Self-disclosure and expectations for psychotherapy in repressors and sensitizers.

Identified 2 groups of 49 university students as repressors and sensitizers based on scores on Byrnes's Repression-Sensitization Scale. Ss completed the Jourard Self-Disclosure Questionnaire and a Likert-type scale rating dimensions of psychotherapy to assess effects of defensive orientation on expectations for a psychotherapy relationship. Repressors indicated significantly more willingness than sensitizers to self-disclose during the 1st 4 hrs of therapy. Repressors expected more planned than spontaneous activity by the therapist, felt therapist personality less important than sensitizers in facilitating change, and rated themselves significantly less likely than sensitizers to enter psychotherapy in the future. Results are discussed within the framework of repressing and sensitizing defensive styles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious commitment and expectations about psychotherapy among Christian clients.

To assist psychotherapists in understanding client religiousness, Richards and Bergin (2005) have suggested assessing clients' religiousness at a broad level initially, using ecumenical measures, followed by a more detailed assessment that uses measures particular to the client's religious affiliation. In this study, the utility of this approach was tested in predicting expectations about psychotherapy of Christian clients (N = 176). Their religious commitment was considered in comparison to religious beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors. Client religiousness was positively associated with ratings of therapist expertise and attractiveness, desire to discuss religious issues in psychotherapy, and desire to see a Christian therapist. This suggests that assessing religious commitment is important, and that measuring religious beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors add accuracy to assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Radio psychology and psychotherapy: Comparison of client attitudes and expectations.

We compared the expectations and attitudes of two groups of subjects who sought psychological help. One group (n?=?47) comprised callers to a radio counseling program broadcast in Israel that offers psychological help to parents and children; the second group (n?=?34) consisted of individuals who had received counseling in a child guidance clinic located in an urban center in Israel. We primarily compared the subjects' attitudes toward receiving psychological help. The results indicate that the attitudes of those who received help in the clinic were more positive than those who called the radio program. In addition, we investigated the satisfaction levels of callers to the radio counseling program and of those who received help in clinics. Last, we examined the callers' expectations of the radio counseling program and found them to be in keeping with the goals of primary prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The conflict between lay and professional views of labour

This paper is one of two reviewing the evidence of differing perceptions of pregnancy and labour between medical professionals and the women who are consumers of maternity services, and how those perceptions have changed over the years. The author points out the existence of power imbalances, which can be argued as being at the root of the expert maternity committee's report, Changing Childbirth. The second article will look at the impact of the report on this situation.     

A delay discounting measure of great expectations and the effectiveness of psychotherapy.

Many clients prematurely terminate therapy before they have recovered. One possible explanation for treatment dropout is unmet expectations. Although the effects of unmet role expectations have received much attention in the literature, little is known about unmet outcome expectations. Two studies were designed to look at duration and effectiveness outcome expectations held by individuals within a primary referral base for a training clinic setting--a setting with a slower rate of recovery than other outpatient settings. Study 1 (N = 110) used a delay discounting method to find rate-of-recovery expectations associated with differing treatment lengths. Results indicated expectations much higher than the demonstrated effectiveness of therapy associated with training clinics. Study 2 (N = 307) replicated Study 1 and examined the possibility of altering outcome expectations through education. Study 2 results indicated that outcome expectations may be altered through client education. Both studies' results are discussed in terms of reducing premature termination and overall treatment outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing therapist and client perspectives on reasons for psychotherapy termination.

