Convergence and Integration in Psychotherapy

Memory

Toward a Common Core of Psychotherapy

The Convergence Special Interest Group on July 26, 2021

Three experts discuss what psychotherapy is all about.

Neuroscience

Does Psychotherapy Really Have a Common Infrastructure?

The Convergence Special Interest Group on April 30, 2021

For the first 100 years, it was not possible to make out even the outlines of how therapy works. However, neuroscience has finally begun to provide the building blocks.

Neuroscience

8 Universal Principles of Psychotherapy

The Convergence Special Interest Group on January 28, 2021

There are many ways to practice psychotherapy. Is there anything that we universally agree on? We propose eight principles of the problems clients face that might be the start.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

A Possible Bridge Between CBT and PDT

The Convergence Special Interest Group on January 14, 2021

Dr. Jeffery Smith focuses on the corrective emotional experience as a potential bridge between the cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic psychotherapy traditions.

Self-Harm

Psychotherapy: When Will It Be a Grown-Up?

The Convergence Special Interest Group on December 17, 2020

Dr. Marvin Goldfried shares his thinking on the progress—and future—of psychotherapy integration.

Chronic Pain

Psychotherapy and the Meaning of Life

The Convergence Special Interest Group on December 3, 2020

Finding new meaning is central to growth in therapy. And there may be many ways to get there.

Memory

Are You Ready for a Universal Model of Psychotherapy?

The Convergence Special Interest Group on November 19, 2020

We describe the common infrastructure that underpins essentially all schools and orientations of psychotherapy.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Are You Sure Your Therapy Has a Recipe?

The Convergence Special Interest Group on November 5, 2020

Psychotherapy integration, like good cooking, needs both a recipe and the optimal ingredients.

Memory

Psychotherapy Integration: The Least Sexy Aspect

The Convergence Special Interest Group on October 22, 2020

What do we need to move the field of psychotherapy integration to the next level? We need a universally accepted explanation of how therapy works.

Psychoanalysis

The Four Quadrants of Integral Metatheory

The Convergence Special Interest Group on October 8, 2020

Should we conceptualize, practice, and research from these four perspectives?

Bias

4 Reasons Why We Resist Psychotherapy Integration

The Convergence Special Interest Group on September 24, 2020

Accepting a comprehensive explanatory framework for how psychotherapy works has been a long time coming. Yet, our cognitive biases may continue to delay the process.

Motivation

What Makes Good Therapy, Continued

The Convergence Special Interest Group on September 10, 2020

Five goals underlie psychotherapy: Extinguishing problematic emotional triggers, fostering correct experiences, teaching new patterns, managing arousal, and supporting motivation.

Motivation

Three Ingredients that Make for Good Therapy

The Convergence Special Interest Group on August 27, 2020

Psychotherapy fosters a healing relationship, a shared understanding of the person, situation, problem and goals, and acceptance and active change that enables adaptive growth.

Anger

Schadenfreude Is Not a Positive Emotion

The Convergence Special Interest Group on August 13, 2020

Just because the valence of an emotion is negative does not mean the emotion itself is negative; it may be the healthiest emotion a person can feel in a given set of circumstances.

Psychiatry

5 Things I Took From the Article “Medicine and the Mind"

The Convergence Special Interest Group on July 30, 2020

Last fall, psychiatrists Caleb Gardner and Arthur Kleinman wrote about the limits of modern biological psychiatry. Today, we summarize some takeaway points from this piece.