Assessment & Treatment
Focused on the critical aspects of assessment and treatment in psychotherapy, this section offers resources, guidelines, and discussions on effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to improve client outcomes.
277 articles found
At Home with COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified anxiety and stressors across the community and resulted in a growing need for psychological interventions via telehealth. Perinatal families, a population vulnerable to stressors and mental health difficulties even when the world is not facing a pandemic, are particularly vulnerable during the current public health crisis. Perinatal Anxiety During an […]
Stephanie Pinch, M.Ed. + 2 more
June 7, 2020
A Survey on Chinese Counseling Hotline Services
COVID-19 first outbroke in Wuhan at the very beginning of 2020, and quickly spread across the country, and over the world. WHO made the claim that the outbreak of COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic worldwide on March 11th. With a series of actions implemented as public health emergency interventions by the Chinese government, […]
Yin Cheng, M.A. + 1 more
May 24, 2020
Amorphous Pain
You are in physical pain. You go to your doctor, and after identifying where you feel pain and how long it has been going on, a medical profession proceeds to ask you a number of questions. You may be given a pain scale chart, a numeric scale (NRS – Numeric Rating Scale) sometimes replaced or […]
Colleen Donnelly, Ph.D.
April 12, 2020
Bringing Attention to Childhood Emotional Abuse in Psychotherapy with Adults
The Silence and Severity of Childhood Emotional Abuse Although treatment considerations for adults with histories of childhood physical and sexual abuse has grown over the years, psychotherapeutic treatment focusing on adults with childhood emotional abuse histories is in its nascency—at best. Emotional abuse and its impacts also tend to remain unseen, unacknowledged, and underreported by […]
Viann N. Nguyen-Feng, PhD, MPH + 3 more
March 15, 2020
Working with Clients With Disabilities
Introduction When we, as a profession, consider ways to advance psychotherapy, we must begin by striving for nothing less than fair, accessible, and clinically competent services for all populations—especially those who have historically been underserved and underrepresented. One such population that is frequently overlooked and underappreciated on a global realm are persons with disabilities (PWD), […]
Daniel Balva + 1 more
March 8, 2020
The Changing Needs of Gamers
Introduction Video games are no longer a fringe pursuit, if they ever truly were. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) estimates that video games grossed over $36 billion in the US in 2017 (ESA, 2018). This represents over 600% growth from estimates in 2000 (Interactive Digital Software Association [IDSA], 2002). The ESA (2018) noted that there […]
Raffael Boccamazzo, Psy.D. + 1 more
February 16, 2020
Building Evidence for Transdiagnostic Treatment Personalization
As psychotherapists, we face the difficult task of understanding a person’s presenting psychological problems, conceptualizing how their thoughts, behaviors, and emotions interact to produce psychological distress, and choosing intervention techniques accordingly. Typically, clinicians use DSM criteria to assign patients one or more diagnostic labels, which theoretically should inform the treatment approach. For example, most cognitive […]
Andrew J. Curreri, M.A. + 1 more
January 19, 2020
Traumatic Pet Loss
Animals, varying in breeds, have been shown to be effective in helping a multitude of differing mental health problems, including trauma (Hunt & Chizkov, 2014), autism (Berry, Borgi, Francia, Alleva, & Cirulli, 2013), anxiety (Cortes, 2018), depression (Souter & Miller, 2007), chronic pain (Bradley & Bennett, 2015), and aphasia (Macauley, 2006). While many people may […]
Kourtney Schroeder, Psy.D. + 1 more
December 8, 2019
Five Things Therapists Can Do When Working with LGBTQ+ Individuals
What is meant by affectional and gender minorities? Affectional and gender minority clients is a broad umbrella category for individuals who self-identify as LGBTQ+. We can think of this in two broad subcategories: gender identity and sexual orientation. Gender identity Gender identity refers to how someone feels or identifies their gender. It is sometimes congruent […]
Amy E. Ellis, Ph.D. + 1 more
November 16, 2019
Balancing Alliances With Couples and Families
Many therapists in training, and even experienced therapists, anticipate working with couples and families with trepidation. As family therapists and researchers, we understand that trepidation, and indeed, sometimes find ourselves experiencing these same feelings! However, we know that understanding systemic interactions really helps in learning to work with couples and families; thus, we offer some […]
Laurie Heatherington, Ph.D. + 2 more
November 12, 2019
Making the Leap From Group to Private Practice
It is so quiet in here this morning that I can hear the soft ticking of the clock in my bookcase. Some days it still feels odd not hearing colleagues in the hall, the click of keyboards in the billing office, or cheery receptionists answering calls out front. A steaming mug of coffee is at […]
Bethany Detwiler, Ph.D.
November 12, 2019
Working with the Cultural Outsider in Psychotherapy
Many people who seek psychotherapy were either brought to the United States when they were young or born here with parents who are often trying to adapt to a new culture and language. Children of immigrants have to navigate being surrounded by peers who look and speak differently, and in many cases, their caretakers rely […]
Dennis Portnoy, MFT
November 10, 2019