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Good News and Bad News about Psychotherapy
Have you seen this month’s issue of, “The National Psychologist?” If you do counseling or psychotherapy, you should read it. The headline screams, “Therapy: No Improvement for 40 Years.” And while I did not know the article would be published, I was not surprised by the title nor it’s contents. The author and associate editor, — read more
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What to Pay Attention to in Therapy?
A week or so ago, I received an email from my friend, colleague, and mentor Joe Yeager. He runs a small listserve that sends out interesting and often provocative information. The email contained pictures from a new and, dare I say, ingenious advertising campaign for Colgate brand dental floss. Before I give you any of — read more
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The Importance of "Whoops" in Improving Treatment Outcome
“Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything, That’s how the light gets in.” Leonard Cohen, Anthem Making mistakes. We all do it, in both our personal and professional lives. “To err is human…,” the old saying goes. And most of us say, if asked, that we agree — read more
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Deliberate Practice: What’s all the fuss about?
Whatever they might be engaged in—dancing, singling, teaching, or doing therapy, top performers make “it” look so easy. Witnessing such a performance inspires awe and wonder, leading many unitiated to whisper about some being lucky, “born with talent.” How else can one explain the superior abilities of those we admire? “Sure, most will readily acknowledge,… — read more
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Practice-Based Evidence Goes Mainstream
For years, my colleagues and I have been using the phrase "practice-based evidence" to refer to clinicians’ use of real-time feedback to develop, guide, and evaluate behavioral health services. Against a tidal wave of support from professional and regulatory bodies, we argued that the "evidence-based practice"–the notion that certain treatments work best for certain diagnosis–was… — read more