Monthly archive | Good Medicine

Fascinatingly, therapists themselves vary considerably in their effectiveness

Originally added on 21st January 2015
Last updated on 23rd April 2015

I wrote a post yesterday on the good, but largely stagnant, outcomes currently being achieved in psychotherapy. In today's post I highlight the fascinating finding that psychotherapists themselves vary considerably in their effectiveness. If we can help those with poorer outcomes to begin matching those with better, great gains are possible and the log jam in trying to improve psychotherapy's effectiveness can be eased. In later posts I will argue that this improvement looks eminently achievable.

Psychotherapy (and psychotherapist) outcomes are good but largely stagnant

Originally added on 20th January 2015
Last updated on 23rd April 2015

I have been asked to write a chapter on the importance of obtaining regular feedback on client progress in a book on psychotherapist self-practice & self-reflection. This initial section (see below) of a draft of the chapter comments on the current state of psychotherapy itself:

(Note the ideas in this blog are explored in more detail in the chapter "Client feedback: an essential input to therapist reflection" in the forthcoming Haarhoff, B. and Thwaites, R. (2016) "Reflection in CBT: Increasing your effectiveness as a therapist, supervisor and trainer." London: SAGE Publications Ltd.)

Some current research evidence for therapeutic uses of reading & writing (2nd post)

Originally added on 13th January 2015
Last updated on 19th January 2015

Yesterday's post and today's are combined and downloadable as a Word doc or as a PDF file.

Some current research evidence for therapeutic uses of reading & writing (1st post)

Originally added on 12th January 2015
Last updated on 19th January 2015

I was asked by a friend to write a short piece on research evidence backing up therapeutic uses of reading & writing to be used in a local initiative supporting health workers in a diverse range of settings. Today's and tomorrow's post give the piece with hyperlinks to the various research studies that I mention. A combination of the two posts is downloadable as a Word doc or as a PDF file.

Treatment of prolonged grief disorder

Originally added on 26th December 2014
Last updated on 26th December 2014

A couple of recent research studies have underlined the value of specific forms of psychotherapy for complicated grief reactions:

Most people agree on the healthy key values they want to live by and this is real grounds for hope

Originally added on 14th December 2014
Last updated on 11th September 2018

"Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men." Confucius

Recent research: articles from autumn journals

Originally added on 10th December 2014
Last updated on 24th February 2015

I read a lot of research. When I find an article of particular interest I download it to my bibliographic database - Endnote - which currently contains over 21,400 abstracts. I also regularly tweet about emerging research, so following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ (click on the relevant icon at the top of this web page) will keep you up to speed with what I'm finding interesting. Additionally you can view this highlighted research by visiting Scoop.it (click on the "it!" icon at the top of this page). At Scoop.it, I stream publications into five overlapping topic areas: Cognitive & General Psychotherapy, Depression, Compassion & Mindfulness, Positive Psychology and Healthy Living.

Zinc and depression

Originally added on 9th December 2014
Last updated on 6th April 2020

Last year I was intrigued by a paper - "Zinc in depression: A meta-analysis" - from Toronto University's "Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group" where the authors brought together 17 relevant studies and concluded "Depression is associated with a lower concentration of zinc in peripheral blood.

Sessional client feedback: a launch pad for improving outcomes

Originally added on 1st November 2014
Last updated on 20th November 2014

Counselling & psychotherapy are often helpful. In fact they are more effective than, for example, many interventions in cardiology or ... . Worryingly though ... despite a wealth of emerging research ... there has been little improvement in the outcomes we achieve. The same, of course, could be said about pharmacological approaches to mental health problems. Training, qualifications & years of experience make surprisingly little difference to the results therapists achieve. Yet there is considerable variation in the success rates of different therapists ... although therapists themselves are poor judges of their own effectiveness. In this situation, methodical, skilful use of feedback on client progress holds arguably more promise than any other way of improving therapist success rates. More to follow.

Maximizing exposure therapy

Originally added on 10th October 2014
Last updated on 21st July 2018

Michelle Craske & colleagues from the Anxiety Disorders Research Center of UCLA have, for many years, been publishing careful, challenging research on underlying mechanisms & on ways of boosting the effectiveness of exposure therapies for different forms of anxiety. Craske's list of publications & research presentations runs to 31 pages and begins with a study on musical performance anxiety published in 1984. As the presentation titles on her list show, for some years the majority of her many lectures at prestigious conferences all over the world have revolved around the theme of how to take evolving scientific findings about fear learning and use them to optimize exposure treatments for anxiety disorders.