As a distinguished scholar over the past 45 years, Michel Hersen has left an indelible mark on the field of behavior therapy and clinical psychology. One of his most enduring legacies is his early research work in the area of social skills assessment and training, with special attention to assertiveness training. His basic analogue and clinical…

In spite of the existence of good empirically supported treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), consumers and providers continue to ask for more options for managing this common and often chronic condition. Meditation-based approaches are being widely implemented, but there is minimal research rigorously assessing their effectiveness.…

By the late 1970s it was clear that cognitive and behavioral therapies were promising alternatives to antidepressant medications for treatment of depressed outpatients. One such model of therapy, Social Skills Training, was developed by Michel Hersen and his colleagues specifically for treatment of depressed women. Professor Hersen and his…

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic, debilitating disorder with recurrent manic and depressive episodes. More than 75% of bipolar patients have a current or lifetime diagnosis of a comorbid anxiety disorder. Comorbid anxiety in BD is associated with greater illness severity, greater functional impairment, and poorer illness-related outcomes.…

Alcohol use disorders are a major public health concern. Despite the demonstrated efficacy of a number of different treatments for alcohol dependence, relapse remains a major problem. Healthy lifestyle changes may contribute to long-term maintenance of recovery, and interventions targeting physical activity, in particular, may be especially…

Behavioral Activation, an efficacious treatment for depression, presents a behavioral theory of depression--emphasizing the need for clients to contact positive reinforcement--and a set of therapeutic techniques--emphasizing provision of instructions rather than therapeutic provision of reinforcement. An integration of Behavioral Activation with…

Extinction is accepted as a viable intervention for behaviors that are hypothesized to be maintained by contingent attentional reinforcement. However, it is frequently acknowledged that extinction has potential numerous side effects, including the generation of aggressive behavior. This explanation does not provide a behavioral conceptualization…

Early and intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) has been established as an effective treatment for autism. However, the complexity and intensity of EIBI programs make it difficult to fully report all critical aspects of the independent variable. Consequently, scientific reports of EIBI outcomes have been criticized for providing less than…

Data suggesting that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is efficacious for late-life anxiety are accumulating; however, effectiveness has not been well established. Incorporating CBT for anxiety into home care is needed to facilitate access to evidenced-based treatment for a growing population of community-dwelling, functionally impaired elderly…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are considered to be among the most serious of the mental health conditions. Concomitant with many cases of ASD is intellectual disability. Further compounding the disability is the fact that both conditions are known risk factors for self-injurious behavior (SIB). To date, the most effective intervention methods,…

The effectiveness of behavioral interventions for pediatric feedings problems has been well documented. However, the application of these procedures in the real world is often more complex and difficult than research reports reveal. Multiple factors such as the child's medical condition and history, medical monitoring requirements, and the need to…

Practitioners have come under increasing pressure to provide objective data on assessment and treatment outcome of clients. This article provides a brief summary of assessment of eating disorders for the practicing clinician, with an emphasis on well-validated assessment instruments. The critical domains that should be covered in a thorough…

The purpose of this article is to provide an empirically informed but clinically oriented overview of behavioral treatment of recurrent abdominal pain. The epidemiology and scope of recurrent abdominal pain are presented. Referral process and procedures are discussed, and standardized approaches to assessment are summarized. Treatment protocols…

This article describes the structure and costs of a multidisciplinary hospital-based program for severe eating disorders. The program utilizes multiple levels of care (inpatient, partial day hospital, intensive outpatient, and traditional out patient) to provide continuity of care during the recovery process, which often spans 2 to 3 months of…

Epidemiological research indicates that there is substantial comorbidity between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder (SUD). Moreover, there is growing evidence that having a comorbid PTSD diagnosis is associated with greater substance use problem severity and poorer outcomes from SUD treatment. In an attempt to improve…