The patient-therapist model, the oldest form of mental health treatment, is at the core of reconstructive psychotherapy. Because this therapeutic partnership is subtle and vague, ethical concern is at the heart of the reconstructive therapeutic process. The aims of reconstructive therapy can be defined in terms of an existential, a psychoanalytic…

A humanistically-oriented dynamic approach for the treatment of depression in older persons is presented. A multi-level therapeutic model of treatment is discussed in detail. Included are initiation of the therapeutic relationship, specific tools for problem-solving, relationship building, and insight, termination, transference, and…

Confidentiality in psychotherapy has long been assumed. Recently, this confidentiality has been threatened by computer filing systems, the courts, and third party payers of client expenses. This study investigates client expectations of confidentiality and information subject to disclosure. Subjects (N=185) were undergraduate students who…

There seems to be a preoccupation with "the family" today, and a current competition for the role of Family Saviour within the helping professions. Practitioners are much more conscious about protecting their territory from infringement by competitors in the current funding situation of human services. Overlapping professionals doing variations on…

As a result of an effective feminist movement and effective technological developments, men are faceing drastic and dramatic changes in their personal and work lives. Consequently, more men, and specifically more older men, are entering psychotherapy than ever before. Men in their 50's are facing problems associated with shifts away from…

It is postulated that the standard framework for psychotherapy, a cooperative transference neurosis, does not validly carry over to the successful psychotherapy of a two-generation family group. In many disturbed families, the necessary and sufficient dynamics for change must be initiated, controlled, and augmented by a group dynamic power-play,…

While past research has found conflicting results on the place for client role preferences in psychotherapy, none of this research has examined the client role preferences in an actual client population seeking outpatient therapy. This study involved the development of a measure of client role preferences which attempted to survey a wider range of…

Short-term therapy is effective by focusing the therapy and employing an interactive style. However, the imposition of an arbitrary termination date appears to be an overreaction and overcorrection to drawbacks of classical psychotherapy. According to Mann, a proponent of termination dates and short-term therapy, the setting of a termination date…

One model of successful time-limited psychotherapy characterizes the therapy as a movement through three interactional stages: the early rapport attainment stage, the middle conflict stage, and the final resolution stage. According to this model, these stages are indicated by the relative presence of communicational harmony. To examine the…

Over the past decade, there has developed a steadily growing literature on the identification and treatment of survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Much of the literature has focused on the incidence and psychological impact of the abuse, and on techniques and stages of treatment. Less attention has been given thus far to the details and nuances…

This paper describes 10 common characteristics of suicide that pertain to suicide committed at any age. Each characteristic is defined and analyzed, with specific approaches to treatment identified. The 10 characteristics, based on clinical experience and the relevant work of others, are listed. The commonalities discussed include: (1) the common…

Based on an earlier list of characteristics, ten assertions were derived about the nature of psychotherapy upon which it was believed that humanistic therapists would agree. These assertions were then submitted to three groups of therapists (111 returns) listed in the "National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology":…

This paper presents the basic premises of Solution Focused Brief Therapy, a model of intervention based on systems theory, and how this approach is uniquely suited to the needs of school psychologists within a public school setting. Five key principles are described: (1) complaints are interaction based; (2) change in one part of the system leads…

Gender Aware Therapy (GAT) has developed in recent years to synthesize feminist theory and knowledge about gender into principles of therapy equally applicable to both men and women. This paper briefly examines the roots of Gender Aware Therapy and describes its principles: (1) conceptions of gender are seen as integral aspects of psychotherapy…

Historically, the literature on psychotherapy with borderline personality disorder has been based on object-relations theory or psychoanalytical approaches, rather than cognitive and behavioral approaches. In clinical assessment, the term borderline has been used to refer to patients with both neurotic and psychotic symptoms, a particular type of…