Section Leadership
We asked board members to comment on what’s exciting, important, or compelling to them about psychotherapy science. Here's what they had to say...
Dr. Wonjin Sim - Current Chair
"As a psychologist who was trained in a scientist practitioner program and is currently teaching in a practitioner scholar program, science of psychotherapy informs and guides my training/supervision and practice and I believe practice and training without understanding of science can be dangerous and unethical as we can see in the history of conversion therapy. One of the most exciting moments in my job is when I talk to my family/friends and fellow counseling psychologists about some societal issues (like discriminations and many isms) and get new research ideas."
Dr. Norah Chapman - Treasurer
"I am intrigued by how we can promote evidence based practices for the diverse range of individuals, groups, and couples through monitoring psychotherapy outcome and the alliance every session. As someone in a training role, I get excited thinking about how we can use psychotherapy science to help students receive immediate feedback about their approach providing services as well as promoting a therapeutic alliance, to increase trainees' effectiveness as well as privilege the voices of clients in treatment."
Dr. Margit Berman - Past Chair
"Understanding what works and how in psychotherapy helps us help our clients, but it also excites me as a social psychologist because of the insights it can lend to how human beings communicate, help each other, and heal from pain. Psychotherapy science can also help us build a socially just world: we have the opportunity to study and advance ideas that address health and mental health disparities and empower clients to advocate for themselves and others more effectively."
Dr. Zac Imel - Past Chair
"I like hard problems. While there is a great deal of evidence that psychotherapy works quite well, we know comparatively little about how it works. Determining how it is that a conversation can lead to decreases in emotional distress, and improvements in quality of life is a tremendously complex and fascinating problem. The resulting data are beautifully messy and massive, consisting of millions of words, sounds, and interacting body-positions that combine into the tapestry of psychotherapy. I am excited about combining insights from clinical experience and psychological science with new technologies to move our understanding of psychotherapy forward."
Dr. Jill Paquin - Past Chair
"Evidence-based practice' and 'empirically supported treatment' are not interchangeable terms. Evidence-based practice means basing one's practice on the best available empirical research (and therefore, understanding it), using best practice and other clinical guidelines, attending to client values and preferences, and using our clinical judgment to help people in their efforts to grow, change, or heal. Needless to say, I am passionate about educating trainees and other clinicians about what being an evidence-based practitioner actually means in both individual and group work. Additionally, I love teaching and collaborating with trainees and clinicians on how to be "local clinical scientists" in their own work -- a process through which clinicians (or the systems in which they work) gather data during the therapy process to determine if and how their interventions are helping (or not helping). I think my passion for the science of psychotherapy, including practice-based evidence comes from my social justice values. I believe that everyone should have access to good, competent, helpful care; that those with the most power in society should be held accountable for their methods; and that empirical research is limited in its generalizability to historically under-researched and underserved populations, thus making practice-based evidence particularly important for clinicians as it helps us monitor how our treatment approach is impacting clients."
Lee, Nicholas - Member at Large
"As a psychologist who was trained in a scientist practitioner program and is currently teaching in a practitioner scholar program, science of psychotherapy informs and guides my training/supervision and practice and I believe practice and training without understanding of science can be dangerous and unethical as we can see in the history of conversion therapy. One of the most exciting moments in my job is when I talk to my family/friends and fellow counseling psychologists about some societal issues (like discriminations and many isms) and get new research ideas."
Dr. Norah Chapman - Treasurer
"I am intrigued by how we can promote evidence based practices for the diverse range of individuals, groups, and couples through monitoring psychotherapy outcome and the alliance every session. As someone in a training role, I get excited thinking about how we can use psychotherapy science to help students receive immediate feedback about their approach providing services as well as promoting a therapeutic alliance, to increase trainees' effectiveness as well as privilege the voices of clients in treatment."
Dr. Margit Berman - Past Chair
"Understanding what works and how in psychotherapy helps us help our clients, but it also excites me as a social psychologist because of the insights it can lend to how human beings communicate, help each other, and heal from pain. Psychotherapy science can also help us build a socially just world: we have the opportunity to study and advance ideas that address health and mental health disparities and empower clients to advocate for themselves and others more effectively."
Dr. Zac Imel - Past Chair
"I like hard problems. While there is a great deal of evidence that psychotherapy works quite well, we know comparatively little about how it works. Determining how it is that a conversation can lead to decreases in emotional distress, and improvements in quality of life is a tremendously complex and fascinating problem. The resulting data are beautifully messy and massive, consisting of millions of words, sounds, and interacting body-positions that combine into the tapestry of psychotherapy. I am excited about combining insights from clinical experience and psychological science with new technologies to move our understanding of psychotherapy forward."
Dr. Jill Paquin - Past Chair
"Evidence-based practice' and 'empirically supported treatment' are not interchangeable terms. Evidence-based practice means basing one's practice on the best available empirical research (and therefore, understanding it), using best practice and other clinical guidelines, attending to client values and preferences, and using our clinical judgment to help people in their efforts to grow, change, or heal. Needless to say, I am passionate about educating trainees and other clinicians about what being an evidence-based practitioner actually means in both individual and group work. Additionally, I love teaching and collaborating with trainees and clinicians on how to be "local clinical scientists" in their own work -- a process through which clinicians (or the systems in which they work) gather data during the therapy process to determine if and how their interventions are helping (or not helping). I think my passion for the science of psychotherapy, including practice-based evidence comes from my social justice values. I believe that everyone should have access to good, competent, helpful care; that those with the most power in society should be held accountable for their methods; and that empirical research is limited in its generalizability to historically under-researched and underserved populations, thus making practice-based evidence particularly important for clinicians as it helps us monitor how our treatment approach is impacting clients."
Lee, Nicholas - Member at Large