Current trends in the involuntary civil commitment of mentally disabled persons.

Explores recent developments in involuntary civil commitment and the legal and psychosocial process whereby persons alleged to be mentally ill and dangerous are involuntarily hospitalized. Highlighted are current trends toward cooperation among lawyers and mental health professionals and toward an avoidance of formal procedures in commitment proceedings. It is concluded that psychologists need to assume a greater role in this process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commitment code revision's effect on psychologists' and psychiatrists' decision to hospitalize.

The reports of emergency-room "psychiatric" consultations before and after Tennessee revised its mental health commitment code (giving greater recognition to psychologists and broadening the definition of "likelihood of harm") were examined. The diagnostic and disposition referral patterns of psychologists were compared with those of psychiatrists. There were no significant interprofessional diagnostic or disposition referral differences before or after the revision (except that psychologists diagnosed personality disorders more frequently). After the revision, both sets of clinicians increased their likelihood of diagnosing affective disorders and recommending psychiatric hospitalizations. These findings support the granting of equal rights and privileges to psychologists and psychiatrists in the emergency commitment process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology as a human science contra humane behaviorism.

Challenges D. L. Avila's (1972) assertion that humanism refers only to the development and use of knowledge toward humane ends in his proposal to "kill" humanism and unite humaneness and behaviorism. Humanistic psychologists are described as being not merely humanitarians but as being committed toward dealing with humanness in its own right. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists and civil commitment: Review of state statutes.

Conducted a national survey to examine to what extent psychologists have increasingly been recognized in new state statutes regarding civil commitment of the mentally ill. This survey reveals that although 24 out of 50 states include psychologists in their commitment statutes, inclusion is generally of an optional type, in which a psychologist can be substituted for 1 of 2 physicians. Most often psychologists are included in the judicial form of commitment and much less frequently in voluntary or emergency procedures. Even though psychologists have increasingly been included in state civil commitment procedures for the mentally ill since 1970, they remain in many ways unrecognized as qualified mental health professionals competent to judge the appropriateness of hospitalization of mentally ill persons. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Incapacity principles in mental health laws in Europe.

Many North American jurisdictions permit involuntary psychiatric treatment to proceed only when a person lacks the capacity (or competence) to consent or when an emergency exists, even following lawful civil commitment. This may prevent the rapid commencement of treatment, but it shows considerable respect for personal autonomy, and it brings mental health law more into line with other branches of health care law. The authors examine how these issues are handled within European human rights law and within the civil codes and involuntary hospitalization laws of selected European nations. This material reveals that many different approaches are taken to the inclusion of incapacity principles within European civil commitment regimes. Reliance on incapacity criteria may lead to greater professional involvement by psychologists in involuntary treatment decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professional psychology in a new era: Practice-based evidence from California.

The California Survey of Psychological Practice provides comprehensive data on patient case mix, treatments, practice settings, and payment sources using a representative sample of psychologists. These psychologists practice in diverse settings and continue to deliver traditional psychotherapies. California psychologists' treatment of persons with private insurance highlights the profession's public health contribution by improving the functioning of employed persons and their families. Despite high managed care enrollment among Californians, these psychologists demonstrate wide variability in managed care participation. The authors compare the findings to prior surveys among psychologists and discuss the findings in relation to trends in psychological practice and public policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes of psychologists in training toward persons with AIDS.

Clinical and counseling graduate students (N?=?266) from 8 different universities read a vignette that described a hypothetical patient as having either AIDS or leukemia. These psychologists in training then completed a scale that measured attitudes toward the hypothetical patient. Results indicated that psychologists in training had some attitudes toward AIDS patients that were less positive than their attitudes toward identically described leukemia patients. However, psychologists in training were more willing to interact with AIDS patients and to accept them as psychotherapy clients than were psychologists studied in earlier research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reasonable accommodations in the workplace for individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

Discusses the role of psychologists in promoting reasonable workplace accommodations for the mentally handicapped. Historical and current trends in employment-related psychological treatment are reviewed. The relevant provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act are described, including areas of ambiguity. The specific difficulties of integrating the mentally disabled in mental-health and rehabilitation employment settings are considered. The responsibilities of psychologists to the disabled and to employers are assessed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychologists' perceptions of persons with mental illness.

Clinical psychologists have an ethical responsibility to monitor the nature and appropriateness of their attitudes toward persons with mental illness. This article presents the results of a survey of randomly selected clinical psychologists who were asked to rate the effectiveness, understandability, safety, worthiness, desirability, and similarity (to the rater) of persons with moderate depression, borderline features, and schizophrenia. The results show that psychologists perceive these individuals differently with respect to these characteristics. The results also suggest that psychologists disidentify or distance themselves from persons with personality and psychotic conditions. Implications for quality improvement and stigma reduction in the field of professional psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prototype of a profession: Psychology's public image.

