To be responsive to the growing mental health inequities in our communities, we must move beyond incremental changes to our graduate training to bolder, more transformative changes. Such efforts must move beyond targeting our academic, internship, and postdoctoral programs and instead focus on critiquing our accreditation process. Without transformation of accreditation and other macrostructural dynamics in psychology, our training programs will continue to perpetuate the status quo and limit the ability of graduate trainees to adequately address mental health disparities. The purpose of this article is to call upon regulatory entities, such as the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation, to consider shifting training within applied doctoral programs from individual and cultural diversity competencies to a structural competency framework. Redefining this competency using structural perspectives will acknowledge the power, privilege, and oppression inherent within institutions, policies, and structures and better prepare psychology training programs to address the root causes of health inequities. Recommendations for change will be guided by the work of Metzl and Hansen (2014) on structural competencies and focus on the profession-wide and discipline-specific competencies required by the Commission on Accreditation. Barriers to change will also be examined, along with suggestions for resistance and reimagining of the accreditation process and our graduate training. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The present article aims to provide a pathway for trainers to expand and transform queer-affirmative psychotherapy practice to be more inclusive of queer groups that are underdiscussed in research and misunderstood in therapy settings, namely, people who are asexual, aromantic, and polyamorist. The article begins by outlining findings from a small but growing body of literature focusing on people who identify as asexual, aromantic, and polyamorist, which suggests that these populations face unique challenges and forms of discrimination when navigating their relationships, identity, and community. At the same time, these groups also report negative experiences of psychotherapy, including ignorance, minimization, and lack of understanding empathy on part of therapists. Such gaps may be bridged through cultural and structural changes in the way in which queer-affirmative psychotherapy models are disseminated in training contexts. Building upon models of queer-affirmative psychotherapy, critical theory, and queer theory, the article proposes steps that trainers may take to encourage students to expand their queer-affirmative practice so that it is more inclusive of and responsive to the experiences of asexual, aromantic, and polyamorist populations. The steps involve (a) cultivating criticality among trainees, (b) holding space for "not knowing," (c) providing diverse case examples, and (d) underlining advocacy as central and necessary to queer-affirmative practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Chronic pain and depression are highly prevalent and correlated in older adults. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and exercise have been shown to be effective for both conditions, mostly in Western literature. Little is known about integrating two approaches, particularly in Asian cultures and among less well-educated people. This article describes the iterative process of developing a culturally adapted ACT with exercise intervention for older Chinese with chronic pain and depressive symptoms. A multidisciplinary expert panel codesigned a culturally adapted ACT with exercise intervention, comprising a weekly 2-hr ACT and a 1½-hr exercise program for 8 weeks, focusing on six ACT core components and low-to-moderate intensity circuit-based resistance exercise. Its feasibility was tested through a mixed-methods, pretest-posttest design with 22 older Chinese experiencing chronic pain and depressive symptoms ( = 71.5 years, = 7.5, 86% female). Participants showed significant improvements in pain intensity, pain interference, pain self-efficacy, physical performance, pain acceptance, and committed action (all < .05). We identified five themes to inform protocol revision: (1) contextualizing values, (2) utilizing experiential learning, (3) using culturally appropriate metaphors, (4) establishing linkage between ACT concepts and pain, and (5) promoting application through repetition and prompts. Incorporating these findings, the final protocol emphasized three core ACT components and one set of physical exercises. This is the first study demonstrating the feasibility of a culturally adapted, person-centered tailoring ACT with exercise intervention for improving pain-related outcomes and mental wellness among older Chinese. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychotherapy theories have long been criticized for their White western cultural assumptions (Katz, 1985; Sue et al., 2024). With the growing call to decolonize psychology (e.g., Singh, 2020), we re-envisioned a psychotherapy theories curriculum from a liberation psychology framework (Martín-Baró, 1994). This framework contextualizes and historicizes people's lived experiences and highlights the ways in which oppressed communities have survived and resisted. A liberatory pedagogy for teaching psychotherapy theories involves critical consciousness (concientización; Freire, 1970), which allows students and instructors to bring a critical lens as they learn and discuss theories of counseling and psychotherapy; reflexivity, to locate themselves within the colonial, White supremacist and capitalist structures in which the classroom is situated; and somatic and affective engagement to decenter colonial rationality. The bookend approach (Wright et al., 2022) can be used to interrogate psychotherapy theories (a) as an overarching strategy for the entire course and (b) as a teaching strategy within each week's lesson on a specific theory. It is our hope that students will be equipped to re-envision psychotherapy and healing as located in our collective liberation from oppressive structures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Strengths use, the