Collaboration and resource exchange between professionals and natural support systems.

A number of social researchers have documented how extensively Americans utilize informal helping resources in dealing with personal problems, and interest in the preventative potential of informal social support has been spurred by concurrent research in epidemiology. A definition and preliminary typology of natural support systems are offered as a basis for discussion of their role in the delivery of human services. Opportunities for collaboration and an exchange of resources between professionals and members of informal helping networks are explored, and several ways in which professionals can identify and help to create natural support systems in the community are indicated. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Values, Motivations, and Learning Experiences of Future Professionals: Who Wants to Serve Underserved Populations?

Most service-oriented professionals express a desire to help others. But which professionals want to help those who most need their services? The authors assessed the degree to which values, motivations, and learning experiences were associated with a desire to work with underserved populations (UPs) among 135 future professionals who were majoring in helping fields in college. Desiring to work with UPs was positively associated with valuing autonomy, having experienced personal or family problems, and having an educator or helping professional as a parent, and it was negatively associated with having had strong interpersonal alliances. Implications for increasing the pool of professionals who wish to work with UPs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Performance psychology in action: A casebook for working with athletes, performing artists, business leaders, and professionals in high-risk occupations.

Reviews the book, Performance psychology in action: A casebook for working with athletes, performing artists, business leaders, and professionals in high-risk occupations edited by Kate F. Hays (see record 2009-05799-000). Kate Hays has accomplished an admirable task in bringing together a collective of prominent performance practitioners to illustrate the diverse applications of performance psychology. Drawing on specific client examples from across a variety of performance domains, the authors use a case study approach to illustrate the process of helping clients work through a range of performance issues. In doing so, the book offers its readers the privileged opportunity of being a fly on the wall, placing them in the room with the performance practitioners and their clients. In addition, readers also benefit from the running commentary offered by each of the authors as they elaborate on their client assessments and chosen courses of action. In terms of scope, the book explores four performance domains: sports, performing arts, business, and high-risk occupations. The book is practical in nature, providing a snapshot of the practise of performance psychology. I would not, however, call this a “how-to” book. Rather, it is an illustration of how one can apply the principles of performance psychology when working with a varied clientele. Regarding its place in an academic setting, I would recommend that the book be used as a companion to texts that are more heavily weighted in theory and research. Paired with such texts, this book could serve to bridge the science–practise gap and also to demystify the intervention process for psychology students. Because the book presumes prior knowledge of therapeutic principles, it may be more suited to practitioners who are curious about performance psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward helping child analysands observe mental functioning.

Discusses the emphasis on developing the technical implications of the structural model by modern literature on classical psychoanalytic technique and the importance of P. Gray's (1986) work in this resurgence of classical technical writings. In this article, the author applies Gray's work to child analytic technique and suggests ways in which his approach may prove useful in the difficult task of helping child patients to gain insight. A case of an 11-yr-old boy is presented as a heuristic example of how one might go about analyzing the child's defensive use of superego functions in the way that the author understands Gray to suggest. It is hoped that such an example can further attempts both to understand the nature of the child analytic process and to clarify further the technical implications of modern-day classical thinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demographics and Industry Employment of Civil Engineering Workforce

This paper provides a road map to studies and databases about civil engineering demographics and industry involvement by tracing workforce statistics, engineering degrees, data on industries and government, and economic forecasts. It is aimed at helping civil engineering managers, educators, and policy makers understand how their workforce evolved and what it will face in the future. The engineering workforce comprises about 1.5 million professionals in the United States (second in size only to that of teachers); of this number, civil engineering, at about 200,000 workers, is third behind electrical and mechanical engineering. However, the study shows that aggregation of workforce and economic statistics hides unique characteristics of civil engineering work caused by the concentration on consulting and state and local government. In fact, over 80% of civil engineers work either for consultants or government. This characteristic of civil engineering employment needs more study, particularly to determine how best to educate civil engineers to respond to the public–private arena of infrastructure and environment. During the past century, civil engineering has been a steady field with good opportunities, but civil engineers in the future will face the same career issues and pressures as other professionals. Global production of new engineers has now passed the one million-per-year mark, with U.S. production being about 12% of the total. This large supply of engineers will present intense competition to all engineering disciplines. ASCE faces many challenges to respond to the many changes in the civil engineering profession. The concept of institutes contained in ASCE's strategic plan will address many of the technical issues, but the study indicates that professional and educational issues need more attention.     

