"After the thrill is gone": The role of psychotherapy in coping with romantic breakups.

To investigate the perceptions of ex-romantic partners regarding the extent to which and ways in which psychotherapy facilitates coping with the consequences of the dissolution of past relationships, a multipart survey (Representations of Past Significant Others) that included Likert-type, multiple-choice, and open-ended questions about the ways in which individuals remember a past significant relationship and the ways in which they have moved toward closure from that relationship was disseminated via social media and networking. An attachment status measure (Experience in Close Relationship Scale-Short Form) was also administered. A total of 1,846 respondents, mean age 30.

Do patients internalize the positive regard they are offered? A dyadic test of a Rogerian condition.

Objective: Positive regard (PR) reflects a therapist's unconditional prizing of their patient, which meta-analytically correlates positively with patient improvement. However, most research has been limited to single-participant ratings of PR at a specific time, which neglects the dyadic and dynamic nature of PR (i.e.

Disclosure in psychotherapy versus in anonymous and non-anonymous online spaces.

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting individuals' decisions to discuss specific personal issues in psychotherapy vs on social media, either non-anonymously or pseudonymously/anonymously. A heterogeneous sample of participants ( = 443) completed an online survey that included assessments of their therapy experience, attachment style, attitudes towards seeking mental healthcare, and the extent of their disclosures about personally distressing topics in therapy and online under different conditions. Results suggest that attachment style plays a significant role in determining individuals' likelihood of discussing personally distressing topics online and in determining the extent to which they find disclosures in therapy and in anonymous and non-anonymous online spaces to be helpful.

Clients' Perceptions of Changes in Their Therapists' Positive Regard in Transitioning from In-Person Therapy to Teletherapy.

To investigate clients' perceptions of changes in their therapists' provision of positive regard (PR) following their transition from in-person therapy to teletherapy. A total of 2,118 clients, predominantly White, female, heterosexual, and in their mid-20s, who had been working with their therapist for an average of 20 months in-person and five months in teletherapy completed a Perceptions of Psychotherapy Process Scale (POPPS). This 42-item measure investigated, at a single time-point, the extent to which participants believed that specific therapist-related behaviors, statements, or attitudes changed since shifting to teletherapy.

The nature and effects of psychotherapy clients' nondisclosure of eating and body image concerns.

Client nondisclosure about their eating disorders may result in significant delays in receiving treatment and subsequent poorer long-term outcomes. Despite these consequences and the high mortality rate among eating-disordered clients, there is a dearth of research on the concealment of or lying about symptomatology among this population. The present, qualitative study examined a sample of respondents (45) who reported dishonesty in therapy about eating issues and body image concerns and provided information about their motives for, and perceived consequences of, being dishonest about these issues.

Patients' experiences of being "ghosted" by their psychotherapists.

Psychotherapist ghosting is a type of inappropriate, therapist-initiated termination of treatment in which the therapist ceases communication with their patient without prior notice. A total of 77 patients ( age = 34) who reported being ghosted by their therapist completed a web-based therapist ghosting survey (TGS) that assessed their perceptions of multiple aspects of this event. Results indicated that these patients, on average, unsuccessfully attempted to contact their therapist four times following being ghosted but that the great majority never again communicated with this therapist; they attributed being ghosted to several possibilities, including their therapist's finding them too difficult, their therapist's own problems, and/or a major event in their therapist's personal life.

The nature, motives, and perceived consequences of therapist dishonesty.

Honest communication between therapists and clients is an essential part of the process and values of psychotherapy, but the topic of dishonesty has remained virtually unexplored. This study examined the prevalence, motivations, and perceived consequences of therapist dishonesty. Data were compiled from a Qualtrics survey, including several open-ended questions, of 401 practicing psychotherapists.

Trajectories of depression in psychotherapy: How client characteristics predict clinical improvement.

Objective: The current study aims to ascertain the trajectories of psychotherapy clients' symptom change and identify client factors that predict treatment outcome.

Method: We conducted a latent growth mixture model (LGMM) to identify the change trajectories of 44 clients' depression scores during psychotherapy. Client characteristics were then explored to determine whether any were associated with change trajectories.

Ready when you are: Answering your questions about psychotherapy.

