The results indicate that under special conditions providing prior information to the client concerning the directive nondirective character of interviewer behavior during the initial diagnostic interview influences client satisfaction, leads to client mediated changes in interviewer behavior, and increases the probability that the client will at…

Examined whether 6 categories of counselor humor and 4 categories of risk interventions preceded client laughter in 236 events from 8 cases of brief psychotherapy. Found most client laughter was mild and moderate, with only eight instances of strong laughter. Humorous interventions led to more client laughter than did interventions that encouraged…

High, and low, social-connectedness scores were related to measures of anxiety, self-esteem, and social identity. Study 1 (N=185) used college women who presented with anxiety symptoms; Study 2 (N=44) was a follow-up study of connectedness in social situations. Results are presented and discussed in relation to therapy options. (Author/EMK)

Current theoretical approaches to understanding emotional difficulties are dominated by the medical model of mental illness, which assumes that emotional dysfunction can be viewed the same way as physical dysfunction. To examine the relationship between psychotherapy clients' beliefs about the medical model of psychotherapy and their behavior…

Twenty-six mildly distressed college student clients were assigned randomly to a nondirective or directive group. Internally oriented persons were more therapeutically responsive to the nondirective than to the directive approach, whereas the reverse tended to be the case among those more externally oriented. (Author)

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…

Despite the increasing acceptance of the value of psychotherapy, there are still those who think people should solve their own problems. A study was conducted to investigate the attitudes of college students toward seeking professional help before and after taking a course in abnormal psychology to determine whether exposure to the purposes and…

The present study compared the effects of assertion with that of progressive relaxation training in systematic desensitization. Nineteen Ss were selected on the basis of exemplifying high debilitating test anxiety according to Alpert and Haber's (1960) Achievement Anxiety Test. Results showed that test anxious Ss who received either relaxation or…

This study examined the role of emotional catharsis in brief emotive psychotherapy and its differential effects within three time frames. The findings are seen as supporting the contention that within a specific time frame emotional catharsis can lead to certain positive outcomes in brief emotive psychotherapy. (Author)

These data tend to refute the widespread notion that thought disorder is unchangeable. (Author)

Examined impact of brief therapy with college males exhibiting depression, anxiety, and social introversion. Although patients' attitudes toward therapist and patient involvement in therapy process did not differ as function of type of therapist, the process dimension that consistently predicted therapy outcome was patient involvement. (Author/BEF)

Past studies indicated preference for male therapists. To test for changes since these studies, applicants for counseling and nonclient undergraduates completed university counseling service application that included question regarding preference for sex of therapist. More clients than nonclients expressed preferences. Results indicated a decrease…

Studied effects of suggestibility on performance within self- and external-control conditions. Subjects were assigned to experimental conditions--self-control, external-control, and no reward. Response rates of self and external groups were highest. Response rates of high-suggestibles in self-control conditions were not significantly different…

Examines the differences in concern for death among Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans, by testing college students from both groups, and states some implications for psychotherapy. The article notes that there is no relationship in either group between death concern and psychological adjustment. (SB)

The hypothesis that college students differentially perceive the terms "counseling" and "psychotherapy" was evaluated using a semantic differential scale. Results revealed that college students have significantly different perceptions of terms in reference to selected adjective pairs. Implications for future research were explored for client…