Science & Research

Exploring the evidence behind what we do
Article January 11, 2016

Losing Our War on Stress

It’s time to reconsider our approach

Psychologist Kelly McGonigal believes that stress isn’t the public health menace it’s usually made out to be—our compulsion to avoid it is often the... Read more

Article November 19, 2015

The Secret to Helping Agitated Couples Reel in Emotional Arousal

How Oxytocin Stimulates Trust and Connection, and Helps Relationships Heal

When clients are emotionally worked up, caught in fight-flight-freeze mode, all their hard-earned skills in empathic listening and responsible (and responsive... Read more

Article November 18, 2015

A Cure for the Yips

Brainspotting and Performance Blocks
David Grand

Traumatic experiences are often the root of athletic and other kinds of performance blocks. Read more

Article November 18, 2015

Lessons from the Love Lab

The Science of Couples Therapy

The pioneers who birthed couples and family therapy never paused to scienti cally study the relationships they treated. Now, after systematically observing and... Read more

Article November 10, 2015

A Brain Science Strategy for Overwriting Traumatic Memories

Creating Juxtaposition Experiences to Relieve Trauma Symptoms

What we clinicians have learned in recent years about the intricacies of the brain's implicit memory systems has certainly helped us better recognize the... Read more

Article September 1, 2015

The 5 Myths of Self-Compassion

What Keeps Us from Being Kinder to Ourselves?

There’s now a growing body of research demonstrating that relating to ourselves in a kind, friendly manner is essential for emotional wellbeing. More... Read more

Video August 20, 2015

VIDEO: Changing the Brain to Take In the Good

Rick Hanson on 5 Simple Steps to Use Right Away

In this brief clip, Rick walks us through surprisingly simple steps that can shift our memory systems to internalize positive experiences and states with equal... Read more

Article May 5, 2015

Uncovering the Source of Suicidality with Brain Science

Are Serotonin Levels the Key Factor in Suicidal Depression?

I'm at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in northern Manhattan. My guide, Victoria, has been studying the brains of people who committed suicide, and... Read more

Article May 1, 2015

Little and Often

Using Micro-Practices for Self-Care

It was a series of upending life events over a period of years—some bad, some good, all unexpected and disorienting—that gradually propelled me into a... Read more

Article May 1, 2015

Brave New Couples

What Can Science Tell Us about the Changing Face of Couplehood Today?

Susan Johnson, developer of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, discusses what the science of love says about what couples can expect when they rebel too much... Read more

Article April 23, 2015

Addressing Race Therapeutically in Black Relationships

Testimonials from the 2015 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium

Today I attended a workshop called “Working with Black Couples: Overcoming Myths and Stereotypes,” led by Dr. Christiana Awosan. Being an African American... Read more

Article April 14, 2015

Mindfulness, Conscious Breathing Exercises, and Cyber Intimacy

Testimonials from the 2015 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium

Although I have read his books and seen many videos of him in action, today's Networker Symposium workshop was the first in-person opportunity I've had to hear... Read more

Article April 7, 2015

Improving Therapy Through Song, Mindfulness, and Self-Care

Testimonials from the 2015 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium
Symposium Student Scholars

I attended the Networker Symposium's Creativity Day because I figured I might take a couple interesting facts home with me or meet a few nice people the day... Read more

Article March 1, 2015

Therapists are far more impressed with clinical fads than they should be. Read more

Article January 3, 2015

Stronger Medicine

Anti-Depressants Haven't Made Therapy Obsolete

Americans have a history of valuing quick-fix solutions to difficult problems. But the simplistic psychopharmacological approach to depressive disorders... Read more

Article January 1, 2015

Nature, Pixelated

How the Virtual World Is Rewiring Our Senses

For the first time in history, we’re mainly experiencing nature through intermediary technology that paradoxically provides more detail while flattening our... Read more

Article November 12, 2014

The Depression Epidemic

Can Mood Science Save Us?

It’s time to get beyond simplistic notions about “chemical imbalances” and finally reckon with how deeply rooted depression is in the uncertainties and... Read more

Article November 12, 2014

The Malleability of Memory

Putting Psychotherapy on the Witness Stand

During the false memory controversies of the 1990s, many therapists saw Elizabeth Loftus, one of the most honored psychologists in the history of the field, as... Read more

Article October 22, 2014

Rarely is someone always depressed, or always empty, or always without energy, or always suicidal. If you (or the person you’re helping) explores exceptions... Read more

Article October 20, 2014

Rediscovering the Myth

For John O'Donohue, Therapy Is a Journey into the Unknown Self

Poet John O'Donohue's introduction to the therapy field came through his unlikely friendship with neuropsychiatrist Daniel Siegel, known for his book The... Read more

Video October 13, 2014

VIDEO: Breathing Techniques that Reduce Anxiety and Stress Quickly

Integrate this Powerful Mood-Regulating Technique into Your Work

Are you at a loss when it comes to helping your high-strung, distressed clients? Maybe you’ve made some progress in helping your clients reduce anxiety, but... Read more

Article September 18, 2014

What is This Thing Called Love?

The Answers Are Being Discovered in the Laboratory

The answers to some of the age-old questions about the trajectory of passion and the links between sex and love are being discovered in the research laboratory. Read more

Article September 11, 2014

The Power of Paying Attention

What Jon Kabat-Zinn Has Against Spirituality

Jon Kabat-Zinn, one of the pioneers in mind-body medicine, prefers calling himself a student of Buddhist meditation to a Buddhist, and believes anything can be... Read more

Article September 11, 2014

The Tribal Classroom

Applying attachment theory in schools

Lou Cozolino believes that attachment theory and neuroscience may offer the key to transforming our troubled educational system. Read more

Article September 4, 2014

The Politics of PTSD

How a Diagnosis Battled Its Way into the DSM

During Vietnam, there were proportionately far fewer reported cases of trauma on the actual battlefield than there'd been in previous wars. The primary reason... Read more

Video August 26, 2014

VIDEO: Unlocking the Emotional Brain

Confronting Self-Limiting Beliefs

Bruce Ecker shows how to apply the process of memory reconsolidation to bring about transformational change and therapeutic breakthroughs. Read more

Video August 20, 2014

VIDEO: Helping Clients Integrate Past and Present

Bessel van der Kolk on Integration and Healing in Trauma Treatment

Imagine the helplessness of being unable to distinguish painful past experiences from present ones. According to Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps... Read more

Video July 23, 2014

Wired for heterosexuality or homosexuality?

The difference between the gay and straight brain

It’s a topic that has been at the center of countless debates, both rational and irrational. Is there a clear biological difference between the heterosexual... Read more

Video July 21, 2014

VIDEO: A New Way to Engage Teen Clients

Dan Siegel on the Power of Teenage Brain

Dan Siegel, author of Brainstorm: The Power and the Purpose of the Teenage Brain, knows that nobody—especially an angst-filled teenager—likes being told... Read more

Article July 11, 2014

For many therapists, an air of mystery surrounds the role of psychopharmacology in mental health treatment. Here's a step-by-step tour of the complexities of... Read more

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