Examines the extent of agreement on the reasons for psychotherapy termination given by therapists and their clients. 194 client files in a psychology training clinic were reviewed to obtain reasons for termination cited by therapists in treatment termination reports. Telephone interviews were conducted with 87 of these former clients to determine their perspectives on reasons for termination. Consistent with previous research, there was little concordance among the reasons cited by therapists and by clients regarding clients' decisions to terminate therapy. Of the clients identified by therapists as terminating because of the successful attainment of therapeutic goals, three-quarters reported this reason as important in their termination decision; of those clients reporting termination because of attaining therapeutic goals, only half were identified by therapists as having achieved their goals. Dissatisfaction with therapy and/or the therapist were reported by many clients as important in their termination decisions; such factors were rarely cited by therapists as reasons for termination. Attention to discrepancies between client and therapist expectations of therapy and therapy termination is necessary to reduce the high rate of premature termination in psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of videotaped preparation information on expectations, anxiety, and psychotherapy outcome.

Examined whether preparation decreases clients' state anxiety and improves therapy outcome and clarified the relations among preparation, expectations, and state anxiety. Ss were 138 adults referred for outpatient psychotherapy. Half of the Ss viewed an 11-min preparatory videotape, while the control group waited an equivalent period before their 1st appointment. Pre–post measures confirmed that Ss who viewed the videotape had more accurate expectations about psychotherapy and lower levels of state anxiety than the control Ss. However, at 2-mo follow-up, the prepared group had significantly better outcomes on only 1 of 10 outcome measures. It is suggested that more powerful designs may be necessary to detect long-term effects of preparation and that the short-term benefits demonstrated warrant further study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic expectations and attributed responsibility as predictors of professional teachers' reinforcement behavior.

Attribution theory predicts that the more personally responsible an actor is held for an act, the greater the use of reinforcement feedback. R. Rosenthal (1974) predicts high-expectation students receive more reinforcement than other students. In the present study, 8 active teachers completed responsibility and expectation ratings of students; actual classroom behavior of these teachers and 64 1st- and 2nd-grade students was observed. High-expectation females were praised more freely than other students (average and low; p?p?     

Influence of client preparation and problem severity on attitudes and expectations in child psychotherapy.

Assessed the effects of client preparation and problem severity on children's and parents' understanding, attitudes, and expectations of child psychotherapy. 38 children (aged 6–12 yrs) with 1 of their parents served as Ss. Half of the children and parents received preparation information, and the other half were not prepared. Following preparation vs no-preparation procedures, children and parents completed questionnaires assessing problem severity, knowledge of and attraction to therapy, and prognostic expectations. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist, and therapists rated problem severity and expectations for treatment outcome. Results indicate that preparation increased children's and parents' knowledge of therapy, attraction–receptivity to therapists and treatment, and expectations for therapy outcome. Children and parents were found to be quite attracted and receptive to psychotherapy and to have very positive expectations for treatment outcome. Findings indicate that therapists saw the children's problems as more severe and had lower prognostic expectations than did children and parents. No relation was found between problem severity and attraction–receptivity to treatment or expectations for treatment outcome. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing the effectiveness of process-experiential with cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy in the treatment of depression.

This study compared process-experiential and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy in the treatment of major depression in a researcher allegiance-balanced randomized clinical trial. Sixty-six clients participated in weekly sessions of psychotherapy for 16 weeks. Clients' level of depression, self-esteem, general symptom distress, and dysfunctional attitudes significantly improved in both therapy groups. Clients in both groups showed significantly lower levels of reactive and suppressive coping strategies and higher reflective coping at the end of treatment. Although outcomes were generally equivalent for the 2 treatments, there was a significantly greater decrease in clients' self-reports of their interpersonal problems in process-experiential than cognitive-behavioral therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of confirming patient expectations of change processes in behavioral, cognitive, and brief dynamic psychotherapy.

Used archival data from a study by L. Thompson et al (see record 1987-32037-001) to examine the association between patient expectations of various change processes (ECPs) and outcome across behavioral, cognitive, and brief dynamic therapy. 56 elderly patients (mean age 67.18 yrs) with major depression received from 16 to 20 sessions of individual psychotherapy. Outcome was assessed on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the Young Loneliness Inventory. Confirming patient ECPs sometimes had a beneficial impact on both symptomatology and interpersonal functioning outcome variables, while disconfirming patient ECPs sometimes was associated with a detrimental effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Research on the effects of disconfirmed client role expectations in psychotherapy: A critical review.

