Hypnosis: Major theoretical orientations and issues.

Hypnosis is neither a theory nor a therapy, but a psychological process which can be explained using a variety of theoretical perspectives and which can be incorporated into various conceptual schools of therapy. Like the proverbial three men and elephant, different theories of hypnosis emphasize its different facets. Various theories of personality, development, and behavior have described and explained different aspects of hypnosis. Current issues in the literature on hypnosis include hypnosis and memory and cognitive processes, hypnotic susceptibility, interface between hypnosis and physiological parameters, and efficacy of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal and therapeutic styles of experienced therapists who differ in peer-rated therapist effectiveness.

Investigated some relationships between the verbal behavior of 20 experienced therapists and their therapist effectiveness. Forced oral responses to a taped therapy interaction were obtained and analyzed. Each dependent variable (empathy, positive regard, genuineness, functional level, voice quality, freshness of words, change of topic, confrontation style, personal references, and statements) was correlated against a rating of a therapist's effectiveness made by experienced judges using the Truax-Carkhuff scales. Of 10 hypotheses, 5 were supported. The more effective the experienced therapist, the higher the levels of offered empathy, positive regard, and genuineness, and the more likely the therapist was to use "inner focus" and "experiential confrontation." Variables of number of years of experience and level of empathy were investigated further. Findings and their implications are discussed. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes of therapists varying in community mental health ideology and democratic values.

Studied the relationship between therapists' scores on the Community Mental Health Ideology Scale and the Democratic Values Scale and their ratings of patient case histories on a number of attitudinal dimensions. 33 therapists (psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and nurses, aged 24-35) rated each of 8 case histories of psychiatric outpatients on likability, comfort, interest in treating, interest in friendship, and prognosis. Patients' social class, diagnosis, and insight level were systematically varied within the case histories. Results support the contention that previously reported preferences for middle-class, high-insight, and less disturbed patients are related to therapists' degree of adherence to community mental health ideology and democratic values. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A shared reality of therapists and survivors in a national crisis as illustrated by the Gulf War.

Utilizes the example of the Gulf War to present a conceptualization and a pragmatic model of professional intervention during situations of national crisis, like the recent situations (bomb explosions) in Buenos Aires, Argentina and in Oklahoma City, US. The authors discuss the impact of the shared reality experienced by therapists and patients, when both are exposed to a national crisis. The article stresses the importance of going out into the field and aiding the victims wherever they are. It describes interventions by an Israeli mental health team formed during the Gulf War, which assisted victims, whose homes were damaged by Scud missiles, wherever they were housed after their evacuation. By addressing the questions that confront the therapist in a national crisis of this kind, the authors introduced a certain mode of work that reflects the way the therapist and the patient cope with their shared reality as well as with the interrelationship between external organization and internal mobilization. Three case examples of adult individuals whose homes were destroyed during the war serve to illustrate the effectiveness of the technique of immediate intervention in the field in a crisis of this kind. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of therapist and patient mood on the therapeutic functioning of high- and low-facilitative therapists.

Determined the effects of presession moods of 12 therapists and their patients on level of therapist empathy, warmth, and genuineness. Results of an intensively designed study indicate that high- and low-facilitative therapists were differentially affected by therapist moods. High-facilitative therapists functioned more facilitatively under dysphoric moods than under positive, while the opposite was true of low-facilitative. There were no differences in tape-rated therapist facilitativeness under different patient moods for either group, yet patients of low-facilitative therapists did perceive such a difference. It is 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 process research is discussed. (44 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semantic communication and expectations for counseling across three theoretical orientations.

Using excerpts taken from 2 time periods in each interview from the film series, Three Approaches to Psychotherapy, the language of the counselors (C. Rogers, F. Perls, and A. Ellis) and the client was compared to determine whether relations exist between participants' speech in the interview and the counselor's prior stated intentions for the interaction. Language was analyzed by means of the Computer-Assisted Language Analysis System; the dependent measures were verb phrases classified into types of inherent semantic relators. Counselors differed significantly in their use of verb phrases defining (a) states or properties of objects, (b) actions initiated by agents, and (c) a compound of experiential states and actions. In contrast, the client's language was remarkably consistent from interview to interview, with 1 exception: The client's use of verbs defining experience was significantly more frequent when talking with Rogers than when talking with Ellis. Results are discussed in terms of how structural analyses of language may help counselors (a) identify treatment policies mutually formulated and implemented at different stages of the counseling process and (b) relate these policies to the needs of clients whose cultural background is different from that of the counselor. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diversity within African American, female therapists: Variability in clients' expectations and assumptions about the therapist.