Implementing Sustainable Development through Problem-Based Learning: Pedagogy and Practice

This paper presents an approach for implementing sustainability within a university environment, and for helping students become more effective problem solvers and professionals. In a “Sustainable Urban Development” course, taught by the writer, students develop projects to make their campus and community more sustainable. In the process, students learn how to analyze sustainability, work with decision makers, and put classroom knowledge into practice. Further, through this course’s emphasis on problem-based learning, students acquire critical cognitive skills and professional skills as they tackle complex, interdisciplinary, and real-world problems. Systematic evaluations of the course offer useful lessons. One is how to create synergies. For instance, while students benefited from hands-on experience with sustainability, the university benefited from students’ work. Another is how to demonstrate and quantify benefits from sustainability, which is vital to gaining support. Yet another is how to enable students to learn from both successful and unsuccessful attempts to implement ideas. Courses such as this can create important bridges between theory and application, and between education and professional practice.     

Parental perspectives on chronic schizophrenia

Parents of chronic schizophrenics are an understudied population. Few researchers have asked them about their wants, needs, and difficulties. The little work that has been done indicates that their suffering is great, their coping skills better than had been previously assumed, and the stresses they are experiencing almost unendurable. This paper looks at what parents are coping with: a child with a terribly debilitating disease about which little is known, a culture which heaps stigma and shame upon them, very difficult and often unworkable mental health and legal systems, and to top it all off, a large number of clinical (non-researchers) professionals who are ignorant about schizophrenia and often unsympathetic towards the parents. This paper then looks at what little data we have from parents about their needs, and offers suggestions about how parents and professionals might best work together, towards the benefit of all concerned.     

Current issues in psychotherapy with gay men: Impact of the AIDS phenomenon.

This article addresses the impact of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) phenomenon on psychotherapy with asymptomatic gay men. We discuss specific issues pertaining to psychotherapy with gay men and offer suggestions about how professionals might address these issues in the helping context. We discuss how therapists can help gay clients (a) to develop a positive gay identity, (b) to reevaluate their patterns of socializing, (c) to learn safe sex techniques and develop positive attitudes toward them, (d) to learn new styles of intimacy, (e) to understand the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody test and the implications of testing, and (f) to develop coping strategies for dealing with the loss of loved ones and acquaintances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive coaching in a cross-cultural context.

Many executive coaches today find themselves working with leaders from a variety of cultural backgrounds, as well as coaching leaders who work with culturally diverse teams. It is therefore increasingly important that coaches understand the role of culture in their work. This article begins with an overview of several ways that culture plays a role in coaching, including an exploration of how assumptions about culture can positively or negatively impact a coach's approach and their ultimate success with a given individual. A second section provides three general principles for coaching across cultures, emphasizing the importance of using cross-cultural knowledge as a way to customize coaching to each person. The third section focuses on five essential conditions for learning--insight, motivating, capabilities, real-world practice, and accountability--and how cultural differences can influence various steps in the coaching process. A variety of examples for each condition highlight specific tools and techniques that coaches can use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Continuity and change: past experience as adaptive repertoire in occupational adaptation

Narratives are gaining recognition as important ways occupational therapists and other clinicians can think about the life stories of clients. The purpose of this article is to examine a conceptualization of how changes from one chapter to another occur in life stories, using the metaphor of an adaptive repertoire, and to consider how this notion can be useful in helping clients maintain continuity and a coherent life story in times of change. Three premises based on the concept of adaptation address (a) configurations of occupational forms embedded in particular local worlds, (b) cumulative development of an adaptive repertoire that allows one to perform both competently and appropriately, and (c) adaptive transitions and application of one's repertoire to new circumstances. Implications for research and clinical practice in occupational therapy also are examined.     

Understanding and overcoming parent resistance to play therapy.

Explores the nature and sources of parent resistance to play therapy, questions the concept of resistance as it is often understood, and suggests ways the play therapist can prevent or overcome it, addressing common mistakes therapists make that actually increase client resistance. It is stated that play therapist's own attitudes and the therapist–parent relationship can be used to overcome resistance that might interfere with therapeutic progress. Showing respect and empathy for parents can go far in creating a trusting collaborative therapeutic relationship that is needed for optimum outcomes. Similarly, helping parents see the connections between their problems and the course of therapy being recommended can make it easier for them to engage as partners in the process of change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Redefining the role of the criminal defense lawyer at plea bargaining and sentencing: A therapeutic jurisprudence/preventive law model.

Promising new developments concerning offender rehabilitation and various provisions of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and their judicial construction make it appropriate to reconceptualize the role of the criminal defense lawyer at plea bargaining and sentencing. These new developments provide new opportunities for attorneys to counsel clients about rehabilitative options, to facilitate their rehabilitative efforts, and to seek probation or reduced sentences as a result. The author proposes a new and broader role for counsel on the basis of principles of therapeutic jurisprudence and preventive law. The new approach is described, and the author suggests how counsel can hold conversations with clients about these sensitive issues and play a therapeutic and preventive role in ways that increase client liberty and well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using the media to foster self-help groups.

