My research career began with the Mount  Zion Psychotherapy Research Group founded by Harold Sampson and Joseph  Weiss in the early 1970s (now known as the San Francisco Psychotherapy  Research Group).  The topic that always intrigued me and continues to be  the primary focus of my research is studying how psychotherapy works.   Examples of research studies that my colleagues and I carried out can be  found on the Publications page.

Current studies.  There  are three areas of research that we are currently focusing on. The  first is patient feedback and how feedback immediately following therapy  sessions can be used to improve treatment effectiveness (this work is  being carried out at the SFPRG clinic under the direction of  John  Snyder; click here to see our recent study).  The second is on the development of a  pathogenic belief scale and to assess how pathogenic beliefs mediate the  impact of early traumatic experiences (our recent publication can be  found here).   Finally, John Curtis and I are continuing our work on improving the  reliability of individualized case formulations and to make our approach  – the plan formulation method – accessible to a wider audience of  clinicians and researchers.

Please contact me if you would like more information on our research studies or would like to explore possible collaboration.