Duty to warn and intervention with HIV-positive clients.

Complex ethical and legal issues are involved when an HIV-positive client presents a danger to others as a result of engaging in unprotected sex or needle sharing. This article presents a detailed assessment-and-intervention model that is based on the integration of ethical and legal principles with information about the level of risk associated with a client's behavior, the HIV status of the client, and the sexual or needle-sharing partner's awareness of the client's HIV status. Appropriate interventions, including the duty to warn, are identified for each of the risk levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On being ethical in legal places.

Comments that many ethical pitfalls may await psychologists who participate as expert witnesses in the legal process. This article describes the ethical problems and examines their origin in light of important differences in purpose between psychological practice and legal process. Special attention is given to problems of objectivity in the assessment process, ethical issues in the interpretation of data in the courtroom, and the client's psychological welfare. Suggestions for maintaining ethical practice in the role of expert witness are provided. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Narrative empathy.

Therapeutic empathy is described as an active narrative process, in which the therapist attempts to construe and express the inner emotional logic of the client's problem patterns. The empathic narrative is contrasted to the external narrative, which describes the client from the outside and the client's behavior as making sense from the point of view of the theory rather than from that of the client's. The criterion of an empathic narrative is that it elicits from the client the response "That's me!" The external narrative, in distinction, fails to elicit this self-recognition. The persistent rejection of the therapist's formulations by the client and the ensuing state of therapeutic impasse is interpreted as being often due to the therapist's assumption that the client should accept an external narrative as if it were an empathic one. When such a situation develops, the therapist may overcome the impasse by acknowledging the externality of the previous therapeutic narrative and proposing a potentially empathic one in its stead. Three case examples of a 49-yr-old married woman, a teenage girl, and 28-yr-old single male are presented to demonstrate narrative empathy within the therapeutic context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling and psychotherapy: Split personality or siamese twins?

Psychotherapy is a process "implemented by interview techniques which seeks to alter the client's receptor or response system in such a way that healthy behavior will occur in situations where unhealthy behavior has been typical." An attempt will be made "to describe a kind of nonpathological emotional distress that is clearly the special province of the counseling psychologist." We "see psychotherapy and at least one type of counseling, psychological discordance reduction, as Siamese twins. These processes are two distinct but closely related entities that share some vital concerns. Perhaps one of both of these twins have split personalities, but the distinction between them is not delusional." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new psychodiagnostic tool for clients in rehabilitation settings: The MBHI.

The Millon Behavioral Health Inventory (MBHI), a 150-item self-report inventory, may provide measures relevant to the client's psychological outlook and prognosis. It also appears useful as a guide for treatment planning and psychological counseling. The rationale, development, and uses of the MBHI are briefly described, and the focus of each of the instrument's 20 scales is outlined. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological assessment of older adults.

Older adults experience a diverse range of cognitive, emotional, and social problems for which psychological assessment may be beneficial. This article describes sequential steps in geropsychological assessment and reviews some of the procedures that can be used for making a differential diagnosis, establishing a baseline for longitudinal follow-up, or planning for interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological distress, well-being, and legal recognition in same-sex couple relationships.

Legal recognition of same-sex couple relationships provides at least some material benefits to couple members; however, few studies have examined the associations between legal recognition and psychological distress or well-being. Using an online survey sample of 2,677 lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) individuals, participants were placed in 4 groups: single, dating, in a committed relationship, and in a legally recognized relationship. Analyses revealed that participants in committed or legally recognized relationships reported less psychological distress (i.e., internalized homophobia, depressive symptoms, and stress) and more well-being (i.e., the presence of meaning in life) than single participants. Significant group differences and multivariate analyses indicated that participants in a legally recognized relationship reported less internalized homophobia, fewer depressive symptoms, lower levels of stress, and more meaning in their lives than those in committed relationships, even after controlling for other factors. The need for further research on the psychological benefits of legal relationship recognition for same-sex couples is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinguished Scientific Awards for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology 1986: Steven Penrod.

