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Proponents of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) have directed complaints of potential unethical practice against psychotherapists who refrain from using EBTs as first-line interventions for a range of psychiatric disorders on the grounds that these treatments should be given priority because of their exceptional scientific backing. This article counters these claims and highlights core ethical concerns associated with the research and practice of EBT itself; namely, the appropriateness of saturating the field with short-term models of psychotherapy and the questionable assumption that these can yield meaningful and lasting change; the uncertain relevance of the results of EBT investigations for psychotherapists working with real-world clients; the foreclosure of opportunities to address clients' unmet developmental needs and self-fragility posed by the directive/didactic therapeutic stance inherent in EBTs; and, the reduced quality of psychotherapy offered to the public at large and threats to the clinical competence of early-career mental health professionals caused by overemphasizing training in EBTs over the acquisition of relational skills in graduate schools and postgraduate training sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an emerging consensus that satisfaction among intimate partners does not presuppose the absence of conflict, or even utilization of prescribed conflict resolution skills, but entails mutual desires to take wholesome reparative steps to recover from heated disagreements and to be overt in one's appreciation, gratitude, and affectionate gestures. A dialogical existential approach to couples therapy is uniquely suited to sensitize clients to the communicative goodwill and reciprocal fairness that mitigates the frequency and volatility of conflict stemming from reactive prideful monologue, while engendering an appreciation for the constructive role of guilt, apology rendering, and responsiveness to the other constitutive of humble dialogue. Existentially informed couples therapy can help demystify the extravagant expectations people expect from intimate relationships, normalize the inescapable mundane aspects of conjugal life, and create urgency for change by referencing the preeminent value of loving relationships and the anticipatory guilt and dread associated with insufficiently loving a cherished spouse or life partner in the context of that person's mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapeutic relationships with well-established alliances and favorable signs of therapist empathy and genuineness are strong predictors of successful psychotherapy. However, amassing the declarative knowledge associated with knowing that a constructive therapeutic relationship contributes to successful outcome is insufficient in preparing a clinician with the procedural knowledge leading to him or her knowing how to competently implement this. The present article strives to address this gap by definitionally and descriptively unpacking key aspects of alliance building, and therapist empathy and authenticity/genuineness, for pragmatic learning purposes. It is argued that a humanistic revival in the education and training of beginning psychotherapists is long overdue to enable them to acquire the self-expansion, relational versatility, and ethical sensibility necessary to optimally perform their clinical duties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irony and a sense of the absurd are notable topics for discourse by philosophers in the existential tradition but under-utilised for therapeutic purposes by psychotherapists of this ilk. The use of humour in couples therapy can potentiate clients' mirthful negotiation of the myriad dilemmas and disappointments arising in intimate partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Psychological Association Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; APA, 2017) privileges two trauma-focused treatments (TFTs)—Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE)—on scientific grounds, without considering the ethical issues posed by these treatments being relatively nonrelational and nonalliance building in nature. Fidelity to treatment protocol over clinical relationship building and alliance formation and maintenance can slot practitioners into an "I-it" therapeutic stance, depriving clients of real engagement and leaving them feeling objectified as standard cases of PTSD whose symptoms need to be tracked and managed. The high drop-out and failure to initiate treatment rates associated with TFTs ought to raise concerns about how their technique-heavy, protocol-driven methods, alienate practitioners, and the traumatized clients they serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which assessed the Parental Bonding Instrument while focusing on religiosity in young adulthood in the United States. Aims of the study; Methodology of the study; Results of the study.

A variety of potential unrecognized ethical concerns arise from the American Psychological Association's (APA, 2017) Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of PTSD in Adults. In privileging short-term treatments that underscore symptom reduction as the predominant index of outcome, such as cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure, there is a susceptibility to mislead mental health professionals and clients alike to believe that lasting improvements in socioemotional well-being, and a time-intensive approach, are unrealistic, rather than realistic psychotherapy expectations. There are ethical implications to incompletely addressing clients' preferences and clinicians' judgments on matters such as preferred socioemotional outcomes, and desirable qualities in a therapist and therapy. As regard combat veterans, treating trauma-related guilt and shame as symptoms to be eliminated, rather than moral feelings to be acknowledged, expressed, and self-forgiven, warrants special ethical consideration. The high dropout rates of cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure raise questions as to whether their protocol-driven methods alienate substantial numbers of traumatized clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).