We’re motivated by a slew of research questions:
How does psychotherapy work?
Psychotherapy treatments are generally efficacious, but we don’t always know why. By studying the active mechanisms of change, with a particular focus on emotion regulation skills, we hope to streamline our treatments for mood, anxiety, and personality disorders so more people get what they need faster.
Who benefits from different treatment approaches?
That being said, different people may need different things! We’re interested in when it’s important to personalize treatments based on things like patients’ personality dimensions or skill strengths and when the benefits of such personalization is merely incremental.
When is emotion regulation flexibility instability?
Our treatments often teach people a range of skills, but using skills indiscriminately may turn into instability. One of our DBT groups used the catchphrase “Be the kelp!” as a reminder to stay grounded while going with the flow. Some people may need to learn many skills but others may benefit from digging into one or two skills more intensively.
What are people’s strengths and deficits?
Finally, we know people’s strengths when we see them, but how do we quickly and accurately assess them to inform treatment approaches? Do people often have clear strengths and deficits or are most of us similarly skillful at several things? Answering these questions can guide our treatment research and clinical decision-making.