Resolving attachment injuries in couples using emotionally focused therapy: Steps toward forgiveness and reconciliation.

The goal of this study was to use task analysis to verify that the attachment injury resolution model described in this article discriminates resolved from nonresolved couples. Twenty-four couples with an attachment injury received, on average, 13 sessions of emotionally focused therapy (EFT). At the end of treatment, 15 of the 24 couples were identified as resolved. Segments of best sessions for all couples were transcribed and rated on 2 process measures. Resolved couples were found to be significantly more affiliative and achieved deeper levels of experiencing than nonresolved couples. They also showed significant improvements in dyadic satisfaction and forgiveness than nonresolved couples. The results support the attachment injury resolution model and suggest that resolution during EFT is beneficial to couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Countertransference temptation and the use of self of self-disclosure by psychotherapists in training: A discussion for beginning psychotherapists and their supervisors.

Most recent articles on self-disclosure have addressed advanced questions of theory and technique related to self-disclosure in psychoanalysis. This article, however, takes up issues related to the use of self-disclosure by psychotherapists in training. Rather than arguing categorically that beginning psychotherapists should or should not use self-disclosure, the focus here is on the factors influencing the decision of whether or not to make a self-disclosure. Illustrated by 2 case examples, it is argued that because of their relative lack of experience in working with transference and countertransference, beginning therapists are especially susceptible to the temptation to use self-disclosure and nondisclosure to close off--rather than to analyze--a patient's intense transference feelings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ideal control mastery technique correlates with change in a single case.

The authors present a study of a 16-session psychotherapy conducted from the perspective of control mastery theory (CMT), a cognitive-psychodynamic-humanistic theory of psychopathology and psychotherapy process. Following every session, measures of the client's in-session affect, the therapist's in-session techniques, therapeutic alliance, and session outcome were obtained. The authors developed a quantitative prototype of ideal CMT technique for this case and determined how closely each session's technique matched the prototype. The closer the therapist's in-session technique was to ideal CMT technique, the better the client's in-session affect and the better the session outcome, Providing ideal CMT technique was associated with better session outcome, even after controlling for the passage of time, in-session affect, and therapeutic alliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multimodal approach to assessing the impact of nicotine dependence, nicotine abstinence, and craving on negative affect in smokers.

We used multimodal measurement to evaluate whether (a) nicotine dependence is associated with baseline and postquit negative affect and craving, (b) smoking relapse is associated with greater negative affect and craving than abstinence, and (c) craving is associated with negative affect. Treatment-seeking smokers were randomly assigned to either a brief behaviorally based smoking-cessation treatment condition or to a delayed treatment control condition. Participants in the treatment condition attended four assessment sessions, 4–5 days prequit (baseline), 1–2 days postquit, 3–5 days postquit, and 10–14 days postquit, while controls attended four sessions spaced over the same intervals. Retrospective questionnaires were collected at the beginning of each session, and corrugator EMG and in-session ratings were collected during viewing of affective and cigarette-related slides. The multimodal measures indicated that more dependent smokers experienced greater negative affect and craving at baseline and postquit, regardless of abstinence status. The self-report measures indicated that both relapsed and abstinent smokers reported greater negative affect and craving than control smokers. Craving was associated with negative affect across measurement modalities. These results highlight the benefits of using multimodal measures to study the impact of nicotine dependence and withdrawal on negative affect and craving. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resolving decisional conflict by Gestalt two-chair dialogue: Relating process to outcome.

31 clients (aged 17–65 yrs) completed a 6-wk program using Gestalt 2-chair dialog to work on intrapsychic conflict related to the making of a decision. Ss were classified as resolvers or nonresolvers based on a pattern of in-session process indicators. Resolvers were those Ss who had manifested 3 components of a proposed model of conflict resolution: the expression of criticism by one part of the personality, the expression of feeling and wants by another, and the softening in attitude of the "critic." These attributes were measured in terms of voice quality, depth of experience, and structural analysis of social behavior. Resolvers were significantly less undecided and less anxious after treatment and reported greater improvement on target complaints and behavior change. In addition, after the session in which the "critic" softened, resolvers reported greater conflict resolution, less discomfort, greater mood change, and greater goal attainment than nonresolvers. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attractive versus unattractive clients: Mediating influences on counselor's perceptions.

