Psychotherapy News and Research

RSS

Psychotherapy is “talk” therapy. It involves talking with a mental health professional to treat a mental illness. Psychotherapy can occur one-on-one or in a group. Research shows that support from family and friends can be an important part of therapy.

Touro University Worldwide introduces new online program in Marriage and Family Therapy

Dr. Bernard Luskin, CEO and Senior Provost of Touro University Worldwide recently announced its new online program in Marriage and Family Therapy with concentrations in pastoral counseling, coaching, mediation and dispute resolution.

21 Dec 2010

Completely fearless woman stirs scientific interest

It has been known since the 1930s that when a certain part of monkeys’ brains were removed, the animals became fearless. Now similar effects are being seen in humans according to a study in the journal Current Biology. Justin Feinstein, the study’s lead author and a clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Iowa said, “There’s not very many humans with this sort of brain damage… Luckily for us, we had access to a patient, SM, and we studied her different fear behaviours and we read her personal diaries.”

19 Dec 2010

MDMA produces friendliness, playfulness, and loving feelings in laboratory setting

MDMA or 'ecstasy' increases feelings of empathy and social connection. These 'empathogenic' effects suggest that MDMA might be useful to enhance the psychotherapy of people who struggle to feel connected to others, as may occur in association with autism, schizophrenia, or antisocial personality disorder.

15 Dec 2010

Mental Health Research Network receives grant to create data resource for mental health researchers

Ask anyone: There must be better ways to treat mental health problems. Treatment hinges on research. But traditional research is slow-and so expensive that it can't even ask many pressing questions in mental health. And findings from academic settings may not apply to patients or clinicians in the real world of health care.

7 Dec 2010

Clinicians should specify subtypes of depression and combine antidepressants and psychotherapy

It is unlikely that different types of depression can be combined to one single disease called Major Depression. When testing the efficacy of antidepressants or psychotherapy, clinicians should make an attempt to specify the subtypes of depression and to combine antidepressants and psychotherapy in a sequential approach.

7 Dec 2010

Alexithymia associated with insecure attachment styles, emotional trauma: Research

Alexithymia is inversely related to mentalization and is associated with insecure attachment styles and emotional trauma, which influence the capacity to regulate affects induced by stressful events. Alexithymia and intrapsychic conflicts may both contribute to the pathogenesis of panic attacks.

6 Dec 2010

GoodTherapy.org adds post-graduate therapist training directory, psychology graduate school directory

GoodTherapy.org, an internationally recognized organization which promotes healthy psychotherapy practices and helps people connect with mental health professionals, is pleased to announce the addition of two new features to its comprehensive website.

4 Dec 2010

Grove School announces expansion of art therapy program

The Grove School, a co-educational, therapeutic boarding and day school for adolescents in grades 7-12, is pleased to announce the expansion of its art therapy program and to welcome Elizabeth Ferguson, an art therapist, to its clinical department.

29 Nov 2010

Study indicates high self-rated lifetime prevalence of depression among psychiatrists

This study addresses depression and burn-out among a sample of psychiatrists collected at a professional congress. Within several constraints, the results indicate an high self-rated lifetime prevalence of depression of 41.6% among the sample. Also noteworthy is that a fifth (20.3%) of the sample showed evidence of acute depressive symptoms.

26 Nov 2010

Use of aspirin and statins can reduce depression: Study

A study that appears in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics addresses the association between use of aspirin and statins and the risk of major depression.

25 Nov 2010

FDA warning leads to decrease in antidepressant prescribing for young patients

An FDA warning regarding increased suicide risk in children and teens taking antidepressant drugs has led to an overall decrease in antidepressant prescribing for young patients, reports a study in the November issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

24 Nov 2010

Study finds gender differences linked to gaming and health risks associated with problematic gaming

A new study on gaming and health in adolescents, conducted by researchers at Yale School of Medicine, found some significant gender differences linked to gaming as well as important health risks associated with problematic gaming. Published today in the journal Pediatrics, the study is among the first and largest to examine possible health links to gaming and problematic gaming in a community sample of adolescents.

17 Nov 2010

New animal research identifies factors that may play key roles in depression

New animal research has identified factors, such as the stress response and immune system, that may play important roles in depression. Scientists have also found that the regulation of nerve cell signals influences depression in animals, and that new drug combinations may more effectively treat it. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health.

17 Nov 2010

Health researchers to address mental health concerns at world conference

More than 500 mental health researchers, practitioners, and advocates representing over 40 countries will gather for the Sixth World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders, November 17–19, 2010, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. With the theme Addressing Imbalances: Promoting Equity in Mental Health, the conference will focus on inequalities in care, research, and practice in ways that protect the most vulnerable.

16 Nov 2010

fMRI predicts response to 'talk therapy' in patients with pediatric anxiety disorder

A brain scan with functional MRI (fMRI) is enough to predict which patients with pediatric anxiety disorder will respond to "talk therapy," and so may not need to use psychiatric medication, say neuroscientists from Georgetown University Medical Center.

15 Nov 2010

Receptive music therapy associated with reduced depressive symptoms

A Swedish study that appears in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics applies music therapy to the treatment of depression.

10 Nov 2010

Chronic fatigue syndrome associated with maladaptive personality features and personality disorders

This study suggests that chronic fatigue syndrome is associated with an increased prevalence of maladaptive personality features and personality disorders. This might be associated with being noncompliant with treatment suggestions, displaying unhealthy behavioral strategies and lacking a stable social environment.

8 Nov 2010

Study: Characteristics of children with OCD could help predict personalized medicine approach

New research from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center may help clinicians better predict how a child with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) will respond to some of the most commonly used treatment approaches. The findings, published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, could help guide important clinical decisions about the best intervention for children with this often debilitating anxiety disorder.

15 Oct 2010

Study finds TMS is an effective treatment solution for major depression

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), the treatment delivers a series of electrical pulses to the part of the brain associated with depression and other mood disorders. The pulses generate an electric current in the brain that stimulates neurons to increase the release of more mood-enhancing chemicals like serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.