Brief Experimental Analysis: A Decision Tool for Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice

This special issue illustrates how brief experimental analysis (BEA) is gaining recognition as a valuable tool for making treatment decisions about children who are unresponsive to regular classroom instruction. This commentary article provides evidence for why BEA has grown in popularity, briefly summarizes each of the studies included in the series, and discusses issues that are critical to conducting and interpreting data from a BEA. The articles in the issue exemplify how BEA is flexible enough to evaluate diverse intervention options, is time and cost efficient, and is uniquely suited for use in a problem-solving approach to school-based service delivery.     

Cognitive-Behavior Family Therapy: Contemporary Myths and Misconceptions

The field of couple and family therapy has grown in the direction of expanding its horizons by looking toward innovative ideas and whatever works to facilitate change. Despite its demonstrated track record with a broad range of behavioral and emotional disorders, the cognitive-behavior therapies (CBT) may have been underutilized by couples and family therapists unlike some of the more traditional and postmodern approaches. This article explores some of the basic tenets of the cognitive-behavioral approach with families and proposes it as both a useful intervention tool as well as a theoretically compatible model to systemic approaches. In addition, a number of contemporary myths and misconceptions are discussed that may be precluding CBT's utilization by therapists in the field.     

Psychosocial,ecological, and community perspectives on disaster response

Abstract

Psychological intervention has grown in little more than a decade from an occasional afterthought in disaster response systems to a thriving enterprise; with that growth, however, have come features that sometimes resemble cottage industries, social movements, or, in extreme cases, evangelical cults. The social history of this evolution is reviewed from the perspective of participant observers, and the issues and implications of recent research are considered in the context of integrated models of theory, research, and application.     

Parent training in nonviolent resistance for adult entitled dependence

"Adult entitled dependence" is a condition characterized by the extreme dependence of grown children on their family and by levels of dysfunction, seemingly excessive in light of their apparent capacity to function. The family and the dependent adult become involved in an interaction in which the very attempts to alleviate the problem may aggravate it. Parent-training in nonviolent resistance (NVR) is an intervention that has been shown to be helpful to parents of behaviorally disturbed youth. Parent training in NVR offers parents means to shift away from a stance of helplessness toward realistic goals that are accomplishable without the collaboration of their offspring. We report on the parents of 27 entitled dependent grown children who participated in parent training in NVR. Additionally, we present 2 detailed case studies that exemplify the problem and the therapeutic process. Before treatment, the dependent adults were not working or studying, drew heavily on parental services (financial or otherwise), and were resistant to parental attempts to change the situation. Most parents succeeded in overcoming their helplessness and reducing the provision of parental services. In a considerable proportion of cases, the grown children started working or studying or moved to independent lodgings.     

Prevention ethics: explicating the context of prevention activities

Research and intervention involving primary prevention [related to mental health and psychology] have grown dramatically in the past 10 years. However, little attention has been paid to ethical issues in primary prevention. This article proposes a framework for increasing awareness of such issues. The framework centers on explicating the contexts where prevention activities occur and the roles adopted by interventionists engaging in these activities. Several assumptions underlying primary prevention are stated, and ways of clarifying ethical issues are proposed.     

Collaboration and Social Inquiry: Multiple Meanings of a Construct and Its Role in Creating Useful and Valid Knowledge

The concept of collaboration in community research and intervention, although not new, has grown tremendously in importance in the past 20 years. Yet, it is both a contested concept in terms of its intent and a still evolving idea in terms of its meaning and implications. The purpose of this monograph is to begin to "unpack" the collaboration construct in terms of its many meanings, rationales, goals, models, dynamics, and accomplishments. Although models of collaboration are often well articulated there is "partial paradigm acquisition" (E. J. Trickett, 1984) in terms of understanding their behavioral and ethical implications. There is more theology than conclusion. The promise of collaboration, although considerable, is still in need of multiple and varied empirical examples of how collaboration contributes to both the process and goals of community research and intervention, however defined. The monograph closes with a brief overview of what we have learned from reviewing this literature, an articulation of the kinds of questions that need to be addressed, and a series of recommendations for how to increase our understanding of the collaboration construct in community research and intervention.     

Conversations with My Father

ABSTRACT

This article provides a brief review of the literature describing successful aging life tasks, such as reminiscence, meaning-making, and forming substantive connections. Using Relational-Cultural Theory as a base, the article addresses the need for connection and ways that connections can be developed and sustained in later life. Through a personal account, the authors also illustrate how grown children can use music to connect with their parents. Finally, the authors adapt A Musical Chronology and the Emerging Life Song, an intervention that uses music and memories, for use with older adults.     

