Psychotherapy Process
Explore the dynamics and stages of the psychotherapy process, from the initial client assessment to the therapeutic interventions that promote healing. This section provides insights into the complexities of therapeutic relationships and strategies to enhance treatment effectiveness.
254 articles found
Conclusions and Recommendations of the Interdivisional (APA Divisions 12 & 29) Task Force on Evidence-Based Therapy Relationships
Conclusions of the Task Force on Evidence-Based Therapy Relationships The therapy relationship makes substantial and consistent contributions to psychotherapy outcome independent of the specific type of treatment. The therapy relationship accounts for why clients improve (or fail to improve) at least as much as the particular treatment method. Practice and treatment guidelines should explicitly address therapist […]
John C. Norcross, Ph.D.
June 8, 2014
Fostering New Relational Experience
Abstract One of the most critical goals for couple psychotherapy is to foster a new relational experience in the session where the couple feels safe enough to reveal more vulnerable emotions and to explore their defensive withdrawal, aggressive attacking, or blaming. The lived intimate experience in the session offers the couple an opportunity to gain […]
Cheri L. Marmarosh, Ph.D., ABPP, CGP
June 7, 2014
Do Therapists Cry in Therapy?
Abstract The subject of therapist’s crying in therapy (TCIT) has been virtually ignored in the literature, with only 1 qualitative dissertation and 3 case studies devoted to the topic. This mixed-method survey study explored therapists’ experiences with and attitude toward TCIT. Six hundred eighty-four U.S. psychol- ogists and trainees filled out the survey online, revealing […]
Amy C. Blume-Marcovici + 2 more
June 7, 2014
Clinician Interventions and Participant Characteristics That Foster Adaptive Patient Expectations for Psychotherapy and Psychotherapeutic Change
Abstract Patients’ expectations about the efficacy and nature of psychotherapy have long been considered important common treatment factors, and the empirical literature has largely supported this perspective. In this practice-oriented review, we examine the research on the association between patients’ psycho- therapy expectations and both adaptive treatment processes and outcomes. We also examine the research […]
Michael J. Constantino, Ph.D. + 2 more
June 7, 2014
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Abstract In the middle of the 20th century, Hans Eysenck reviewed studies of psychotherapy, which consisted primarily of psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, and eclectic treatments, and concluded that psychotherapy (as opposed to behavior therapy) was not effective and was possibly harmful. In the inaugural article in Psychotherapy, Hans Strupp challenged Eysenck’s conclusions and discussed how psychotherapy research should […]
Bruce E. Wampold, Ph.D., ABPP
June 7, 2014
Assessing the Circumstances that Warrant Evidence-based Psychological Practices
In a provocative discussion of evidence-based psychological practices (EBPPs), Mozdzierz, Peluso, and Lisiecki (2011) posit that the question for mental health practitioners is not can EBPPs be used, but under what circumstances and how should they be applied. Moreover, the authors suggest that in addition to the current empirical focus on EBPPs, other areas remain […]
David Phelps
May 7, 2012
Patient Preference and Research Efficacy in EBPP
Swift and Callahan (2010) have recently published an intriguing empirical study of patient preference regarding psychotherapy. Adult outpatients were asked to indicate how much certainty of improvement (a la RCT efficacy research) they would be willing to trade in favor of “common factors” variables such as a therapist who is empathic, experienced, listens well, or […]
Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy
December 23, 2010
The Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy Task Force on Psychologist Psychotherapists
Report Division 29 (The Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy) President, Jeffrey J. Magnavita, initiated a task force to complete the following tasks and answer the following questions in 2010, reporting back to the Division 29 Board of Directors at its October, 2010 meeting. Jeffrey Barnett, past president of the division agreed to lead the […]
Jeffrey E. Barnett, Psy.D., ABPP + 6 more
March 29, 2010
Therapist Shopping in a Client with PTSD
Question from Dr. Magnavita I have been treating a man with complex PTSD who started to see me after his transference feelings toward his previous psychotherapist became unmanageable. He sees me infrequently and has consulted with about 5 subsequent therapists who he reports trigger his trauma. He frequently emails me and occasionally sees me for […]
Jeffrey E. Barnett, Psy.D., ABPP
November 29, 2009
Working with Autobiographical Memory Narratives in Psychotherapy
Within psychotherapy, client storytelling is fundamental to the development of the therapeutic relationship and allows a shared context of meaning and understanding to emerge between client and psychotherapist, typically based on personal memories of past experiences (Angus, Lewin, Bouffard, & Rotondi-Trevisan, 2004). When clients provide narrative accounts of personal experiences in psychotherapy, they disclose information […]
Tali Z. Boritz, Ph.D. + 2 more
June 1, 2008
How We Say Goodbye
Termination is generally viewed by psychotherapists as a complex stage of psychotherapy (Gelso & Woodhouse, 2002). Research confirms that during this phase, the process and progress of psychotherapy are typically reviewed, goals are developed for the future, and the dyad says goodbye (Marx & Gelso, 1987). For some clients and psychotherapists, psychotherapy termination is also […]
Jennifer A. Hardy, Ph.D. + 1 more
April 30, 2008
Assimilating Common Factor Treatment Components into Cognitive Therapy for Depression
A voluminous and ever-expanding research literature points to the general effectiveness of psychotherapy (Lambert & Ogles, 2004). Through the use of controlled clinical trials, psychotherapy researchers have identified many empirically-supported treatments for specific clinical phenomena (Roth & Fonagy, 2005). The extant research also suggests that, with just a few exceptions, different therapy modalities yield comparable […]
Michael J. Constantino, Ph.D.
January 1, 2008