Assignment 1: Applying Current Literature to Clinical Practice

Literature in psychotherapy differs from other areas of clinical practice. Generally, there are no clinical trials in psychotherapy because it is often neither appropriate nor ethical to have controls in psychotherapy research. This sometimes makes it more difficult to translate research findings into practice. In your role, however, you must be able to synthesize current literature and apply it to your own clients. For this Assignment, you begin practicing this skill by examining current literature on psychodynamic therapy and considering how it might translate into your own clinical practice.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Evaluate the application of current literature to clinical practice

To prepare:

Review this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on the insights they provide.

Select one of the psychodynamic therapy articles from the Learning Resources to evaluate for this Assignment.

Note: In nursing practice, it is not uncommon to review current literature and share findings with your colleagues. Approach this Assignment as though you were presenting the information to your colleagues.

The Assignment

In a 5- to 10-slide PowerPoint presentation, address the following:

Provide an overview of the article you selected.

What population is under consideration? Couple

What was the specific intervention that was used? Is this a new intervention or one that was already used?

What were the author’s claims?

Explain the findings/outcomes of the study in the article. Include whether this will translate into practice with your own clients. If so, how? If not, why?

Explain whether the limitations of the study might impact your ability to use the findings/outcomes presented in the article. Support your position with evidence-based literature.

Note: The presentation should be 5–10 slides, not including the title and reference slides. Include presenter notes (no more than ½ page per slide) and use tables and/or diagrams where appropriate. Be sure to support your work with specific citations from the article you selected. Support your approach with evidence-based literature.

Aznar-Martinez, B., Perez-Testor, C., Davins, M., & Aramburu, I. (2016). Couple psychoanalytic psychotherapy as the treatment of choice: Indications, challenges, and benefits. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 33(1), 1–20. doi:10.1037/a0038503