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.     

Individual psychotherapy and the elderly.

Suggests that by longevity alone, the elderly bring a multitude of life experiences and interests into psychotherapy and provide the basis for a rich assortment of transferences and countertransferences. There are fears and needs common to this age group that must be anticipated by the therapist. Adjustments are usually required in the early sessions to adapt to immediate needs and requests. An active sharing approach by the therapist is recommended. (53 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The missed session: A neglected aspect of psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Missed sessions, whether initiated by the patient, therapist, or nature, are events in psychotherapy, not non-events. When appropriately handled, missed sessions provide valuable opportunities for therapeutic exploration. A clear cancellation policy, discussed early in therapy, offers a frame within which therapist and patient may understand the meanings of the missed session. An awareness of transference and countertransference contributes to therapeutic implementation of the cancellation policy and resulting maintenance of exploratory space. Therapists whose cancellation policies are unclear, too rigid, or too lenient render the therapy unsafe. Addressing the financial implications of a missed session before attending to motivations and feelings surrounding it is a clinical mistake. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual psychotherapy. Approach in a regional hospital

The author mentions the needs and the type of work psychiatrists do in a general hospital; he underlines the importance of good communication between the psychiatrists and the general practitioner. Success depends on the selection of patients and of the analytic framework the author uses. It is mentioned that the therapist-patient relationship can be damaging or beneficial according to the way it is handled.     

Individual psychotherapy with head-injured adults: Clinical notes for the practitioner.

Head injury is a relatively common phenomenon that often results in the need for psychotherapeutic attention. We review deficits in cognitive and psychological functioning after head injury in adults as they pertain to the psychotherapist. Clinical issues that often arise in treating this population are discussed, as are adjuncts to the therapeutic process. Specifically addressed are the importance of family and marital interventions with head trauma patients and issues concerning sexuality. The importance of an extended referral network to those conducting psychotherapy with head-injured adults is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual psychodynamic psychotherapy of schizophrenia: Empirical evidence for the practicing clinician.

Practicing psychodynamically oriented clinicians need empirical evidence to support the use of individual psychodynamic psychotherapy for the treatment of individuals with schizophrenia. The purpose of this article is to provide psychodynamically oriented clinicians with that needed empirical evidence. A review of the meta-analytic research on the use of individual psychodynamic psychotherapy was conducted. It is concluded that strong empirical support exists for the use of individual psychodynamic psychotherapy in the treatment of schizophrenia. In addition, several suggestions are made to help clinicians apply the meta-analytic evidence to their daily clinical work. Limitations of the available evidence are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual experiential psychotherapy: An analogue validation of the intervention module of psychodramatic doubling.

16 White female undergraduates were randomly assigned to a doubling intervention (DI) or control group. The DI module focused on the resolution of interpersonal situations, with the interviewer "doubling" the S's nonverbal behavior and making statements for the S. Analyses of responses to interview questions across 5 stages of the treatment session and of postsession ratings supported the predicted superiority of the DI in promoting revealingness. The constructs of experiencing and empathic understanding are considered essential mechanisms of proximal therapeutic change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual and group psychotherapy of childhood aggression: A comparison of outcomes and processes.

The purpose of this study was to compare outcomes and processes of a therapeutic intervention to reduce children's aggressive behavior, delivered in individual and group formats. Children in 15 small groups (n?=?71) and 15 individual treatment children were compared in a pre–post experimental and control design. The Achenbach self-report behavior checklist and teachers' evaluations were used to measure outcomes. To assess outcome results further, the process of change was qualitatively analyzed. In addition, the therapeutic processes were compared using Hill's counselor and client verbal response modes system. Results concerning outcomes indicated reduced aggression of treated children compared with wait-list children, with no differential impact of the format of treatment. The analyses of stages of change supported the similarity in outcomes. Results concerning process variables indicated differences in both therapist and client verbal responses. In therapists' responses, directives were used more in groups and self-disclosure was used more in individual therapy. In clients' responses, most variables were more frequently used in individual therapy. Experiencing was more frequent in group therapy, and there was no difference in insight and simple responses… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The future of psychotherapy with children: Developmental psychotherapy.

Discusses the concept of developmental psychotherapy for children as a way of integrating information about human development, basic biological processes, and psychopathology with knowledge gained from studies of therapeutic change. In developmental psychotherapy, rather than trying to provide a permanent cure, the therapist tries using a variety of methods to help the child regain a footing on a developmental pathway more likely to lead to adequate adaptation in subsequent periods of life. Research in this field should concentrate on continuing refinement of models for developmental pathways leading to specific outcomes in a number of domains, particularly those involving externalizing disorders and substance abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Foreword: Values in psychotherapy.

Contends that the glory of psychotherapists' "tree of psychology" is that its roots are absolutely philosophical and, therefore, limitless in scope and devoid of absolute proofs. The trunk of this tree is a solid and substantial store of scientific and empirical data. The branches bear a multitude of flowers, many of which are not quite substantial; not made to endure the critical climate of a questioning world. Ultimately, however, these flowers contain the germinating factor, that which allows human knowledge the possibility of continued growth and rejuvenation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reducing psychotherapy dropouts: Maximizing perspective convergence in the psychotherapy dyad.