engagement of positive character traits in everyday contexts, is associated with both positive functioning and symptom reduction. The present study examined longitudinal relationships between strengths use and emotional disorder symptoms (anxiety, stress, and depression) during a randomized clinical trial of the Digital Unified Protocol, a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy. Participants (N = 120) completed assessments at four major time points during treatment and at 3-month follow-up. We specified three random-intercept cross-lagged panel model to capture within-person, bidirectional, time-lagged relationships between strengths use and anxiety, stress, and depression, respectively. Prospective increases in strengths use were associated with significant decreases in anxiety at all time points (β = -0.26 to -0.49), while prospective decreases in anxiety were associated with significant increases in strengths use at most time points (β = -0.25 to -0.36). Prospective increases in strengths use were associated with significant decreases in stress at most time points (β = -0.23 to -0.54), while prospective decreases in stress were associated with significant increases in strengths use at Week 4 (β = -0.21) and at follow-up (β = -0.41). Prospective increases in strengths use were associated with significant decreases in depression at Week 8 (β = -0.63) and at posttreatment (β = -0.67), while prospective decreases in depression were associated with significant increases in strengths use at most time points (β = -0.34 to -0.47). Clinical implications of findings are discussed, including the potential role of strengths use as a treatment target. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Researchers have historically focused on understanding therapist multicultural competency and orientation through client self-report measures and behavioral coding. While client perceptions of therapist cultural competency and multicultural orientation and behavioral coding are important, reliance on these methods limits therapists receiving systematic, scalable feedback on cultural opportunities within sessions. Prior research demonstrating the feasibility of automatically identifying topics of conversation in psychotherapy suggests that natural language processing (NLP) models could be trained to automatically identify when clients and therapists are talking about cultural concerns and could inform training and provision of rapid feedback to therapists. Utilizing 103,170 labeled talk turns from 188 psychotherapy sessions, we developed NLP models that recognized the discussion of cultural topics in psychotherapy (-1 = 70.0; Spearman's ρ = 0.78, < .001). We discuss implications for research and practice and applications for future NLP-based feedback tools. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The empirical and clinical literature emphasizes the importance of alliance ruptures, signaling therapeutic processes occurring within and between the partners of the therapeutic dyad. However, knowledge about the underlying regulatory processes that occur amid ruptures is scarce. Identifying the underlying physiological markers may shed light on these regulatory processes. The overarching goal of the present study was to explore physiological markers of withdrawal and confrontation ruptures, within the patient and the therapist. Given the little known on the subject, we used a single-case design (94 episodic segments) to explore biologically based regulatory processes in the face of a rupture, contrasting confrontation ruptures versus withdrawal ruptures versus control episodes (emotional and neutral episodes). Findings showed that the patient and the therapist had contrasting physiological responses to the ruptures, depending on the type. During withdrawal ruptures, the patient exhibited high regulation, while the therapist did not show a clear physiological reaction. During confrontation ruptures, the patient exhibited low regulation, while the therapist exhibited high regulation. The different physiological regulation processes at times of ruptures suggest that, in withdrawal, the patient relied on intrapersonal regulation, contrasting with the interpersonal regulation observed in confrontation ruptures. Findings remained robust after controlling for speech turns and 10,000 Monte Carlo permutations to assess chance-level results. These findings provide initial evidence for the link between arousal and behavior in ruptures, offering valuable psychoeducational material for therapists to improve their handling of these challenging moments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Latinos experience disproportionate rates of obesity and related conditions like type 2 diabetes, which are projected to increase (Mohebi et al., 2022). Standard interventions for these issues often fall short due to individual-focused approaches and the lack of culturally sensitive definitions of health that include emotional, physical, political, and social domains (Gutierrez Chavez et al., 2022; Ritchie et al., 2020). Multilevel and multidimensional research efforts, integrating social justice-informed orientations, psychotherapy science, and behavioral medicine, are crucial for addressing these health inequities (Asnaani, 2023; Collins et al., 2018; Rodriguez Espinosa & Verney, 2021). Additionally, critically analyzing researcher and participant roles is essential to avoid perpetuating systemic racism (Cook et al., 2023). This article highlights the need for a paradigm shift in psychotherapy research by (a) describing Latino families' eating patterns and coping strategies for emotional distress through focus groups in the community and (b) illustrating the process behind the community-partnered development of a culturally responsive mindfulness-based health intervention. Importantly, this research approach emphasizes liberation psychology theory in the exploration of structural influences affecting health (Martín-Baró, 1996). While mindfulness techniques are feasible in this population (Cotter & Jones, 2020), Latino communities may not be amenable to the current presentation of mainstream psychological science interventions. Our research paradigm informed the conceptualization of mindfulness techniques through both clinical science and critical lenses. Thus, this study argues for reconceptualizing the definition of a successful psychotherapy study to include community engagement and liberatory principles, making the potential for big needle jumps in addressing health inequities incalculable. