Examined the relationship between therapeutic alliance and treatment outcome for depressed outpatients who received interpersonal psychotherapy, imipramine with clinical management, or placebo with clinical management. Clinical raters scored videotapes of early, middle, and late therapy sessions for 225 cases (619 sessions). Results indicate the…

This article provides mental health counselors with information about the prevalence and course of adolescent depression, other empirically tested treatments for adolescent depression, an explanation of Interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents (IPT-A) treatment protocol, and results of outcome studies on the effectiveness of IPT-A. Suggestions…

Ratings of child involvement in manual-based cognitive-behavioral treatment for anxiety were associated with the absence of primary anxiety diagnosis and reductions in impairment ratings at posttreatment for 59 children with anxiety (ages 8-14 years). Good-to-excellent interrater reliability was established for the independent ratings of 237…

In this study, the authors examined the impact of the interaction between clients' trait reactance and therapists' directiveness on the effectiveness of psychotherapy treatment for alcoholism. Ratings of videotaped treatment sessions were used to measure clients' reactance (N = 141) and therapists' directiveness. Models tested for the interaction…

There have been some challenges to the reliance upon data from randomised controlled clinical trials when identifying "evidence-based" psychotherapy treatments. Similarly, data show that use of treatment manuals does not result in uniform and beneficial outcomes, that some evidence-based treatments are little better than non-specific…

Suicidal youth tend to doubt the effectiveness of professional mental health treatment. This study examined whether exposure to films about suicidal and mentally disturbed persons supports this lack of belief. Exposure to three popular films featuring suicides or the mentally ill was compared to films that featured a heroic suicide unrelated to…

Notes that marital therapists have contribution to make to treatment of depression. In attempt to keep marital therapists aware of recent developments in the field, this article provides overview of findings concerning biology of depression, relative merits of medication versus psychotherapy, and complex relationships between marriage and…

Assessed suitability of therapist interventions in psychotherapy by studying transcripts of three psychodynamic psychotherapies. Interpretations in the therapies were identified and categorized as transference or nontransference, then rated for suitability. Patient productivity was rated using the Experiencing Scale. Suitability of interpretations…

Discusses a descriptive study on solution-focused brief family therapy in a children's mental health facility. Results, based on work with 59 children and their families, indicate a 64.9% success rate (average of 5.5 therapy sessions over 3.9 months). Findings support the applicability of solution-focused brief family therapy to a wide range of…

A woman treated for eating disorders, long-term depression, and attempted suicide describes how adventure therapy helped her to confront her personal issues, deal with feelings of inadequacy, take risks, trust other people, and enjoy the beauty of nature. Discusses the role of the facilitator in ensuring a safe environment and leading reflective…

The construct validity of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) was studied. The IIP was used to categorize 104 patients reporting interpersonal distress into 4 problem quadrants. Results offer broad support for the convergent validity of the IIP and offer knowledge about interpersonal problems and the psychotherapy context. (SLD)

Randomly assigned 250 depressed outpatients to interpersonal psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, imipramine plus clinical management, or pill placebo plus clinical management treatments. All treatments demonstrated significant symptom reduction with few differences in general outcomes. None of the therapies produced consistent effects on…

Investigates the differences between 97 patients who had prematurely terminated psychotherapy and 81 who had participated in individual psychotherapy for at least 6 months and 24 sessions on selected Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and Rorschach variables. Theoretical implications of interpersonal variables are discussed in…

Depressed clients (n=117), stratified for severity, completed 8 or 16 sessions of manualized treatment, either cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (CB) or psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy (PI). On most measures, CB and PI were equally effective, irrespective of severity of depression or duration of treatment. Found evidence of some…

Commends Shapiro et al.'s (this issue) article comparing psychodynamic-interpersonal therapy with cognitive-behavioral therapy in treating depression. Questions uncritical support of equivalent outcomes conclusion and implicit rejection of differential efficacy among psychotherapies as function of patient variables. Contends that Shapiro et al.…