Investigated the effects of clients' (C's) age, physical attractiveness, and in-session behavior on Ss' attraction to the Cs. Female undergraduates were assigned to 1 of 8 experimental conditions in which the C was depicted as (a) an adult or a child, (b) physically attractive or unattractive, and (c) verbal ("good" in-session behavior) or nonverbal ("bad" insession behavior). Results indicate that "counselor" Ss were significantly more attracted to child than to adult Cs and to those Cs demonstrating good in-session behaviors as opposed to those performing poorly. Physically attractive Cs were not rated significantly more interpersonally attractive than physically unattractive ones. An interaction between age and in-session behavior suggested that bad in-session behavior significantly decreased the attractiveness of adult Cs but not that of children. Thus, although counselors tend to favor young, attractive, verbal, intelligent and successful (YAVIS) Cs, certain YAVIS characteristics may have a more potent effect on C attractiveness than others. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do therapists self-disclose more to clients with greater symptomatology?

This research investigated the links between self-reported therapist self-disclosure and (a) clients' initial symptom levels, (b) the working alliance, and (c) symptom change. Outpatients (N = 83) and therapists (N = 22) at a mental-health hospital completed confidential surveys after a session of ongoing treatment. Results revealed that therapists self-disclosed more to clients with lower initial symptomatology. Therapist self-disclosure was not significantly related to clients' or therapists' ratings of the working alliance; nor was it related to symptom change. We suggest that therapists might limit self-disclosure to particularly symptomatic clients because the therapists want to establish clear boundaries with them, but future studies will need to explore the reasons for this link. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of counselor self-disclosure, self-involving statements, and interpretation.

After viewing a 20-min videotape of a simulated counseling session, 217 college students rated the counselor on expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness and on their willingness to see that particular counselor for a personal problem. The session ended with the counselor either summarizing the session, disclosing a past or a present personal problem, making self-involving statements, or offering dynamic interpretations. Results show that present self-disclosure, past self-disclosure, and self-involving statements were not viewed as significantly different from each other and were viewed as significantly more attractive than the summary and dynamic interpretation. There were no significant differences for expertness or trustworthiness. ANOVA showed that the raters were most willing to see the counselor when he ended the session with interpretations and least willing to see him when he ended with summary sessions. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of stress and cohort on mother- and father-infant interaction.

20 18-mo-olds were observed interacting with their mothers and fathers in a structured laboratory setting. In an initial free-play session, infants directed more affiliative behaviors to their fathers than to their mothers. When observed alone with each parent there was more parent-child interaction than when both parents were present, though the same relative preferences emerged; however, the entry of a stranger caused infants to seek proximity to their mothers preferentially. The wariness occasioned by the stranger caused a shift in the infants' behavior from affiliation to attachment. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of supervisor experience level on planning and in-session supervisor verbal behavior.

Examined the effects of supervisor experience level on presession planning and in-session supervisor verbal behavior. 30 supervisors representing no, low (1? to 3 yrs), and high (4 to 25 yrs) levels of experience (mean ages 27.3, 28.7, and 35.8 yrs, respectively) listened to a 30-min audiotaped counseling interaction and then recorded thoughts and strategies for supervision in a 30-min planning session. Ss then conducted a 30-min supervision session with the counselor. Analyses of audiotapes from the planning and supervision sessions revealed no significant differences between the 3 levels of supervisory experience in planning statements. However, significant differences were observed in the actual supervision session, with low- and high-experience Ss being similar to each other and different from the no-experience group on several dependent measures. Results also indicate that the counselor rated the low- and high-experience Ss more positively than the no-experience Ss. No relation was observed between statements generated during the planning session and those occurring during supervision. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in self-disclosure: A meta-analysis.

