Examining the Utility of a Telehealth Warm Handoff in Integrated Primary Care for Improving Patient Engagement in Mental Health Treatment: Randomized Video Vignette Study.

Background: A warm handoff from a physician to a mental health provider is often patients' first contact with psychological services and provides a unique opportunity for improving treatment engagement in integrated primary care (IPC) settings.

Objective: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study sought to examine the impact of different types of telehealth mental health referrals on both the anticipated likelihood of accepting treatment services and anticipated likelihood of continued treatment engagement.

Methods: A convenience sample of young adults (N=560) was randomized to view 1 of 3 video vignettes: warm handoff in IPC, referral as usual (RAU) in IPC, or RAU in standard primary care.

Self-compassion and its barriers: predicting outcomes from inpatient and residential eating disorders treatment.

Background: Individuals with eating disorders (EDs) experience barriers to self-compassion, with two recently identified in this population: Meeting Standards, or concerns that self-compassion would result in showing flaws or lead to loss of achievements or relationships, and Emotional Vulnerability, or concerns that self-compassion would elicit difficult emotions such as grief or anger. This exploratory study examined the utility of self-compassion and two barriers to self-compassion in predicting clinical outcomes in intensive ED treatments.

Method: Individuals in inpatient (n = 87) and residential (n = 68) treatment completed measures of self-compassion and fears of self-compassion, and ten clinical outcome variables at pre- and post-treatment.

The relation between two barriers to self-compassion and clinical characteristics in individuals with eating disorders.

Unlabelled: There is growing support for the role of self-compassion in recovery from an eating disorder (ED) and two types of barriers have been identified in this population: (a) fears that self-compassion will result in a failure to meet personal and interpersonal standards (meeting standards); and (b) fears that self-compassion gives rise to difficult emotions such as grief and unworthiness (emotional vulnerability).

Objective: This research examined the relative contribution of meeting standards and emotional vulnerability barriers to the clinical characteristics of individuals with EDs.

Method: Participants (N = 349) completed the fears of compassion for self-scale, and measures of self-compassion, ED and psychiatric symptom severity, interpersonal and affective functioning, quality of life and readiness for ED change.

Barriers to self-compassion in the eating disorders: The factor structure of the fear of self-compassion scale.

Unlabelled: Individuals with eating disorders (EDs) endorse fears of being self-compassionate, as assessed by the Fears of Compassion for Self scale (FCSelf; Gilbert, McEwan, Matos, & Rivis, 2011), and higher fears predict poorer treatment outcomes. Previous research using the FCSelf demonstrated a single factor solution in a non-clinical sample.

Objectives: This research sought to explore the factor structure of the FCSelf in a clinical population and to examine correlations with associated constructs.

Where does it hurt? Location of pain, psychological distress, and alexithymia among outpatients seeking psychotherapy.

Physical pain is prevalent among psychiatric outpatients, yet there has been little research regarding the types of pain reported. The purpose of this study was to survey outpatients seeking psychotherapy regarding pain locations and to examine associations between number of pain locations and psychiatric distress and alexithymia. Two hundred and seventeen patients were recruited from three Canadian hospitals that offer outpatient psychiatry services and short-term therapies.

Is stage of change enough? Confidence as a predictor of outcome in inpatient treatment for eating disorders.

Objective: While stage of change has been shown to be a robust predictor of eating disorder treatment outcome, little attention has been paid to the role of confidence. This study sought to better understand the role of confidence and the possible interaction it may have with stage of change in promoting eating disorder symptom change.

Method: Participants were adult women in inpatient treatment for eating disorders.

The Short Treatment Allocation Tool for Eating Disorders: current practices in assigning patients to level of care.

Objective: The Short Treatment Allocation Tool for Eating Disorders ( is a new evidence-based algorithm developed to match patients to the most clinically appropriate and cost-effective level of care (Geller et al., 2016). The objective of this research was to examine the extent to which current practices are in alignment with recommendations.