Alan E. Kazdin Publishes “Mental Health Interventions in Everyday Life”

One month ago, Koerner Fellow Alan E. Kazdin published his newest book, Mental Health Interventions in Everyday Life: Beyond Psychotherapy to Reduce Symptoms of Mental Disorders and Improve Wellbeing. This work addresses rates of mental disorders and related mental health problems throughout the world, such as loneliness, social isolation, and enduring stress, which are high and on the rise. He notes that although many evidence-based treatments exist, including psychological therapies or medication, most individuals in need of treatment do not receive any intervention for their condition; and, among those who do, fewer than ten percent access evidence-based care.

In Mental Health Interventions in Everyday Life, Kazdin examines how several everyday activities can directly reduce many mental health problems including depression and anxiety, the two types of problems that are the most common worldwide. The book evaluates the scientific evidence behind several everyday activities to consider their ability to directly reduce the symptoms of mental disorders and other conditions that impair functioning. These interventions include physical activities, contact with nature, mind-body interventions (e.g., yoga, tai chi), diet, spirituality, volunteering, engaging in hobbies, contact with nonhuman animals, and a variety of digital and technology-based interventions (e.g., virtual reality, socially assistive robots). The research allows us to go beyond common sense and anecdotally based recommendations about what one can do. The advantages of everyday activities as a complement to current treatments is that they avoid many of the obstacles (e.g., lack of insurance, stigma) that mental health services engender. The interventions also apply to many groups that are especially underserved by current mental health services (e.g., children, older individuals, uninsured persons, and those in underrepresented groups in a given culture and country).

Alan E. Kazdin is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Child Psychiatry at Yale University. Before coming to Yale, he served on the faculty of the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. At Yale, he has been chair of the Psychology department, director and chair of the Yale Child Study Center at the School of Medicine, director of Child Psychiatric Services at Yale New Haven Hospital, director of the Yale Parenting Center, and chair of the Yale University Press Publications Committee. His current research focuses on world mental health and the large-scale extensions of treatment of mental disorders. His 850+ publications include 52 books that focus on research methodology; interventions for children, adolescents, and adults; parenting and child rearing; and interpersonal violence. His work on parenting and childrearing has been featured on NPR, PBS, BBC, and CNN, and he has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, ABC News, 20/20, and Dr. Phil. In 2008 he was president of the American Psychological Association.