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Evaluation ViewAttendees 5

Cognitive Science/ Cognitive Processes
Symposia

Symposium 15 - Innovating on memory processes to improve CBT: From the lab to the community

Friday, November 15, 2024
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
Location: Congress A, Fourth Floor, Loews Hotel
CE: 1.5

Keywords: Cognitive Processes, CBT, Treatment
Level of Familiarity: Basic
Recommended Readings: Zieve, G. G., Dong, L., Weaver, C., Ong, S. L., & Harvey, A. G. (2019). Patient constructive learning behavior in cognitive therapy: A pathway for improving patient memory for treatment?. Behaviour research and therapy, 116, 80-89.,   Zbozinek, T. D., & Craske, M. G. (2017). Positive affect predicts less reacquisition of fear: relevance for long-term outcomes of exposure therapy. Cognition and emotion, 31(4), 712-725.,   Sarfan, L. D., Zieve, G. G., Mujir, F., Gumport, N. B., Xiong, M., & Harvey, A. G. (2023). Serial Mediators of Memory Support Strategies Used With Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Improving Outcomes Through Patient Adherence and Treatment Skills. Behavior Therapy, 54(1), 141-155.,  

  • Moran, T. P. (2016). Anxiety and Working Memory Capacity: A Meta-Analysis and Narrative Review. Psychological Bulletin, 142(8), 831–864.

,  

  • Scott, J. C., Lynch, K. G., Cenkner, D. P., Kehle-Forbes, S. M., Polusny, M. A., Gur, R. C., Chen, S., Foa, E. B., & Oslin, D. W. (2021). Neurocognitive predictors of treatment outcomes in psychotherapy for comorbid PTSD and substance use disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 89(11), 937–946. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000693

The transdiagnostic approach to treatment suggests that there are key cognitive processes that are responsible for the maintenance of symptoms across mental health challenges (Harvey, Watkins, Mansell, & Shafran, 2004). One of these processes is memory. Problems relating to memory are common among people diagnosed with mental illness and are associated with poorer outcomes (e.g., Behnken et al., 2010). The human memory system is both selective and limited in nature, whereby access to some memories may be enhanced if selectively attended to (e.g., threat stimuli) and access to other memories could be poor due to limited storage (e.g., treatment contents). Therefore, incorporating cognitive interventions that improve memory processing or attempt to mitigate the negative effects of memory processing during treatment could serve as an innovative approach to boost patient outcomes.

This symposium will highlight several approaches for incorporating memory processes into therapy across different patient populations. The first speaker will present a case series involving veterans with PTSD who received Cognitive Processing Therapy with the Memory Support  Intervention, to refine the intervention and assess the initial feasibility and acceptability. The Memory Support Intervention was developed to improve memory for treatment using memory support strategies that aim to improve patient outcomes across a broad range of disorders. The second speaker will build on the themes introduced in the first presentation by presenting findings from an experiment assessing differences in memory recall for treatment involving constructive and non-constructive memory support among individuals with and without mild cognitive impairment. The third speaker will describe a study that takes memory support into the community in a multicenter randomized trial investigating the “natural use” of memory support strategies in cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy among patients with major depressive disorder. The fourth speaker will move the discussion to present findings on two factors known to enhance extinction learning memories during a fear conditioning paradigm, stimulus valence and affect. The final speaker will present findings on the relationship between neurocognitive functions (e.g., working memory, verbal memory) and extinction learning and retention outcomes during exposure-based CBT. Together, these presentations and the discussion will showcase recent innovations using memory processes to improve CBT outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Describe why memory processes are an important aspect of mental illness.
  2. Explain how memory support strategies can be implemented to improve patient outcomes.
  3. Identify how effective different memory support strategies are for distinct patient populations.
  4. Understand the role of memory processes in extinction learning and exposure-based CBT.
  5. Describe future directions for research investigating memory processes in CBT.

Presentations:

  • 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
    (SYM 15) Enhancing Memory for Therapy Content in PTSD: A Case Series Integrating Memory Support Strategies into Cognitive Processing Therapy

    Speaker: Joseph K. Carpenter, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – VA Boston / National Center for PTSD

    Co-author: Christoper McGrory, BA (he/him/his) – VA Boston / National Center for PTSD

    Co-author: Suzanne Pineles, PhD (she/her/hers) – VA Boston / National Center for PTSD

    Co-author: Mieke Verfaellie, PhD (she/her/hers) – VA Boston Healthcare System

    Co-author: Tara Galovski, Ph.D. – VA National Center for PTSD, Boston University School of Medicine

  • 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
    (SYM 15) The Effects of Memory Support Strategies on Recall for Treatment Content in Individuals with and Without MCI

    Speaker: Anne E. Milner, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of California, Berkeley

    Co-author: Crystal Woo, B.S. (she/her/hers) – University of California, Berkeley

    Co-author: Linyan Ge, M.S. – University of California, Berkeley

    Co-author: Sophia M. Oliver, B.A. – University of California at Berkeley

    Co-author: Garret G. Zieve, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Oakland Cognitive Behavior Therapy Center

    Co-author: Katrina Kuo, None (she/her/hers) – University of California, Berkeley

    Co-author: Kate Marcotullio, None (she/her/hers) – University of California, Berkeley

    Co-author: Joshua Varghese, None (he/him/his) – University of California, Berkeley

    Co-author: Kiely Bol, None – University of California, Berkeley

    Co-author: Laurel D. Sarfan, PhD (she/her/hers) – University of California, Berkeley

    Co-author: Allison G. Harvey, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of California Berkeley

  • 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
    (SYM 15) Use and Effects of Therapist Memory Support Strategies in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depression in Routine Clinical Practice

    Speaker: Sanne Bruijniks, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Utrecht

  • 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
    (SYM 15) The Influence of Affect and Stimulus Valence on Fear Extinction and Return of Fear

    Speaker: Hayley E. Fitzgerald, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Boston University

    Co-author: Hayley E. Fitzgerald, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Boston University

    Co-author: Scott Orr, Ph.D. – Harvard medical School

    Co-author: M. Alexandra Kredlow, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Tufts University

    Co-author: Michael W. Otto, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Boston University

  • 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
    (SYM 15) Memory Matters: Neurocognitive Moderators of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Outcomes

    Speaker: Rebecca E. Lubin, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Boston University

    Co-author: Jasper Smits, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – University of Texas at Austin

    Co-author: Michael Telch, PhD – The university of Texas at Austin

    Co-author: Marie-H. Monfils, PhD (she/her/hers) – The University of Texas at Austin

    Co-author: Michael W. Otto, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Boston University