An evaluation scheme developed from a dispositional assessment perspective is described and applied to vocational rehabilitation cases from a rural context. The dispositional model is considerably more conservative than a diagnostic or predictive model and provides useful feedback about weak aspects of the assessment process. (Author)

Research on training counselors and clinicians demonstrates that several behavioral training components effectively aid trainees in acquisition of relatively discrete therapist skills. However, limitations in methodological sophistication and in the development or procurement of valid dependent measures render these promising results tentative…

Behavioral Marital Therapy (BMT) is clinically useful because it includes elaborating procedures, modifying the spouse's self-defeating cognitions, and moving toward early intervention and prevention. Each article in this issue of American Journal of Family Therapy focuses on innovations in BMT, either in research or practice. (Author/NRB)

Computerized case simulations have considerable potential application in counseling psychology. Methods have been demonstrated in the present study for quantifying and evaluating performance of both individuals and groups of subjects; these methods appear promising. (Author)

Proposes concept of a flexible frame through which the therapeutic relationship can both permit primitive defenses to emerge and serve as a basis for a corrective emotional experience. Containment, confrontation, and interpretation are presented as a three-fold strategy for effective engagement and treatment of the multisymptom patient. Provides…

Reexamines a 49-year-old study of P technique applied to a psychotherapy patient with a recurrent physical symptom. Explores dimensions of psychotherapeutic change as well as the context for the recurrent symptom. Illustrates the contributions from applying the P technique to psychotherapy research, to psychosomatic medicine, and to personality…

Explored hypothesis that the need for approval and perfectionism evident in patients prior to treatment for depression would have differential interactions with various therapies. Results showed neither factor interacted significantly with different forms of treatment. Perfectionism was seen as a primary disruptive element in short-term treatment…

Presents survey results from 259 counseling and clinical-psychology graduates about their training and professional work experiences with diverse groups, particularly blacks, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, and blacks of Hispanic origin. Results indicate that opportunities for training with diverse clients are restricted. Training…

Examines machismo (strict adherence to traditional masculine gender identity) in terms of Bem's gender schema theory. Uses the example of a Mexican immigrant family facing social and cultural changes to demonstrate the dynamics of machismo and how it might lead to emotional problems and physical symptoms in Hispanic men and their families.…

Examines the presentation of counseling and clinical psychology in introductory psychology textbooks. Finds their representation to be generally consistent with empirical data. Notes the shift in the representation of counseling between the 1970s and the 1980s. States textbooks formerly provided more coverage of clinical psychology than…

A variety of cognitive and behavioral techniques used most commonly by practicing cognitive therapists is described, including clinical examples and recommendations for their implementation. (Author)

Determines the relationship of research training environment to variables theorized to be either related or unrelated to that environment. Subjects were graduate students (n=171) who responded to the Research Training Environment Scale (RTES). The RTES was unrelated to participants' interest in the practitioner's role and minimally related to…

A fictitious counseling center intake report was given to a sample of 158 White graduate students in counseling and clinical psychology to examine the impact of reported client race (Black or White) on perceptions of clients' symptom severity. As predicted by the shifting standards model of social judgment (M. Biernat, M. Manis, & T. E. Nelson,…

In this study, the authors examined the long-term criminal activity of 176 youths who had participated in either multisystemic therapy (MST) or individual therapy (IT) in a randomized clinical trial (C. M. Borduin et al., 1995). Arrest and incarceration data were obtained on average 13.7 (range = 10.2-15.9) years later when participants were on…

To estimate the variability in outcomes attributable to therapists in clinical practice, the authors analyzed the outcomes of 6,146 patients seen by approximately 581 therapists in the context of managed care. For this analysis, the authors used multilevel statistical procedures, in which therapists were treated as a random factor. When the…