Suggests several ways in which poetry may be used as a creative vehicle for self-discovery with adolescents in counseling. Shows how adolescent conflicts relating to death, sex-role identity, and conformity are expressed in poems composed by adolescent clients. (SR)

John, a very articulate 48-year-old Vietnam veteran, completed successful psychotherapy in one and 1/2 years. The hallmarks of this therapy are the use of social-constructionist ideas and practices, especially the use of the reflecting team and the influence of the team's conversations on everyone who participated. (Author/EMK)

Because many potential clients have religious as well as secular concerns, secular counselors and psychotherapists are striving to become more empathic and competent in treating religious individuals. This article discusses some issues and implications involved in working with religiously committed clients in secularly based counseling. (Contains…

Discusses traditional training techniques for students studying family therapy. Argues that psychotherapy has more to do with the therapist's personality than with the display of effective techniques. Supervision of clinicians should consist of helping them develop their innate skills rather than imposing on them a set of ready-made strategies.…

Surveyed alcoholism counselors (N=284) to determine whether the disease concept of alcoholism precludes acceptance and use of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) in alcoholism treatment. Results suggest that SFBT may be feasible for alcoholism treatment and that endorsement of the disease concept is compatible with the principles of SFBT. (EMK)

Argues that biographical films and videos of American composers may be used for the psychotherapeutic inducement of joy, when their music was positively linked with significant people and events in the patient's past. Illustrates this using "Deep in My Heart," a 1954 film based on the life of composer Sigmund Romberg. Discusses Romberg's other…

Discusses the use of stories as metaphor in therapy. Outlines the themes of the story of "Dracula," presenting five primary and three subthemes of the story which characterize parasitic relationships. Offers a case study illustrating these themes and demonstrating the therapeutic value of this metaphor. (SR)

Humanistic psychotherapies for disturbed clients, including client-centered and existential-phenomenological treatments, are reviewed. It is concluded that humanistic treatments are effective and provide a good conceptual framework for working with disturbed clients. (Author/MKA)

Describes a poetry group developed for older adults with functional mental health problems, based at a day hospital in the United Kingdom. Evaluates the group's effectiveness using both quantitative pre and post measures and qualitative feedback. Finds that all group members enjoyed the group, and that its benefits seemed to lie on a continuum…

This paper reports how consultative work with teachers can be supported by the use of letters. Letters were written by an educational psychologist (EP) after a consultation meeting with a teacher. Features of therapeutic letter writing and solution-focused brief therapy were used to increase the collaborative intent of the letters. Follow-up…

In this column, the author focuses on the ways that family counselors can use solution-based therapies (solution-oriented and solution-focused) to work with families with adolescents in individual and/or family therapy. The theoretical foundation for solution-based therapies suggests techniques that help families focus on solutions and not remain…

Randomized trial evidence and expert guidelines are mixed regarding the value of combined pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy as initial treatment for depression. This study describes long-term results of a randomized trial (N = 393) evaluating telephone-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) plus care management for primary care patients…

This paper describes clinical work carried out as part of the Tavistock Clinic Under Fives Service, which offers brief focused psychoanalytically based interventions to families with young children, as well as longer-term work. It elaborates psychoanalyst Annette Watillon's idea that it is the dramatic way in which children enact their (and their…

Background: Historically, adults with intellectual disabilities have had little access to individual psychotherapy. Over the last 20 years an increasing body of literature has described psychotherapy with this client group and reported methods for adapting traditional psychotherapeutic techniques. Method: The current review identified the…

This article describes an eight-week mindfulness meditation-based group that took place at a university counseling center. The group is patterned after the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Group members are taught…