Clinical Evidence, Triangulation of Perspectives and Contextualization. Part 1: The Beginning of Carla's Treatment

We propose to critically evaluate and strengthen the level of clinical evidence in psychoanalysis, using a strategy of triangulating clinical phenomena from different perspectives and increasing contextual knowledge. Insufficient discussion of alternative hypotheses and limited contextual information are two Achilles heels of psychoanalytic case presentations. We examine the concept and quality standards of clinical evidence in psychoanalysis and related disciplines, with particular attention to the contribution of the three-level model (3-LM). We analyze the case of a patient treated with transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP), making explicit the theoretical-clinical agreements and disagreements of the authors. We discuss the strengths and limitations of triangulation and contextualization, concluding that they make clinical work and psychoanalytic writing more reliable, transparent, auditable, and replicable.

Counseling Across Cultures: A Half-Century Assessment

As the Special Issue of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology celebrates the 50th anniversary of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP), this article aims to summarize and track the development of counseling and psychotherapy in cultural contexts over the past half-century. When the edited volume, Counseling Across Cultures (CAC) first appeared nearly half a century ago, it sent an innovative message that culture matters in counseling and psychotherapy. The CAC editors produced six more updated editions in the succeeding years by 2016. The CAC authors examined the cultural context of accurate assessment, meaningful understanding of culture-relevant concepts, and appropriate interventions in each of the seven editions. They have surveyed universal and cultural aspects of counseling and psychotherapy according to such themes as emic and etic approaches to models of mental health, therapeutic relationships and techniques, assessment and interventions, and training needs against the IACCP’s ever-growing academic and professional activities. Research on the cultural adaptation of specific psychotherapies for specific clients should enhance access to culturally sensitive and evidence-based assessments and interventions. The need for training in multicultural awareness is expected to accelerate in the age of rapid globalization. This article affirms the contribution of the foundation-building approaches of CAC and the need for developing the interface between cross-cultural psychology and related clinical and counseling fields.