This study presents a qualitative analysis of four clinical psychology PhD students' experiences of not knowing how to proceed in sessions with clients, and how they handled those experiences. A narrative analysis of each participant interview was employed, in which tone, rhetorical function, and identity work were closely examined. Participants…

Developmental relational counseling (DRC) is an integrative framework designed to help clients develop personal awareness and relational functioning and conceptualize personal growth. DRC emerged from both authors' clinical work and was significantly influenced by relational-cultural theory and guided by the Enneagram personality typology and…

Comments on the original article "Rethinking intractable conflict: The perspective of dynamical systems," by R. R. Vallacher, P. T. Coleman, A. Nowak, and L. Bui-Wrzosinska. Vallacher et al presented an intriguing description of dynamical systems theory as applied to the understanding of intractable conflicts ranging from the intrapsychic to the…

Behavioral momentum theory provides a quantitative account of how reinforcers experienced within a discriminative stimulus context govern the persistence of behavior that occurs in that context. The theory suggests that all reinforcers obtained in the presence of a discriminative stimulus increase resistance to change, regardless of whether those…

Surveyed the views of both clinical and counseling psychologists regarding current trends in counseling and psychotherapy. Found psychoanalysis to be declining in popularity, while cognitive-behavioral options represented one of the strongest theoretical emphases today. (Author/GC)

Analyzes current status of counseling psychology from perspective of Freudian, drive-structure theory. Argues that counseling psychology has committed classical response to oedipal conflict in its treatment of counselor education by identifying with aggressor (psychiatry and clinical psychology). Recommends more unified relationship between…

Outlines a model of the development of therapists' theoretical orientation and clinical practice, based on the integration of data from 161 Portuguese therapists with the extant literature. Indicates that therapists from different persuasions appear to emphasize different variables. Indicates clinical experience plays a central role, and…

The aims in this article are to connect the conceptual structure of clinical psychological science to what the author believes to be the omnipresent principles of evolution, use the evolutionary model to create a deductively derived clinical theory and taxonomy, link the theory and taxonomy to comprehensive and integrated approaches to assessment,…

Appraises selected issues and developments in the field of psychotherapy since 1940. Discusses increased participation of clinical psychologists in the area of psychotherapy, increased popularity of psychotherapy, declining influence of psychoanalysis and related views, emergence of behavioral and cognitive therapies, and recent emphasis on…

Distinguishes between attribution of responsibility for a problem and attribution of responsibility for a solution. Derives four general models that specify what form people's behavior will take when they try either to help others or to help themselves. Also describes competing models of responsibility in education, psychotherapy, law, and…

The rhetorical aspects of psychotherapeutic theory may be examined by arranging the canons of rhetoric, the sources of persuasion, and some procedures of rhetorical behavior on one axis of a grid, then placing rhetorical/therapeutic situations on the other axis of the grid. In this way, the degree to which a rhetoric is used in psychotherapeutic…

Research reviewed indicates that the concept of the nuclear family is inadequate and misleading for an understanding of family dynamics or a guide for therapeutic intervention. Nonetheless, clinical practitioners and psychological theorists foster the nuclear myth. A new approach to the study of human relationships is needed. (Author/GC)

Gestalt Therapy is in a growth crisis. In practice, there is an abundance of inadequate practitioners and trainers of Gestalt Therapy. In the literature, there is an abundance of introductory works, a paucity of advanced texts, and a misunderstanding and inadequate representation of Gestalt Therapy. Gestalt Therapy training is confused by unclear…

When adequately elaborated, the basic method of Gestalt therapy can be traced to the phenomenological field theory of Gestalt psychology. Gestalt therapy differs from Gestalt psychology not because of a difference in philosophy or method, but because of different contexts; the clinical context has different demands than those of basic research.…

The 1991 Winter Roundtable on Cross Cultural Counseling was the first national conference devoted to the topic of racial identity in counseling and psychotherapy. Conference papers include: (1) "A Brief Continuing History of the Teachers College Winter Roundtable on Cross-Cultural Counseling and Psychotherapy" (Samuel D. Johnson, Jr.); (2) "Racial…