In memoriam: Hans H. Strupp (1921-2006).

Hans Hermann Strupp, who deeply influenced the field of psychotherapy research for 50 years, died on October 5, 2006, of Parkinson's disease. He was 85 years old. Hans entered the field when psychotherapy research largely focused on straightforward questions of general efficacy. Beginning with the publication of his dissertation in 1955, Hans demonstrated a keen ability of systematically applying rigorous scientific methods to phenomena that were close to the hearts of practicing therapists. Hans was an early advocate of the need for audio and video recording of therapy sessions for research purposes. The scientific study of the therapeutic process was a central focus of his research. Equal to his empirical contributions was Hans's talent as a writer and what many regard as his uncanny rhetorical abilities. This balance allowed him to engage in discussions with many scientists from radically different schools, which contributed to the foundation of the movement of psychotherapy integration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions: Hans H. Strupp.

Recognizing the diversity of roles and activities in which many professional psychologists are engaged, beginning in 1979, Professional Awards have been presented to individual members of the Association whose distinguished contributions have served to advance psychology as a profession in the areas of knowledge, public service, and professional practice. Hans Strupp was the recipient of the Distinguished Professional Contributions to Knowledge award. Strupp was cited for his numerous contributions to the knowledge and practice of professional psychology. A pioneer in the study of therapeutic process and change, he has forged rigorous research methods for studying psychotherapy. His stewardship of psychotherapy research has helped form it into a respected field of scientific inquiry, and his active leadership in the integration of clinical and research knowledge has been invaluable to the psychotherapy professions. In addition to the citation, a biography and selected bibliography of his works are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Edward Shoben, Jr.: Overlooked pioneer of psychotherapy integration.

In 1949, a year before Dollard and Miller (1950) published their milestone of psychotherapy integration, Edward Shoben, Jr., published a lesser-known, but no less groundbreaking, learning theory analysis of the psychotherapy process (see record 1950-01904-001). By doing so, he challenged the therapists of his day to reconsider the mutative factors in psychotherapy. He was largely ignored by practitioners but was influential in the development of behavior therapy. By bridging the substantial gap separating the academic learning theorists and predominantly psychoanalytic practitioners of his day and seeking out common mutative factors, Shoben was a true pioneer of psychotherapy integration. This article explores his contribution with particular emphasis on the importance of his ideas and their influence on current practices. In addition, criticisms of his approach as well as theoretical and political factors that may have contributed to his relative obscurity are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Michael J. Mahoney: A retrospective.

Michael Mahoney, who made seminal contributions not only to the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) but also to the entire field of psychotherapy, died a tragic death at the age of 60 on May 31, 2006. He published more than 250 scholarly articles and chapters, authored and edited 19 books (one of which was awarded a Citation Classic by the Science Citation Index), edited 4 journals, and served on 23 editorial boards plus numerous guest editorships and advisory boards. His research spanned a tremendous breadth without sacrificing depth. Primarily, however, he inquired into development across the life course, including but not limited to psychotherapy. Initially trained as a behaviorist, he played a significant role in the cognitive revolution in psychology; he was also a leading figure in constructivist psychotherapies. He was a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, as well as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kenneth Irwin Howard (1932-2000).

Memorializes Kenneth Irwin Howard for his many contributions to clinical psychology. Throughout his career, Howard and his colleagues produced an impressive corpus of empirical work illuminating psychologists' understanding of psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paul W. McReynolds (1919–2010).

If any man met the definition of being both a gentleman and a scholar, it was Paul W. McReynolds, who died in Loveland, Colorado, on December 4, 2010, at the age of 91. Paul’s interests were wide-ranging, and his contributions to the profession were many. He delighted in teaching courses on the history of psychology, personality theory and assessment, motivation, behavior disorders, and psychotherapy. Paul received many honors and awards. He was a prolific and careful scholar and a dedicated teacher, and he strived to maintain the highest personal and academic standards. His influence on the field of psychology and on those of us who knew him will continue for years to come. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Allen E. Bergin.

