Recent works by faculty members Robert Mendelsohn, Joel Weinberger, Jairo N. Fuertes, Jacques Barber and J. Christopher Muran burnish the Derner School鈥檚 reputation as a world leader in psychoanalytic research.
Robert Mendelsohn, PhD
Is Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, still relevant today? While most psychology students agree that Freud鈥檚 work on talk therapy was groundbreaking, they tend to believe that many of his theories of development are hopelessly out-of-date. That鈥檚 a belief that Robert Mendelsohn, PhD, professor of psychology, wants to dispel.
鈥淎s I tell my students, Freud was ahead of his time in many ways,” Dr. Mendelsohn said. 鈥淗e understood some basic differences between men and women before we understood the chromosomal differences between the sexes. He also understood sexuality, sexual identity and the whole concept of binary versus nonbinary. But, at the same time, he was sexist and naive about other cultures. We have to put some of his ideas aside even though others are useful.”
In 2021, Dr. Mendelsohn published听Freudian Thought for the Contemporary Clinician: A Primer on Psychoanalytic Theory听(Routledge),1 based on the course he teaches to first-year candidates in 糖心破解版鈥檚 clinical psychology doctoral program. He is one of several faculty members in 糖心破解版鈥檚 Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology鈥攔anked fourth in the world in the topic area of psychology psychoanalysis by the Center for World University Rankings鈥攚ho have written or contributed to key scholarly works over the past two years. Other titles include Joel Weinberger, PhD鈥檚听The Unconscious: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications听(Guilford Press, 2021) and Jairo N. Fuertes, PhD鈥檚听The Other Side of Psychotherapy: Understanding Clients鈥� Experiences and Contributions in Treatment听(American Psychological Association, 2022).
J. Christopher Muran, PhD
What makes the Derner School unique, according to J. Christopher Muran, PhD, the school鈥檚 interim dean, is its emphasis on psychodynamic therapy. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been a leader in psychodynamic therapy since the 1950s,” he said. 鈥淎nd over the past four decades, we鈥檝e made a significant contribution to the psychotherapy integration movement, which involves combining techniques from a variety of therapeutic models. That鈥檚 very unusual for a university.”
Dr. Muran collaborated with Jacques Barber, PhD, dean of the Derner School, on a revised chapter on psychodynamic therapy in听Bergin and Garfield鈥檚 Handbook of Psychotherapy and BehaviorChange, 7th Edition听(Wiley, 2021), widely considered the essential reference volume for psychotherapy research.
Jacques Barber, PhD
鈥淭his is a significant tribute to Dr. Barber鈥檚 work,” Dr. Muran said, adding that Dr. Barber was recognized with the International Society for Psychotherapy Research Distinguished Research Career Award in 2014. 鈥淏eing asked to author this chapter in the last two editions is an acknowledgment of his premier status in the field.”
When it was originally written in 2013, the chapter served as an in-depth discussion of the efficacy of psychodynamic therapy, a psychoanalytic approach that places an emphasis on the relationship between the analyst and patient. Drs. Barber and Muran, along with several of their students, conducted multiple meta-analyses of existing research on the efficacy of dynamic therapy for depression, anxiety disorders and personality disorders.
The newly revised chapter updates the research their team conducted a decade ago. 鈥淚t includes three new meta-analyses demonstrating that psychodynamic therapy is indeed efficacious for these disorders,” Dr. Muran said. 鈥淚t also reviews the empirical literature on various factors related to treatment success and various change mechanisms, such as the therapeutic alliance.”
According to Dr. Muran, recent work by other Derner School professors is also expanding the field鈥檚 body of knowledge. He pointed particularly to Dr. Mendelsohn鈥檚 book on Freud, which illustrates the potential application of Freud鈥檚 ideas to issues psychotherapists face today. Using Freud鈥檚 writing from 1895 to 1923 as a framework, Dr. Mendelsohn charts Freud鈥檚 creation of psychotherapy as well as the development of theories that have influenced generations of clinicians鈥攁nd aided their patients. 鈥淏efore Freud, neurosis was considered an incurable illness or a defect in one鈥檚 character,” Dr. Mendelsohn said. 鈥淗e showed us that it is not only understandable, but fixable.”
Although many early-stage doctoral students have read about Freud, Dr. Mendelsohn noted, it鈥檚 rare that they have delved into his writings. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e often surprised that Freud was ahead of his contemporaries when it came to gender and sexuality; he wrote extensively about topics others considered taboo. The purpose of this book鈥攐f all my work, really鈥攊s to show that Freud wasn鈥檛 just a revolutionary in his time. He still is today.”
1 Mendelsohn, Robert.听Freudian Thought for the Contemporary Clinician: A Primer on Psychoanalytic Theory.听Routledge, 2022.
2 Barber, Jacques P, and J. Christopher Muran, Kevin S McCarthy, et al. 鈥淩esearch on Dynamic Therapies.”听Bergin and Garfield鈥檚 Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change, 7th, edited by Michael Barkham, Wolfgang Lutz, and Louis G. Castonguay. Wiley, 2021.