Clinical interventions in parent-infant groups around issues related to separation-individuation

Parent-child groups as an educational method in a general hospital setting provide support for parents and an environment in which they can discuss their questions about their child's development. This paper illustrates the clinical use of parent-child groups as a means of early intervention in problems that become apparent during the Separation-Individuation stages of development. We present two case studies of mother-child pairs, who have been members of the group for 2 years. The first case is a bi-racial child whose mother is struggling to deal with the child's rapprochement stage behavior. Through the oral and anal stages, conflict has grown in their relationship due to the mother's way of viewing her child, as well as her own unresolved adolescent separation difficulties. The second case is an overprotective mother whose own pathology prevented her daughter from resolving her rapprochement crisis. Interventions by the leaders as well as the group's educational method help both mother-child pairs to resolve interpersonal conflict and to continue their essentially normal development.     

The effects of Brazelton intervention: A review

This article reviews research that has used the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS; Brazelton, 1984) as an intervention. It discusses separately the various effects NBAS intervention has been found to have in areas such as parent-infant interaction, infant development, temperament, and parental attitudes and satisfaction. Inconsistent findings are noted in each of these areas. This article then addresses issues that may play a role in the effectiveness of NBAS intervention, including the risk status of the population, the intensity of the intervention, and the receptivity of the parent. It concludes by suggesting that realistic goals be set concerning the expectations for early, short-term intervention such as the NBAS.     

Emerging Adulthood and Developmental Co-ordination Disorder

The interest in Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD) in emerging adulthood has grown in recent years, and it is now acknowledged that the signs and symptoms of DCD persist into adolescence and adulthood. Nevertheless, the long-term impact of DCD is still poorly understood, and little is known about positive orientations of young adults with DCD. This review discusses some of the persisting features of DCD, with a particular emphasis on psychosocial difficulties, self-perception and the impact of comorbid developmental disorders. The role of the parent in emerging adulthood in DCD is an area that has received little research focus, but it seems likely that parents have a key role to play in positive outcomes. The need to provide appropriate assessment, intervention and support for young adults with DCD is discussed in terms of the need to provide comprehensive and continued support for all aspects of the disorder, which also takes into consideration the impact of DCD on the wider family unit.     

Ethical Considerations of Screening and Early Intervention for Clinical High-Risk Psychosis

Research on individuals at clinical high risk for psychological and physical disorders has grown exponentially in recent years, with a variety of new screening tools and early intervention techniques being implemented. One recent example is Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome, a diagnosis for individuals who are at clinical high risk for psychosis, which was recently included in Section III of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). Given the focus on prevention at early stages, at-risk individuals will continue to be a topic of significance not only in psychosis research but also in other illnesses. This document provides a comprehensive summary of the ethical dilemmas that clinicians or researchers may encounter in this domain, and possible actions consistent with the current Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists. We use clinical high risk for psychosis and the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists as a way to illuminate these ethical issues; however, application to other jurisdictions and disciplines, as well as other high-risk populations, is also of relevance.     

Mindfulness-Based Approaches with Children and Adolescents: A Preliminary Review of Current Research in an Emergent Field

Interest in applications of mindfulness-based approaches with adults has grown rapidly in recent times, and there is an expanding research base that suggests these are efficacious approaches to promoting psychological health and well-being. Interest has spread to applications of mindfulness-based approaches with children and adolescents, yet the research is still in its infancy. I aim to provide a preliminary review of the current research base of mindfulness-based approaches with children and adolescents, focusing on MBSR/MBCT models, which place the regular practice of mindfulness meditation at the core of the intervention. Overall, the current research base provides support for the feasibility of mindfulness-based interventions with children and adolescents, however there is no generalized empirical evidence of the efficacy of these interventions. For the field to advance, I suggest that research needs to shift away from feasibility studies towards large, well-designed studies with robust methodologies, and adopt standardized formats for interventions, allowing for replication and comparison studies, to develop a firm research evidence base.     

Preventive group psychotherapy for at-risk infants and their mothers

There is increased evidence that infants who receive poor quality social stimulation from their primary caregiver are at risk for later developmental difficulties. This paper describes a preventive intervention for mother-infant dyads exhibiting impaired patterns of social interaction. An impaired relationship with the primary caregiver has been found to be associated with social and emotional deficits in early childhood as well as with significant psychopathology in adulthood. The intervention consisted of group treatment of mothers and their infants. Each group session has 4 subsections which, together, were directed towards improving the mothers' ability to relate in a stimulating and nurturant manner to their children. Types of intervention included didactic instruction, modeling, and interpretation of the infant's behavior. Qualitative data suggested that the group intervention has positive effects on the mother-infant dyads.     

