The role of language in therapy with the Spanish-English bilingual client.

The clinical and counseling psychology profession has witnessed a steady increase in research on the development and application of Hispanic/Latino-centered therapeutic approaches; however, little attention has been given to incorporating the dynamics of a client's language background in treatment. The authors discuss the important role of language representation and emotions and the implications for conducting therapy with bilingual clients who speak Spanish and English. The contributions of psychoanalysis and psycholinguistics that have guided the research on language issues in counseling and therapy are presented, and future directions in research, training, and practice are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Posttherapy congruence on client symptoms and therapy outcome.

Examined whether therapists' accuracy on the level of clients' symptoms as perceived by the client (congruence of perception) was related to outcome in the cases of 50 adult clients. Clients completed a 90-item symptom check list, which was scaled on 9 symptom dimensions (e.g., depression, anxiety, hostility) and a global pathology index. Therapists rated clients directly on these dimensions. As hypothesized, posttherapy congruence correlated significantly with both client-rated and therapist-rated outcome. Congruence of perception at the beginning of therapy was unrelated to outcome. Better congruence was associated more with successful outcome than was either therapists' or clients' components of the congruence level. Findings suggest that therapists' posttherapy conceptual congruence of client functioning is highly associated with successful outcome. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapist modification of client expressiveness in client-centered therapy.

Based on evidence that has linked client expressiveness to therapy outcomes and has demonstrated the prognosis of inexpressive clients to be poor, a case of client-centered therapy in which the therapist directly attempted to intervene and increase the expressiveness of an inexpressive client is reported. In interviews with the patient, a male in his mid-twenties suffering from severe depression, subsequent to the intervention, client expressiveness showed a significant increase over baseline, and this increase was maintained without further therapist intervention. Implications for the treatment of the inexpressive client and for revising the traditional view of client-centered practice as nondirective are discussed. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of attitude on the recall of personal histories.

Two studies involving 135 university students examined the relation between attitudes and the recall of past behaviors. Both experiments utilized the same paradigm: First, Ss' attitudes on an issue were manipulated; then Ss were asked to recall past behaviors relevant to the newly formed attitude. The results indicate that attitudes can exert a directive influence on recall of personal histories. It is suggested that much like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the process of behavioral review may increase the control that attitude exerts over future behavior, producing an increase in attitude–behavior consistency. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of dreams in family therapy.

Focuses on the clinical use of dream material in the context of family therapy. It is shown that significant others in the family system share and dynamically participate in the dreamscapes of each other at various levels. A process as opposed to a content orientation is stressed in the understanding of this material. Several methods of working with family members are presented that employ the holographic model of consciousness as a working paradigm. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The generality of the automatic attitude activation effect.

R. H. Fazio et al (1986) demonstrated that Ss were able to evaluate adjectives more quickly when these adjectives were immediately preceded (primed) by attitude objects of similar valence, compared with when these adjectives were primed by attitude objects of opposite valence. Moreover, this effect obtained primarily for attitude objects toward which Ss were presumed to hold highly accessible attitudes, as indexed by evaluation latency. The present research explored the generality of these findings across attitude objects and across procedural variations. The results of 3 experiments indicated that the automatic activation effect is a pervasive and relatively unconditional phenomenon. It appears that most evaluations stored in memory, for social and nonsocial objects alike, become active automatically on the mere presence or mention of the object in the environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of immediate dentures on maxillomandibular relations

Immediate mandibular and maxillary dentures were made for six patients to determine the relative changes in the vertical dimension of occlusion and rest position over a 3-month test period. The dentures were mounted on the articular in centric occlusion (habitual). Pilkington-Turner anatomic teeth were used on the maxillary denture, which was set against a flat, noninterfering acrylic resin occlusion rim instead of mandibular posterior teeth. Positional cephalometric measurements in centric occlusion and rest position were made before extraction and at 1-week, 1-month, 2-month, and 3-month intervals. The dentures were relined after 2 months. The results were as follows: 1. In the centric occlusion position the mandible moved forward after 1 week and remained forward for the 3-month test period. 2. The rest position showed no significant change in the anteroposterior position of the mandible with time. 3. The vertical dimension of occlusion and rest showed a gradual decrease over the entire test period. 4. The reline procedure did not affect the trend of the dimensional changes. 5. A noninterfering occlusal scheme is advantageous for immediate dentures.     

The effect of attitude and experience on judgments of controversial statements.

"An interpretation of adaptation-level theory suggests that judgment of controversial statements is determined by the judge's relevant stimulus history. Among the implications of this suggestion are (a) a dependence of absolute extremity judgments upon the attitude of the judge, and (b) a potential distortion of attitude scores due to the item order on a questionnaire… . In general, findings are consistent with adaptation-level theory, provided that experiences are weighted differently according to (a) their degree of remoteness in time, and (b) the nature of the judgment task." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of lack of information on the undecided response in attitude surveys.

The "undecided" response in attitude inventory items may be selected because of actual neutrality, item ambiguity, lack of information, antagonism to the test procedure, or a need to "straddle." The major determiners are probably actual neutrality, "fence-straddling" attitudes, or lack of information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The supervision of cotherapist teams in family therapy.

