Gender Neutral Names: Don't Be So Sure!

Males and females were asked to rate the gender neutrality of familiar and unfamiliar names in order to identify gender neutral names for training and research purposes. A large group of non-traditional students and a group of practicing managers provided responses to a series of names. Two follow-up studies were also conducted to provide replication and verification. Initially, 26 familiar and 21 unfamiliar names were studied although in the final study that was expanded to include nine more familiar names. The most neutral names identified were Pat, Terry, Chris, and Lee.     

To Change,Be Yourself: An Illustration of Paradox in Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt therapy emphasizes contact with unwanted and disowned aspects of self. This article describes the use of a therapeutic exercise based on paradoxical intent within the framework of Gestalt therapy and uses one client's account of the experience to illustrate its effectiveness.     

Don't Call Me Ishmael: Religious Naming Among Protestants and Catholics in the United States

We explore whether first names of religious origin continue to have religious connotations for Protestants and Catholics in a U.S. culture where naming is largely secularized. We use 1994 General Social Survey data to examine several questions: (1) whether there are Protestant-Catholic differences in broad categories of names (Old Testament, New Testament, saints, etc.); (2) whether worship attendance predicts the likelihood that Protestant and Catholic parents select categories of names corresponding to their respective traditions; and (3) whether worship attendance predicts selection of specific names that are disproportionately common within Protestantism and Catholicism (without regard to the broader categories). Results show some expected Protestant-Catholic differences in the frequency of name categories. However, there is no relationship between parental worship attendance and the likelihood of choosing these categories, suggesting that differences cannot be explained by religious motivations. In contrast, worship attendance does increase Catholics' likelihood of choosing specific names that are disproportionately common within their tradition. This suggests that committed Catholics perceive certain names as "Catholic" and represents one instance in which names do retain religious connotations for believers. We are aware of no previous research that has established such a link between parental religious commitment and naming.     

Functioning Among Typically Developing Siblings of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review - The literature on typically developing siblings of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD-Sibs) provides inconsistent results, with some...     

Neuroticism,Side Effects,and Health Perceptions Among HIV-Infected Individuals on Antiretroviral Medications

Side effects from antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV disease can deter treatment, impact quality of life, and impede medication adherence. Individual differences in neuroticism may account for variations in the experience of side effects and perceptions of health status. Cross-sectional assessments were conducted with 258 participant’s with confirmed HIV infection and current ART regimen. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to evaluate a model of self-reported ART side effect frequency and severity and perceived health status, as related to neuroticism. Symptoms of neuroticism were associated with greater reports of ART side effects and poorer perceived health but unrelated to reported CD4 count and viral load, thus supporting the structural model. Individual differences in symptoms of neuroticism can explain variations in side effect reporting and consequential impairments in perceived health in the context of HIV treatment. Identification and intervention with individuals high in symptoms of neuroticism may be warranted to alleviate side effect-related concerns and maximize treatment benefit.     

Be It Ever So Humble...: The Controversial Issue of Psychotherapy Groups in the Home Office Setting

Group leaders who have home offices may be disclosing more about their personal lives than they consciously intend. While the home office may be convenient and financially advantageous for the leader, this disclosure can be problematic for both the group therapist and group members. It may provide more information about the leader than some members want to know or are able to metabolize. And although poor boundary maintenance can occur in a professional office setting as well, the leakage in the home office is inevitable. The potential pitfalls seem to be at least threefold: over-stimulation, gaslighting, and the emperor's new clothes effect. These hazards exist independently of the leader's training, competence, or ethics. This paper examines the impact of the home office setting on group treatment. Leaders who practice from the home need to be ever-vigilant of untoward treatment reactions that are related to the setting itself. The article provides vignettes that illustrate the benefits and liabilities of the home office.     

I Don't Like You Because You're Hard to Understand: The Role of Processing Fluency in the Language Attitudes Process

Two experiments examined the effects of processing fluency—that is, the ease with which speech is processed—on language attitudes toward native‐ and foreign‐accented speech. Participants listened to an audio recording of a story read in either a Standard American English (SAE) or Punjabi English (PE) accent. They heard the recording either free of noise or mixed with background white noise of various intensity levels. Listeners attributed more solidarity (but equal status) to the SAE than the PE accent. Compared to quieter listening conditions, noisier conditions reduced processing fluency, elicited a more negative affective reaction, and resulted in more negative language attitudes. Processing fluency and affect mediated the effects of noise on language attitudes. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.     

Search Yourself: Commentary on Paper by Kenneth A. Frank

This commentary has as its point of departure essential questions about selfhood, self-knowledge, and therapeutic action. Frank's contemporary redefinition of “mutual analysis” and its impact on the clinical surround are examined, with a special emphasis placed on the willingness of the analyst to change and grow. The vital role and theme of the analyst's emotional honesty are explored with an eye toward the clinical impact of contextualism, psychoanalytic complexity, and the personal attitudes that inevitably permeate the analytic relationship and its trajectory. This commentary, in concert with Frank's paper, encourages clinicians to embrace a more collaborative, mutually analytic posture in their clinical endeavors.     