Conducted a meta-analysis of 205 studies involving 23,702 Ss to determine whether there are sex differences in self-disclosure. Across these studies, women disclosed slightly more than men (d?=?18). This effect size was not homogeneous across studies. Several moderator variables were found. Sex of target and the interaction effect of relationship to target and measure of self-disclosure moderated the effect of sex on self-disclosure. Sex differences in self-disclosure were significantly greater to female and same-sex partners than to opposite-sex or male partners. When the target had a relationship with the discloser (i.e., friend, parent, or spouse), women disclosed more than men regardless of whether self-disclosure was measured by self-report or observation. When the target was a stranger, men reported that they disclosed similarly to women; however, studies using observational measures of self-disclosure found that women disclosed more than men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of mother-infant and father-infant attachments in the second year of life.

Observed 20 infants at home interacting with their mothers, fathers, and an unfamiliar investigator, when they were 15, 18, 21, and 24 mo of age. The infants showed significant preferences for their fathers over their mothers in the display of attachment and affiliative behaviors. Both parents were preferred to the investigator on attachment behavior measures, though when the relative activity of the adults was taken into account, the infants directed more affiliative behaviors to the investigator than to their parents. Over the year, there were declines in the occurrence of most attachment and affiliative behaviors. Fathers were far more active in interaction with sons than with daughters. At 24 mo, the infants were observed in a laboratory playroom with their parents. In this situation, the infants showed no preference for either parent in the display of attachment and affiliative behaviors. They interacted far more with each parent when alone with her/him than when both parents were present. A stranger's presence had a similar effect on affiliative interaction within each parent–infant dyad, though the stranger effect was differentiated by intensification of the attachment behavior system. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intimacy as an interpersonal process: The importance of self-disclosure, partner disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness in interpersonal exchanges.

H. T. Reis and P. Shaver's (1988) interpersonal process model of intimacy suggests that both self-disclosure and partner responsiveness contribute to the experience of intimacy in interactions. Two studies tested this model using an event-contingent diary methodology in which participants provided information immediately after their social interactions over 1 (Study 1) or 2 (Study 2) weeks. For each interaction, participants reported on their self-disclosures, partner disclosures, perceived partner responsiveness, and degree of intimacy experienced in the interaction. Overall, the findings strongly supported the conceptualization of intimacy as a combination of self-disclosure and partner disclosure at the level of individual interactions with partner responsiveness as a partial mediator in this process. Additionally, in Study 2, self-disclosure of emotion emerged as a more important predictor of intimacy than did self-disclosure of facts and information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A reassessment of self-disclosure patterns among Anglo-Americans and Hispanics.

Analyzed the Self-Disclosure Questionnaire responses of 155 Anglo-American and 119 Hispanic undergraduates according to overall frequency of reported self-disclosure, preferred topics (whether about taste, attitude, body, personality, or money) and preferred targets (whether to mother, father, male friend, female friend, or spouse). Examiner ethnicity and gender were systematically varied so that the interaction with S gender and ethnicity could be determined. Results reveal that females reported significantly more disclosure than males. Anglo-Americans indicated more disclosure than Hispanics, and disclosure among Hispanic males was particularly low. However, Hispanics reported high self-disclosure under some conditions. Specifically, Hispanic females reported high self-disclosure to female administrators, and Hispanic males reported significantly high self-disclosure with Hispanic female administrators. Ethnicity was not a significant factor in determining preferred topic and target of self-disclosure. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intersecting losses: Working with the inevitable vicissitudes in therapist and client lives.

Therapists working with clients with severe trauma histories over long periods of time may find themselves managing traumatic events in their own lives—illness, divorce, death—at the same time as they are assisting their clients to live productively with their painful pasts. While a few accounts exist describing how therapists deal with single overwhelming events, very little has been written about how therapists manage ongoing or prolonged episodes of severe stressors with a busy clinical practice of clients with severe trauma histories. Yet, we know that support for therapists is crucial to longevity in the field and we also know that learning from the experience of others is a highly recommended form of support. This paper is an account by a senior clinician of how she has maintained a productive clinical practice despite personal losses. Therapists who struggle with personal losses probably deal with choices related to self-disclosure more than therapists who do not have such experiences; they have repeated opportunities to establish appropriate and effective levels of self-disclosure for them and the people with whom they work. The paper presents a template for thinking about the risks and benefits of self-disclosure while at the same time modeling a level of self-disclosure that may be beneficial to therapists looking for examples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treatment techniques and outcomes in multidimensional family therapy for adolescent behavior problems.

