Our Journal Club

Wrtitten by: Jon Hook, MA Why do so many people never come back? Up to half of all clients drop out of therapy prematurely, and many leave after just one session. For some, that first visit is enough. But for most, leaving early means missing the chance to really benefit. The uncomfortable truth is that ...

Written by: Marie Chesaniuk, PhD Before we even get started with this whole therapy thing, I have one question: Should we try to feel better? Should we try? To feel better? Once again, it depends who you ask. Exposure with Response Prevention Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP) is a behavioral approach wherein one faces their ...

Written by: Marie Chesaniuk, PhD What is the difference between and anxiety attack and a panic attack? As far as the general public is concerned, there might be a difference and there might not be a difference. ‘Anxiety attack’ is a non-clinical term used by the general public to refer to a moment of peak ...

Written by: Brittany Bayer, LCPC Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is often referred to as the “common cold” of anxiety disorders. GAD is characterized by persistent and excessive worry, often driven by intolerance of uncertainty and reinforced by unhelpful coping strategies. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) remains the gold standard for treating GAD, as outlined in Melisa ...

Written by: Marie Chesaniuk, PhD You are about to read the most negative article you’ve read all day about mindfulness. ‘Mindfulness,’ as in the evidence based practice that has helped tons of people and is widely known, widely used, and widely trusted? Yes. That mindfulness. While nothing in this article takes away from the beneficial ...

Written by: Marie Chesaniuk, PhD What is Habit Reversal Training (HRT)? HRT is a behavioral therapy that helps people reduce or eradicate unwanted habits or behaviors. The type of habit in question is often a repetitive behavior that people engage in automatically, without awareness, and are often unhelpful or even harmful in some cases. HRT ...

From Impossible to Possible: A Breakthrough in Treatment Written by: Marie Chesaniuk, PhD Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: What are they? Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) is an umbrella term that refers to schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders including brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and schizophreniform disorder. These conditions have some similarities and some differences. Notably, ...

Written by: Dan Mortenson, PhD Dan, the Man Some time ago, I discovered that I’m a bit of an anomaly in my field: a male psychologist.  For whatever reason, mental health providers tend to be predominantly female and I found myself to be in the minority which put me in a unique position when starting ...

The Extinction Burst It’s important to note that using new behavioral strategies requires setting clearer boundaries consistently – boundaries that the child is not yet familiar with. This change in the caregiver response will likely lead to an extinction burst, as should be expected.2 An extinction burst is when a behavior gets worse before it ...

Rachel Weisbecker, M.A. & Marie Chesaniuk, Ph.D. Sometimes, in the course of trying to help a school age client, there are missing pieces of their case. Children are not always good reporters of their situation due to limitations of their verbal skills, understanding of social and academic contexts and the school system at large, or ...

Written by: Dan Mortenson, Ph.D. What is a “manualized treatment”? And why do people have strong opinions of it? I have a complicated “love/hate” relationship with the topic I’ll be discussing today: manualized therapeutic treatments.  This is when a more structured manual is used to help guide therapy using a more regimented, chapter based approach ...

The house is still dimly lit as the morning light filters through the blinds. The clock on the wall reads 7:15 AM, and a parent is rushing through the kitchen, trying to juggle getting ready for work, making breakfast, and getting the kids out the door by 8:00 AM. There’s a pile of laundry on ...