Psychotherapeutic treatment tends to have a high attrition rate ("premature termination") and there have been multiple efforts to help new patients, including those considering treatment, better understand the nature and expectations inherent to this process as a means to improve retention and outcome. These efforts are often grouped under the term "role induction." This script, from a DVD produced in 2010, was written to help prepare new psychotherapy clients for this new role in their lives-specifically, to educate prospective patients about the unique and sometimes surprising features of psychotherapy and to empower them to ask questions of their therapist about the process.

Psychotherapists' preferences for television and movies during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study investigated psychotherapists' media use since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 186 psychotherapists completed a 15-item self-report survey on the movies and TV shows they had watched, and the reasons for their choices, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicated therapists primarily watched material they described as comedic, distracting, thought-provoking, and psychologically engaging.

Client deception about substance use: Research findings and a case study.

Findings from a large sample of therapy clients indicate that substance use is among the most widely reported topics of dishonesty; that the primary motives for this dishonesty are shame, fear of being judged by one's therapist, and concern about real-world consequences of disclosure (e.g., being sent to a rehabilitation facility); and that the most widely held client beliefs about what might facilitate greater honesty about substance use include feeling reassured that a therapist would not overreact nor be judgmental.

Disclosure, concealment, and dishonesty in psychotherapy: A clinically focused review.

This issue of Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session focuses on the nature and consequences of psychotherapy clients' disclosures, secrets, and dishonesty, with a particular emphasis on the ways in which therapists can best facilitate greater and more honest disclosure. This introduction to this issue reviews the growing theoretical and empirical literature on the frequency, types, motives, and consequences of client and therapist dishonesty (broadly defined); it also reviews the contributions within this issue, noting the welcome focus of the majority of these papers on the nature of client dishonesty in specific disorders (e.g.

Campus diversity, Jewishness, and antisemitism.

To explore current attitudes among Jewish students, faculty, and leaders of Jewish campus organizations regarding the putative exclusion of Jewish concerns from campus dialogs around diversity, we recruited 40 such individuals to engage in a semi-structured interview. The consensus among our interviewees was that there is a significant, ongoing, and too-often overlooked problem with virulent anti-Israel activity on many campuses that often seeps into antisemitism; that many, though not all, Jewish students are disturbed by this phenomena; that the consequences of anti-Israel hostility on some campuses are felt most significantly by self-identified progressive Jewish students who feel emotionally attacked for pro-Israel sentiments and ostracized in their attempts to join with seemingly progressive and/or intersectional campus movements; that college diversity officers and courses have, for the most part, failed to include issues of concern to Jewish students; and that psychotherapists, especially those on college campuses, maybe unprepared to deal with concerns specific to Jewish students. We believe that the failure to recognize and deal with campus antisemitism is both dangerous and morally disingenuous.

Patterns of utilization and a case illustration of an interactive text-based psychotherapy delivery system.

This paper provides data on the experiences of 267 patients, all with self-reported symptoms of depression or anxiety, engaged in an interactive text-based delivery system for psychotherapy. The paper also offers a case study that illustrates the use of this treatment, indicating ways in which such systems can be useful for patients who may not access or benefit from more traditional therapeutic models.

Positive regard and psychotherapy outcome: A meta-analytic review.

This article meta-analytically reviews the research on the association between therapist positive regard (PR) and treatment outcome. The history of the construct of unconditional PR in client-centered theory and the efforts to clearly operationalize and measure this construct are reviewed. Several clinical examples are presented.

"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right": Politics and psychotherapy, 2018.

The election and postelection policies of Donald Trump have seeped into the psychotherapy sessions of many clients, in ways that are somewhat unique but also somewhat reminiscent of the ways that other dramatic social-political events, including 9/11 and the social divisions that were characteristic of the 1960s, were brought into the treatment room. The nine articles within this issue-seven papers from practicing psychotherapists, one from an executive coach, and one empirical paper-suggest strongly that the political events surrounding the election of 2016 have become a significant part of psychotherapeutic discourse for many clients, that many therapists have been willing participants in such discussions, and that a focus on political issues (broadly speaking) can have important clinical benefits, facilitating the therapeutic alliance and leading to greater understanding of long-standing client problems and interpersonal functioning. Taken together, these papers lead to the conclusion that, at a minimum, clinicians need to be sensitive to the very real possibility that their clients are acutely aware of and affected by the political events surrounding the 2016 presidential election and may welcome open discussion of these events and their consequences.