The Early Career Awards recognize the large number of excellent young psychologists. Three areas are considered each year, with areas rotated in three-year cycles. The areas considered for awards in 1986 were social, sensation and perception, and applied research. Steven Penrod is one of the 1986 recipients of the award "for distinguished and original contributions to research on legal decision making. His studies have significantly advanced our understanding of the relationship between rules of evidence and procedure and jury decision making, the reliability of eyewitness evidence, and the behavior of attorneys and judges. His research program reflects a deep understanding of the law; an imaginative application of psychological theories to legal questions; and a mastery of research methodology, ranging from mathematical and computer modeling to laboratory and field experimentation. His research exemplifies the best qualities of applied research: It speaks authoritatively to both the psychological and legal communities and has yielded both theoretical and practical insights into decision making." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest: Michael J. Saks.

The Awards for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest recognize persons who, in the opinion of the Committee on Psychology in the Public Interest Awards, have advanced psychology as a science and/or profession by a single extraordinary achievement or a lifetime of outstanding contributions in the public interest. Michael J. Saks, one of the 1987 recipients, is recognized for successfully bringing psychological knowledge to bear on a wide range of legal and public policy concerns. Through his empirical research and creative applications of basic psychological research and theory, he has contributed to our knowledge of psychosocial assumptions in diverse areas of the law. As one of the rare psychologists who thinks like a lawyer, he has helped to increase the social sensitivity of the legal community and the legal and ethical sensitivity of the psychological community, with tremendous benefit to the public interest. In addition to the citation, a biography and selected bibliography of Saks' work are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

And tell Tchaikovsky the news: The wedding of therapeutic jurisprudence and preventive lawyering.

Advocates for therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) and preventive law (PL) presume that legal practice is normally unemotional and that expressing concern for the client is normally therapeutic. This response challenges both presumptions. The author argues that, as part of the service economy, legal practice involves a great deal of emotional labor. He emphasizes how psychological difficulties in being a lawyer may spring from the dilemmas of being a salesperson. He further questions linking certain emotional orientations to moral judgment by privileging compromising, expressing caring, or not being aggressive. He suggests that sometimes being affectively neutral toward clients is therapeutically indicated, and he considers how techniques and values are mixed in merging TJ and PL. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender-role analysis: A neglected component of psychological assessment.

Discusses the influence of gender membership and gender-role socialization on psychological functioning and psychopathology, and proposes issues for the integration of gender-role analysis into the process of psychological assessment. Illustrations of how awareness or ignorance of gender-role issues can impact the outcome of psychological assessment are presented, and guidelines for the inclusion of gender-role analysis into the psychological assessment process are proposed. It is suggested that the assessment of gender-role issues requires a consideration of the lessons of gender, how they were learned, and what meaning was given to that experience; specific cultural values; how like or different the client's family was from other families who shared the client's cultural background; and the client's adult sexual and physical abuse history. The benefits of including gender-role analysis to both therapist/assessor and client are discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Male therapists' clinical bias: Influence of client gender roles and therapist gender role conflict.

This study examined male therapists' gender role conflict, client sexual orientation, and client emotional expression as they interrelated with clinical judgments about male clients. Using a series of written clinical vignettes to manipulate the client variables of sexual orientation and emotional expression, 196 experienced male therapists completed a measure of male gender role conflict, read a clinical vignette varying the client's sexual orientation and emotional expression, and rated the client on several clinical dimensions. Canonical analysis revealed 2 roots indicating that therapist gender role conflict factors, in combination with client sexual orientation and emotional expression, were associated with therapists' ratings of the male client's prognosis and how much therapists liked, had empathy for, had comfort with, and had willingness to see the male client. Implications for counseling practice, limitations, and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some ethical concerns regarding the individual psychotherapy of the married client.

A brief review of the literature establishes the high potential for disturbance of a client's marital relationship following individual psychotherapy. Several problems possibly inherent in the conduct of therapy with only one member of a marital dyad are discussed, as well as some of their probable sources. The importance of informed consent to treatment is stressed with regard to ensuring that potential clients are aware of the possible negative effects of therapy on their marital relationship. The systemic view of the spouse as necessarily involved in the maintenance and modification of the client's complaints, provides an alternative to individual psychotherapy: The spouse must be a part of their therapy from the beginning. It is suggested that the ethical responsibility of the therapist is toward the greatest overall benefit for the client and should concern the interpersonal as well as the psychological environments of the clients they serve. (French abstract) (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional intelligence and legal education.

