Some closure on exposure—Realigning the perspective on trauma treatment and finding a pathway forward: Reply to Brown (2024) and Najavits (2024).
American Psychologist, Vol 79(3), Apr 2024, 350-351; doi:10.1037/amp0001314We respond to commentaries by Brown (2024) and Najavits (2024) on our original work titled “To Expose or Not to Expose: A Comprehensive Perspective on Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” (Rubenstein et al., 2024). Their work serves to augment the original argument that exposure is an important change factor in the amelioration of traumatic stress but should be viewed more broadly than traditional treatment paradigms suggest. We are grateful for this opportunity and aim to promote additional dialogue in the field about ways to improve up...
Source: American Psychologist - April 18, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Beyond exposure: A healthy broadening of posttraumatic stress disorder treatment options: Commentary on Rubenstein et al. (2024).
American Psychologist, Vol 79(3), Apr 2024, 347-349; doi:10.1037/amp0001233This commentary on Rubenstein et al. (2024) applauds their sensitive historical exploration of exposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and balanced review of the strengths and weaknesses of that approach. I offer five points to expand on their contribution. (a) Stringent exposure therapy workforce requirements limit scalability, thus restricting access for the large number of patients in need of PTSD treatment. (b) There are additional non-trauma-focused approaches that show efficacy for PTSD. (c) Results of exposure therapy trials...
Source: American Psychologist - April 18, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Refreshing, necessary exposure to the problem with exposure therapies for trauma: Commentary on Rubenstein et al. (2024).
This article brings the so-called “gold standard” back to its rightful position as one possible, occasionally helpful way of assisting some, but not all, traumatized people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: American Psychologist)
Source: American Psychologist - April 18, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
To expose or not to expose: A comprehensive perspective on treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder.
American Psychologist, Vol 79(3), Apr 2024, 331-343; doi:10.1037/amp0001121Trauma-focused psychotherapies, in particular prolonged exposure (PE) therapy, have been recognized as the “gold standard” for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But effectiveness and implementation data show that a large proportion of patients who undergo exposure therapy retain their PTSD diagnosis, and implementation studies have shown low engagement and high dropout rates. Meanwhile, non-trauma-focused therapies have shown promise in treating PTSD. In this review, we aim to answer the question of whether exposure is neces...
Source: American Psychologist - April 18, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Correction to “Atypical child–parent neural synchrony is linked to negative family emotional climate and children’s psychopathological symptoms” by Su et al. (2024).
American Psychologist, Vol 79(2), Feb-Mar 2024, 240; doi:10.1037/amp0001345Reports an error in "Atypical child–parent neural synchrony is linked to negative family emotional climate and children’s psychopathological symptoms" by Haowen Su, Christina B. Young, Zhuo Rachel Han, Jianjie Xu, Bingsen Xiong, Zisen Zhou, Jingyi Wang, Lei Hao, Zhi Yang, Gang Chen and Shaozheng Qin (American Psychologist, Advanced Online Publication, Jul 13, 2023, np). In the article “Atypical Child–Parent Neural Synchrony Is Linked to Negative Family Emotional Climate and Children’s Psychopathological Symptoms,” by Haowen Su, Christina...
Source: American Psychologist - March 14, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Developing process sensitivity: Reply to Wilcox (2024) and Boswell (2024).
American Psychologist, Vol 79(2), Feb-Mar 2024, 182-184; doi:10.1037/amp0001257Wilcox (2024) and Boswell (2024) make a number of important observations about facilitating process sensitivity training, and here, we respond to those suggestions. We postulate that cultivating process sensitivity is complementary, not antithetical, to traditional training in viewing therapy from a theoretical lens, and thus, can serve to enhance, rather than replace one’s existing psychotherapy skills. Moreover, we argue that seeing the impact of process adjustments in real time can be a significant motivator for training in process sensitiv...
Source: American Psychologist - March 14, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
A refreshing and necessary start: Commentary on Westra and Di Bartolomeo (2024).
American Psychologist, Vol 79(2), Feb-Mar 2024, 179-181; doi:10.1037/amp0001235Westra and Di Bartolomeo (2024) make a compelling case for integrating “process acuity” skills into routine clinical training. The authors have done the field a service by articulating the need for novel and process-science-informed psychotherapy training and practice. This brief commentary echoes the authors’ observations about the status quo of clinical training and expands upon what else will need to be considered to fully realize the goals of their proposal. Specifically, research on negative process signals has outpaced research on th...
Source: American Psychologist - March 14, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Process-focused psychotherapy training is evidence-based psychotherapy training: Commentary on Westra and Di Bartolomeo (2024).
