Boston University has been awarded a $5.2 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for a three-year research project to support the Training and Treatment Integration Research for Virtue and Flourishing in Mental Healthcare: A Team Science Project. Growing to $10.7 million including matching funds over the three years, this project aims to develop evidence-based training tools that integrate treatment research on relational virtues and human flourishing in psychotherapy, using a collaborative team science approach across eight clinical sites that span the United States and Ireland.
Led by co-principal investigators Steven J. Sandage of Boston University and Jesse J. Owen of University of Denver, this project will address a growing need among therapists for training on how to integrate relational virtues and human flourishing into clinical practice. New research reveals that therapists value these concepts but often lack guidance on how to implement them effectively. To meet this need, the project team plans to develop an innovative training module supported by contextualized treatment research, combining clinical instruction with ongoing psychotherapy studies. The project will also support a cohort of early-career clinical researchers, helping to build a sustainable network for advancing virtue and flourishing in psychotherapy, and will conclude with the development of clinical protocols and broad field distribution through publications, presentations, and training seminars.
The collaborative sites and the respective researchers for this project include:
- Albert & Jessie Danielsen Institute at Boston University; Steven J. Sandage: Relational Formation of Virtue and Flourishing in Clinical Training and Practice
- University of Denver; Jesse J. Owen: Deliberate Practice Model for Therapist Consultations: Leveraging Relational Virtues to Promote Flourishing & Reduce Burnout
- McLean Hospital; Mary Zanarini and Brandon Unruh: Therapist Training and Treatment of Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder Using Mentalization-based Treatment Plus Flourishing
- Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin; Todd Farchione: Centering Virtues and Positive Emotion Regulation in Digital Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: An Effectiveness-Implementation Study
- George Washington University; Cheri Marmarosh: Psychodynamic Professional Psychology Training: Cultivating Student Virtues and Flourishing in Professional Psychology Training: A Culture-Centered Model
- Adelphi University; Catherine Eubanks & Chris Muran: Relational Virtues and Flourishing in Alliance-Focused Training
- University of Iowa; Martin Kivlighan & Stacey McElroy-Heltzel: Virtue-Based Pre-Group Preparation to Promote Humility and Flourishing in Group Therapy
- Indiana University and University of Utah; Joel Wong and Jeremy Coleman: Training in Gratitude Interventions for Individual and Group Psychotherapy.
“This project fits with the vision of the John Templeton Foundation to explore holistic, evidence-based connections between human strengths, flourishing, and the alleviation of suffering in ‘real world’ settings of professional practice,” says co-principal investigator Steven J. Sandage.
Rooted in the values of formation, innovation, and interdisciplinary research, the Training and Treatment Integration Research for Virtue and Flourishing in Mental Healthcare project is designed to activate meaningful change for mental healthcare providers, therefore advancing the Templeton Foundation’s mission to generate new perspectives and ideas in underexplored fields.