Research suggests that cognitive and behavioral therapies produce significant benefits over medications alone in the treatment of severe, nonpsychotic major depression or primary psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. However, previous research has not demonstrated the efficacy of psychotherapy for major depression with psychotic features. In…

Despite the well-established effectiveness of exposure-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in the treatment of anxiety disorders, therapists have been slow to adopt CBT into their clinical practice. The present study was conducted to examine the utilization of psychotherapy techniques for anxiety disorders among community practitioners in a…

This study compared two theoretically opposed strategies for acute pain management: an acceptance-based and a change-based approach. These two strategies were compared in a within-subjects design using the cold pressor test as an acute pain induction method. Participants completed a baseline pain tolerance assessment followed by one of the two…

Functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP) provides a behavioral analysis of the psychotherapy relationship that directly applies basic research findings to outpatient psychotherapy settings. Specifically, FAP suggests that a therapist's in vivo (i.e., in-session) contingent responding to targeted client behaviors, particularly positive reinforcement…

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…

Evidence is growing that two modalities of computer-based exposure therapies--virtual reality and computer-aided psychotherapy--are effective in treating anxiety disorders, including fear of flying. However, they have not yet been directly compared. The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy of three computer-based exposure treatments for…

In January 2001, Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education accredited general psychiatry training programs were charged with the requirement to train residents in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to a level of competence. Programs were given the responsibility to delineate standards for trainees, to determine measures of competence,…

Major depressive disorder is commonly treated in primary care settings. Psychotherapy occurring in primary care should take advantage of the unique aspects of the setting and must adapt to the problems and limitations of the setting. In this open trial, the authors used a treatment development model to adapt behavior therapy for primary care…

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…

Determining the means by which effective psychotherapy works is critical. A generally recommended strategy for identifying the potential causal variables is to conduct group-level statistical tests of treatment mediators. Herein the case is made for also assessing mediators of treatment outcome at the level of the individual participant.…

Bridging the gap between lab and clinic has become a rallying cry for a generation of treatment researchers, and identifying and overcoming barriers to successful dissemination of best-practice treatment has become a major public mental health priority. In this review, the authors argue that a key limit to accomplishing this goal may be found back…

The psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) as a self-administered screening tool for depressive symptoms were examined in a sample of community-dwelling older and younger adults. Participants completed the BDI-II, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the Coolidge Axis II Inventory, the Perceived…

The current article describes the application of a behavioral psychotherapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), to the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is argued that PTSD can be conceptualized as a disorder that is developed and maintained in traumatized individuals as a result of excessive, ineffective attempts to…

A subgroup of individuals suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) frequently present to treatment with an atypical yet distinguishable array of symptoms akin to both Tourettes disorder (TD) and OCD. These individuals often receive standard treatments for OCD (or less likely, TD) that fail to address the blended features of their…

Thirty-one community-residing older adults age 60 or over either received 16 sessions of individual cognitive psychotherapy (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979) or read Feeling Good (Burns, 1980) for bibliotherapy. Posttreatment comparisons with the delayed-treatment control indicated that both treatments were superior to a delayed-treatment control.…