Treatment outcomes are distinguished as ultimate, instrumental, and intermediate in terms of the role that they play in the treatment process. These distinctions between outcomes are proposed to facilitate a more discriminating view of the treatment process and thus contribute to the design of evaluative studies. (Author)

Results indicated that effectiveness of attribution therapy depended on the timing of the intervention and the locus of control orientation of the participant. Internals evidenced greater self-acceptance when intervention occurred prior to negative evaluation. Externals' ratings of self-evaluation were not influenced. (Author/BEF)

The effectiveness of group psychotherapy was measured by comparing the institutional behavior of 46 experimental subjects and 46 controls. Experimental subjects showed significantly better institutional adjustment. (Author)

Updates Holloway and Johnson's (1985) review concerning the group supervision of trainees learning individual psychotherapy. Suggestions for future research and implications for training are discussed. (Author)

Evaluated alternative treatments for children (N=112) referred for severe antisocial behavior. Assigned children to one of three treatments: (1) problem-solving skills training (PSST); (2) PSST with in vivo practice (PSST-P); or (3) client-centered relationship therapy (RT). Found increases in prosocial behavior in PSST and PSST-P children while…

The recovery process for victims of childhood incest is a dynamic one that involves integration of traumatic material into the personality. Reliably and validly measuring the coping or recovery process that is facilitated by therapeutic interventions is a first step in understanding the treatment process and in creating effective and efficient…

Examines the long-term effects of a therapeutic program of exposure and cognitive restructuring as compared to relaxation. Results, based on 20 patients suffering from Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, indicate that self-exposure and cognitive restructuring participants made better progress than the relaxation group, both in posttreatment and…

Proposes two theory- and empirically-based explanations for the emergent success of multisystemic therapy (MST) in community settings. First, MST may have demonstrated success because it bridges the gap between university-based psychotherapy studies and their community-based counterparts. Second, its favorable outcomes may exemplify the successful…

Examines the relation between therapist process variables (adherence and competence) and subsequent symptomatic change in patients. Twenty-nine depressed patients were seen in 16 sessions of weekly supportive expressive (SE) dynamic psychotherapy. Change in depression from intake to session three predicted higher ratings of adherence to expressive…

The author reviews the existing literature on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD, American Psychiatric Association, 2000) as it relates to outcome research and psychotherapy. An initial examination of the issues involved in outcome research includes the issue of assessment and diagnosis, followed by the issue of measurement. The article is meant…

This study extended client-focused research by using the nearest neighbor (NN) approach, a client-specific sampling and prediction strategy derived from research on alpine avalanches. Psychotherapy clients (N = 203) seen in routine practice settings in the United Kingdom completed a battery of intake measures and then completed symptom intensity…

The therapist encounters patients who have incorporated toxic introjects. Therapy helps them to provide room for incorporation of a healthy object by externalizing the toxic introject. This technique is illustrated with several cases and comparison is made between the use of this technique in the treatment of adults and children. (Author)

This paper reviews the empirical research on short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STDP). It begins with a brief history of STDP, identifying current developers and researchers of STDP and listing commonalities among various short-term dynamic psychotherapies. In this review, research is grouped broadly into two categories: controlled…

Although there is some evidence that informally trained persons such as peers, housewives, bartenders, hairdressers, and others can be helpful to persons in distress, research on the cognitive and verbal behaviors of these amateur counselors is lacking. A single case design was used to compare a female lawyer without formal training in counseling…

Licensing and certifying boards cannot be effective without a definition of the meaning of competence in psychology, particularly as this concept is used in psychotherapy. Research has shown that reliance on academic credentials to define competence is not the answer. Most definitions of pyschotherapy are too broad and vague, and consensus about…