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychotherapy outcome research mainly focuses on scale-level changes and constructs that were developed using cross-sectional statistical analysis, possibly concealing important findings on the level of single items, and limiting the clinical utility of outcome scales. Our goal was to explore changes in symptoms, interpersonal problems, and level of functioning in everyday life and to establish groups of items with similar rates of change that could be used to form more coherent targets for measuring different therapeutic outcomes. Triangulated maximally filtered graphs were used to model the network structure of the Outcome Questionnaire-45 in a data set of = 12,075 university counseling center patients. Dynamic exploratory graph analysis was used to establish communities of items with similar rates of change. Five item communities (anxiety, hopelessness, interpersonal problems, well-being, and work impairment) were found. Compared to the original Outcome Questionnaire-45 subscales, they showed better fit to the data. The "hopelessness" community, which describes the extent of a patient's demoralization before the start of therapy, had a significantly higher rate of change compared to other communities. The discerned item communities provide clinicians with theoretically grounded, precise targets for outcome tracking, thereby enhancing the responsiveness and adaptability of treatment interventions to individual client trajectories. Such granularity enriches our understanding of therapeutic change, with direct implications for tailoring intervention strategies to maximize early therapeutic gains and sustain long-term recovery. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Sexual minority clients report experiencing frequent microaggressions during therapy, however, therapists may not recognize those microaggressions or may be reluctant to self-report them. The main aim of the present study was thus to develop an observational measure of in-session therapist-committed microaggressions related to the sexual orientation of sexual minority individuals (e.g., those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer). The present study further examined the association between therapist-committed sexual orientation microaggressions and ruptures in the therapeutic alliance. We hypothesized that clinically significant microaggressions would be positively associated with withdrawal ruptures in the alliance. The sample consisted of 44 gay and bisexual men who participated in a cognitive behavioral treatment designed to reduce depression, anxiety, human immunodeficiency virus-transmission-risk behaviors, and substance use. An observer-based coding measure designed for this study, the Sexual Orientation Microaggression Rating Scale (SOMRS), was utilized to capture sexual minority microaggressions in the initial sessions of treatment. Good interrater reliability was achieved for the SOMRS. Microaggressions were coded in 34% of the sessions. Within the subset of sessions with coded microaggressions, a significant association was found between withdrawal ruptures and microaggression significance ratings. The SOMRS holds potential for supporting research on microaggression as well as future efforts to help clinicians recognize and repair in-session behaviors that negatively impact sexual minority clients. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Beneficence and nonmaleficence are key ethical principles toward which psychotherapists consistently strive. When patients engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) during the course of psychotherapy, therapists may feel responsible for visually assessing the severity of the NSSI wound in order to benefit their patients and keep them from harm. However, there are no guidelines for conducting these visual assessments, and there is no research exploring their effects on patients. This article considers the ethical implications of visually examining NSSI wounds; discusses psychotherapist scope of practice and competence; draws attention to relevant ethical standards; underscores risk management, liability, and standard of care; and addresses the risk of suicide or accidental death resulting from NSSI. It also provides ethical guidance for conducting effective verbal assessments of NSSI wounds and offers suggestions for navigating complex clinical situations, such as when patients routinely and spontaneously show their therapists their wounds and how psychotherapists should handle assessments and interventions related to NSSI scars. It ends with implications for training and therapeutic practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Several decades of theory suggest that pathological narcissism (PN) may limit psychotherapy success, but empirical evidence for such theories is limited and mixed. In addition, it has been proposed that individuals with high levels of PN may benefit more from supportive compared to interpretive psychodynamic therapies, but no studies thus far have investigated this question empirically. As such, our study aimed to extend past research by investigating (a) whether higher levels of pretreatment PN predict poorer treatment outcome and (b) whether the type of psychodynamic therapy (supportive or interpretive therapy) moderates these findings, in a sample of patients undergoing group psychodynamic psychotherapy for perfectionism. The sample was drawn from the University of British Columbia Perfectionism Treatment Study II (Hewitt et al., 2023) and consisted of 80 treatment-seeking adults with elevated perfectionism. Contrary to expectations, multilevel and multiple regression analyses showed that pretreatment PN did not significantly predict posttreatment changes in symptom severity, life satisfaction, or work and social impairment. We also did not find that either grandiose or vulnerable narcissism predicted likelihood of patient dropout. Finally, treatment type did not moderate the relationship between pretreatment PN and treatment outcome, suggesting that, contrary to our hypotheses, PN does not impact treatment outcome regardless of the interpretive nature of the psychodynamic group therapy. These results, taken together with past findings, suggest that PN may not be associated with poorer psychotherapy outcomes in certain contexts, such as in the case of supportive or interpretive psychodynamic group psychotherapy for perfectionism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychotherapy is a well-established and effective treatment for various psychiatric problems, but a substantial proportion of patients do not benefit from it, and many terminate treatment prematurely. Previous studies suggest that therapist dissatisfaction may play a pivotal role in premature treatment termination. