Therapists/Clinicians

ADAA had the chance to chat with the 2023 Donald F. Klein awardee, Emily L. Belleau, PhD, and the 2022 awardee, Sage E. Hawn, PhD, about the award and what it means to each of them. Speaking together, the two clinicians were an impressive duo, each with her own set of skills, knowledge and study, working on separate but incredibly meaningful and valuable research. Both Dr. Hawn and Dr. Belleau expressed the importance of being recognized by ADAA for their work and the significance of their studies.

We’ve all wished at times that we could have a therapist in our pockets. Digital mental health interventions are bringing us closer to making this a reality.

Starting an intensive outpatient program (IOP) can be a powerful step in helping individuals achieve lasting change in their mental health and well-being. However, for therapists, the planning and implementation process can be daunting.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can affect people of all races, color, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, sexual orientation and/or different cultural backgrounds, and culture can have a large influence on how someone might perceive or report their symptoms.

Subtypes are helpful in normalizing symptoms for OCD sufferers and even for diagnosing purposes.  And it is common for OCD sufferers to have multiple subtypes. 

Inconsistent results across studies present a challenge not only for conceptual understanding of clinical symptoms but also for advancing treatment

As the Executive Director of ADAA, I am always thrilled when we realize our work is making a difference and that we are reaching farther and wider. So, when the Hadassah Foundation, a mental health organization in Cameroon, contacted ADAA with a request to access our free member-created, publicly available, evidence-based resources, we not only acquiesced, we collaborated.  

With the emergence of I-CBT (which is not new, just new to many of us), we have additional options (for treating OCD). This does not mean we are throwing away other effective treatments like ERP and ACT. In fact, we are doing the opposite!  We have more tools  to provide clients to make sure they have the highest chance for success.

It was one year ago in the month of July that Aaron Beck, MD, the founder of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) passed away. I write this blog post as a memorial to one of the great minds of our times and to acknowledge the tremendous impact Dr.Beck had on the field of psychotherapy.