Self-help reading is often assigned as an extra-therapy activity and, like any homework assignment, thoughtful planning on the part of the therapist can mean the difference between a homework assignment that is completed or not. The following guidelines can improve the likelihood that clients will understand and complete self-help readings.
Never assign a self-help reading that […]
The signs of someone with a significant hoarding problem are obvious. Floorboards rot and sag under the weight of tons of paper and garbage. Food containers litter the home and the smells of rotting food and mildew permeate the air. Every nook and cranny is filled with stuff and what paths there are in the […]
Leslie S. Greenberg, Ph.D., Norka T. Malberg, PsyD, and Michael A. Tompkins, Ph.D. (2017).
Comparing Models of Emotion in Therapy. Emotions In Psychotherapy Video Series.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
In cognitive-behavioral therapy, […]
I met Margaret when she was 5-years old. She wore faded overalls inherited from her older brother that her mother had embroidered with flowers, stars, and hearts. Her mother had to pull Margaret into my office. Once there, Margaret burrowed her head into her mother’s side and would not look at me. When I asked […]
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic condition and therefore even following an effective treatment, your client always and will forever face the possibility of relapse. Assisting the client to manage the risk of relapse is an essential part of treatment for the condition. As you taper sessions with the client, use the times between sessions […]
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic condition and therefore even following an effective treatment, your client always and will forever face the possibility of relapse. Assisting the client to manage the risk of relapse is an essential part of treatment for the condition. As you taper sessions with the client, use the times between sessions […]
A clinician recently told me that cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) wasn’t appropriate for children because it was “too cerebral.” I asked her what she meant by this and she said that CBT just wasn’t any fun. It didn’t look fun to her so it couldn’t be fun to a kid. And, if it wasn’t fun then […]
Tourette disorder is a chronic neurological condition characterized by brief, rapid movements (motor tics) such as blinking, sniffing, or tongue thrusting) or sounds (vocal tics) such as throat clearing, grunting, humming. However, both motor and vocal tics can be quite complex, such as a girl who repeatedly and violently thrusts her index finger up a […]
Exposure appears to be the key change-producing procedure in the cognitive-behavioral treatment of anxiety and phobic disorders in children. Successful exposures depend on the clinician’s ability to engage the child in anxiety-provoking tasks. Successful exposures are both developmentally appropriate and fun for the child. Developing exposures for anxious children can be fun for the clinician […]
Imaginal exposure involves the client imagining the feared object or situation to evoke fear and anxiety. Research has demonstrated that direct in vivo exposure to feared objects or situations is more effective than imaginal exposure to the same circumstance. However, the combination of both exposure strategies has produced excellent outcomes and, at times, imaginal exposure […]