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate therapist factors that may contribute to less-than-optimal results and dropout. Data were collected through a survey of patients ( = 736) with the experience of previous unsuccessful psychotherapy treatments. Based on prior research, the survey covered 13 therapist behaviors and traits, such as being unstructured or unengaged. The most common therapist factor that patients associated with treatment failure was poor assessment/understanding (86.7%), followed by inflexibility (71.7%) and poor knowledge (70.1%). Furthermore, this study identified four novel therapist-related factors: breaking the treatment contract, inappropriate sexual behaviors or comments, using non-conventional methods, and dominating behaviors. Overall, this study highlights the significance of therapist-related factors in premature treatment termination and treatment failure, shedding light on the crucial role therapists play in the therapeutic process. Understanding these factors is essential for improving psychotherapy outcomes and reducing dropout rates. Further investigations are needed to explore the impact of these therapist behaviors on treatment outcomes and to develop strategies for enhancing therapist competencies and skills to foster a more effective therapeutic alliance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Attachment has mostly been investigated as a stable characteristic of individuals, although theoretical considerations and recent empirical findings suggest that attachment styles are also subject to change. When attachment is investigated as a treatment factor in psychotherapy, state and trait characteristics need to be differentiated, as they warrant different conclusions. This study examined the trait- and statelike characteristics of attachment styles over the course of inpatient psychotherapy as predictors of treatment outcome. A total of = 419 patients provided weekly measurements of attachment styles and symptoms for up to 8 weeks of inpatient psychotherapy. Data were analyzed in multilevel longitudinal models controlling for rolling admissions and weekly changes in group membership. Over the course of treatment, patients' attachment styles became more secure and less fearful-avoidant. Trait attachment security as well as gains in attachment security predicted better outcomes, while trait preoccupied and fearful-avoidant attachment as well as increases in attachment preoccupation and anxiety predicted worse outcomes. Findings imply that attachment security may grow during a relatively short inpatient treatment period and both trait attachment styles as well as changes in attachment styles predict outcome. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

There is a large body of research exploring therapeutic effectiveness for racially or ethnically minoritized college students. Prior literature highlights the unique mental health and academic challenges faced by Native American students in higher education; however, there is a paucity of research examining the effectiveness of counseling for Native American college students. The present study examined the effectiveness of counseling on psychological and academic distress among Native American college students, comparing their initial distress and rate of change to White students in counseling. Using naturalistic data from a large practice-research network spanning 2015-2019, we employed hierarchical linear modeling to evaluate the effect of race on psychological distress ( = 9,621) and academic distress ( = 9,643) scores during treatment. Results revealed that all clients demonstrated a significant decrease in both types of distress over the course of treatment. Native American and White clients presented to counseling with similar levels of psychological distress. However, Native American clients experienced more change and at a faster rate on psychological distress symptoms compared to White clients. On academic distress, Native American clients began and concluded counseling with higher levels of distress while experiencing a similar amount of change at a similar rate in their reduction of academic distress over the course of treatment. The study findings provide unique insight on the outcomes of treatment-seeking Native students by demonstrating a significant positive response to counseling, as well as novel comparisons between Native and White students receiving services within college counseling settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between clinicians' use of varying types of spiritual interventions in the first session of spiritually integrated psychotherapies (SIPs) and clients' likelihood of returning for a second session. In total, 154 practitioners of SIPs from 33 settings in a practice-research network reported on their implementation of different methods for addressing clients' religion/spirituality on an after-session summary checklist. Roughly 80% or more of the clinicians implemented at least one spiritual intervention in the first session; on average, clinicians used 3.26 ( = 3.66) of the interventions on the checklist. Occurring with 20% or more of the 1,094 clients, the most commonly used spiritual interventions included listening to spiritual issues, discussing compassion and hope, affirming clients' divine worth and attempts to trust God. In total, nearly one in five clients did not return for a second session. Focusing on interventions that were empirically linked with clients' engagement in a second session in bivariate analyses, discussion of spiritual dimensions of clients' problems and solutions was associated with a 118% greater probability that clients engaged in SIPs; in contrast, discussion of hope was linked with a 40% decrease in treatment engagement. In conclusion, findings highlight the potential opportunities and risks for implementing interventions that attend to clients' spirituality and/or religious faith at the start of SIPs. Research is needed to understand factors associated with the effective use of spiritual interventions and methods of training clinicians accordingly. