This article demonstrates how taking the time out to play, commenting pungently on play, serving up surprise and adventure, and developing mutually understood codes or inside jokes help the psychiatrist to turn a child around. In this article, the authors categorized what principles of treatment their 10 vignettes about playfulness illustrated,…

We investigated the extent to which clinician-assigned diagnoses of emotional and behavioral disorders and clinicians' perceptions of client change are consistent with structured measures of youth clinical functioning and parent/family characteristics within the context of usual care or "real world" psychotherapy. A total of 54 therapists from two…

During psychotherapeutic work, couples typically present distinctly contradictory stories about their life together. This paper explores how a psychotherapist may promote mutually beneficial change for couples who contradict each other. One suggested tactic is a non-impositional approach to therapy using a narrative-oriented context. Such a tactic…

The patient-therapist model, the oldest form of mental health treatment, is at the core of reconstructive psychotherapy. Because this therapeutic partnership is subtle and vague, ethical concern is at the heart of the reconstructive therapeutic process. The aims of reconstructive therapy can be defined in terms of an existential, a psychoanalytic…

After presenting capsule profiles of therapists who have used storytelling techniques in psychotherapy, this article describes several methods and situations in which storytelling can be an effective therapeutic tool. Use of the techniques is illustrated. (RH)

Demonstrated that behavioral marital therapy (BMT) and insight-oriented marital therapy (IOMT) could be rendered in a distinct and uncontaminated fashion in manual-guided outcome research where therapists were crossed with treatment condition. BMT proved to be highly structured, with 93 percent of therapist interventions reflecting behavioral…

Considers multiple design issues and strategies raised by comparative outcome studies including the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of alternative treatments; assessment of treatment-specific processes and outcomes; and evaluation of the results. (Author/BL)

The history of dream analysis and interpretation is presented to provide additional background for practitioners interested in dream analysis. (Author)

A psychotherapist reviews literature on emotional problems requiring psychotherapy in learning disabled children and discusses issues involved in providing psychotherapy and remediation concurrently. Among issues covered in case studies are the individual's frequent denial of the need for treatment as well as resistance to treatment. (CL)

Describes a newly developing mode of problem-oriented brief therapy. The systemic therapy model emphasizes the interactional context of clients' problems and represents an efficient intervention paradigm. (Author/JAC)

This book is divided into four parts. In Part I, "Serendipitous Suggestion: An Introduction to the Wonderful World of Psychotherapeutic Techniques," a case example of a creative counseling technique implemented by the editor and a colleague is described. This section also discusses six key reasons why techniques can enhance therapeutic…

Investigated historical trends in the assertion training literature by content analyzing documents published between 1942 and 1977. Revealed that although the assertion training literature has shown a very rapid acceleration of growth, empirical documentation of the effects of important parameters of training and treatment is lacking. (Author)

Establishes a conceptual approach to the etiology of psychological trauma. Reviews the literature and includes a case study to exemplify how the disruption of social relationships can interfere with the normal functioning of personality in the posttraumatic state until an appropriate therapeutic intervention or experience occurs. (RJM)

Discusses the clinical use of story, and examines the therapeutic use of interactive bibliotherapy as a catalyst for healing and empowering an emotionally abused woman. Offers a case history of the adult woman, discussing the use of dialog journals and a particular children's book in her therapy. (SR)

Presents interview of psychotherapist Albert Ellis who discusses his early days, the women in his life, and his personal characteristics and offers personal reflections on his professional career. (Author)