Honesty in psychotherapy: Results of an online survey comparing high vs. low self-concealers.

This study sought to investigate client dishonesty in psychotherapy through the trait of self-concealment. We hypothesized that comparing low and high self-concealers would yield clinically significant differences in the nature, motives, and perceived consequences of client dishonesty. A total of 572 respondents, self-reported as psychotherapy clients, reported about their experience of being dishonest in therapy via a multi-part online survey.

A qualitative investigation of the nature of "informal supervision" among therapists in training.

: This study investigated how, when, why, and with whom therapists in training utilize "informal supervision"-that is, engage individuals who are not their formally assigned supervisors in significant conversations about their clinical work. : Participants were 16 doctoral trainees in clinical and counseling psychology programs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using the Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) method.

Let's not talk about sex.

This article uses both a case illustration and data from a large-scale survey of outpatient clients (N = 798) to understand the client's perspective about avoiding or being dishonest with his or her therapist about sexual topics. The case study, of a gay young man working with a heterosexual female therapist, explores this client's experience of what happens when it feels impossible to be forthcoming about sex and sexuality. Based on the findings of our study, we note clients' motives for avoiding these intimate yet important areas (e.

Facets of Object Representation: Process and Outcome Over the Course of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.

This study explores the effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy in improving facets of object relations (OR) functioning over the course of treatment. The sample consisted of 75 outpatients engaged in short-term dynamic psychotherapy at a university-based psychological services clinic. Facets of OR functioning were assessed at pre- and posttreatment by independent raters using the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale-Global rating method (SCORS-G; Stein, Hilsenroth, Slavin-Mulford, & Pinsker, 2011 ; Westen, 1995 ) from in-session patient relational narratives.

Introduction: Reflections of Senior Therapists.

This introduction to this issue of JCLP: In Session ("Reflections of Senior Therapists") focuses on the multifaceted ways in which adult development influences what it means to be a psychotherapist and to do the work of psychotherapy. This issue brings together first person narratives written by a group of eminent psychotherapists as well as an empirical report, based on a major international survey, on the challenges, demands, and rewards experienced by senior therapists. Taken together, these essays provide a compelling case that not only can practicing psychotherapy during the later years of one's life continue to be fulfilling and meaningful, but also the lessons learned along the journey can make one an even wiser and more effective therapist than previously.

Attachment style, representations of psychotherapy, and clinical interventions with insecurely attached clients.

The primary aim of this article was to demonstrate the clinical utility of an empirically grounded perspective on the complex interplay between patients' attachment style and their ability to create, remember, and use benignly influential representations of their experiences with their therapists. We focused on 2 interrelated questions: Are there significant attachment-related differences in the thematic content of the remembrances and fantasies that patients have about therapy? And, if so, what are the implications for practice? Results of a study of individuals currently in therapy (N = 176) indicated that although all the patients with different insecure attachment styles struggled to evoke positively valenced therapist representations, the specific nature of their representational patterns varied as a function of specific attachment styles. We offer several clinical strategies that may increase insecure patients' abilities to form adaptive representations of their therapist and therapy.

Informal sources of supervision in clinical training.

Although formal, assigned supervision is a potent source of learning and guidance for psychotherapy trainees, many beginning psychotherapists use other, informal sources of supervision or consultation for advice and support. Results of an online survey of beginning trainees (N = 146) indicate that other than their formally assigned supervisor, trainees most often consult with colleagues in their program, their own psychotherapist, and their significant other; that they're most likely to seek these other sources of help when they're feeling stuck or feel they've made a clinical mistake; that they do so because they need extra reassurance and suggestions; that they feel the advice given from these sources is helpful; and that they don't especially regret sharing this information. Several case examples are used to illustrate these points.

Putting up emotional (Facebook) walls? Attachment status and emerging adults' experiences of social networking sites.

Social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook can increase interpersonal connections but also intensify jealousy, envy, and surveillance behaviors. Attachment styles may help explain differences in experiencing SNS. This study investigated the role of attachment in influencing emerging adults' perceptions and feelings about SNS and their disclosures on SNS.