GIV CARE: A Group Intervention to Reduce Accommodation Among Relatives of Individuals With Fear-Based Disorders

Fear-based disorders (FBDs) occur in an interpersonal context as relatives (e.g., partners, parents) often accommodate symptoms. Symptom accommodation, which is ubiquitous and reinforces FBD behavior, is associated with increased FBD symptom severity and interferes with treatment. Accordingly, reducing accommodation represents a crucial aim for intervention. We describe a brief, manualized group intervention to decrease symptom accommodation and caregiver burden among cohabitating relatives of individuals with FBDs. The intervention is the first to date that (a) jointly includes parents and partners to target symptom accommodation, and (b) uses a transdiagnostic group treatment approach. We also provide preliminary empirical support for this group-based intervention among adult relatives (N = 20) that participated in the five weekly intervention sessions and completed assessments at baseline, posttreatment, and 1-month follow-up (1MFU). Preliminary results suggest that the group intervention is feasible and acceptable. Completers (n = 18) exhibited significant reductions in symptom accommodation and self-reported burden between baseline and 1MFU. The discussion identifies study limitations and future directions.     

The Impact of Brief Mindfulness Training on Postevent Processing Among Individuals With Clinically Elevated Social Anxiety

Postevent processing (PEP), the engagement in detailed and repetitive self-focused review of one’s performance in social situations, is theorized to maintain pathological social anxiety. However, little is known about interventions that may impact this maintenance factor. The current study examined the impact of brief mindfulness training (BMT) on PEP among socially anxious individuals. There were 77 participants (75.32% female, 63.64% non-Hispanic/Latinx White) with clinically elevated social anxiety who attended one appointment in the laboratory during which they were randomized to receive a brief mindfulness-based training (n = 37) or no training (i.e., thinking as usual control group; n = 40). After the training period, participants underwent a 3-minute social anxiety induction task, after which they were instructed to apply their thinking strategy. Participants were then asked to complete 2 weeks of daily online surveys that included a PEP induction task, instructions to use their thinking strategy following PEP induction, and a measure of state PEP. Individuals in the BMT condition reported a significant reduction in state anxiety posttraining compared to individuals in the control condition. Conditions did not differ on state PEP after the social anxiety induction task. However, compared to those in the control condition, participants in the BMT condition reported significantly greater decreases in state PEP over the 14-day follow-up period. Thus, this brief mindfulness-based strategy may be useful for individuals with clinically elevated social anxiety who engage in PEP, a cognitive vulnerability factor implicated in the maintenance of social anxiety.     

A Review of Outcome Studies on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Reducing Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Among Individuals With Chronic Pain

In the last two decades, emerging research has focused on advancing the explanations of how chronic pain becomes disabling. The fear-avoidance model of pain suggests that fear of reinjury in chronic pain patients leads to avoidance of certain movements that subsequently results in more pain and disability from that lack of movement. The literature supporting this model of pain and disability has allowed specific therapeutic interventions to be developed aimed at reducing pain-related fears in an attempt to reduce the physical symptoms and disability of chronic pain. Studies using cognitive-behavioral interventions to reduce fear-avoidance beliefs are reviewed and the treatments are evaluated based on the studies’ effectiveness. The author concludes that graded exposure in vivo appears to be the most effective treatment for chronic pain in individuals with increased fear and avoidance.     

Predictors of Health Care Use Among Individuals Seeking Therapy for Marital and Family Problems: An Exploratory Study

A number of studies have examined variables associated with health care use. However, no study is known to have considered health care use among people seeking services for marital and family problems. In this study, health care use of persons (N = 110) seeking these services was investigated to determine the strongest psychosocial correlates of health care use. The goal was to identify potential “targets” of clinical intervention that may be driving excessive health care use. “Informational support” and “somatization” were the strongest correlates for the complete sample, with the model explaining 24% of the variance in health care use. For “high users” of health care, “hostility” was the strongest correlate, accounting for more than 36% of the variance in health care use.     

Relationships Among Self,Others, and Persecutors in Individuals With Persecutory Delusions: A Repertory Grid Analysis

The purpose of the current study was to examine the way individuals with persecutory delusions construe the self, others, and their main persecutor with reference to the constructs of malevolence and omnipotence, and examine the extent to which these interpersonal beliefs link to distress, self-esteem, and delusion conviction. Repertory grid methodology was used to explore interpersonal beliefs about malevolence and omnipotence in a sample (N = 30) of individuals with current persecutory delusions (mean age 36.4 years; 62% male and 53% White). Participants also completed measures of emotional distress (depression and anxiety) and self-esteem. The findings suggested that persecutors were construed as more omnipotent and malevolent than both the self and others; others in turn were construed as more omnipotent and malevolent than the self. Beliefs about self as powerful were associated with lower anxiety, depression, and higher self-esteem, and beliefs about persecutors’ omnipotence predicted delusion conviction. As with voices, the concepts of power/omnipotence and malevolence/benevolence appear to be important constructs when seeking to understand the relationship between individuals and their perceived persecutors. These findings support working therapeutically with negative schematic beliefs about self, others, and persecutors, which is consistent with a person-based cognitive therapy model of distressing psychosis.