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychotherapy is an interpersonal process of collaboration toward specified treatment goals. The therapeutic alliance is well established as an important factor of psychotherapeutic change. However, the experience of distress in social interactions, commonly referred to as interpersonal problems, might be interfering with the collaborative process during psychotherapy. This study systematically reviews the literature and obtains an estimate of the relationship between pretreatment interpersonal problems and the quality of the therapeutic alliance. Overall, 27 studies with 48 correlation coefficients were included in the final analysis. Due to the nested structure of the data, a three-level meta-analytic approach with a restricted maximum likelihood estimator was applied. Alliance assessment phase, alliance rater, alliance measure instrument, and treatment type were tested as potential moderators. Heterogeneity and publication bias test were performed. The meta-analysis showed a small, but significant negative relationship between interpersonal problems at the beginning of psychotherapy and subsequent therapeutic alliance ( = -.12, SE = .02, 95% CI [-.16, -.08], < .001, = -.27). Only alliance assessment phase accounted for significant variability. There were no indications for a substantial publication bias. Interpersonal problems of patients before psychotherapy are a robust predictor for lower therapeutic alliance quality, albeit a small effect size. Consequently, patients who experience interpersonal problems may face greater challenges in developing a strong alliance with their therapists, especially in early stages of the treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The pattern of rupture and repair within therapeutic alliances has been associated with improved outcome. The present study adds to this body of research by examining rupture and repair from a perspective. First, we examined the relationship between mutual recognition of ruptures, rupture intensity, and client ratings of session helpfulness. We then examined client-therapist congruence regarding rupture and repair characteristics and their relation to client ratings of session helpfulness. Data were collected from 90 client-therapist dyads (providing two subsamples of 61 and 45 dyads) during 16 sessions of short-term psychodynamic therapy. Clients and therapists rated the occurrence of ruptures, rupture characteristics, and rupture repair following each session. Clients also rated session helpfulness following each session. We found a significant negative interaction effect, indicating that when clients rated ruptures as more intense, therapist rupture recognition was related to lower client ratings of session helpfulness. Client-therapist congruence in the perception of rupture intensity was positively related to client perceptions of the extent to which ruptures were discussed. Finally, we found a significant positive relationship between client-therapist congruence in their perception of rupture repair and client ratings of session helpfulness. This study demonstrates the significance of the dyadic view of the rupture/repair process. Therapist recognition of ruptures may not be enough to facilitate repair, specifically in ruptures with a high level of intensity. Nevertheless, congruence in intensity is valuable for addressing the rupture within the session, and congruence in repair is valuable for session helpfulness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

To investigate the perceptions of ex-romantic partners regarding the extent to which and ways in which psychotherapy facilitates coping with the consequences of the dissolution of past relationships, a multipart survey (Representations of Past Significant Others) that included Likert-type, multiple-choice, and open-ended questions about the ways in which individuals remember a past significant relationship and the ways in which they have moved toward closure from that relationship was disseminated via social media and networking. An attachment status measure (Experience in Close Relationship Scale-Short Form) was also administered. A total of 1,846 respondents, mean age 30.6 and predominantly White, heterosexual, female, and from the United States, completed the survey, 74.6% of whom attended psychotherapy post breakup. On average, respondents who engaged in therapy following their breakup found it to be moderately to very helpful; younger respondents, those in longer term relationships, and those with higher scores on the Experience in Close Relationship Scale-Short Form Anxiety subscale evaluated the helpfulness of therapy more highly. Multiple clinical interventions were perceived as helpful in coping with romantic breakups, including normalizing respondents' feelings about their experience, encouraging them to be more aware of their feelings, encouraging them to move forward with their lives, reminding them of their strengths, exploring the story of the relationship and the breakup, and challenging their self-critical thoughts or feelings. Understanding who is best served by postbreakup therapy and the specific interventions, psychotherapeutic and otherwise, that move individuals toward closure may facilitate therapists' efforts to help with this common source of client distress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

