‘So you did what you wanted then’: Discourse analysis,personal agency,and psychotherapy

This paper explores issues concerning personal agency in discursive psychology and discourse analysis, with a particular emphasis on agency in terms of motivational accounts of the person. Issues are discussed in relation to the efficacy, acceptability, and accessibility of discourse analytic research for the practising psychotherapist. We suggest that such an approach may raise problems in four areas. First, we argue that without explicit theorization of the subject as language user, discourse analysis may be vulnerable to the charge of determinism. Second, theorization of the subject as language user may be required to account successfully for individual consistency and continuity of identity. Third, although claiming to critique commonsense notions of subjectivity, implicit dualist assumptions facilitate a reading of discursive psychology that is compatible with a motivational model of the person. Finally, we argue that discursive psychology itself implies a particular model of the strategically motivated language user. We conclude that, although these issues require clarification, discursive psychology and discourse analysis have much to offer psychotherapy research.     

心理治疗循证实践中“证据”的四个基本问题

循证实践正在成为西方心理治疗发展的主流方向。但如何理解循证实践的"证据"仍是见仁见智。部分社会大众甚至心理学专家仅将"循证"当作一种"修辞"或"时尚",顾名思义地界定"证据",或按主观信仰随意地选择与应用"证据"。文章以"证据"为研究焦点,试图建构系统理解"证据"的全面图景,探讨了心理治疗循证实践中关于"证据"的4个基本问题:(1)从历史考察与理论分析的视角出发,探讨了"心理治疗为什么需要证据";(2)从证据的类型范围、生产者及存在形式三个视角,描述了"心理治疗存在哪些证据";(3)从证据的科学程度、研究设计的严谨程度及解决实践问题的契合程度出发,阐述了"哪些证据才是好的证据";(4)从6个步骤推广证据及创新研究设计两个方面展开,分析了"在现实世界中如何推广与应用证据"。     

Challenges in Developing a Cultural Evidence‐Based Psychotherapy in the USA: Suggestions for International Studies

In this article, we underscore some of the cultural challenges and limitations of the evidence‐based psychotherapy (EBP) utilised within the USA with the hope that these problems will be avoided or ameliorated in Australia and other countries. Although the EBP research is very diverse and complex, we categorise this fast‐growing literature using a threefold classification system that underscores culture. This classification system is proposed to examine the influence of culture on EBPs. The three categories used are (a) universal evidence‐based psychotherapies or universal psychotherapies, (b) race and ethnic minority evidence‐based psychotherapies or racial/ethnic psychotherapies, and (c) cultural evidence‐based psychotherapies or cultural psychotherapies. After each category is described, its benefits and limitations are discussed, emphasising implications for culturally diverse and international studies. We conclude with suggestions to promote the advancement of a more effective and inclusive cultural EBP in which researchers from different countries can collaborate and learn from each other.     

An Overview of Directions in Psychotherapy Integration Research

In general, empirical research in psychotherapy integration has lagged behind the growing theoretical and clinical interest in the field. Even though many of the theoretically integrative treatment models currently available are based on empirical findings and clinical observations, the models themselves remain, for the most part, untested. Rigorous examination of integrative psychological theories and therapeutic programs is a necessary and useful way to increase our understanding of the process of psychotherapy and establish the efficacy and effectiveness of integrative therapies. The present article explores five different research areas in the field of psychotherapy integration, discussing several published studies in each area. The utility of this research for practicing clinicians is also discussed. Additional investigations in these areas and others are encouraged, with the goals of greater understanding of psychotherapy, as well as the further development and acceptance of integrative approaches.