Reviews 3 decades of research addressing premature termination of psychotherapy. Client, therapist, interpersonal dyadic, and administrative variables have been extensively investigated. Because of a variety of methodological problems, this literature is highly contradictory, and results are difficult to reconcile, with only socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnicity emerging as consistent predictors of dropout. Treatment matching studies have evaluated the effects of maximizing similarity (or convergence) and minimizing perspective divergence within the therapeutic dyad. Research looking at interactive and multidimensional factors such as working alliance, client satisfaction and expectations, client likability, and pretreatment preparation has proven useful. This research suggests that psychotherapy dropouts might be minimized if differences between therapists' and patients' perspectives on therapeutic enterprise are acknowledged and recognized as legitimate targets for intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brief psychotherapy.

This article discusses brief psychotherapy in terms of the work developed at the Tavistock Clinic and relates this to current theories in the field. I describe my own individual method basing its effectiveness on a revised theory of memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Monitor psychotherapy.

Suggests that G. W. Albee's (see record 1977-29846-001) implication that psychotherapists are "anti-intellectual" caused Albee to miss the opportunity to examine the role of psychology in confronting changing social norms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive psychotherapy.

Positive psychotherapy (PPT) contrasts with standard interventions for depression by increasing positive emotion, engagement, and meaning rather than directly targeting depressive symptoms. The authors have tested the effects of these interventions in a variety of settings. In informal student and clinical settings, people not uncommonly reported them to be "life-changing." Delivered on the Web, positive psychology exercises relieved depressive symptoms for at least 6 months compared with placebo interventions, the effects of which lasted less than a week. In severe depression, the effects of these Web exercises were particularly striking. This address reports two preliminary studies: In the first, PPT delivered to groups significantly decreased levels of mild-to-moderate depression through 1-year follow-up. In the second, PPT delivered to individuals produced higher remission rates than did treatment as usual and treatment as usual plus medication among outpatients with major depressive disorder. Together, these studies suggest that treatments for depression may usefully be supplemented by exercises that explicitly increase positive emotion, engagement, and meaning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socialized psychotherapy.

The philosophy of a general right to mental health services is examined in the light of the current crisis in the health care delivery system. The impact of probable public policy decisions on funding of psychotherapy services is discussed, and alternative responses to possible problems are reviewed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of psychotherapy: A factor-analytic study of ratings of psychotherapy sessions.

Rated tape recordings of 60 early sessions of psychoanalytically oriented therapy on 110 process variables. The ratings of 3 Os were clustered and factor analyzed. 4 factors were rotated and interpreted as (a) patient health vs. distress, (b) optimal empathic relationship, (c) active directive mode, and (d) interpretive mode with receptive patient. For 27 of the 30 patients, outcome ratings were obtained from the therapist (patient improvement and success + patient satisfaction). Patient improvement was not predicted by any process ratings. Success + patient satisfaction, on which women scored higher than men, was predicted by patient health vs. distress. Patients rated in early sessions as healthy and low in distress had better prognoses. Optimal empathic relationship qualities related positively to success in therapies low in directive mode, but for relatively directive therapies, this relationship was negative. (31 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Couples psychotherapy: A psychodynamic model.

Psychoanalytic assumptions and goals need not be viewed or approached from a purely individual analytic perspective. Families and especially marriages offer a unique opportunity for systems-oriented intervention to add therapeutic depth by addressing psychodynamic interactions in vivo. Doing so requires integration in therapy, as well as in theory, of the manner in which individual psychodynamics manifest in primary interpersonal systems. A model is presented which aims at translating and instilling a useful degree of analytic insight in members of marital or family systems. Insight into transferential distortions and behavior is facilitated by introducing the metaphor of unconscious "hopes" and "expectations" in the interactive contexts of conjoint and individual sessions. It is suggested that such an expansion of systems-oriented approaches is a crucial step in adding depth and durability to change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Advances in psychotherapy supervision: Introduction.

Psychologists tend to take psychotherapy supervision for granted. This is especially puzzling when they discover that 55% of academic clinicians spent between 10% and 29% of their time in supervision and another 7% claim to spend over 30% of their time so engaged. As recently as 10 years ago, few and scattered materials existed in the literature to guide the conscientious supervisor, but more materials have recently become available, including books, a journal devoted to supervision, and workshops offered at regional and national conventions. Given these developments, it is fitting that psychologists take stock of the field of psychotherapy supervision. Toward this end, several people who have worked in a particular area were asked to prepare either a review of the area or a seminal treatment of a topic in the area. The articles that follow are the result. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two on one: Dialectical psychotherapy.

Asserts that 2 therapists treating 1 patient is an effective technique not only in dealing with therapeutic impasses but as a therapeutic technique by itself. In dialectical psychotherapy, one therapist reflects the patients' minuses (e.g., fears, tendency to avoid coping with problems), while the other reflects pluses (e.g., hidden resources, achievements). Two case illustrations are provided involving a 40-yr-old depressed male and a 10-yr-old girl with behavioral and learning problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)