Bringing Psychotherapy Research to Life: Understanding Change Through the Work of Leading Clinical Researchers

This important volume is both a tribute to the most significant figures in psychotherapy research and a valuable summary of the thrust of their individual contributions. It amounts to a concise yet comprehensive encyclopedia of psychotherapy research in a user-friendly format. A wonderful idea, carried through with verve---and love.---Paul L. Wachtel, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, City College of New York and CUNY Graduate Center

The participants in this landmark volume are the Oscar winners in the field of psychotherapy. Distinguished psychotherapy clinician-researchers all, the authors write appreciatively of their pioneer-mentors' personal odysseys and compellingly describe the outstanding contributions they made to psychotherapy research and clinical practice. In an age of evidence-based practice, this book's demonstration of how research is relevant to the practice of psychotherapy makes it essential reading for researchers and clinicians alike.---Stanley B. Messer, PhD, Dean, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ

This book provides a who's who of psychotherapy research, complete with charming biographies and helpful summaries of the work of the giants of the field. A must-read for whoever wants to know where we are in psychotherapy research and how we got there.---George Stricker, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Argosy University, Washington, DC

Therapists are flooded with data supporting cognitive therapy. Yet substantial process research supports the influence of variables like the working alliance, empathy, emotional deepening, mutually agreed-upon goals, and the therapist's personality. Through this collection of carefully constructed biographies of major psychotherapy researchers, therapists now have easy access to data supporting these less publicized keys to psychotherapeutic change. Each therapist is the medium through which clients find their own abilities to change. Let the authors and editors help clarify what you do and sharpen how you do it.---Bernard D. Beitman, MD, author of The Structure of Individual Psychotherapy and coauthor of Learning Psychotherapy and Counseling and Psychotherapy Essentials.

Many clinicians today are unaware of the implications of psychotherapy research for their practice. Research that can readily be applied may be difficult to find in original empirical papers, and lessons from the larger body of psychotherapy research are not always accessible. Bringing Psychotherapy Research to Life highlights the work of 28 distinguished psychotherapy researchers, showing how their research programs changed the way we think about and practice psychotherapy. While honoring the founders and influential members of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, the book illustrates how research has extended the following questions: What types of patients benefit from therapy? How can relationship problems best be handled? Under which circumstances can emotions be deepened? How does the therapist foster insight? How does the therapist facilitate behavioral change?

This book presents scientifically rich and clinically relevant messages embedded in meaningful stories. By contextualizing the work of luminaries in psychotherapy research, it will appeal to students and practitioners alike, providing both a survey of the field and a resource for fresh research questions. Readers who are primarily associated with a cognitive-behavioral approach will also benefit from an overview of the constructs investigated and empirical methods used by researchers in the humanistic and psychodynamic traditions.

Louis G. Castonguay, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Penn State University, University Park. His work focuses on the process, outcome, and teaching of psychotherapy, as well as on the development of practice-research networks. He has coedited three books: on psychotherapy integration (with Conrad Lecomte), on principles of therapeutic change (with Larry Beutler), and on insight in psychotherapy (with Clara Hill).
J. Christopher Muran, PhD, is associate dean and professor, Derner Institute, Adelphi University, Garden City, New Jersey, and director, Brief Psychotherapy Research Program, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City, New York. His research has concentrated on alliance ruptures and resolution processes and has resulted in several book collaborations, including Negotiating the Therapeutic Alliance, Self-Relations is the Psychotherapy Process, Dialogues on Difference, and Therapeutic Alliance.
Lynne Angus, PhD, is a professor of psychology at New York University in Toronto, Canada. She is the senior editor of the Handbook of Narrative and Psychotherapy (with John McLeod). Her research focuses on the investigation of narrative and emotion processes in psychotherapy, and she has developed the Narrative Processes Coding System (with Heidi Levitt and Karen Hardtke) for application in differing treatment approaches.
Jeffrey A. Hayes, PhD, is a professor of counseling psychology at Penn State University, University Park. His scholarship focuses on the psychotherapy relationship, with an emphasis on therapist factors and the integration of spirituality and psychology. He has coauthored two books with Charles Gelso, The Psychotherapy Relationship and Countertransference and the Therapist's Inner Experience: Perils and Possibilities.
Nicholas Ladany, PhD, is a professor of counseling psychology at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is the author of three books on supervision and training: Critical Events in Psychotherapy Supervision: An Interpersonal Approach; Counselor Supervision: Principles, Process, and Practice; and Practicing Counseling and Psychotherapy: Insights From Trainees, Clients, and Supervisors.
Timothy Anderson, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at Ohio University in Athens. His current research is on the identification of common therapist factors that predict therapy processes and outcome. He is the recipient of the 2004 Distinguished Early Career Award from the International Society for Psychotherapy Research.