As the popularity of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) grows, so does its use with increasingly diverse groups of clients. In this article, we demonstrate that DBT in its standard form can incorporate the sequelae of oppression as a target of treatment by providing clients with skills to identify oppression and its impact while responding effectively. To support the use of DBT with individuals experiencing emotion/behavior dysregulation and oppression, we review how each of the primary strategies of DBT can be used within the context of oppression. Specifically, we discuss how dialectical philosophy, the acceptance/change dialectic, communication strategies, and case management strategies can be viewed through an oppression lens. A brief review of DBT research with historically oppressed populations and common pitfalls in treating oppressed individuals is presented. As research in examining and adapting DBT for minoritized groups continues to catch up to clinical need, guidance is presented here for researchers and clinicians interested in using this empirically supported treatment in communities that experience oppression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Trainees often express anxieties when working with clients from different sociocultural backgrounds. Group supervision can provide a space to address such concerns, including managing culturally related countertransference and understanding sociocultural factors in issues faced by clients. This process requires critical consciousness and discussion of trainees' and clients' cultural identities. This study built on research highlighting the positive role of cultural humility in individual supervision and group therapy to examine cultural humility in group supervision and its contribution to trainees' self-efficacy in adapting therapy and managing relationship conflicts with a range of clients (i.e., cultural responsiveness self-efficacy), via sociocultural awareness and minimal cultural concealment about themselves and their clients. Ninety-one master's level counseling trainees in Hong Kong from 18 supervision groups in two training programs completed measures of cultural humility, cultural concealment, sociocultural awareness, and cultural responsiveness self-efficacy. Multilevel modeling indicated that, at the within-trainee level, higher group cultural humility was associated with higher sociocultural awareness and lower cultural concealment about themselves and their clients. Greater sociocultural awareness, but not cultural concealment, was, in turn, linked to higher cultural responsiveness self-efficacy. At the between-trainee level, higher group cultural humility correlated with lower trainee cultural concealment, but not sociocultural awareness, which was associated with cultural responsiveness self-efficacy, although no mediation was observed. This study underscores the value of cultural humility in the context of group supervision. Implications for multicultural group supervision are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The collaborative relationship between a client and therapist, known as the therapeutic alliance, plays an important part in promoting engagement and symptom improvement in adolescent psychotherapy. However, research indicates that alliance strains, called ruptures, are common among this age group, emphasizing the importance of addressing and resolving them for enhanced engagement and better outcomes. Despite this, there is a dearth of age-specific guidelines for effectively fostering a positive alliance and repairing these ruptures. This review examines existing literature to (a) summarize the current understanding of alliance formation in youth psychotherapy, particularly considering the distinct characteristics of working with adolescents, and (b) provide evidence-based recommendations to assist youth therapists in building strong alliances and effectively addressing alliance ruptures with this age group. Existing evidence indicates that while guidance designed for adult therapy can be beneficial, working with adolescents poses unique challenges. These include resistance to treatment, engagement in risky behaviors, confidentiality issues, and parental involvement, which can strain the therapeutic relationship. This emphasizes the importance for youth therapists to understand the unique challenges and developmental stages adolescents face and to adapt their approach accordingly. By doing so, therapists can effectively address the needs of adolescents, fostering a strong alliance and handling any ruptures that may arise. Despite being a relatively new area of study with its inherent limitations, this review underscores the critical role of alliance research in improving therapy for adolescents and guiding the training of therapists who work with this age group. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Cultural humility is an oft-studied construct in psychotherapy and supervision and, as such, has multiple definitions and frameworks and is frequently contextualized as the organizing pillar of the multicultural orientation framework (MCO; alongside cultural comfort and cultural opportunities; Davis et al., 2018; Owen, 2013). Many definitions of cultural humility emphasize a high level of self-awareness, openness to feedback, empathy, and curiosity toward others' cultural experiences (Davis et al., 2018; Foronda et al., 2016; Hook et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2022). Despite empirical evidence linking cultural humility processes, and MCO more generally, to indicators of successful psychotherapy and supervision (e.g., Davis et al., 2018; Wilcox, Drinane, et al., 2022), little guidance exists for how supervisors may assess and foster their supervisees' cultural humility. Drawing from the literature, we delineate what we see as effective pedagogy and assessment of the key ingredients of cultural humility and provide recommendations for how supervisors can use the supervisory relationship to cultivate in their supervisees each of the necessary ingredients. Given cultural humility's key role in the MCO framework, we discuss how the ingredients required for cultural humility lay the groundwork for cultural comfort and cultural opportunities. Supervision vignettes and additional resources for supervisors are included. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

