The effects of therapists' and patients' moods on therapist empathy, warmth, and genuineness were studied in an intensive design. It was concluded that the therapist feelings preceding the facilitative therapy hour'' were not the same for high- and low-facilitative therapists. The use of the intensive design in psychotherapy processs research was…

In general, none of the measures of rated disturbance was related to outcome criteria, but small to modest inverse relationships were obtained between the measures of subjective disturbance and global ratings of outcome. (Author)

It can be concluded from the results of the two studies described here that value similarity between client and therapist is related to therapists' ratings of client improvement. This phenomenon can be expected in therapies irrespective of theoretical orientation. (Author)

Believes the therapeutic situation that offers the greatest awareness with the least amount of dehumanization is a synthesis of the gestalt and the existential humanistic (EH) orientations. Considers the relationship and possible synthesis of the existential and gestalt positions. (Author/RK)

Decsribes the use of a dog in individual and group therapy with youth and adults. The presence of, and interaction with, the dog stimulated patients, facilitated discussions around pet memories and experiences, elevated patients a bit from their status as chronic dependents, and allowed children to engage in normal cooperative experiences. (SAS)

The purpose of this paper is to review and critique the literature on the effects of countertransference on the life of the therapist treating patients with borderline personality disorder. Countertransference has long been recognized as an integral component of the therapeutic relationship and may have far reaching effects on both the…

These findings, along with prior ones from the same investigation, suggest that outcome is affected by the attitudes and beliefs of therapists concerning prognosis for lower-class and severely disturbed clients: therapists who believe they can help such clients can often do so. (Author)

From all indications, meditation is being used more and more by psychotherapists and counselors in their practices. Research has not to date produced empirical guidelines for the therapeutic use of meditation. This report compiles clinical and research data to provide a step toward a systematized approach to the utilization of meditation so as to…

Suicide is a tragic and upsetting event which sometimes occurs when a person is in some form of therapy. This paper advocates a process after a patient commits suicide which allows for a thorough and orderly working through of the event by involved treatment personnel. (Author)

While established approaches to therapy help the individual adapt to an essentially fixed world, Social Therapy (a 15-year-old clinical, educational, and developmental psychology practiced in clinics and private practices in New York, Boston, and other cities, with applications to crisis, the epidemic of abuse, and educational failure) seeks to…

Involved a comparison between therapists with high client attrition rates versus therapists with low attrition rates on selected demographic and client-perceived initial-session therapy-process variables. A number of the therapy process variables significantly differentiated the two groups. (Author)

Patients described their perceptions of ideal therapist characteristics and subsequently described their own therapist. Data suggest there is consensus on what patients expect in a therapist and also suggest a relationship between how well therapists meet these expectancies and how effective patients consider their therapy. (Author)

Describes a method of inquiry for the therapist who suspects unidentified giftedness as an underlying issue of well-being, common components of the process of gifted-self discovery, attendant affective and behavioral responses of both client and therapists, and suggestions for assisting the client's post-therapy stability and growth. (CR)

Self-disclosure to a therapist was investigated with 120 female subjects who viewed a video-taped vignette of a simulated psychotherapy session. Therapist self-disclosure was manipulated so that subjects saw a therapist exhibiting no disclosure, interpersonal disclosure, or intrapersonal disclosure. Subjects rated these therapists on a variety of…

Suggests that the issue of group psychotherapy being harmful to some inpatients, although significant, is meaningless in the absence of further specification of what is being done with whom. Emphasizes the need to address therapeutic "casualties." Questions the clinical folklore regarding patients who must be protected from group psychotherapy,…