A brief overview of the career and contributions to the field of psychology of Allen Bergin. Allen Bergin has established himself as a leading expert in psychotherapy research, and has challenged psychological orthodoxy to emphasize the importance of values and religion in therapy. Besides his own original research, Bergin has led in integrations of the literature on effectiveness of therapy. His Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change, edited with Sol Garfield in three editions, is the authoritative source in the field. In addition, through his teaching at Columbia and Brigham Young, consultations, colloquia, and national and international convention presentations, Bergin has had a distinctive impact on a generation of practitioners, critics, and consumers of psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ewing Lakin Phillips (1915–1994): Obituary.

Presents an obituary for E. L Phillips. Phillips's contributions are outlined, including his long-time interest in psychotherapy and child development. He published 21 books and over 200 articles on topics including writing therapy, brief treatment methods, expressive arts, and therapy delivery systems. Phillips's first systematic exposition on psychotherapy was his pioneering book, Psychotherapy: A Modern Theory and Practice (1956). He founded and endowed the School for Contemporary Education in Fairfax County, Virginia. One of the earliest schools to accept almost any physically or mentally challenged student, it stands as a memorial to his devotion to the education of all students. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arnold P. Goldstein (1933-2002).

Reports the death of Arnold P. Goldstein (1933-2002) and notes his contributions in several fields, including psychology education, psychotherapy, the effects of social skills training and other approaches to aggression replacement with juvenile delinquents, prison inmates, and violent mentally ill patients. Goldstein believed completely in the connection between the art and science of psychotherapy and thought all psychologists were responsible for improving the practice of psychology through research. His great passion for the 25 yrs before his death was to create safer schools and communities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapy from an international perspective.

The author provides a context for a series of papers on the state of psychotherapy and psychotherapy integration in different parts of the world. He points out that differences in cultural values and assumptions are as important to consider in attempting a comprehensive integration of different points of view in our field as differences in theoretical orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Bion and group psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Bion and group psychotherapy edited by Malcolm Pines (1985). Group therapists familiar with the work of Wilfred Bion have long struggled with the question of how to utilize his contributions to our understanding of group dynamics in their conduct of therapy groups. Malcolm Pines addresses this question as well as a number of others in his compendium Bion and Group Psychotherapy. Some authors describe Bion as they experienced him and comment on the influence he had on their lives. Despite these "personal" comments, the picture of Bion that emerges from a reading of the volume is somewhat elusive. While he was clearly admired and appreciated, he does not seem to have been a person whom others got to know very well. He seems to have been experienced not only as creative and imposing but also as enigmatic. One emerges with a sense that others admired him from afar. Nevertheless, his influence on a number of authors represented in this volume seems to have been substantial. Most of what is commented on is that Bion helped people learn to be able to open themselves to what people project into and onto them and to be able to tolerate and work with the psychotic parts of individuals and groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editor's note.

The Editorial Board discusses possibility of publishing a limited number of distinguished contributions concerning the application of psychoanalysis to short- and long-term psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the practice of psychotherapy by the nonmedically trained.

Freud in his writing indicated that medical training was not necessary for psychoanalytic qualification. The problem (of the practice of psychotherapy by the nonmedically trained) is still very much with us; and it may be profitable to re-examine the arguments pro and con for allowing nonmedically trained individuals to perform psychotherapy. The positions of persons opposed to nonmedically trained psychotherapy are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The technique of psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, The technique of psychotherapy by Lewis R. Wolberg (1954). Noting the dearth of concrete specific writings on psychotherapeutic technique "amidst the lush literature on psychiatry," the author made it his purpose to write a book which would delineate a "sound therapeutic structure irrespective of the specific 'kind' of psychotherapy done and without reference to the individual 'style' of the therapist." The writer compares briefly education, social casework, and counseling of normal people with psychotherapy and finds considerable overlapping in goals and means. He also finds that some of the undercurrent processes in "spontaneous cure" are similar to those in psychotherapy. After these preliminary considerations Wolberg attempts to classify the existing varieties of psychotherapy into three types: (a) supportive therapies; (b) insight therapies with re-educative goals; (c) insight therapies with reconstructive goals. The reviewer reports that while the presentation of the chief tenets of the various present-day therapies is too brief to teach a novice, it is so lively and stimulating that it certainly will whet his appetite and induce him to go to the original sources. The criticism of each "approach" is confined to a few objections presented, not as the author's own beliefs, but as opinions voiced by unspecified critics. This is a very important book to be read and enjoyed by all psychologists, practitioners, and theoreticians alike. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ivan Norman Mensh (1915-2005).

