Adelphi Dean Jacques P. Barber, Ph.D., is Honored by the Society for Psychotherapy Research

Jacques P. Barber, Ph.D., dean of Adelphi University’s Gordon F. Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, has been awarded the Distinguished Research Career Award from the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). Dr. Barber was recognized at SPR’s 45th annual meeting held in June 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The award recognizes Dr. Barber as “one of the premier psychotherapy process and outcome researchers in the world.” The award nomination cited his “impressive record of external funding” and described his record of publications as “absolutely outstanding,” characterized by “a rare level of breadth and depth as well as an amazing degree of scientific rigor and clinical relevance.” It also noted that Dr. Barber’s research program has “not only shaped the way we think about how psychotherapy works, it has also influenced the way that psychotherapy is practiced in North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia and Asia.”

Gayle D. Insler, Ph.D., Adelphi provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said, “This is a most impressive honor for Dr. Barber—one that reflects the caliber of his research and thought-leadership in the field.”

Dr. Barber is the author of eight books, scores of chapters and more than 140 papers on psychotherapy research and practice. He recently penned the psychodynamic therapy chapter in the latest edition of the Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change. The award nomination letter stated: “This last chapter confirms, in our opinion, that Jacques is now the leading figure in the field of psychodynamic therapy research.”

Dr. Barber was appointed dean of the Gordon F. Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies in 2011. Since then, he has dedicated himself to continuing to raise the bar for teaching, scholarship and clinical services at Institute, which is regarded as one of the nation’s premier schools for professional psychology. Dr. Barber has recruited a number of talented psychology faculty members to Derner and mentored the established scholars and practitioners on the faculty.

As noted in Dr. Barber’s award nomination, “He has indeed provided outstanding mentoring to many early-career scholars. Throughout his career, he has also collaborated with an extensive number of psychotherapy researchers, thereby fostering and improving the study of psychotherapy all over the world.”

Dr. Barber’s award is one of a number of accolades garnered by Derner faculty and students in 2014.