Despite the presence of some literature that has addressed the characteristics of the African American female therapist, most psychotherapy training proceeds with the assumption that therapists are members of dominant groups, and most of the psychological and psychotherapy literature has been written by therapists and psychologists who come from dominant cultural perspectives. Not as much has been written about psychological paradigms or the process of psychotherapy from the perspective of the therapist who is not a dominant group member. This article explores both the common and divergent experiences that we, the authors, share as African American female therapists and the different reactions we frequently elicit in clients. We also explore how individual differences in our physical appearances, personal backgrounds, and different characteristics of our respective practices elicit distinct responses from clients that we believe are based on differences between us, despite the fact that we are both African American women. We believe that many of the stereotypes that affect perceptions of African American female clients also exist for African American female therapists. We will address how the intersection of gender, race, and sexual orientation of the client highlights the complexity of culturally competent practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselors' responsibility and etiology attributions, theoretical orientations, and counseling strategies.

Psychologists at university counseling centers with internships approved by the American Psychological Association were surveyed to examine relationships between their theoretical orientations, counseling strategy recommendations, etiology attributions, and models of helping. Participants responded to 2 vignettes, one portraying a student with an adjustment disorder and the other portraying a student with an identity disorder. The majority of participants subscribed to the compensatory model of helping for the adjustment disorder, but participants were more evenly divided between the compensatory and the moral models of helping for the identity disorder. Most participants attributed the cause of adjustment disorder to specific trauma and the cause of the identity disorder to lack of self-understanding. Evidence that etiology attributions are more predictive of recommended counseling strategy than is theoretical orientation was found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping with client death: Using a case study to discuss the effects of accidental, undetermined, and suicidal deaths on therapists.

Over one-quarter of psychologists and psychiatrists will lose a client to suicide, and the impact of suicide on therapists is profound. Therapists report both personal (e.g., emotional) and professional (e.g., fears of litigation, doubts about competency) reactions to client suicide, and these reactions are thought to be pronounced for therapists-in-training. However, little is known about the effect of nonsuicidal client deaths on therapists, especially how the experience of a client suicide might compare with other forms of unanticipated client death, such as accidental injuries (e.g., car accidents) or deaths of undetermined intent. The current article reviews family members' bereavement responses based on differential death classification, as well as therapist reactions to suicidal deaths. A case study of undetermined death will be described in light of the extant literature on therapists' coping responses to suicide, including reflections on emotional and professional implications to a nonsuicidal death. A recent social psychological model of adaptation to emotional experiences (Wilson & Gilbert, 2008) will be used as a theoretical framework to discuss how death by suicide may be construed in comparison to undifferentiated and/or accidental deaths, with a focus on informing sorely needed future research in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived influence of life experiences on clinical psychologists' selection and development of theoretical orientations.

Investigated the types of life experiences perceived by 31 male and 9 female behavioral and psychodynamic (PD) psychologists as influential in the development of their theoretical orientation. Half of the Ss were experienced therapists (aged 31–59 yrs); the other half were clinical psychology graduate students. Ss completed a theoretical orientation survey and a checklist of variables influencing the selection of a theoretical orientation and were also interviewed individually. Results show that therapists in the PD group (1) reported significantly more mental illness in members of their families of origin, (2) offered significantly more personal as opposed to professional reasons for seeking therapy, (3) reported significantly more conflict within their families of origin when compared with therapists in the behavioral group, and (4) reported seeking personal therapy more often (95%) than therapists in the behavioral group (40%). Implications for training of therapists are discussed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When hearing clients work with a deaf therapist.

Not being able to hear can present significant challenges for the therapist and for the deaf therapist/hearing client dyad. It can also create opportunities. Although the literature indicates that most culturally Deaf therapists work with Deaf clients due to their mutual use of American Sign Language, I describe (a) the background of an audiologically deaf therapist who relies on speech reading rather than sign language, and (b) this therapist's clinical work with hearing clients. Some of the relational dynamics of these treatments are identified, and I conclude by noting how attention to communication can benefit the work of all psychotherapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of A and B therapists with schizophrenics and neurotics: A referral study.

