A Model for Predoctoral Psychopharmacology Training: Shaping a New Frontier in Clinical Psychology.

Patients routinely ask psychologists questions about psychoactive medications. In addition, psychologists frequently encounter patients having problems with their medications. How will doctoral training programs respond to the dilemma of providing their students with a basic level of knowledge in psychopharmacology without adding to the length of the doctoral curriculum? Although postdoctoral training models have been developed for psychologists who seek extended specialized training in Psychopharmacology, the authors propose that some predoctoral training in psychopharmacology and related topics is critical to prepare graduates to meet mental health needs, particularly for underserved populations. The authors present a model through which psychopharmacology course work can be integrated into the predoctoral curriculum without compromising course work in basic psychology or extending the length of training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is psychologists' involvement in the prescribing of psychotropic medication really a new activity?

How involved in the process of prescribing psychotropic drugs is the average practicing professional psychologist today? The answer is "far more than most people realize." Five hundred ninety-six practicing psychologists responded to a survey reporting the types of professional activities in which they regularly engage. Virtually all responding psychologists reported they were involved in making recommendations for medication evaluations, consulting with physicians about which medications to use with specific patients, and discussing medication-related issues with patients. A generally agreed-on model of psychopharmacology training for professional psychologists should emerge over the next 5 to 10 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Style and its contribution to a patient-specific model of therapeutic technique.

The vocabulary of style is used in this article to address the following questions: How can the authors improve on our methods of teaching therapists to attune the ways in which they listen and speak to meet the communicative requirements of each patient? What does it mean to practice psychotherapy scientifically? Are the technical and relational aspects of therapy interdependent and overlapping? What forms of presence have facilitating effects on the process of therapy? How does a therapist's overall level of expressiveness anticipate and modify the manner in which any particular intervention is experienced by a patient? What does it mean to confront a patient's therapy-interfering behaviors tactfully? What is it about the therapeutic relationship that is healing? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a unified conceptual framework of psychotherapy.

The increase in theoretical redundancy and the fact that all theories of psychotherapy possess weaknesses as well as strengths suggest that the time may be ripe for the emergence of a unified theory of psychotherapy. Three questions are addressed that are prerequisite to the development of a unified conceptual framework in psychotherapy: (1) What is the current state of the field of psychotherapy integration? (2) How do we move toward a unified theory of psychotherapy? and (3) What must a unified psychotherapy theory include? Unification is merely the next step in the evolution of psychotherapy theory, which is expected to oscillate between stages of unification and differentiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How to use psychotherapy on, for, and by oneself.

Discusses how psychotherapists can use psychotherapy on, for, and by oneself. The author suggests that in order to feel better, and want to accomplish some of the wonderful things that psychotherapy can help bring about, one needs to have regular psychotherapy sessions, preferably experiential sessions, on, for, and by oneself. There are several questions that the author addresses: What personal life circumstances invited me to search for some way of undergoing self-care? What can a practitioner do to have deep-seated sessions by oneself? How can a psychotherapy be created for one's own self-sessions? What does one do in an experiential session on, for, and by oneself? If you trust what you do with clients, why not do it with yourself? If you trust what you do with yourself, why not do it with clients? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)