There is a rich history of psychological movements that call upon the field to collaborate with clients to both acknowledge and resist oppression, as well as an increasing emphasis in professional guidelines on conceptualizing clients with attention to the role of the social and physical environment, to contemporary experience with power, privilege, and oppression, and to institutional barriers and related disparities. These calls indicate the need for psychological case conceptualization to move beyond preconceived assessments of which aspects of clients' identities are salient to them, to engage with clients' sociocultural identities as situated within systems of power and oppression, and to engage in advocacy to improve clients' socioenvironmental contexts and to challenge structural oppression. In this article, we attend to the foundational contributions of Black psychology, intersectionality, liberation psychology, Indigenous healing, and radical healing for using case conceptualization to guide structurally responsive and impactful treatment and advocacy. We then present a case example drawn from a composite of clinical encounters that captures client distress interwoven with structural forces such as addiction stigma, intersecting classism and sexism, White privilege, and caregiver leave policies. To demonstrate how to integrate structural forces with theory, we present how this case would be conceptualized utilizing psychodynamic frameworks infused with attention to the ways in which structural forces shape and perpetuate the client's distress. To move from naming to integrating structural competency in case conceptualization, psychotherapy training must address how structural forces shape how client distress develops and is maintained and necessitates advocacy outside of the session. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Meta-analysis has found a significant relation between rupture-repair and client outcome (Eubanks et al., 2018). Rupture-repair processes may be particularly important in psychotherapy for pregnancy loss wherein ruptures related to client feelings of shame and inadequacy, the societal invalidation of perinatal grief, and reenactments in the therapy relationship of early attachment experiences have been theorized to be common and important events (Markin, 2024). Thus, it is important to understand what occurs on a microlevel during the process of therapy to ultimately explain the rupture resolution (RR) and treatment outcome association. In particular, while both the therapist and client are believed to contribute to ruptures and to their repair (Safran & Muran, 2000), little is known about how therapist contributions impact rupture events, rupture resolution, and treatment progress. Further, client reflective functioning (RF) may represent a set of capacities that contribute to and are increased by rupture resolution yet vary depending on the role of the therapist in the rupture. The current investigation examined how observer-rated therapist contribution to ruptures and client RF were related to rupture events, rupture resolution, and client-reported symptom change and session quality over 22 sessions of psychodynamic therapy for pregnancy after loss. Therapist contribution to ruptures predicted rupture significance, high and steady within-session client RF scores, and symptom change. Client RF and rupture resolution predicted symptom change differently, often depending on type of symptom. Importantly, client RF and rupture resolution may predict successful outcomes through ameliorating commonly reported symptoms during pregnancies after loss. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The tripartite model of the therapy relationship, which includes the working alliance, real relationship, and transference-countertransference configuration, has been a useful way to conceptualize the complexity of the connection between a therapist and a client. However, little research has focused on the interrelationships between these three components over time. This study sought to replicate the findings of Bhatia and Gelso (2018) by examining the between-person relationships among each of the three elements averaged across all sessions. Additionally, we extended earlier work by examining the within-person relationship between the working alliance, the real relationship, and transference-countertransference with themselves as well as with each of the other elements across sessions. Using 5,931 sessions across 142 clients and 36 therapists, we examined time-ordered associations among the cocreated working alliance, cocreated real relationship, and the therapist-rated transference-countertransference configuration using latent variable dynamic structural equation modeling. Results replicated the findings of Bhatia and Gelso (2018), demonstrating that in one session, the working alliance and the real relationship were positively related, and both the working alliance and the real relationship were negatively related to the transference-countertransference configuration. Regarding the interrelations over time, the findings revealed that the working alliance in the previous session had a significant and positive relationship with real relationship in the current session, and the real relationship in the previous session was related to reduced transference-countertransference in the current session. These findings provide support for complex interrelations among the components over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Identity concealment thwarts psychological needs of authenticity and belonging, both of which are important for mental health and relationship building. Through the lens of minority stress theory and relational-cultural theory, the present study examined whether identity concealment in the workplace by psychology trainees is indirectly associated with greater burnout and poorer therapeutic relationship quality. To test this hypothesis, a parallel mediation analysis was conducted on data from 335 clinical and counseling psychology doctoral trainees with concealable stigmatized