Presents an obituary for Ivan Norman Mensh. Mensh published well over 100 papers, including seminal work on the measurement of the effectiveness of psychotherapy, assessment techniques, medical education, interprofessional relationships, ethics, and community mental health. Along with his leadership in medical psychology training, he was also well known and regarded for his pioneering in the field of gerontology. He was a visiting scientist for the American Psychological Association (APA) for many years, and held numerous other positions within APA, including President of the Division of Clinical Psychology from 1965 to 1966. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Good Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in Film: Three Unorthodox Examples.

Although presentations of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in film are often distorted, examples of good psychotherapeutic principles can be found in film in unorthodox settings. In The Sixth Sense and The Silence of the Lambs, the therapist must overcome his own resistance to listening to his patient in order to be effective. A psychologist must come to terms with his own death in order to understand and help his patient, and a cannibalistic psychiatrist must control his oral voyeurism to allow his "patient" to tell her story. Rashomon takes place in medieval Japan, but it fits a model of a 1-session psychotherapy of a guilt-ridden, acutely depressed man who benefits from both insight and reparative action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eugene E. Levitt (1921–1995).

Memorializes Eugene E. Levitt, a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology and a Diplomate in Experimental Hypnosis. He established one of the country's first American Psychological Association-approved internship programs at the Indiana University Medical Center in 1957. Among his important contributions were the following: his production of the often cited earliest overview of the effectiveness of psychotherapy with children, his conduct of the survey of Division 12 members from which the Beck system of Rorschach scoring and analysis was developed, his development and use of many MMPI special scales, and his series of studies of the effects of various incentives on volunteering for hypnosis experiments. He was President of the Indiana Psychological Association (IPA) in 1966–67 and IPA representative to the APA Council in 1967–68, 1981–84, and 1990–93. He was a fellow of the APA, the Society for Personality Assessment, the American Academy of Sexologists, and the International Council of Sex Education and Parenthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Martin Rochlin (1928-2003).

Presents an obituary for Martin (Marty) Rochlin, a pioneer in the field of gay-affirmative psychotherapy, who passed away on October 20, 2003, at the age of 75 following a brief struggle with cancer. Through his clinical practice, mentorship of students, contributions through programs of the American Psychological Association (APA), conferences, and public appearances, Marty Rochlin was a model for academic and professional psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Countertransference in psychotherapy with children and adolescents.

Reviews the book, Countertransference in psychotherapy with children and adolescents edited by Jerrold R. Brandell (see record 1992-97833-000). Books on child analytic work are rare, and books on countertransference in child treatment are basically nonexistent, despite the proliferation of writing on countertransference in work with adults. Thus, Jerrold Brandell's edited volume is a welcome and long-overdue addition to the literature. Although the book is not strictly about analysis, it is analytically informed. Brandell's stated goal is to advance the principle that "countertransference is a ubiquitous factor in child and adolescent treatment, and that its recognition, understanding, and management are essential to effective psychotherapy." This is indeed a worthy if not essential undertaking, and the collection of articles in Brandell's book advances this goal. Brandell prefaced the chapters with his own thorough historical literature review of countertransference in both adult and child work. He then subdivided the book into two sections, with the first containing two classic articles an countertransference and the bulk of the book devoted to the following "scientific situations" in child psychotherapy: racial and cultural issues, depressed and suicidal children and adolescents, infant-family treatment, severely disturbed adolescents, eating disorders, abused children and adolescents, parent loss and divorce, borderline children and adolescents, life-threatening illness, and substance-abusing adolescents. This book is a very good resource for child analysts and therapists, especially those who espouse a more relational or intersubjective point of view. It is suitable both for inexperienced analysts and as a reminder to more seasoned ones of the importance and pervasiveness of countertransference issues in our work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)