Successful outcome in psychotherapy depends, in part, on clients' preconceptions and expectations. Research has shown that inaccurate expectations are more prevalent among lower socioeconomic status clients, who also represent the majority of substance abusers in community treatment programs. To investigate the effect of general and specific…

Data previously reported (Garfield, 1978) on the number of clients/patients appearing at psychotherapy sessions from intake to termination did not identify the attritional features of service delivery systems. These earlier studies were retabulated and new data were accumulated from several contemporary sources: a university counseling center, an…

Traditionally, the elderly have not been viewed as appropriate candidates for dynamic psychotherapy. To examine the effectiveness of a psycho-dynamically oriented group (focusing on the issues of aging, conflict resolution, and self-actualization) on 6 older adult participants, ages 63 to 87 years, systematic clinical observations of group…

A behavioral psychotherapy program for treating depression has been developed based on a self-control or self-management model that postulates that depressed persons selectively attend to negative events and immediate consequences of events; set stringent self-evaluative standards; make negative, inaccurate attributions of responsibility for…

Addresses the issues of the labeling and selective discrimination of homosexuals. Psychiatry is encouraged to adhere to the medical model and treat the homosexual patient who is in conflict and motivated by inner turmoil and distress rather than assuming the job of society's regulator and the judge of acceptable behavior. (Author)

Interpersonal interaction in intimate relationships must be viewed as a function of the context within which it occurs. A contextual model of interaction was studied along the dimensions of conflict and intimacy. Subjects were married couples, who individually discussed conflict and nonconflict issues of high-level or low-level intimacy. Patterns…

Supports role playing as an effective intervention technique that has been broadly adapted for academic research and applied settings. Presents a classification scheme for organizing these diverse role-playing uses, in terms of intraindividual and intact group change. Suggests that research and implementation of role playing would be best served…

Those concerned with the funding of mental health services have begun to demand proof that psychotherapy is effective. This study examined clients' evaluations of specific therapist and client tasks at a university mental health center. Results and implications are discussed.

The formation of a psychotherapy relationship was studied using self-reports of clients and therapists. Items designed as measures of a set of dimensions considered salient to the process of therapy were incorporated into client and therapist report forms. A number of client and therapist dimensions predicted persistence in treatment. (Author)

Children have not yet developed the coping mechanisms of adults, and it is difficult for them to verbally communicate their needs. Practitioners increasingly recognize the usefulness of nonverbal communication methods to help these children. This revised and updated casebook and text focuses on treatment of children who have experienced crises…

Summarizes both the professional counseling literature and an investigation conducted by the author which examined the relationship between race and the level of understanding between counselor and client, finding that race is related to counselor understanding. (Author/JM)

Suggests that current outmoded and inadequate conceptions of the therapeutic process are a major obstacle to the advancement of clinical social work practice. Presents an integrative ecosystem model that expresses the distinctive social work concern with person, situation, and helping relationship, in their reciprocal psychodynamic and…

Describes a method for systematically recording the process of family therapy (the Focal Therapy Record Sheet), which demands a conceptual distinction between assessment of families and treatment techniques. A detailed case illustration showing the sheets completed for each of 14 sessions after two diagnostic interviews is provided. (Author/JAC)

Studied predictability of therapeutic outcome of an alcoholism treatment program. Data analyzed by a mathematically oriented linear regression approach and by a clinically oriented retrospective parametric approach showed different predictors. Suggested that the parametric clinical approach be used to explain why therapy succeeded or failed.…