Protesting the Decline While Predicting the Demise of Clinical Psychology: Can We Avoid a Total Collapse?

Empirically supported treatments: Precept or percept?

“…Finally, greater emphasis should be placed on helping trainees learn to develop strong therapeutic relationships with clients, as a critical component of successful treatment implementation (Goldfried & Davila, 2005; Norcross, 2002; Muran & Barber, 2010). Critically, however, these goals presuppose a continued involvement of those training and supervising future clinicians in frontline provision of mental health services, a condition not often met in many graduate training programs (see Overholser, 2014, for a discussion of this issue).…”

“…Rather than continuing to prioritize EST validation over other pursuits, the escalating shift toward EBP (APA Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice, 2006), distinct from ESTs per se (see La Roche & Christopher, 2009, and Lilienfeld et al, 2013, for a discussion of the EBP–EST distinction), should be extended, leading to a more flexible science and contextually based approach to treatment application in clinical settings (Beutler, 2009; La Roche & Christopher, 2009; Lilienfeld et al, 2013). Importantly, however, a shift in the conduct of treatment research is needed, with more traditional reductionistic study designs (i.e., RCTs) supplemented by alternative methods addressing more nuanced questions of psychopathological phenomenology and intervention (Beutler, 2009; Follette & Beitz, 2003; Hayes et al, 2013; Overholser, 2014). For example, systematic case studies, single case experimental studies, and qualitative research should be accorded greater importance in informing research in this area (Hayes et al, 2013; Helms, 2015; Overholser, 2014; Slife, Wiggins, & Graham, 2005).…”

“…Importantly, however, a shift in the conduct of treatment research is needed, with more traditional reductionistic study designs (i.e., RCTs) supplemented by alternative methods addressing more nuanced questions of psychopathological phenomenology and intervention (Beutler, 2009; Follette & Beitz, 2003; Hayes et al, 2013; Overholser, 2014). For example, systematic case studies, single case experimental studies, and qualitative research should be accorded greater importance in informing research in this area (Hayes et al, 2013; Helms, 2015; Overholser, 2014; Slife, Wiggins, & Graham, 2005). Traditional RCT designs should also be revised to increase applicability to clinical settings; a recent randomized trial by Pelham and colleagues (2016; see also Page et al, 2016) implementing an adaptive treatment assignment algorithm based on child response to evaluate treatments to child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder demonstrates a more clinically relevant approach.…”

50 Years of Psychotherapy: Erudition, Evolution, and Evaluation

“…Thus, it makes sense to remain cautious about the utility or external validity of research that is conducted with college students (Henrich et al 2010), internet surveys (Gosling and Mason 2015) and mTurk reports (Paolacci and Chandler 2014). In contrast, when the research has been conducted with medical patients or psychotherapy clients, the findings are more likely to shed light on important matters related to psychological treatments (Overholser 2014b).…”

Doctoral students’ knowledge of educators’ problems of professional competency.

“…While attrition rates are low in both counseling and psychology doctoral programs (American Psychological Association [APA], 2014; T. M. Kimbel, personal communication, April 20, 2016), it remains incumbent upon current faculty to provide the support and encouragement needed for students to succeed. Educators are important models of professionalism who face special challenges because they must be grounded in the academic knowledge of their discipline as well as integrate the practice aspects of the profession as they train students (Overholser, 2014). Research supports the importance of the faculty–doctoral student relationship in student persistence (Hoskins & Goldberg, 2005; Protivnak & Foss, 2009) and the quality of the dissertation experience (Burkard et al, 2014), highlighting the value of appropriate faculty behavior.…”