James Herbert

Autistic-spectrum disorders are among the most enigmatic forms of developmental disability. Although the cause of autism is largely unknown, recent advances point to the importance of genetic factors and early environmental insults, and several promising behavioral, educational, and psychopharmacologic interventions have been developed. Nevertheless, several factors render autism especially vulnerable to pseudoscientific theories of etiology and to intervention approaches with

Innovative approaches are urgently needed to improve behavioral treatment for weight loss. The weight regain that is so common after treatment may be a result of an environment that makes it challenging to adhere, long-term, to a dietary and physical activity regimen. This study was designed to test, via a 12-week open trial, the preliminary feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness, and possible

The gold-standard treatment for OCD is exposure and ritual prevention (ERP), yet despite its well-established efficacy, only a small percentage of OCD patients have access to this treatment. Remote treatments (e.g., videoconferencing) are becoming increasingly popular avenues for treatment delivery and show promise in increasing patient access to evidence-based mental health care. The current pilot study utilized an open trial to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of videoconference-mediated, twice weekly, ERP for adults (n=15) with OCD. Results revealed that ERP was associated with significant improvements in OCD symptoms and large within-group effect sizes. Among the 10 individuals who completed a 3-month follow-up assessment, 30% of participants no longer met DSM-IV-TR criteria for OCD and 80% of participants were rated as very much or much improved on the CGI. This study adds to the growing body of literature suggesting that videoconference-based interventions are ...

Autistic-spectrum disorders are among the most enigmatic forms of developmental disability. Although the cause of autism is largely unknown, recent advances point to the importance of genetic factors and early environmental insults, and several promising behavioral, educational, and psychopharmacologic interventions have been developed. Nevertheless, several factors render autism especially vulnerable to pseudoscientific theories of etiology and to intervention approaches with

ABSTRACT This study assessed the relationship between acceptance-based constructs and quality of life (QOL) among patients with an eating disorder, as well as whether an acceptance-based treatment group could improve QOL. Patients (n=105) at a residential treatment center received treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU plus twice-weekly acceptance and commitment therapy groups (TAU+ACT), and completed assessments at admission and discharge. Higher scores on several acceptance-related constructs at admission were associated with better psychological QOL, and pre- to post-treatment improvements in the ability to defuse from distressing internal experiences were associated with improved QOL. However, no differences in pre- to post-treatment changes in QOL were observed between treatment conditions. These results suggest that while some acceptance-related variables (e.g. defusion, impulse control, access to emotion regulation skills) may contribute to QOL, ACT does not appear to incrementally improve these variables or QOL beyond standard treatment programs. Additional research is needed to evaluate whether ACT may confer greater benefit for improving QOL in an outpatient setting where patients have more opportunity to utilize ACT skills, or when a stronger dose of treatment is administered.

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) has been demonstrated in a number of randomized controlled trials to be efficacious as an adjunctive treatment for psychotic disorders. Emerging evidence suggests the usefulness of CBT interventions that incorporate acceptance/mindfulness-based approaches for this population. The current study extended previous research by Bach and Hayes (2002. The use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to prevent the

We evaluated the impact of three factors that have been suggested to be important determinants of the diagnostic process pertaining to personal- ity disorders: (a) the number of features representative of a personality disorder category; (b) the extent to which those features are typical of the category, and (c) the dominance or proportion of category features to the total number

Self-efficacy is a potentially useful concept when applied to Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). The aims of the current study were to examine the psychometric properties of the Self- Efficacy for Social Situations Scale (SESS; Gaudiano and Herbert, 2003) and to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy and anxiety in an adolescent sample with generalized SAD. Results replicated those found in a

Although various pharmacological treatments are available for persons suffering with positive psychotic symptoms, these symptoms often continue to occur even when medications are taken. Traditional psychosocial methods such as family therapy and cognitive-behavioral ...