In a recent article in this journal, Poston and Hanson (2010) reported a meta-analysis of 17 studies on the use of psychological assessment as a therapeutic intervention (PATI) and concluded that "psychological assessment procedures--when combined with personalized, collaborative, and highly involving test feedback--have positive, clinically…

In this paper we introduce and investigate the capacity for a novel, technologically advanced system (goACT) to enhance face-to-face psychotherapy. Specifically, we explore the capacity for goACT to enhance therapeutic alliance (TA) and engagement, and reduce distress. Using a mixed-methods, multiple-baseline design we present the first study to…

A key component of Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT) is the development of self-awareness and regulatory skills by the client with the aim of helping adolescent males with conduct disordered behaviors, including sexually inappropriate behaviors and emotional dysregulation. The goal includes altering specific behaviors to fall within socially…

The Therapeutic Assessment (TA) model is a relatively new treatment approach that fuses assessment and psychotherapy. The study examines the efficacy of this model with preadolescent boys with oppositional defiant disorder and their families. A replicated single-case time-series design with daily measures is used to assess the effects of TA and to…

Objective: To assess the association between rurality and depression care. Methods: Data were extracted for 10,319 individuals with self-reported depression in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Pharmacotherapy was defined as an antidepressant prescription fill, and minimally adequate pharmacotherapy was defined as receipt of at least 4…

Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a form of behavior therapy that focuses on evoking desired behavior rather than on the existing problem behavior. To illustrate the use of this form of therapy, the authors undertook a study of 10 case studies of applications of SFBT with people with a mild intellectual disability (MID). For all 10 cases,…

An efficacious treatment is diminished in value if consumers do not seek it out and adhere to it, making treatment acceptability an important predictor of the effectiveness of treatment. This study examined the acceptability of treatments for depression to 67 female high school students. All participants read a vignette describing a depressed…

Charles Gelso has had a major influence in counseling psychology with his contributions to the literature in many areas such as research methodology, research training, psychotherapy outcome, and the therapeutic relationship as well as in his work as an editor and as a teacher and mentor. This interview with Gelso highlights the early experiences,…

Objective: According to psychoanalytic theory, interpretation of transference leads to increased insight that again leads to improved interpersonal functioning over time. In this study, we performed a full mediational analysis to test whether insight gained during treatment mediates the long-term effects of transference interpretation in dynamic…

This paper discusses a recent translational success in combining behavioral psychotherapy with a novel medication, d-cycloserine (DCS), to augment cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders. The literature on behavioral theory of exposure-based therapies is provided, followed by a discussion of the role of DCS in enhancing extinction…

The impacts of violence for young children and their caregivers are multidimensional. The story of 2-year-old Tyronne, his mother, Josephine, and his father, James, illustrates the use of a relationship-focused treatment, child-parent psychotherapy (CPP), in addressing the traumatic consequences of exposure to violence. This family's story…

Clinical trials exploring the effectiveness of counseling and psychotherapy in treatment of depression in school-age youth composed this meta-analysis. Results were synthesized using a random effects model for mean difference and mean gain effect size estimates. No effects of moderating variables were evident. Counseling and psychotherapy are…

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a newer psychotherapy that has generated much clinical and research interest in recent years. However, the approach has begun to receive strong criticism from proponents of traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Hofmann and Asmundson (2008) recently compared and contrasted ACT and traditional…

Objective: We examined the course and predictors of postpartum depression in the 18 months following interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT). Method: We enrolled 120 community women with major depression in a 12-week randomized trial of individual IPT during the postpartum period (O'Hara, Stuart, Gorman, & Wenzel, 2000). At 6, 12, and 18 months…

The authors offer reflections on what seems to work in individual psychotherapy with university students. Discussion centers around the topics of triage and disposition, referral, crisis intervention, stress management, open-ended psychotherapy, extratherapeutic factors, and the psychotherapy relationship. These observations are not intended to be…