Two Leading Psychotherapy Journals Join Forces

Two psychotherapy journals—the American Journal of Psychotherapy and the Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research—are merging.

Until now, the Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research has been published by APA through its publishing division. As part of the merger agreement, the journal will be absorbed into the American Journal of Psychotherapy, which is published by the Association for the Advancement of Psychotherapy in the Bronx, N.Y.

The editor of the American Journal of Psychotherapy will continue to be T. Byram Karasu, M.D., chair of psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y. Jerald Kay, M.D., chair of psychiatry at Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, and former APA President Allan Tasman, M.D., were coeditors of the Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research. They will now serve as associate editors of the American Journal of Psychotherapy.

The merger is expected to be advantageous for several reasons. For instance, the content of both journals should complement each other, Kay pointed out. The clinical research manuscripts that the Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research published have been extensively cited throughout the psychotherapy literature. These types of articles will now be included in the American Journal of Psychotherapy, which has not emphasized psychotherapy research.

Psychotherapy should profit also from the merger, considering how beleaguered it has been in recent years by managed care. “We hope that the merger will provide a strong new voice reflecting the vitality of the practice of psychotherapy,” Kay asserted.

Karasu commented, “In this age of extraordinary progress in neuroscience and its contribution to the practice of psychiatry, we hope the journal will continue to be a source of knowledge in the field of psychotherapy, reminding us that we have brains as well as minds and psyche, and that the best practitioners are informed of, and attentive to, their patients as people, not just as diagnostic entities.”

Another advantage of the merger, explained Ron McMillen, chief executive officer of American Psychiatric Publishing Inc., is that APA members will gain access to the American Journal of Psychotherapy–Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research combination at a considerable discount over what the Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research alone used to cost: the annual subscription rate will be $60 versus $90.

The American Journal of Psychotherapy is published four times a year. The annual subscription cost for APA members is $60. Subscription information is available by writing to the American Journal of Psychotherapy, Belfer Center, Room 405, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, N.Y. 10461, or calling (718) 430-3503. ▪