Critically examines the pervasive assumption found in psychotherapy literature that disconfirmation of client role expectations has been demonstrated to be a negative influence in psychotherapy. When the empirical literature is examined, this hypothesis does not appear to be as conclusive as has been suggested. In fact, the empirical studies are evenly divided in supporting this hypothesis. The ambiguous state of the research is discussed in terms of problems in design and conceptualization: (a) The operationalization of the independent variable has often been inadequately precise or reliable. (b) The definition of expectation has usually not been clearly specified. (c) The theoretical base for almost all of the research may not be appropriate for the kinds of affectively toned expectations in psychotherapy. Future research should incorporate procedures to counter these types of problems. (72 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling psychologists' perceptions of the occurrence and effects of unrealistic expectations about counseling and psychotherapy among their clients.

Surveyed counseling psychologists working in practice settings regarding their perceptions of the occurrence and effects of their clients' unrealistic expectations about counseling. A majority perceived some of their clients as having unrealistically high expectations about the need for concreteness; the likelihood of counselor nurturance, directiveness, and empathy; and the probability of a beneficial outcome. Most responded that some of their clients have unrealistically low expectations about the need for immediacy, motivation, openness, and responsibility, and the likelihood of confrontation. Psychologists view most unrealistic expectations as having a detrimental effect on counseling. Exceptions that can have a facilitative effect on counseling are unrealistically high client expectations about the needs to be motivated and open and to assume personal responsibility and unrealistically low expectations for counselor directiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing master's clinical training with professional responsibilities in community mental health centers.

100 directors from randomly selected, federally funded community mental health centers and 70 coordinators from university-based, master's-level clinical training programs were surveyed by mail. A 5-part questionnaire sought information regarding (a) relative amount of time spent by master's-level clinicians performing 10 specified professional responsibilities, including psychodiagnostics, psychotherapy and counseling, research, administration, and consultation, or relative time spent at them in training; (b) the same estimates projected 10 yrs into the future; (c) differences in the groups' ratings of master's-level clinician's competency for the same 10 responsibilities; (d) perceived relative importance of each responsibility for the clinicians; and (e) estimates of importance 10 yrs hence. Results are based on return rates of 33% for center directors and 60% for program coordinators and are presented in both between- and within-groups comparisons. Master's-level clinicians were seen as competent professionals having a continuing role in mental health service delivery. Implications for training, provision of service, and degree recognition are considered. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual psychotherapy. Institutional psychotherapy. Individual approach

In the psychiatric management of patients where the author works the following factors are given careful consideration: a) source of referral, b) previous information about the illness, c) the content of the first session, d) obstacles for further treatment and e) theoretical basis for the psychotherapy sessions. Bellak and Small outlines are followed to structure brief and emergency psychotherapy at the author's institution.     

Usuriousness and psychotherapy.

Discusses the individuality of the patient and the uniqueness of the therapeutic relationship in a cultural context. While a refinement is added to Principle 7 on Client Welfare in the Ethical Standards of Psychologists, the essay generally relates to the continuing welfare of the therapist. The discussion is based on the orientation of experiential psychotherapy and a history of personal therapy, teaching, training, supervising, and practicing therapy. The concept of utility is developed and extended to an extreme of usury. Usuriousness in therapy is defined as the therapist's more or less conscious demand for an exorbitant rate of return on the loan of self to the shared therapeutic enterprise. A progression of usuriousness is cited, and several frustrations of a therapeutic ideal are discussed. The suggested remedies center on the relationships that the therapist has or could cultivate outside of therapy. Throughout, the encouragement to therapists is to prize personal integrity and to be alert to perversions of the therapeutic process that result in the abuse and/or exploitation of patients and the erosion of the therapist's confidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)