PsycCRITIQUES Blog

Has Positive Psychology Come Into Its Own?

In his review of editor Shane Lopez's two-volume set The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology, Harris Friedman contends that the field of positive psychology is not developed enough nor distinct enough from humanistic psychology to warrant an encyclopedia. What is your view of this? Friedman later critiques the field of positive psychology as having "emerged as a repackaged product that has been aggressively marketed and has achieved amazing success as a result."

Do you believe these claims are fair? Has Friedman adequately and accurately considered the scope of research, scholarly output, and cross-discipline work to other fields that positive psychology has accomplished over the last 10 years? Most important, do you believe there is more that needs to be done to bridge gaps and collaborations between positive psychology and humanistic psychology?

Read the Review

Positive Psychology From A to W
By Harris L. Friedman
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2009 Vol 54(35)

Emerson's Advice on Staying Creative Through Life's Ups and Downs

In First We Read, Then We Write: Emerson on the Creative Process, biographer Robert Richardson draws from Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays and journals and shares Emerson's advice on creativity and productivity in thought and writing. Throughout the book, Richardson presents us with an essential tension between the Emerson who insisted on nonconformity and originality, versus "…another side (of Emerson), a side where both his feet are planted in everyday reality, a side of him that often sounds overwhelmed, sometimes desperate, but always determined" (p. 3). In my review of the book, I discussed this tension, and the necessity for determination even in the face of desperation, as it may apply to a life and career in psychology. I shared a little of my own struggle to maintain interest and creativity in my work as my career path led me to a non-tenured, soft-money job—not the destination I envisioned as a student, but one that has held more possibilities for interesting work than I had imagined. Emerson's insistence that we rely not just on literature but on close observation of nature to generate ideas, and that we push forward with our work on the darkest days, resonated deeply with my experience.

What has your experience been? Has your career—whether you are still in graduate school or well beyond—brought setbacks and disappointments, or perhaps simply unexpected changes in direction? If so, have you found ways to maintain or rekindle interest and regain direction? Does Emerson's call for originality and bravery especially in the worst of times inspire you, or does it feel naive and unrealistic given the professional realities you encounter?

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"Whence Is Your Power?" What Psychologists Can Learn From Ralph Waldo Emerson
      By Jeffrey Noel
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2009 Vol 54(41)

What Does Psychology Need?

In the review of Personality Theories: Critical Perspectives, by Albert Ellis and Mike Abrams (with Lidia D. Abrams), Simon Boag comments on the presentation of Ellis's Rational Emotive Behavioral Theory of Personality. Boag notes that "despite Ellis's numerous contributions to psychology (see Farley, 2009), it is difficult to really say that Ellis contributes a novel 'theory' of personality per se." Boag describes the presentation of Ellis's work as an attempt to synthesize and integrate components of other theories with cognitive theories. At this moment in our history, what is required to move behavioral science forward?

Is psychology ready for another "grand theory" of personality and behavior or do we need better integration of existing theories?

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Does Psychology Really Need Another Personality Textbook?
By Simon Boag
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2009 Vol 54(41)

Standards for Self-Help Recommendations

We are increasingly focused on the evidence base for therapeutic treatments and interventions, as well as the translation of that evidence into practice. Brandon A. Gaudiano and Lily A. Brown note in Back to Life, Back to Normality: Cognitive Therapy, Recovery, and Psychosis that "often, it is assumed that because a book is based on an evidence-based psychotherapy, it is acceptable to present the same principles in a self-help format as they are thought to be safe and effective, even if a bit watered down (Redding, Herbert, Forman, & Gaudiano, 2008)."

In an environment that increasingly requests the evidence base for therapies and interventions, what is required to proceed with self-help recommendations? Do psychology and other mental health professions have a responsibility to develop an evidence base that addresses self-help recommendations, or are these reasonable dissemination efforts based on general therapeutic knowledge?

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Self-Administered Cognitive Therapy for Psychosis: Untapped Potential or Premature Promotion?
      By Brandon A. Gaudiano [and] Lily A. Brown
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2009 Vol 54(41)

Are Bound Dictionaries Obsolete in the Age of the Internet?

Reviewing the new APA College Dictionary of Psychology, Dana Dunn notes "This dictionary may well be one of the few resources that psychology students will keep and consult throughout their academic careers. As a relatively modest investment, it is to be recommended highly."

But are students really likely to use a paper dictionary, or is the Internet a juggernaut that will eventually make all such reference books obsolete?

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Defining the Discipline for the Student Audience: A Concise and Direct College Dictionary
      By Dana S. Dunn
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2009 Vol 54(37)

Video Self-Modeling: Another Useful Strategy for Helping Children with Autism?

In the book Seeing Is Believing: Video Self-Modeling for People With Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, Tom Buggey describes video self-modeling (VSM) as a tool for modifying behavior by having children watch themselves enact a behavior correctly and/or at a slightly more advanced level. Video clips used for this intervention are drawn either from role plays or through a process of editing video to target positive behaviors captured during natural observation. The theoretical underpinning of VSM draws heavily from Bandura's social learning theory.

Reviewers Jeanne M. Slattery and MollyJill Smrekar raise concerns about VSM's limited evidence-base, use of single-subject designs, and the author's request for users of VSM to submit their own research to his website. They surmise that research findings submitted to the website "will be overrepresented by positive outcomes and, if he uses them as testimonials … he is likely to add to the hype to which parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders are exposed."

How valid is this concern? What are the benefits and/or drawbacks of having VSM users submit their findings to the author's website?

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Hype or Interesting Lead? Video Self-Modeling for People With Autism
By Jeanne M. Slattery [and] MollyJill Smrekar
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2009 Vol 54(33)

What Role Do Psychologists Play in the Current Health Care Debate?

Would a healthier U.S. population lead to improvements in our current health care crisis? If so, what is the best role for psychologists working in medical settings such as primary care practices? These questions are not directly addressed in Hunter et al.'s Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care: Step-by-Step Guidance for Assessment and Intervention or Jeff Reiter's PsycCRITIQUES review of the book, however, considering the challenging times facing the U.S. health care, it is difficult to not draw relevant connections. In his review, Reiter discusses how psychologists who wish to work in primary care must learn to adapt to the mission and culture of primary care by conducting briefer consultations and seeing a wider variety of patients than the typical psychologist.

Would integrating behavioral health more seamlessly in all primary care clinics contribute in any way to fixing a part of the broken health care system? If all U.S. primary care clinics had a trained behavioral health generalist on staff to see every patient that sees a physician, what impact might this have on the health of the U.S. population and the system that tries to care for it?

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The Right Book at the Right Time
By Jeff Reiter
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2009 Vol 54(33)

Are Medical Schools and Other Academic Health Centers Good Places for Psychologists to Work?

Scott Temple, reviewing Faculty Health in Academic Medicine: Physicians, Scientists, and the Pressures of Success, notes,

Anyone working on the faculty of an American academic medical center will resonate with the thesis of this book: Increasing workloads in a disintegrating, chaotic, and dehumanizing health care system are leading to ever higher rates of faculty dissatisfaction. Demands for increased clinical and grant productivity leave little time for the rich range of teaching and scholarly activities that draw physicians and doctoral faculty to academic medical centers. Concerns with economic survival increasingly trump the humanitarian mission of academic medicine, as the art of listening is supplanted by the demand for more relative value units.

Are academic medical centers good places for early career psychologists to begin their careers?

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Faculty Burnout in Academic Medical Centers: New Efforts Toward Its Amelioration
By Scott Temple
      PsycCRITIQUES, 2009 Vol 54(33)