Using a prototype approach to assessing concepts and persons, the present authors studied the attitudes of 128 undergraduate students (nonpsychology majors) and 46 of their parents toward psychologists, psychiatrists, physicians, counselors, teachers, and scientists. Results show a favorable attitude toward psychologists, who were seen as very similar to psychiatrists and dissimilar to scientists. However, the extent of the sample's familiarity with psychologists was doubtful. Findings support the need for an education campaign designed to inform the public about what psychologists do. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists' Clinical Evaluations and Attitudes: An Examination of the Influence of Gender and Sexual Orientation.

Becoming aware of factors that may affect differential treatment of clients is necessary for psychologists to practice competently. Scholarly writing and empirical studies have suggested that therapist gender, client gender, and client sexual orientation are 3 such factors. This study examined therapist gender, client gender, and client sexual orientation in relation to psychologists' attitudes and clinical evaluations for clients. Results indicated that female psychologists held more positive attitudes and treatment expectations for clients than did male psychologists and that some psychologists hold inconsistent attitudes toward female clients generally and lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients in particular. Continuing education and consultation are recommended to increase psychologists' awareness of gender and sexual orientation issues and potential influences in treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapeutic jurisprudence and the civil rights of institutionalized mentally disabled persons: Hopeless oxymoron or path to redemption?

Examines, from a therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) perspective, the rights of institutionalized mentally disabled persons to determine whether TJ is compatible with positions advancing civil rights and liberties, and whether lawyers for such individuals should look more closely to TJ as a source of rights. It concludes (1) that despite harsh criticisms of mental disability law reform, most of the important decisions in the areas of involuntary civil commitment, right to treatment, and right to refuse treatment law have a strong TJ component and (2) that TJ analyses may be the appropriate tool to reinvigorate this area of mental disability law. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-help treatment books and the commercialization of psychotherapy.

Research findings on do-it-yourself treatment books demonstrate major limitations in their current usefulness. Yet psychologists continue to develop and market these programs with exaggerated claims. This commercialization of psychotherapy raises serious questions that warrant attention. The present article documents current trends and suggests new directions for the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Awards for distinguished education and training contributions: Irvin Altman.

As a psychologist and educator, Irwin Altman has served the academy, the discipline of psychology, and the public. His leadership and encouragement of future generations of psychologists reflect a lifetime commitment to quality and innovation in the education and training of psychologists. This article honors Altman for winning the Distinguished Career Contribution Award due to his contributions to psychology, especially major contributions in education and training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A national survey of practicing psychologists' attitudes toward psychotherapy treatment manuals.

There has been considerable debate and little empirical data on the role of psychotherapy treatment manuals in clinical practice. Attitudes toward treatment manuals are a potentially important determinant of how likely practitioners are to use manual-based treatments in clinical practice. A total of 891 practicing psychologists nationwide were surveyed about their attitudes toward treatment manuals and their ideas about the content of manuals. Practitioners held widely varying attitudes toward treatment manuals, and ideas about what constitutes a manual were associated with attitudes in a predictable way. Recommendations are made for how to gather more useful information about practitioners' attitudes toward the many changes affecting current models of clinical practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The relation of congitive-dissonance theory to an aspect of psychotherapeutic practice": Comment.

Presents a comment on Anthony Davids' article (see record 1965-02097-001) which presented the hypothesis that payment of high fees will cause clients entering a psychotherapeutic relationship to experience cognitive dissonance which may be reduced through increased commitment to therapeutic gain. This thesis, beyond providing a source of rationalization for psychologists engaged in private practice, raises another interesting question. Namely, why do writers in this area continue to speculate about the influence of fee payment on the behavior of the client, but neglect to raise the question of its influence upon the clinician? The author notes that Davids' thesis may actually be pointing toward a "double-effect" hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School psychology training at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Summarizes the development of a school psychology program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and presents principles that have influenced the model and components of training doctoral and specialist level school psychologists. The program was begun with a commitment to the scientist practitioner training model and has evolved to the conceptualization of the school psychologist as scientific problem solver. The current and future emphases of the program to prepare school psychologists for diverse professional roles also are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Legal issues in the assessment and treatment of individuals with dual diagnoses.

The difficult legal, ethical, and professional issues confronting psychologists who work with people with dual diagnoses are discussed here. Applicable constitutional principles are outlined in the context of discussing the right to institutional services and to refuse treatment, statutes that go beyond constitutional protections are described, issues that people with dual diagnoses face in the criminal and civil justice systems are highlighted, and some recommendations that psychologists should consider when providing services to this population are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Services of the psychologist.

Elaborates on responsibilities that clinical psychologists have secured, including supervision of hospital wards, commitment of patients to mental hospitals, and provision of expert witness testimony in criminal cases in which sanity is questioned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)