This paper contends that, in a psychotherapeutic relationship, the client must experience himself or herself as deeply understood and unconditionally accepted by the therapist. This subjective experience of the client is seen as the quintessential dimension in successful psychotherapy. The paper goes on to state that the client's experience of…

An 8-year-old hospitalized severely autistic boy was given up to 8 hours per day of therapy for 5 months in an attempt to establish a strong child-therapist affection relationship (which would serve as the basis for all other therapy) and to train the child through a behavior modification program. The teacher-therapist was a graduate student…

The article describes a five-step group therapy program for 21 male adolescent sex offenders. Key elements were peer interaction and a system of incentives for therapy. (DB)

Presents the development of concrete and explicit goals, models, and procedures for group psychotherapy by the staff of a 22-bed, adult, general psychiatric unit. (BH)

Discusses the clinical use of story, and examines the therapeutic use of interactive bibliotherapy as a catalyst for healing and empowering an emotionally abused woman. Offers a case history of the adult woman, discussing the use of dialog journals and a particular children's book in her therapy. (SR)

Argues that the dichotomous nature of poetry may lend itself well to the complementary structural deficits of well-defined borderline personality disordered patients. Suggests that the emotive aspects of the poem may permit the patient to engage in the work, whereas the more rational, structured aspects of the poem facilitate personality…

Decsribes the use of a dog in individual and group therapy with youth and adults. The presence of, and interaction with, the dog stimulated patients, facilitated discussions around pet memories and experiences, elevated patients a bit from their status as chronic dependents, and allowed children to engage in normal cooperative experiences. (SAS)

Integrates several techniques of psychodynamic therapy with the conceptual and metaphorical world of adventure therapy. Discusses a model of the metaphorical connection between self and experience, in which the client creates a self-metaphor to illuminate his or her experience during an adventure activity and thereby unlocks the unconscious and…

In the summer of 2004, a number of psychotherapists with old ties to the University of Michigan or UCLA decided to write 500-word vignettes that attempted to capture a turning point in one of their child patient's psychotherapies. What did the child and adolescent psychiatrist do to elicit such a moment? Upon receiving seven vignettes, one of us…

Taking a meta-theoretical perspective, this article presents a critical analytical model through which human knowledge, existence, and behaviour can be understood. The article describes the meta-theoretical model and then explains how this model applies to the evolution of seminal family therapy theories.

The integration of feminist and multicultural approaches to psychotherapy, called for many times, has not yet materialized. This article reviews possible reasons this integration has not taken place and offers an approach to integration based on the guiding principles of power and responsibility, which builds on previous theories and approaches.

An essential element in successful psychotherapy involves helping clients become more creative in their approach to their problems. While Otto Rank, one of the pioneers of psychoanalysis, loosely alluded to this as a fitting goal, it was the inventor of psychodrama, Jacob L. Moreno, MD (1889-1974), who made this an explicit objective of the…

The dodo-bird verdict has haunted the literature on psychotherapy outcome since its early beginnings. It is based on the counter-intuitive finding that often highly diverging treatments do not differ much in effectiveness. There is evidence that much of the common effect of different treatments can be related to unspecific factors as opposed to…

While counterintuitive, there is evidence that some nightmares may serve a beneficial function. The theory behind this idea is presented within the context of a continuity hypothesis of dreaming where the negative emotions presented in a nightmare can lead to psychosocial development, just as some negative experiences do so during wake. The…

Receptiveness toward evidence-based practice such as proposed by Chwalisz (2003) (this issue) is a function of how one defines the discipline and how one views counseling and psychotherapy. By acknowledging the dual nature of therapeutic psychology as a science-based cultural enterprise, one may be able to overcome schisms in the field and related…