Explores difficulties for co-therapists in their work with families and provides a conceptual framework within which supervision can resolve difficulties and facilitate effective functioning by the co-therapist team. When the interaction between the 2 therapists is therapeutically useful, they are successful. Illustrations of functioning and dysfunctioning relationships are given in case excerpts. Supervision of co-therapists begins with the goals of helping each therapist achieve awareness, understanding, and a relationship with the patient and with each other. Difficulties may arise as a result of realistic perceptions, feelings, and interactions; distorted transferential perception; and distorted countertransferential perception. Supervision facilitates the development of a commitment and a subsequent contract between the co-therapists; the supervisor must maintain a family perspective. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The future of marital and family therapy.

Discusses developments and trends in marital and family therapy. Marital and family therapy is now firmly established but will continue to evolve. Practice will be shaped more by insurance reimbursement policies than in the past and will be characterized by less purity of treatment formats and clinical methods. A major goal for the profession will be the enhancement of interaction and cooperation between clinicians and researchers. The technique and theory of family therapy will become a standard part of psychology and psychiatry clinical training, but family therapy will be increasingly perceived as a separate and distinct profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of family variables on child weight change.

Analyzed the effects of family variables (e.g., family size, family weight composition, parental weight) on child weight loss in a series of family-based, behaviorally oriented weight control programs for children from 102 families. Results show that the amount of relative weight change was related to initial treatment success, the number of children in the family, and the gender of the child. Children who were more successful lost more weight initially, had fewer siblings, and were female. It is suggested that family size may interact with treatment to determine weight change, possibly by reducing the amount of time a parent has to spend promoting behavior change or the effectiveness of parents in managing their children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical concerns in family therapy.

Ethical issues for the family therapist can be complex when treatment of the family involves several members whose needs are conflicting. Such techniques as encouraging ventilation of hostile feelings, forming alliances with particular family members, and requiring reluctant members to attend sessions raise important ethical questions. The principle of confidentiality is less clear when the entire family is in treatment. Systematic ethics training should include examination of the therapist's own values and biases, as well as issues of honesty and competency, and continuing education programs. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training psychologists in family therapy in family institute settings.

Contends that pathways for training psychologists in family treatment approaches have yet to become well articulated, due to the traditional segregation of the fields of psychology and family therapy. The author examines the interface between one important source for such training, family institutes, and psychology training programs. The roots of the mutual misunderstanding between these institutions are examined, followed by a discussion of the strengths and potential difficulties of training psychologists in family institute settings. A set of recommendations is offered for how family institutes and psychology training programs can best work together. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapist directiveness, client dominance, and therapy resistance.

Studied the interaction of client personality and therapist directive vs. nondirective techniques in producing client resistance. 40 high- and 40 low-dominance male undergraduates, while role-playing client problems, were required to make choices between 32 pairs of high- and low-resistant client responses following therapist statements. Results show that nondirective techniques elicited most client resistance, low dominance Ss tended to give more resistant responses, and both effects were most pronounced when Ss assumed hostile roles. S anxiety was also found indirectly to be related to resistance. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conformity and counterattitudinal behavior: The effect of social support on attitude change.

Tested dissonance and attribution theory predictions regarding the effect of social support on attitude change due to counterattitudinal advocacy in 4 studies. Social support among 67 college students who were given course credit was manipulated in a counterattitudinal essay-writing situation by the compliance or noncompliance of a confederate. Contrary to predictions, Ss showed a more positive attitude toward the counterattitudinal issue after the confederate's compliance rather than noncompliance, regardless of choice. Exp II manipulated social support and severity of consequences under consistently high choice with 47 paid male university students. Data support dissonance and attribution predictions under high consequences and replicate the findings of Exp I under low consequences. Exp III, conducted with 53 paid high school students, varied social support and choice under high consequences and showed that noncompliance led to more change than compliance under high choice and the reverse effect under low choice. Exp IV manipulated social support among 67 paid female university students and the confederate's stated attitude in a 2-factor design (under consistently high choice and high consequences), resulting in main effects for both factors. Ss changed more under noncompliance than compliance and with an attitudinally dissimilar rather than similar confederate. Results suggest a functional equivalence of social support as social reward and the financial rewards used in previous studies. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of client choice and target selection in self-management therapy for depression in older adults.

In a study designed to maximize the effectiveness of treatment by allowing participants to select the target of treatment, 40 depressed older adults were randomly assigned to a waiting-list control condition or to conditions in which the target of treatment was either chosen or assigned. All participants received self-management therapy and the choice was between changing behavior or changing cognition. It was found that individually administered self-management therapy was effective in treating depression for older adults. There were no differences in outcome between versions of self-management therapy that targeted behavioral or cognitive change. Among those who completed treatment, there were no differences in outcome between those who received a choice and those who did not. Individuals who were given a choice of treatment options, however, were less likely to drop out of treatment prematurely. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of client aphasia on client evaluation and counselor behavior.

Examined whether differences exist in counselor behaviors toward and evaluation of an aphasic client in comparison to a nonaphasic client and whether such differences are related to counselor training. 40 counseling students were divided into 2 groups of 20, based on level of counselor training. 10 Ss in each group counseled individually with an aphasic-speaking client for 10 min, and the remaining 10 in each group counseled with the same client as a nonaphasic speaker. Counselor behaviors and evaluations of the confederate client were compared. Results demonstrate that irrespective of training, client aphasic speech significantly affected counselor behavior and evaluation of the client. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)