Release date: March 29, 2002
Contact: Nancy Seideman, Director, Media Relations,
at 404-727-0640 or nseidem@emory.edu

Psychology Professor Establishes Journal to Examine Mental Health Practices

Unsubstantiated and unorthodox psychological and psychiatric treatments will undergo closer scrutiny with the upcoming launch of "The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice," a new academic journal founded and edited by Emory psychology associate professor Scott Lilienfeld.

The journal focuses on the impartial, scientific investigation of novel, controversial or untested claims concerning mental health treatments while seeking to narrow the widening gap between mental health science and actual practice.

"The journal is devoted to distinguishing science from pseudoscience in clinical psychology," says Lilienfeld, who recently published a paper questioning the validity of Rorschach ink-blot tests. For example, an upcoming article will explore the case of a Colorado girl who was smothered to death while receiving a controversial "re-birthing" procedure last year that was intended to help her re-connect with her adopted mother.

Lilienfeld says he hopes to raise the bar for the level of scientific debate on controversial mental health practices. "Subjecting these techniques to careful scientific scrutiny will ultimately help maintain the integrity of mental health practice," he says.

The journal will be published by Prometheus Books in Amherst, New York and will be out this spring. For more information about the journal, email Lilienfeld at slilien@emory.edu. For subscription information, call 1-800-421-0351.

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