The global Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is colliding with mental and physical health comorbidities. Tobacco use persists as the global leading cause of preventable death and disability and is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, lung disorders, cancers, diabetes, and hypertension – conditions thought to exacerbate COVID-19 symptom …

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an impairing psychological disorder characterized by the existence of persistent, intrusive obsessions and compulsions (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). A considerably understudied subtype of OCD is sexual orientation OCD (SO-OCD) which consists of obsessions relating to an individual’s sexual orientation. Individuals with sexual orientation obsessive-compulsive (SO-OC) symptoms …

Every psychotherapeutic process consists of two main protagonists: The therapist and the patient/s. There is often a misconception that this should be a hierarchical relationship, where the therapist’s command ought to be followed by the patient. However, this dynamic should in fact be one of equals, where both the therapist …

Online self-help interventions, in which individuals learn psychological skills on their own to address mental health concerns, are effective and can have broad reach. However, people also regularly struggle with adhering to these programs when using them on their own. Initial research was fairly clear in suggesting that receiving additional …

Millions of college and university students in the United States have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with wide-spread closure of campuses and displacement of students. Though necessary to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus and protect students and staff, the closure of campuses resulted in the sudden loss …

What’s best for therapy trainees – personal therapy or self-practice/self-reflection? For over a hundred years, it’s been part of tradition and belief in many schools of psychotherapy that personal therapy is central to the development of effective therapist skills. For instance Freud wrote: “But where and how is the poor …

Suicide persists as a serious public health problem worldwide and in the United States, specifically. In addition to the loss of life, suicide results in tremendous pain to hundreds of thousands of families and loved ones each year. In particular, college students may be at risk for suicide and/or suicidal …

Although mental health providers gain a strong foundation in psychotherapy during their graduate training, they must engage in ongoing learning to keep pace with advancements in the science and practice of psychotherapy. In many countries, including the U.S., mental health providers are required to complete a set number of continuing …

The aging population is one of the great challenges that our western societies will have to face in the decades to come. Since age is the main risk factor for most neurocognitive disorders, more individuals will require assistance and care due to the associated cognitive, behavioural and psychological symptoms, and …

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a well-supported treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD), a mental health condition characterized by fear of judgment or embarrassing oneself in social situations. Traditionally, evidence for CBT’s efficacy in the treatment of SAD has been demonstrated through randomized controlled trials of 12-16 sessions of manualized …

Two categories of beliefs have been found to be important to the development and maintenance of adult and pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): cognitive beliefs and metacognitive beliefs. Cognitive beliefs refer to general or social beliefs, and noteworthy beliefs relevant to OCD symptoms include exaggerated personal responsibility, intolerance of uncertainty, and …

What People Say: A Study of the Predictive Value of Language Use on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Outcomes among Individuals with Substance Use Disorders and Posttraumatic Stress Substance use disorders (SUD) rarely manifest in isolation. People with substance use disorder (SUD) often struggle with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The most …

Many randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for depression and anxiety problems. However, many patients who receive CBT often do not maintain their positive outcomes after treatment, and instead experience a relapse of symptoms. The common occurrence of relapse after CBT not …

Virtual Reality (VR) refers to technology capable of creating an powerful illusion of being present in a virtual environment. Since the 1990s, VR has been used to conduct VR exposure therapy using virtual equivalents of phobic stimuli, and a wealth of research supports the efficacy of this approach. Until recently …

Perfectionism is associated with anxiety, depression and eating disorders.  Despite this, many researchers have argued there are benefits to being a perfectionist.  The research however is not clear whether there are benefits because the components within perfectionism appear to be overlapping, which challenges the idea that that being perfectionist is …