Michael J. Constantino, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he directs his Psychotherapy Research Lab, teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on theories and techniques of psychotherapy, and supervises clinicians-in-training. Across these roles, Dr. Constantino is committed to integrating rigorous science with quality practice and training.
Dr. Constantino’s research program centers broadly on psychotherapy process, outcome, and integration with adults. The focus is on understanding patient, therapist, and relational processes that influence psychosocial treatments, and on the development and systematization of effective therapeutic interventions that address pantheoretical principles of clinical change, such as treatment expectations, the therapeutic alliance, corrective experiences, and the resolution of change ambivalence. To date, this work has been primarily related to depression, generalized anxiety, and bulimia nervosa. Although various psychosocial treatments for these conditions have achieved some empirical support, response and relapse rates remain sobering. Furthermore, there remains a limited understanding of how therapy works or why it fails to do so for certain patients. Thus, there is ample room for improvement in understanding, refining, and delivering all forms of therapy, and Dr. Constantino adopts multiple research strategies (e.g., quantitative process research, experimental outcome trials, naturalistic process and outcome research, qualitative analyses, and lab-based analogue studies) in an attempt to contribute to such improvements.
Dr. Constantino has published both theoretical and empirical work in leading journals and books in the field, and he has received both internal and external grant support for his research. Dr. Constantino’s work has been recognized internationally, including with his receipt of the American Psychological Foundation’s 2007 Division 29 (Psychotherapy) Early Career Award, the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration’s (SEPI) 2007 New Researcher Award, and the International Society for Psychotherapy Research's (SPR) 2010 Outstanding Early Career Achievement Award. Dr. Constantino was also awarded in 2009 fellow status in the American Psychological Association (APA) and Division 29 of the APA, and in 2010 he was elected President-Elect for the North American Society for Psychotherapy Research (NASPR).
In addition to his research productivity, Dr. Constantino's commitment to the advancement of psychotherapy and psychotherapy research is exemplified by his involvement in service to and governance of SPR/NASPR, Division 29, and SEPI. For SPR/NASPR Dr. Constantino has been a member of multiple conference program and award committees. For Division 29, Dr. Constantino served on the Board of Directors as the Early Career Domain Representative, and has been a member of multiple other committees. For SEPI, Dr. Constantino is the current Chair of the Research Committee, and he has also served on multiple conference program committees. Dr. Constantino was also a Contributing Editor for Psychotherapy Bulletin, and he is currently a Consulting Editor for Psychotherapy, Psychotherapy Research, and the Journal of Unified Psychotherapy and Clinical Science.