The positive youth development approach (PYD) is widely used as a meaningful framework to guide research, policy, and intervention, to support young people to develop their full potential. Psychotherapy, on the other hand, is a verbal and psychological procedure that can be a suitable solution to mental health concerns, which are prevalent among youth. This study aimed to explore the potential role of developmental assets in treating clients with depression and anxiety disorders using Internal Cohesion Psychotherapy (ICP). In total, 10 young people who took at least five sessions of ICP were part of this study. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather information about clients’ experiences with ICP and their perception/opinions on the presence of developmental assets in their lives. The results confirm the effectiveness of ICP in treating depression and anxiety, while clients acknowledge the role of developmental assets in their psychotherapeutic process. The current study has important theoretical, practical, and research implications. It provides evidence on how clients use their developmental assets in maximizing the effectiveness of the ICP process. The usage of developmental assets to enhance the effectiveness of psychotherapy opens a new path for further research and can serve as a foundation ground for intervention on mental health among youth.

Background: The fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduced the dissociative subtype of posttraumatic stress disorder (D-PTSD). To assess this subtype, Wolf et al. (2017) developed the Dissociative Subtype of PTSD Scale (DSPS), a 15-item self-report measure to identify lifetime and current dissociative symptoms of D-PTSD. However, so far, the scale has only been validated in war veterans. Moreover, criterion validity and diagnostic utility have not been examined yet. Objective: We aimed to validate the DSPS in two samples of civilian trauma-exposed German-speaking participants.Methods: In Study 1, a pre-registered online study, participants with and without PTSD symptoms (N=558) answered questionnaires about traumatic experiences, dissociation, PTSD, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder, alcohol use disorder, absorption, and dissociative responding to trauma-related questionnaires. In Study 2, which used secondary data of a pre-registered clinical study, participants with a PTSD diagnosis (N=71) answered questionnaires about traumatic experiences, dissociation, PTSD, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder, and dissociative responding to standardized trauma exposure. Moreover, PTSD, D-PTSD, and other diagnoses were assessed with structured clinical interviews. Results: Analyses confirmed a three-factor structure as well as high internal consistency, and high convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity of the DSPS. Moreover, the scale was able to identify a latent D-PTSD group and individuals with D-PTSD diagnosis. Conclusions: The DSPS constitutes a reliable and valid tool to assess D-PTSD symptoms in clinical practice and research and thereby may contribute to a better understanding of these debilitating symptoms.

Psychotherapy is widely used to treat different mental health disorders and emotional difficulties. The main objective of psychotherapy is to help clients become aware of and have control over their thoughts, moods, feelings and behaviours, as well as create healthy strategies to respond to challenging situations. Since the existing psychotherapy approaches and other methods of treatment are not always effective in treating mental health disorders, there is still space for new approaches to fill this gap. In this paper, we provide information about internal cohesion psychotherapy, which is a new integrative approach. This paper presents a new approach to eclectic psychotherapy, focussing on four detrimental aspects of human functioning through different time perspectives.