New Psychotherapy Journal Editor Sees ‘Big Tent’ Publication

The American Journal of Psychotherapy, newly acquired by APA, will be a “big tent” with room in its pages for a diversity of ideas and clinical perspectives, according to editor Holly Swartz, M.D.

“I want the journal to be broad enough in scope to encompass publication on a range of psychotherapy modalities and a variety of disorders,” Swartz told Psychiatric News. “I view the American Journal of Psychotherapy as an inclusive journal that is interested in all evidence-supported psychotherapies.”

Although new to APA, the American Journal of Psychotherapy was launched in 1947 and is known for its commitment to clinical relevance. In its new home at APA, the journal will retain its core values, but with a sharper focus on psychotherapeutic process, outcomes, education, and practice, Swartz said.

The online-only journal went live at psychiatryonline.org in April with content dating to its beginning. The journal, which will be published quarterly, will publish its first new content in July.

“Other APA journals publish articles about psychotherapy, but no other journal is devoted entirely to psychotherapy,” she said. “The journal’s well-defined mission permits an in-depth exploration of topics related to psychotherapy that are beyond the scope of other more generalist publications. Contributing authors and readers will have the opportunity to engage fully in pressing psychotherapy issues such as defining core elements of psychotherapies, dissemination of evidence-based practices and making them scalable for use in large populations, understanding mechanisms of change, and evaluating best practices for psychotherapy training and supervision.”

Swartz, who is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, brings to the editorship of the journal a broad and deep understanding of psychotherapy and an international reputation. Her research has focused on optimizing psychosocial treatments for mood disorders, especially interpersonal and social rhythm therapy (IPSRT) and pharmacotherapy in the management of bipolar II depression, and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) in the management of maternal depression both in the perinatal period and in the context of high-risk families with psychiatrically ill children. Currently, Swartz is developing and testing an online version of IPSRT for patients with bipolar disorder in primary care.

Swartz is a graduate of Harvard College and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed her psychiatry residency and a research fellowship at the Payne Whitney Clinic at the New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical Center. Among the honors she has received are the 2005 Gerald L. Klerman Young Investigator Award from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance and the 2009 Klerman Interpersonal Psychotherapy Award from the International Society for Interpersonal Psychotherapy for her outstanding research accomplishments. Her publication on brief psychotherapy for maternal depression was cited by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation as one of the Top 10 Advancements and Breakthroughs in 2016 by NARSAD grantees.

Swartz enthusiastically solicits contributions from members. She said the journal will be adding some new formats—clinical case discussions and a column titled “Psychotherapy Tools”—to increase the scope and relevance of the journal.

Clinical case discussions are disguised accounts of psychotherapeutic treatments to explore ideas that may help advance the practice or understanding of psychotherapy. Clinical case discussions go beyond simple case reports by using the disguised case material to illustrate an important theoretical, clinical, or conceptual issue.

The column “Psychotherapy Tools” describes, reviews, or illustrates technical aspects of psychotherapy practice that can be used to improve or evaluate psychotherapeutic treatments. Examples include novel interventions with case vignettes to illustrate salient clinical points and a critique of distance-learning strategies for psychotherapy training. 

She said that the American Journal of Psychotherapy is the ideal vehicle to disseminate knowledge about psychotherapy to APA members and to send a message to colleagues around the world that psychotherapy remains firmly within the purview of psychiatry.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to ensure that APA members will have up-to-date, state-of-the-art information about psychotherapy,” Swartz said. “In the past few decades, psychotherapy has been receiving less emphasis in psychiatric training and practice, to the detriment of our profession and clinical practice. It is critically important that our professional society embrace and promote the theory, science, and evidence-based practice of psychotherapy.” ■