American Psychologist, Vol 79(2), Feb-Mar 2024, 175-178; doi:10.1037/amp0001236Westra and Di Bartolomeo (2024) made a strong case for psychotherapy training to focus more on psychotherapy process rather than content (e.g., manuals). Their recommendations are consistent with the preponderance of the evidence that finds that psychotherapy process variables (and psychotherapist variables related to the process, such as empathy) account for most of the variance in psychotherapy outcomes. Despite the overwhelming evidence, the Great Psychotherapy Debate (Wampold & Imel, 2015) rages on. In this commentary, I emphasize and strive...
Source: American Psychologist - March 14, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Developing expertise in psychotherapy: The case for process coding as clinical training.
American Psychologist, Vol 79(2), Feb-Mar 2024, 163-174; doi:10.1037/amp0001139Routine outcome monitoring (ROM) is a major development in the field since it offers likely outcome trajectories and is particularly helpful for failing cases. However, ROM has not led to improved skill development more generally, and it is debatable as to whether expertise is even possible to acquire in psychotherapy. What is missing but crucial to expertise is feedback on the outcome of one’s actions in real time, which would enable responsive adjustments and improve outcomes. It is argued in this article that by identifying empirically vali...
Source: American Psychologist - March 14, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Robert Alan LeVine (1932–2023).
American Psychologist, Vol 79(3), Apr 2024, 466; doi:10.1037/amp0001327Article memorializes Robert Alan LeVine (1932–2023). Robert Alan LeVine was a leading psychological anthropologist, who was instrumental in the rise of cultural psychology. LeVine taught at Northwestern University (1958–1960), the University of Chicago (1960–1976), and Harvard University (1976–1998), where he was Emeritus Professor of Education and Human Development. He wrote 15 books and published over 125 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: American Psychologist)
Source: American Psychologist - February 22, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
William R. Safarjan (1943–2023).
This article memorializes William R. Safarjan (1943–2023). Dr. Safarjan spent much of his career working as a clinical psychologist for the California Department of State Hospitals at Atascadero State Hospital, 1984–2009. During his professional career, Dr. Safarjan served in many roles with the California Psychological Association, including president in 1998, liaison to the California Psychological Association, and membership chair and chair of the research political action committee. He served as vice chair of the American Psychological Association (APA) membership committee, chair of the APA committee of state lead...
Source: American Psychologist - February 1, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Persons or data points? Ethics, artificial intelligence, and the participatory turn in mental health research.
This article identifies and examines a tension in mental health researchers’ growing enthusiasm for the use of computational tools powered by advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML). Although there is increasing recognition of the value of participatory methods in science generally and in mental health research specifically, many AI/ML approaches, fueled by an ever-growing number of sensors collecting multimodal data, risk further distancing participants from research processes and rendering them as mere vectors or collections of data points. The imperatives of the “participatory turn” in men...
Source: American Psychologist - January 18, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Expanding the role of justice in secondary research using digital psychological data.
American Psychologist, Vol 79(1), Jan 2024, 123-136; doi:10.1037/amp0001190Secondary analysis of digital psychological data (DPD) is an increasingly popular method for behavioral health research. Under current practices, secondary research does not require human subjects research review so long as data are de-identified. We argue that this standard approach to the ethics of secondary research (i.e., de-identification) does not address a range of ethical risks and that greater emphasis should be placed on the ethical principle of justice. We outline the inadequacy of an individually focused research ethic for DPD and descri...
Source: American Psychologist - January 18, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Visual digital data, ethical challenges, and psychological science.
American Psychologist, Vol 79(1), Jan 2024, 109-122; doi:10.1037/amp0001192Digital visual data afford psychologists with exciting research possibilities. It becomes possible to see real-life interactions in real time and to be able to analyze this behavior in a fine-grained and systematic manner. However, the fact that faces (and other personally identifying physical characteristics) are captured as part of these data sets means that this kind of data is at the highest level of sensitivity by default. When this is combined with the possibility of automatic collection and processing, then the sensitivity risks are compounde...
Source: American Psychologist - January 18, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
On conducting ethically sound psychological science in the metaverse.
American Psychologist, Vol 79(1), Jan 2024, 92-108; doi:10.1037/amp0001211As the next generation of the internet, the metaverse is an immersive three-dimensional (3D) world that incorporates both physical and virtual environments. The metaverse affords numerous advantages for advancing our theoretical and practical understanding of human cognition, emotion, and behavior, as well as shaping our methodological approach to conducting psychological science. However, undertaking research in a world that merges the physical and virtual, also presents new and unique ethical challenges that are not addressed by current ethical gui...
Source: American Psychologist - January 18, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
