Results indicated little or no correspondence between self-report scores and behavior in a contrived in vivo setting or between role play and behavior with a sample of college students. Assertion was enhanced in the role play condition, but not in the contrived in vivo condition. (JAC)

Presents arguments for broadening the scope of clinical psychology to include religion more systematically in theories, research, and techniques, especially in relationship to personality and psychotherpay. Theistic belief systems must be seriously considered and conceptually integrated for counselors to be fully effective. (Author/BEF)

Three behavior therapists and three analytically oriented psychotherapists treated a total of 60 neurotic outpatients for four months. It was concluded that patient improvement was more a function of patient characteristics than of specific therapist interventions. (Author)

Discusses a descriptive study on solution-focused brief family therapy in a children's mental health facility. Results, based on work with 59 children and their families, indicate a 64.9% success rate (average of 5.5 therapy sessions over 3.9 months). Findings support the applicability of solution-focused brief family therapy to a wide range of…

A qualitative study of 30 counselors or psychotherapists revealed numerous themes. These major themes include the following: transition by the practitioner toward the use of healing; the taboo over talking about spiritual and healing experiences; the nature of healing as distinct from therapy; supervision difficulties; and the concept of spiritual…

Investigates the differences between 97 patients who had prematurely terminated psychotherapy and 81 who had participated in individual psychotherapy for at least 6 months and 24 sessions on selected Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and Rorschach variables. Theoretical implications of interpersonal variables are discussed in…

Examines the literature on the validity of memory work and the evidence for the efficacy of therapeutic interventions based on the recovery of childhood-sexual-abuse memories. Current empirical evidence does not support recovered-memory therapy; in fact, participation in recovered-memory therapy may be harmful to clients. (Author/EMK)

Discusses how Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) includes some basic postmodern ideas and can be practiced with important caveats and cautions that keep it open-ended, flexible, and relativist. Describes how REBT shows clients how their conscious and unconscious absolutistic philosophies lead to much of their dysfunctional feelings and…

Provides a brief reaction to Albert Ellis's "Postmodern Ethics for Active-Directive Counseling and Psychotherapy," which appears in this issue. Offers a condensed review of what has led up to Ellis's article. Pays special attention to the phrase "and/also" in relation to its implication for theory building and practice. (RJM)

An increasing amount of research supports group therapy as an effective treatment option for eating disorders (Moreno, 1994). In an attempt to further delineate therapeutic factors associated with productive group work, this study represents an exploratory, descriptive analysis of client and therapist perspectives on group process and outcome.…

The efficacy of two types of therapy conducted exclusively over the telephone was studied. Clients (N = 55) were recruited from a pool of callers to a suicide hotline and were randomly assigned to a waiting list control (WC) or Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) or Common Factors Therapy (CFT). It was hypothesized that improvements would be…

Analyses of the efficacy of group psychotherapy indicate that group therapy demonstrates, in a majority of reviews, significant improvement over inert comparison groups and proves comparable or superior to other active treatment conditions. Because group therapy is a viable cost-efficient treatment option being used with increasing regularity…

This review focuses on empirical studies with pre- and post-test measures of functioning that have attempted to assess the benefits of psychotherapy with schizophrenics. The first part of the review concentrates on various subgroups of schizophrenia, which appear to be influenced by subject variables and manifest clinical symptomatology. The…

The importance of the counselor's or therapist's characteristics of empathy, warmth, and genuineness in client improvement has been established in a number of studies. This manual was prepared as a means of fostering these qualities. It was prepared by rating segments of interviews taped in psychotherapy sessions and giving examples of the…

This document reviews 10 specific and sequential steps which have emerged as being particularly effective in assisting clients in developing individualized behavior change goals in psychotherapy. The therapist and client typically work through these steps together near the beginning of treatment, but only after the client has had the opportunity…