My family and I had a frightening experience this past Memorial Day.  While driving through Indiana on the way home to Chicago, our mobile phones began to alert.  You know the sound -- part cicada, part microphone feedback, but louder.   "Tornado warning in this area." Not a watch, mind you, a ...
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It was a curious finding.  One we stumbled on quite by accident.  Highly effective therapists were more likely to contact their clients between visits than their more average peers.  We wondered whether such behavior might account, at least in part, for their superior retention rates and outcomes? Turns out, our ...
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Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT) -- using measures to solicit feedback about progress and the quality of the therapeutic relationship -- is a transtheoretical, evidence-based approach.  The most recent research shows clients whose therapists use FIT on an ongoing basis are 2.5 times more like to experience benefit from treatment. But how ...
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Last week, I was preparing to leave the house and could not locate my keys.  Trust me when I say, it's embarrassing to admit this is not an infrequent occurrence. Logic and reason are always my first problem solving choices.  That's why I paused after looking in the kitchen drawer ...
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Over the last 10 days or so, I've been digesting a recently published article on the therapeutic alliance -- reading, highlighting, tracking down references, rereading, and then discussing the reported findings with colleagues and a peer group of fellow researchers.  It's what I do. The particular study has been on ...
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Recognize this?  Yours will likely look at bit different.  If you drive an expensive car, it may be motorized, with buttons automatically set to your preferences.  All, however, serve the same purpose. Got it? It's the lever for adjusting your car seat. I'm betting you're not impressed.   Believe it or ...
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Would you believe me if I told you there was a way you could more than double the chances of helping your clients?  Probably not, eh?  As I've documented previously, claims abound regaring new methods for improving the outcome of psychotherapy.  It's easy to grow cynical. And yet, findings from a ...
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Several weeks ago, the American Psychological Association (APA) released its latest in a series of practice guidelines for psychologists – this time for “Psychological Practice with Boys and Men.”  Prior years had seen guidelines focused on ethnicity, older adults, girls and women, LGBT, and “transgender and gender-non-conforming” persons. Curiously, despite ...
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I'm neither a great psychotherapist or surfer.  I love doing both, however. Turns out, the two share a fundamental similarity critical to successful execution; in a word, responsiveness. /rəˈspänsivnəs/ NOUN The quality of reacting quickly and positively. In surfing, you take advantage of the waves coming your way.  In psychotherapy, ...
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You've heard it said before.  Flying is the safest form of transportation. Facts back up the claim.  In fact, it's not even close.  In terms of distance traveled, the fatality rate per billion kilometers is .003, improving dramatically over the years.  Cars, by contrast, are almost 1,000 times more dangerous.  Still, since ...
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Nearly two decades have passed since I met Saul Rosenzweig at his home in St. Louis, Missouri.  He was well into his nineties and still working every day.  Truth is, I was surprised to learn he was still alive! In 1936, he'd penned an article --three and a half pages in ...
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In my travels each year, I meet 1,000's of clinicians--professionals who truly want to help others, and are willing to try almost anything to do so. That's why I always "lean in" whenever one expresses concern about the rising popularity of using formal measures of progress and the therapeutic relationship ...
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It's just two weeks ago.  I was on a call with movers and shakers from a western state.  They were looking to implement Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT)--that is, using measures of progress and the therapeutic relationship to monitor and improve the quality and outcome of mental health services. I was ...
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Most clinicians agree, the therapeutic relationship is an important ingredient in effective psychotherapy. However, ask them the last time they: (1) read a study on the subject; (2) attended a postgraduate training specifically aimed at improving their skills in this area; or simply to (3) identify and define the factors ...
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What works in the treatment of people with eating disorders?  Search around a bit on the internet, or consult official treatment guidelines, and you'll find cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal therapy (IPT) listed as the "best-supported" or "preferred" psychological approaches for bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating. Such recommendations strongly imply ...
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"Exposure!" a choir of professional voices sings, "its the only proven way." "No, no," others insist, "You can tap yourself to emotional freedom." "Poppycock!" another group jumps in, "Horizontal saccadic eye movements are the ticket!" "Beware the dominant discourse," a few, particularly literate warn, "focusing on what was done to the ...
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