Presents a brief statement of essential conditions for psychotherapeutic change: (a) a helping relationship patterned after the parent-child relationship; (b) the creation of a power base from which the therapist influences the client through common psychological techniques; and (c) a client who has the capacity to profit from the experience.…

Focuses on psychotherapy studies completed at Vanderbilt University which had their antecedents in research begun by Strupp in 1950s. Notes that Vanderbilt I focused on relative contribution of specific and nonspecific factors in therapy, while Vanderbilt II sought to study the effects of training in time-limited dynamic psychotherapy on process…

Society, the patient, and the mental health professional each define ideal mental health from a different vantage point. A truly adequate picture of an individual's mental health is possible only if these three facets of a tripartite model of functioning are evaluated and integrated. (Author/SJL)

Critically reviews empirical literature relevant to each component of training process in psychotherapy, including selection of candidates, personal therapy, didactic course work, and supervised experience. Emphasizes problem of establishing research criterion of therapist competence as necessary step toward investigating training. Reviews recent…

"A tripartite conceptual model for the evaluation of mental health and psychotherapy outcomes is presented. The model highlights the values brought to bear by three 'interested parties' in these evaluations: society, the individual, and the mental health professional. Clinical, research, and public policy implications of the model are discussed."…

The utility of employing elevated scores on the Depression and Psychasthenia scales of the MMPI as an indicator of a genuine, enduring clinical problem was investigated for a male college student population. Pilot data suggest that MMPI scale scores decrease following psychotherapy but not with the passage of time alone. (Author)

Multitudinous brands of therapies and therapists now promise to fulfill Western man's historic longing for self-knowledge. Yet no technique bears a warranty, and self-anointed practitioners carry on without sanctions. Here are some guidelines for consumers and professionals. (Editor/RK)

Investigated values of 36 patient-therapist dyads in psychotherapy. Found that patient assimilation of therapist values was positively correlated with therapist's outcome assessment, but not with other outcome measures. Patient-therapist dyads whose values were moderately similar showed most improvement, indicating that intermediate range of…

Few questions in psychotherapy are of greater importance than the relationship among practitioners, researchers, and managed care. The present and future roles of psychotherapy are covered here. Despite ample evidence that psychotherapy does work, its effectiveness continues to be questioned. When psychotherapy research emerged some 50 years ago,…

The Vanderbilt Negative Indicators Scale (VNIS), an instrument designed to quantify characteristics of the patient, the therapist, and their interactions, was developed as part of an investigation of negative effects in psychotherapy by the Vanderbilt Psychotherapy Research Team. Revision of the original 25-item scale has proceeded in two major…

While formal definitions of "psychotherapy' have been notoriously elusive, there appears to be general agreement that it involves a professional relationship between a person seeking help for an emotional or behavior problem and a professional who is recognized by society as possessing a certain expertise. An important concomitant of this…