Quantifying Intervention Intensity: A Systematic Approach to Evaluating Student Response to Increasing Intervention Frequency

Response to intervention (RTI) has been discussed as a new model of assessment. Although the basic process by which RTI works has received frequent attention in the literature, the available research leaves several important questions unanswered (Kavale et al. in Learn Disabil Q 28(1): 2–16, 2005). One concept within RTI that has received little empirical consideration is intervention intensity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the application of increased intervention frequency on the mathematics performance of students and to evaluate this increased frequency as a systematic means of increasing and quantifying intervention strength. Results indicate that although all students were responsive to the intervention, some participants were sensitive only to more frequent application of the treatment or at more intense levels of treatment. Through this methodology a means of quantifying treatment intensity was also identified and implications for future research are discussed.     

Intervening with Multiplication Fact Difficulties: Examining the Utility of the Instructional Hierarchy to Target Interventions

Examining the use of conceptual frameworks such as the instructional hierarchy (IH) to drive academic interventions represents an important area of inquiry in order to understand why an intervention was effective. However, to date, the IH has only been examined retroactively to explain the effectiveness of math interventions and has not been used to drive intervention implementation based on students’ needs. Therefore, the current study used a multiple baseline single-case design to examine the utility of the IH to determine an appropriately targeted acquisition (incremental rehearsal) or proficiency (timed drill) intervention for difficulties with multiplication facts. Students first received the contraindicated intervention (i.e., non-targeted) and then their correctly targeted intervention. Results showed that all students demonstrated greater fluency growth during their targeted intervention and that students in need of an acquisition intervention also demonstrated greater multiplication fact retention and growth rate during their targeted intervention. The utility of the IH as a heuristic to correctly target interventions based on students’ baseline skill levels is discussed.

     

Choice as an Intervention to Improve Behavior: A Review of the Literature

In recent years, choice making has been evaluated as an intervention for people with disabilities. This review examines applied research during the past two decades using choice as a distinct intervention or as part of an intervention package. Fourteen studies published between 1975 and 1996 were identified that implemented choice as an intervention to increase or decrease a target behavior. These studies applied choice-making in the following three broad areas: (a) vocational or domestic activities; (b) academic activities; and (c) leisure, recreational, or social activities. All of the studies indicated that choice-making procedures resulted in behavioral improvements with some, if not all of the participants.     

Exposure Through Written Emotional Disclosure: Two Case Examples

Written disclosure is a procedure in which individuals repeatedly write about the most traumatic experience of their lives with as much emotion as possible. Research has demonstrated that, relative to a control writing condition, written disclosure is associated with improvements in physical and psychological functioning. As a result of these findings, there has been suggestion that written disclosure may be used as a primary intervention for psychological distress. In this paper, two case studies are presented in which written disclosure was used as an intervention for trauma-related psychopathology. The written disclosure procedure resulted in significant symptom improvements for one individual but not for the other. Differences between the two cases are highlighted and the strengths and weaknesses of the written disclosure procedure as a stand-alone intervention are considered.     

... In the parish

Conclusion In the past fifteen years there has been change in the field of pastoral theology. Titles of anniversary books and annual conferences do have a new look. This progress gives hope that pastoral theology in the parish of the next two decades will have grown as much beyond today as today has grown beyond the early fifties. Redefinition of model, clarification of vocation for the whole parish, and a new clericalism are possible. When they come alive, pastoral theology will have kept faith with those who minister; more important, it will have contributed to the relevancy of Christianity for a changed world; most important, it will have kept faith with faith experienced.     

Family crisis intervention in war contexts: a case study of a traumatised Palestinian family

The aim of this study was to analyse the phases of an innovative in vivo exposure intervention in which all family members were present at the scene of a traumatic incident. Clinical practice has borne out the efficacy of family intervention and its benefits for traumatised individuals and family groups. The intervention discussed here was conducted with a Palestinian family that had suffered trauma in a missile attack during the Israeli–Lebanese war of summer 2006. Narrative and meaning-reconstruction methods were combined with cognitive-behavioural techniques. The study highlights the limitations of the intervention as well as suggesting future directions for integrated models of crisis intervention; development of an evidence-based model is recommended.     

An Open Pilot Feasibility Study of a Brief Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills–Based Intervention for Suicidal Individuals

This open trial sought to develop and evaluate the preliminary feasibility and effectiveness of a brief, one‐time, dialectical behavior therapy skills–based intervention with specific focus on ensuring acceptability to nontreatment‐seekers. Treatment‐seeking and nontreatment‐seeking suicidal individuals were recruited successfully from the community. Both groups found the intervention valuable. Suicide ideation was significantly lower at the 1‐month follow‐up, while use of the specific skills taught in the intervention increased significantly across time points. These results suggest that the intervention is both acceptable to the target population and that it has potential effectiveness as an intervention for individuals experiencing suicidal ideation.