The link between treatment techniques and long-term treatment outcome was examined in an empirically supported family-based treatment for adolescent drug abuse. Observational ratings of therapist interventions were used to predict outcomes at 6 and 12 months posttreatment for 63 families receiving multidimensional family therapy. Greater use of in-session family-focused techniques predicted reduction in internalizing symptoms and improvement in family cohesion. Greater use of family-focused techniques also predicted reduced externalizing symptoms and family conflict, but only when adolescent focus was also high. In addition, greater use of adolescent-focused techniques predicted improvement in family cohesion and family conflict. Results suggest that both individual and multiperson interventions can exert an influential role in family-based therapy for clinically referred adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of counselor self-disclosure: An analogue study.

120 male and 120 female university students viewed a videotaped vignette of a simulated counseling session. Counselor self-disclosure was manipulated so that Ss were presented a counselor exhibiting no disclosure, interpersonal disclosure, or intrapersonal disclosure. Ss rated these counselors across a variety of professional (e.g., competency) and personal (e.g., likability) dimensions. Results reveal that counselors who self-disclose are evaluated significantly more favorably than counselors who do not. There is no evidence that disclosing counselors are viewed as less competent or less mentally healthy as suggested in previous research. The implications of these findings for further research on counselor self-disclosure and for clinical practice are explored. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of success in emotionally focused marital therapy

This study examined client variables expected to predict success in emotionally focused marital therapy (EFT), now the second most validated form of marital therapy after the behavioral approaches. The relationship of attachment quality, level of emotional self-disclosure, level of interpersonal trust, and traditionality to the therapy outcome variables, marital adjustment, intimacy, and therapist ratings of improvement, was examined. These variables were chosen for their relevance to the theory and practice of EFT and to intimate relationships in general. Overall, therapeutic alliance predicted successful outcome; the task dimension of the alliance in particular predicted couples' satisfaction. More specifically, one dimension of female partners' trust, their faith in their partner, predicted couples' satisfaction at follow-up. Females' faith also significantly predicted males' level of intimacy at follow-up. Males who were most likely to be nondistressed at termination indicated higher levels of proximity seeking on an attachment measure at intake, and older males and males whose partners had higher levels of faith in them were more likely to be nondistressed at follow-up. Traditionality was not found to be significantly related to outcome. Couples who made the most gains at follow-up also indicated lower initial marital satisfaction and included males who indicated lower levels of use of attachment figure on the attachment measure at intake. Males who made the largest gains at termination were older and were rated as less expressive by their partner on self-disclosure measures at intake. Age was the only variable significantly related to males' gains in satisfaction at follow-up. Implications for the practice of marital therapy and future research are delineated.     

Individual differences in schema utilization during discourse processing.

Discourse processing involves an interaction of text-based and knowledge-based processes. It was hypothesized that college students (N?=?112) would differ in their relative employment of knowledge-based processes, and that Ss would tend to be more "text bound" when they were more "stimulus bound" in another task with analogous processing demands (i.e., an embedded figures test; EFT). Extent of knowledge-based processing (or schema utilization) was assessed by comparing recall of food items from a narrative about a trip to a fancy restaurant with that from a parallel narrative about a trip to a supermarket. Previous research has demonstrated that since the "foods purchased" component of the restaurant schema is more highly constrained than the equivalent component of the supermarket schema, the former supports greater food item recall. As predicted, food item recall was significantly positively correlated with EFT residuals (after predicting EFT from vocabulary test scores) for the restaurant condition, with no correlation for the supermarket control. Other dependent measures yielded the same pattern of positive correlation with EFT or no correlation with EFT as a function of whether performance would be enhanced by schema utilization or not, respectively. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)