Brief crisis group psychotherapy versus the initial sessions of long-term group psychotherapy: An exploratory comparison

An attempt was made to specify the therapist behaviors characteristic of the brief crisis group (BCG) approach, to assess how patients experience BCG on dimensions of session impact and group climat, and to describe the changes possible from BCG on measures of outcome by contrasting this modality with the initial sessions of traditional long-term therapy groups in a preexperimental design. Data obtained from four eight-session BCGs and three beginning long-term groups (LTG) were used for analyses. Patients were administered the Session Evaluation (SEQ) and Group Climate (GCQ) Questionnaires at the end of each group session. Two judges sat in on each session and coded the types of therapist interventions using the Therapist Behavior Categories (TBC) system. Aspects of self-esteem and symptomatology were assessed as indices of change over the 8-week period in a pre-post fashion. Therapists in BCG evidenced a distinct pattern of interventions during midpoint group sessions (sessions 3–6), placing a greater emphasis on challenging patient perceptions and providing information than their LTG counterparts. The therapists' use of self as an issue in BCG increased as termination approached and apparently served a more limited function than in LTG. Patients in BCG reported a more rapid development of a working group and experienced greater session benefit. Patients in BCG also reported lower levels of conflict and avoidance and a greater decrease in these resistance behaviors. As expected, BCG patients reported substantially greater improvement on most outcome dimensions at the end of the 8-week period. Results are considered as clarifying the approach to and impact of BCG psychotherapy.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, Lake Louise, Alberta, June 19–23, 1984.     

An introduction to the cognitive therapy of evaluation-[1]

This paper introduces a new cognitive therapy which is evolving from the theoretical background of general semantics theory. This therapy is being tested since 1985 with several samples, the results being favorable and promising. Nevertheless, only its theoretical rational and clinical background will be introduced. Subsequently, the cognitive therapy of evaluation will be defined, and its main therapeutic ingredients described; finally, its differences and similarities with current cognitive therapies will be highlighted.     

An effect of linguistic experience: The discrimination of [r] and [l] by native speakers of Japanese and English

To test the effect of linguistic experience on the perception of a cue that is known to be effective in distinguishing between [r] and [l] in English, 21 Japanese and 39 American adults were tested on discrimination of a set of synthetic speech-like stimuli. The 13 “speech” stimuli in this set varied in the initial stationary frequency of the third formant (F3) and its subsequent transition into the vowel over a range sufficient to produce the perception of [r a] and [l a] for American subjects and to produce [r a] (which is not in phonemic contrast to [l a ]) for Japanese subjects. Discrimination tests of a comparable set of stimuli consisting of the isolated F3 components provided a “nonspeech” control. For Americans, the discrimination of the speech stimuli was nearly categorical, i.e., comparison pairs which were identified as different phonemes were discriminated with high accuracy, while pairs which were identified as the same phoneme were discriminated relatively poorly. In comparison, discrimination of speech stimuli by Japanese subjects was only slightly better than chance for all comparison pairs. Performance on nonspeech stimuli, however, was virtually identical for Japanese and American subjects; both groups showed highly accurate discrimination of all comparison pairs. These results suggest that the effect of linguistic experience is specific to perception in the “speech mode.”     

Brief group psychotherapy for the spousally bereaved: a controlled study.

A consecutive sample of mid- and late-life bereaved spouses were randomly assigned to treatment and no-treatment groups. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) that brief group psychotherapy during the early stages of loss would facilitate adjustment assessed by measures of mental health, positive psychological states, social role, and mourning; and (2) that positive effects would be maximized for subjects who were more distressed psychologically. Although group participants, compared with untreated controls, did over 1 year show modest improvement on role functioning and positive psychological states, overall the study failed to find substantial support for the two major hypotheses. Both experimental and control groups showed improvement over the year, particularly on measures of mental health and mourning. Differential benefit was not observed for the high-risk group.     

Care for the Caregiver: Clues for the Pastoral Care of Clergywomen

In this article, we report the results of a qualitative study on the special challenges faced by clergywomen: the impact of gender, work demands, and personal and professional stressors, and the positive and negative coping strategies these clergywomen employed. We include a discussion of the pastoral care issues that emerged from the study and make recommendations for ways pastoral counselors may care for their own.     

Emotional regulation: implications for the psychobiology of psychotherapy

A range of studies have contributed to understanding the psychobiology of emotional regulation. Functional imaging studies have demonstrated that cortico-limbic circuitry plays an important role in mediating processes such as reappraisal and suppression. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may be important in conscious reframing, while ventromedial prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex may be particularly important in emotion evaluation. Gene variants and early environments impact underlying emotional regulation and its neurobiology. It may be hypothesized that during interventions such as psychotherapy there are improvements in emotional regulation, together with the normalization of related psychobiological mechanisms.     

Pastoral Care for the Sick in a Post-Secular Age: An Ignatian Perspective

This pastoral-theology-based reflection on hospital chaplaincy,set within the horizon of the pastoral situation of Germanyin the post-secular (!) age, introduces the perspective of aconsolation-oriented ministry, as this was developed by Ignatiusof Loyola. Such a pastoral care for the sick, as integratedinto the basic offices of the church, presents a gradedmodelfor action: while human accompaniment is offered to all, spiritualministry is restricted, but realized in an ecumenically encompassingsense. Spiritual and ritual care for members of other religions,while these members are to be addressed according to the principleslaid down by Vatican II, is severely limited for reasons ofidentity and alterity. In all cases, however, Christianity ispresented as "therapeutic religion".     

Biblical Themes for Pastoral Care Revisited: An Asian American Re-Reading of a Classic Pastoral Care Text

Over twenty-five years after its initial publication, William B. Oglesby, Jr.'s book Biblical Themes for Pastoral Care still is consulted and used by seminarians and ministers who are interested in honing their caregiving skills by understanding how biblical texts can inform the processes of pastoral care and counseling. This essay revisits Oglesby's work and seeks to apply its insights to ministry with Asian Pacific American (APA) populations. The central theme of the Bible and five subthemes are identified by Oglesby and summarized in this essay, and then several additional subthemes are explained due to their relevance for APA women and men. Finally, to test the hypotheses advanced by Oglesby and expanded in this article, the written testimonies of fifty-two contemporary Japanese American Christians are examined.