A basic assumption in the therapist A-B variable literature has been that A therapists are more effective with schizophrenic patients and that B therapists are more effective with neurotic patients. This has not been adequately demonstrated among experienced, practicing therapists since the original work of J. C. Whitehorn and B. J. Betz (1954, 1957, 1960) and D. McNair et al (1962). The current study attempted such a demonstration. Assuming a close relationship between a therapist's effectiveness and his/her reputation among professional colleagues, the study asked each of 60 psychologists to "refer" each of 6 case vignettes (2 schizophrenic, 2 neurotic, and 2 "other") to the colleague he/she believed would be most effective with that case. 41 Ss (20 As and 21 Bs, as determined by the Schiffman et al A-B scale reported by D. E. Kemp and J. H. Stephens, 1972) completed the task. A therapists received more schizophrenic than neurotic referrals, whereas B therapists received more neurotic than schizophrenic referrals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of the stylistic complexity of the language of counselor and client across three theoretical orientations.

Using data generated from a computer-assisted language analysis system, and excerpts from 2 different time periods in each interview from the film series Three Approaches to Psychotherapy, the stylistic complexity of the language of counselor and client was compared. The analysis indicated that the counselors were significantly different from one another on 4 dependent measures of stylistic complexity: number of sentences, average sentence length, average block length, and average clause depth. The differences were commensurate with expectations derived from each theoretical approach. The client's stylistic complexity also differed significantly on the 4 measures across the 3 interviews. Moreover, by comparing the data within each interview from Time 1 and Time 2, evidence for concerted action was found. Results support and raise questions about the potency of interpersonal influence in counseling, the effect of the theoretical approach on the language by which counseling is conducted, and speculations about how counselor and client establish the ground rules for treatment. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feelings of inexperienced therapists in psychotherapy: a factor analytic study

The Therapy Session Report, a parallel-structured response questionnaire, was utilized to study the feelings of inexperienced therapists. 57 college student applicants at a university counseling center reported on their perceptions of their therapists' feelings immediately following an intake interview. The 19 therapists, clinical psychology graduate students in training, also reported what they felt during the intake session. Factor analysis of patients, perceptions of their therapists' feeling resulted in four factors, the first two accounting for 85% of the common variance. Factor analysis of therapists, perceptions of their own feelings resulted in nine factors. Results suggest that, while patients view their therapists in generally negative positive terms, inexperienced therapists experience considerable affective discomfort during their intake sessions.     

Limit setting practices of play therapists in training and experienced play therapists.

This study evaluated the effect of play therapy training on graduate students' limit-setting choices in play therapy and compared their reported choice of limits with the reported choice of limits of experienced play therapists. The results indicated a significant difference between pre-training and posttraining limit-setting choices of graduate students, with more limits being chosen after training. The limits selected by students after play therapy training were similar to those chosen by experienced therapists in past studies. After training, students selected limits most frequently in the areas of physical aggression against the therapist, physical aggression against equipment, and on behaviors which endangered the child's health and safety. After training, students chose the fewest limits in the area of socially unacceptable behavior, particularly in the expression of obscenity in the playroom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An exploratory study of vicarious trauma among therapist trainees.

The current study explored vicarious trauma among therapist trainees in relation to history of trauma, experience level, trauma-specific training, and defense style. Students in graduate clinical and counseling psychology training programs (N = 129) completed the Trauma Symptom Inventory, Defense Style Questionnaire, and an experience questionnaire. Results indicated trauma symptoms were significantly associated with defense style, which appeared to moderate personal trauma history and experience level. Trauma-specific training was also independently related to trauma symptoms. Notably, over half the sample reported a self-sacrificing defense style, which was a risk factor for vicarious trauma. Training implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An analog study with beginning therapists suggesting bias against "activity" in women.

Investigated the effects of client sex and therapist attitudes toward women on treatment planning for an "active" client by having 28 social workers, 28 psychiatrists, 2 nurses, and 3 psychologists (aged 20–30 yrs) formulate a treatment plan for either a male or female client whose cases were identical except for client sex. The client was portrayed as active in work, sex, and interpersonal relationships. Results show bias against activity in women: The female client was seen as having an intrapsychic problem requiring individual insight-oriented therapy, while the male client, with the same presenting problem of marital conflict, was seen as having an interpersonal relationship problem requiring couples' therapy. Activity in a woman was viewed as neurotic. The conflict was conceptualized as unresolved issues about sexual identification, implying normal femininity had not been achieved. Therapists expected that the woman would make the concessions in the relationship and would compromise her career ambitions to achieve a more satisfactory balance of the roles of career woman and wife. It is suggested that therapists must reexamine their conceptualization of activity in men and women and the consequences of their beliefs in everyday clinical practice. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)