages relating in one of psychology’s most prestigious journals?

“Satisfaction with life appears to buffer the effect of pain.”

Hmm. Not particularly earth-shattering. And, based on these results, what do the authors recommend? Of course: “Further evaluation in longitudinal and interventional studies” (I foresee another study on cognitive-behavioral therapy in the near future).

Purpose, belonging, sense-making, transcendence, and growth are the foundations of meaning. Most of what shows up in my inbox, is taught at professionals workshops, and appears in scholarly publications has, or engenders, none of those qualities. The cost to our field and the people we serve is staggering. Worldwide, rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide continue to rise. At the same time, fewer and fewer people are seeking psychotherapy–34% fewer according to the latest findings. It is important to note that even when extensive efforts are made, and significant financial support is provided, 85% of those who could benefit choose not go. I just can’t believe its because therapists haven’t attended the latest “amygdala retraining” workshop, or do not know how to “psychodynamize” their cognitive-behavioral interventions.

Have you heard of Dr. Ben Caldwell? His book, Saving Psychotherapy: Bringing the Talking Cure Back from the Brink, speaks directly to the challenges facing the field as well as steps every clinician can take to restore meaning to both research and practice. Take a listen to the interview below.

Symptom Reduction or Well-being: What Outcome should Matter Most in Psychotherapy

March 12, 2018 By scottdm 11 Comments

So, what contributes to a living a long, healthy life?

Clean Air? Being lean versus overweight? The absence of depression or anxiety? Exercising regularly? Getting a flu vaccine? Abstaining from smoking? Minimizing alcohol intake? Personal sense of meaning? Close interpersonal relationships? Social integration?

OK, I’ll come clean: all contribute–but not equally. Far from it. Some are more important than others.

So, what contributes most? Before reading on, try rank ordering the list from least to most influential.

Now watch the brief video (If you are one of those that don’t want to try, or can’t wait to know the answer, just scroll past video).

Answer: the items as written are presented in order from the least to most influential, the last three being far more important to living a long and healthy life. Distinct from the other items on the list, personal sense of meaning, close interpersonal relationships, and social integration form the core of “well-being.”

Given such findings, it is more than a bit curious that the field of mental health and majority of its supporting research are organized around reducing symptoms. Perhaps this is one reason why, as psychiatrist Robert Cloninger persuasively argues, the profession has, “failed to improve the average levels of happiness and well-being in the general population, despite vast expenditures on psychotropic drugs and psychotherapy manuals.” Indeed, by all measures, mental health is on the decline.

Could it be that our field has the formula for improving health and well-being backwards? Instead of focusing on reducing problems or eliminating symptoms maybe we should be working directly on improving people’s personal sense of meaning, close interpersonal relationships, and social integration.

The evidence is compelling. In addition to a longer, healthier life, improved well-being leads to:

Faster recovery from illness;
Positive health behaviours in adults and children;
Quicker return to and more preseentism on the job;
Greater wellbeing and mental health of others;
Can inform treatment decisions and reduce healthcare costs;
May ultimately reduce the healthcare burden.

Twenty years ago, my team and I developed a quick, simple-to-use measure of well-being. Numerous studies have shown the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) to be valid and reliable as well as strongly predictive of psychological intervention. The tool is listed on SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices , is available in 30 languages, and in wide use in countries around the world. Best of all: individual practitioners can download and begin using the tool for free.

Ho, Ho, Oh No! Science, politics, and the demise of the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices

February 7, 2018 By scottdm 13 Comments

While you were celebrating the Holidays–shopping and spending time with family–government officials were busy at work. On December 28th, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) sent a formal termination notice to the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP).

Ho, ho, oh no…!

Briefly, NREPP is “an evidence-based repository and review system designed to provide the public with reliable information on mental health and substance use interventions.” In plain English, it’s a government website listing treatment approaches that have scientific support. SAMHSA is the Federal Agency overseeing behavior health policy.

Back in November, I’d responded to a request from NREPP to update research on the Outcome and Session Rating Scales, two routine outcome measures currently listed on the registry website site. All’s well until January 4th, when I received a short email stating that “no further review activities will occur” because the program was being ended “for the convenience of the government.”

Like much that comes from our Nation’s capitol, the reason given for the actions taken depends entirely on who you ask. Democrats are blaming Trump. Republicans, and the new SAMHSA director, blame the system, calling the registry not only flawed, but potentially dangerous. As is typical nowadays, everyone is outraged!

As someone whose work was vetted by NREPP, I can personally vouch for the thoroughness of the process and the integrity of the reviewers. No favors were sought and none were given. More, while no one knows exactly what will happen in the future, I sincerely believe officials leading the change have the best of intentions. What I am much less certain of is whether science will finally prevail in communicating “what works” in mental health and substance abuse to the public.

Bottom line: psychological approaches for alleviating human suffering are remarkably effective–on par or better than most medical treatments. That said, NONE work like a medicine.

You have a bacterial infection, antibiotics are the solution. A virus? Well, you are just going to have to tough it out. Take an aspirin and get some rest–and no, the brand you choose doesn’t really matter. Ask a friend or relative, and they likely have a favorite. The truth is, however, it doesn’t matter which one you take: Bayer, Econtin, Bufferin, Alka-Selzter, Anacin, a hundred other names, they’re all the same!

Four decades of research shows psychotherapy works much more like aspirin than an antibiotic. Despite claims, its effects are not targeted nor specific to particular diagnoses. Ask a friend, relative, your therapist or workshop presenter, and they all have their favorite: CBT, IPT, DBT, PD, TFT, CRT, EMDR, four-hundred additional names. And yet, meta-analytic studies of head-to-head comparisons find no meaningful difference in outcome between approaches.

What does all this mean for the future of NREPP and SAMHSA? The evidence makes clear that, when it comes to psychotherapy, any “list” of socially sanctioned approaches is not only unscientific, but seriously misleading. Would it be too much to hope that future governmental efforts stop offering a marketplace for manufacturers of different brands of aspirin and focus instead on fostering evidence-based practice (EBP)?

Really, it’s not a bridge too far. It merely means putting policies in place that help practitioners and agencies live up to the values inherent in the definition of EBP accepted by all professional organizations and regulatory bodies; namely, “the integration of the best available research with with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences” (pp. 273, APA, 2006).