| Abstract: | Patients pursuing claims or causes within bureaucratic, administrative, or legal systems present special problems to therapists. Encounters with systems such as the Veterans Compensation System, Social Security, Workers Compensation, and the courts may cause patients to lose some control over their lives and therapists to be perplexed, uneasy, and challenged as to how to intervene therapeutically. This article shows how variable interval partial reinforcement can partly explain these patient problems. Veteran cases are the main examples, but nonveteran cases are discussed. Interventions that therapists may use to help patients regain control are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