identities using Hayes's (2018) PROCESS macro. As expected, identity concealment at a practicum or internship site was negatively associated with authenticity and belonging, both of which were negatively associated with burnout and positively associated with therapeutic relationship quality. Furthermore, identity concealment was associated with lower therapeutic relationship quality and greater burnout indirectly through lower authenticity and lower belonging. Findings suggest trainees who engage in more identity concealment at their clinical training sites may be at increased risk for burnout and poorer relationships with clients due to limited opportunities for authenticity and belonging. Future research is encouraged to longitudinally examine the impact of identity concealment on professional burnout and relationships, as well as potential protective factors. Such knowledge can support the development of interventions and policies that foster safer, more welcoming work environments for trainees with concealable stigmatized identities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Group supervision is an extensively used format across many training agencies, yet it has been largely disregarded in theory and research within the supervision literature. In fact, the (American Psychological Association, 2015a) mentions group supervision only one time, despite the fact that supervision within a group context includes competencies and considerations that are both unique and essential to the effective and ethical practice of group supervision. Because supervision conducted with multiple supervisees is multilayered and-as a result-more complex, group supervisors need to develop special skills that go beyond the supervision dyad. This article looks to the literature on supervision-both individual and group modalities-and on group psychotherapy to highlight the practices and processes that set group supervision apart. Building upon the seven supervision competencies outlined by the American Psychological Association (Supervisor Competence; Diversity; Supervisory Relationship; Professionalism; Assessment/Evaluation/Feedback; Professional Competence Problems; and Ethical, Legal and Regulatory Considerations), which currently concentrate exclusively on individual supervision, we extend each area to include distinct features of group supervision. We include recommendations for supervisor training and for the application of effective group supervision practices, as well as ideas on how best to approach the formal adoption of group supervision guidelines for psychotherapists. Our hope is that, either in a revision of the or in a freestanding supplement to the guidance for group supervision will be more explicitly included. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Developing affirming interventions for transgender and nonbinary (TNB) therapy clients requires understanding their experiences with microaggressions in psychotherapy, yet no self-report measure of anti-TNB microaggressions in this context exists. Moreover, few studies have tested the associations between anti-TNB microaggressions and therapy processes. To better address the burden of unmet mental health care needs among TNB people, this three-study investigation designed and tested the psychometric properties of the Gender Identity and Expression Microaggressions in Therapy Scale (GIEMTS), a measure of TNB individuals' encounters with microaggressions in psychotherapy. Study 1 ( = 225) identified a four-factor model, comprising the themes of Educational Burdening, Lack of Affirmation, Inflation, and Invalidation. These subscales exhibited strong internal consistency reliabilities and demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity. The results of Study 2 ( = 435) replicated the four-factor structure through confirmatory factor analysis. However, bifactor analysis revealed that the Educational Burdening, Inflation, and Invalidation subscale scores were mostly accounted by a General Anti-TNB Microaggressions scale score-though Lack of Affirmation showed evidence of its independence. Also in Study 2, both scales were uniquely negatively associated with the working alliance. Study 3 ( = 151) found evidence for the test-retest reliability of GIEMTS scores over a 2-3-week period. Overall, the GIEMTS emerged as a robust and psychometrically sound instrument that captures the experiences of TNB individuals in therapy settings. The study concludes with valuable recommendations for training and clinical practice to bolster TNB mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

There have been great strides in psychology regarding diversity, equity, inclusion, and multicultural competence, but a need remains to translate these values into actionable practices in psychotherapy. While the case has been made that measurement-based care is an evidence-based intervention that improves outcomes and reduces dropouts (de Jong et al., 2021) and recently that it provides a transparent collaborative process to engage clients in treatment (Boswell et al., 2023), it has not been widely considered as a methodology for multicultural competence. We trace the evolution of what was once called "patient-focused research" (Lambert, 2001) and identify a significant change in recent writings to include important clinical and collaborative processes, a transition from a strictly normative or nomothetic understanding of the value of feedback to an appreciation of its communicative or idiographic processes. We propose that systematic client feedback promotes a "multicultural orientation" (Owen, 2013) at the individual therapist-client level and that client responses to outcome and process measures can foster cultural humility and create cultural opportunities (Hook et al., 2017) to address marginalization and other sociocultural factors relevant to treatment. Using one system to illustrate what is possible for all feedback approaches, we present client examples that demonstrate an integration of a multicultural orientation. We suggest that systematic client feedback can provide a structure to address diversity, marginalization, and privilege in psychotherapy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).