The traditional knowledge-based law school curriculum is slowly giving way to one that increasingly exposes students to various lawyering skills. Nonetheless, legal educators are generally averse—or at best ill equipped—to support that training with the empathic and psychological skills good lawyering demands. The author discusses how emotional intelligence is essential to good lawyering and argues that it can and should be cultivated in law school. The article draws upon three examples of popular culture to explore both the absence and possibilities of interpersonal intelligence in the practice of law. The author also describes her own law school's current project of re-imagining legal education and explains how the development of emotional skills might be incorporated into that vision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Challenge Tests and Panic Disorder: Implications for Clinical Assessment.

The growing body of research on procedures designed to induce symptoms of panic (challenge tests) has prompted practicing psychologists to consider using challenge tests for assessment of panic disorder. This article overviews the empirical literature on the neurobiological and psychological factors involved in the panicogenic effects of challenge tests and, in doing so, outlines strengths and weaknesses of using challenge tests as assessment tools in clinical settings. It is suggested that challenge tests are useful for understanding a client's phenomenological experience of panic and as a tool for planning and evaluating treatment, though they are not ideal for differential diagnosis. Practicing psychologists can draw on the included recommendations when considering adopting challenge tests in applied settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral "Medicine" and the Collaboration Model of Knapp and Vandecreek.

Knapp and Vandecreek's (1981) article provided a helpful outline of some ethical and legal considerations of the health psychologist. Their recommendations regarding "physician collaboration" (p. 679) in the psychological management of physiological health concerns lead to practical problems that require further ethical and legal inquiry. Some concerns arising from efforts to apply the collaboration model are considered here: interaction with physicians who are minimally sophisticated about the psychological aspects of illness; collaboration with physicians who routinely equate patient's health psychology concerns only with emotional disorder and consign these individuals to the psychologist; and whether health psychologists can select an accurate diagnosis for conditions that are not psychological in nature. Health psychologists may ultimately resolve these issues as the professional identity of behavioral "medicine" and its practitioners develops. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Issues in personnel selection.

Industrial/organizational psychologists have made many contributions to the development of modern selection procedures. Such procedures are used by organizations in making decisions about individual employees (e.g., hiring and promoting). This article briefly reviews the methods used in selection (i.e., psychological tests, personal histories, projective techniques, and interviews); summarizes the professional and legal issues that their use has raised; and discusses current trends and future developments in selection. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Awards for Distinguished Professional Contributions.

Discusses contributions made by Leopold Bellak, Harry Levinson, Herbert Freudenberger, J. Wilbert Edgerton, and Gerald P. Koocher, recipients of the Awards for Distinguished Professional Contributions awarded by the American Psychological Association. Bellak is recognized for contributions to the fields of psychopathology, psychoanalysis, psychological testing, brief psychotherapy, and community mental health. Levinson is awarded for application of psychological theory to the daily functioning of organizations. Freudenberger is recognized for instilling the principles of trust, respect, and human dignity into the psychotherapeutic process. Edgerton is awarded for the development of rural mental health services (MHSs) and the enhancement of MHSs in the public sector. Koocher is recognized for public service activities, including children's legal rights and protection of consumers of MHSs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compelled mental health examinations, liability decisions, and damage awards in sexual harrassment cases: Issues for jury research.

Controversy surrounds the role that expert psychological testimony may play in sexual harassment litigation. In some circumstances, the defense may compel sexual harassment plaintiffs to submit to a mental health examination by a defense expert. This examination may be used to discover whether the plaintiff has a previous history of sexual victimization, which the defense could use to weaken the plaintiff s claims that the sexual behavior was unwelcome and/or damaging. Some advocates have advised that plaintiffs not place their mental health into controversy, so that they can avoid these compelled examinations. In this article, the authors (a) review the legal basis for compelled mental health examinations, (b) review the relevant psychological literature on jury decision making in sexual harassment cases, and (c) examine the implications of compelled mental health examinations for jury decision making, suggesting avenues for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Critique of Miller's "Chance, choice, and the future of reproduction."

Discusses W. B. Miller's (see record 1984-17604-001) argument that the decision of whether to have a child involves a psychological process in which an individual freely chooses from among many alternatives. It is asserted that the political context of today, in which women's reproductive rights are an issue of great controversy, constrains such ideologically based freedom. Political, legal, and social conditions that limit women's reproductive control are described. Miller's support of progenics, which favors a particular type of offspring in evolutionary terms, is questioned. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)