Describes a project that consisted of putting ongoing self-help groups on the radio for 1 hr a week. The 1st half hour each week involved an actual session of a self-help group; during the 2nd half hour, calls from the audience were taken and answered by members of the group. The groups were directed at helping women cope wth motherhood, at men who abused their wives or children, and at parents of children with behavior problems. Increases in referral calls to each group were found after the self-help groups went on the air. Process recordings of the shows were useful in documenting the communication patterns employed during the shows. A panel of 12 mental health professionals judged that the programs did not provide unethical, harmful, or inaccurate information. The present project provided a demonstration of how researchers can work collaboratively with media and self-help groups in monitoring change in community-level types of interventions. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influences on the felt need for collective bargaining by business and science professionals.

Examined the extent to which samples of professionals working in industry are interested in unionization and some of the factors that are associated with this interest. 26 "business" professionals and 38 "science" professionals indicated in a survey questionnaire how they felt about the necessity for collective bargaining. They also completed selective sections of the Management Styles Survey to report how they felt about their jobs, the fairness of people, their supervisors' style, and their organizations. Although the professionals as a whole were close to the midpoint in felt need for collective bargaining, science professionals felt much more need than did business professionals. Additional covariance was associated with disbelief in the fairness of people, an authoritarian rather than a consultative boss, job insecurity, and perceived lack of trust in the organization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of power in therapeutic relationships

Power is an important factor in how health care is delivered. Neither health care professionals nor clients fully appreciate the power that they exercise, nor how they influence others. Understanding how power works, however, is vital to establishing a helping relationship. In a traditionally rigid health care system, professionals who try to empower clients can create conflicts among colleagues. A possible solution is an explicit contract with a client, setting out the responsibilities of those involved.     

In Search of a Common Core: A Content Analysis of Interventions to Promote Forgiveness.

This article reviews published methods for promoting forgiveness for a broad range of clinical issues. The review revealed a consensus among applied researchers regarding several broad types of interventions to promote forgiveness, namely, (a) defining forgiveness, (b) helping clients remember the hurt, (c) building empathy in clients for the perpetrator, (d) helping clients acknowledge their own past offenses, and (e) encouraging commitment to forgive the offender. Roughly half of the studies also prescribed interventions to help clients overcome unforgiveness (e.g., bitterness, vengefulness) without explicitly promoting forgiveness. Speculations about how to use forgiveness interventions in sensitive and client-supportive ways are advanced on the basis of the findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward integrating feminist psychotherapy and feminist philosophy.

Describes liberal, cultural, radical, and socialist feminist philosophies and proposes that psychologists' orientations toward feminist political and philosophical theory will have an impact on their practice of feminist psychotherapy with regard to their preferences for group or individual modalities, therapeutic interventions, diagnostic practices, and organizational affiliations. Psychologists' philosophical positions may also influence their attitudes about research, epistemology, and the role of men and women as clients and therapists. Specific connections between feminist philosophy and psychological theories and other aspects of practice are discussed. It is proposed that all psychologists who work with gender-related issues can benefit from contemplating how their therapeutic practices intersect with feminist philosophy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative effectiveness of professional and paraprofessional helpers.

Used meta-analysis to resolve some of the contentious issues raised in the debate between J. A. Durlak (see PA, Vols 62:11736 and 66:2004) and N. T. Nietzel and S. G. Fisher (see record 1981-22035-001) about the relative effectiveness of professional and paraprofessional counselors. Effect sizes based on 154 comparisons from 39 studies show that clients who sought help from paraprofessionals were more likely to achieve resolution of their problem than those who consulted professionals; moderators of this conclusion were related to experience, duration of treatment, and the manner in which effectiveness was measured. It is concluded that there is substantial evidence that paraprofessionals should be considered as effective additions to the helping services, at least when compared to professionals. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical and nonclinical aspects of program development consultation.

Although program development can have therapeutic benefits for an organization and for its members, it is inappropriate to assume that consultation is simply therapy for groups; there are differences in goals and in methods. Organizational consultants can make errors if they work with organizations as therapists do with groups or treat organization members as if they were patients. On the other hand, both organizational consultants and psychotherapists need clinical sensitivity and skills at developing a setting of trust and openness. Both professionals encourage specificity and checking of assumptions and try to make explicit that which had been covert. Both groups find it effective to work with the "client system" rather than a specific "identical patient." Consultants working with groups can profit from clinical insight about the resistance of individuals and groups to change. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)