Tag: therapy
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“His and Hers” Marriage and Couple Satisfaction
The quip that “there are two marriages in every marital union, his and hers” is attributed to Jesse Bernard in her 1972 book, The Future of Marriage[i]. To this quip, she added that marriage is better for men than for women. Over the ensuing decades since the book’s publication, researchers have added to a growing…
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Smartphone Apps for Psychotherapy: Can They Offer Relief and Hope?
Technological advancements are transforming many industries, including supporting patients with a variety of mental disorders. The sad reality is that many patients who need and/or want psychotherapy cannot receive it due to cost, time or location constraints, or simply a lack of available therapists. To address this gap in service delivery and to provide timely…
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Robots to the Rescue! Will Social Robots Replace Therapists?
A new study assesses human-robot interactions for mental health In a previous post, I reviewed research on social robots and how people feel about interacting with them. Social robots are currently being deployed to work with the elderly, as there are not enough human companions available to service all the elderly. As robotic technology rapidly…
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The Gold Standard? Is CBT the BEST Treatment for Depression?
The latest meta-analysis seems to have definitively answered this question. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, pioneered by Aaron Beck, targets distorted thinking and leads to behavioral change. After developing CBT techniques, Beck sought to prove the effectiveness of the therapy through rigorous, well-designed studies. By 2021, CBT had been put to the test in over…
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Prayer for Mental Health
Does calling for divine intervention via prayer lead to reduced human suffering? Can this be studied scientifically? Numerous studies, including randomized controlled trials, have tested the effectiveness of prayer and religious interventions on physical and mental healing. This study is the first of its kind to apply a randomized crossover trial to in-person (vs. remote…
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EMDR: Is it for YOU?
Keywords: PTSD, therapy, depression Overview and Procedure Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR, was developed by Francine Shapiro in 1989 as a treatment for PTSD. Since that time, over 30 randomized controlled clinical trials have been conducted to identify the effectiveness of this treatment. Results show it to be effective, with a 36-95% reduction…