Pim Cuijpers, PhD

Cuijpers is a professor of clinical psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Tell us a bit about your background: What is your area of research? What is your most recent journal-editing experience?

I am a professor of clinical psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I mostly work on randomized trials of digital and other interventions for depression and anxiety disorders. I also am involved in many meta-analyses of psychotherapies for depression and other mental disorders.

I am currently an associate editor of Depression and Anxiety and of Clinical Psychological Science. I have also been an associate editor of Psychological Bulletin for some years.

Briefly, what are your main priorities? For example, how will you grow readership, what type of scholarship would you like to see in the journal, and what kind of content are you hoping to attract?

The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (JCCP) has been a flagship journal for consulting and clinical psychology, with a strong focus on well-designed randomized trials, meta-analyses, and process-oriented research. The previous editors have done an excellent job in building the journal. First of all, I want to preserve the journal’s excellence that I am inheriting at the starting point of my editorship, and I want to continue building on the outstanding work my predecessors have done.

JCCP can be further strengthened as one of the key journals in the field. I am planning to introduce viewpoint articles about topics that are important for researchers and clinicians in the field—for example, about new developments, innovations, weaknesses, and current debates. I think that these articles will stimulate discussions among consulting and clinical psychologists.

Why is this journal important for the field? What is its relevance to society/public health? What are the hot issues in your area right now?

JCCP is one of the most important journals in the field because it has a tradition of publishing articles about strong, well-designed trials and meta-analyses, as well as process-oriented research. Disseminating this information is key for enabling further progress of the field.

What challenges, if any, lie ahead for the field?

The field faces many challenges. One is that too little attention has been paid to minority groups. Treatments need to be made flexible so that they can help anyone, regardless of gender, age, ethnic status, and so on. On a broader level, psychological treatments have almost exclusively been developed and tested in high-income countries, while the majority of people with mental disorders worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries. That means that new ways of delivering interventions need to be developed. Another issue is that psychological treatments are effective for most mental disorders, but not everyone gets better. We psychologists need to figure out how we can help people who do not respond to treatments. I hope that JCCP can be a leading journal in these and other important developments.

Do you have plans for a special issue or changes to the editorial process? Have you introduced or are you planning to introduce any changes?

Yes, several special issues are planned—one on the role of emotion as a mechanism of change in mental health interventions is currently in preparation—but the associate editors and I have several other ideas that we will work out in the coming months.

As I mentioned earlier, I also want to introduce viewpoint articles in JCCP. Finally, we are also considering opening JCCP to qualitative research, when it is relevant to counseling and clinical psychology.

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