Life-Review Technique in the Treatment of PTSD in Elderly Patients: Rationale and Three Single Case Studies

Persons exposed to traumatic events in childhood and adolescence may suffer from the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) well into old age. The aim of this paper is to introduce a structured life-review technique for the treatment of elderly PTSD patients. This technique centers on the discussion and evaluation of each consecutive stage of life. The therapist encourages the patient to reminisce on both positive and negative experiences; positive coping experiences are reinforced. A single session on the traumatic event is integrated into the discussion of the stages of life, which are dealt with in chronological order. In the following, 3 case studies (e.g., survivors of the 1945 Dresden bombing) are presented. Psychometric measures (PTSS-10, IES-R) for the case studies are reported. Finally, the potential and limitations of the pilot study and the new approach are discussed.     

The Use of Structured Clinical Interviews for Assessment in Counseling

The purpose of this article is twofold: to summarize some of the major issues concerning structured clinical interviews and to review data available on some of the most widely used interview schedules. One of the key challenges with the practitioner—scientist approach to counseling is the ability to compare information from a variety of clients and counselors. A structured clinical interview can be considered an empirically driven instrument that has preestablished questions and scoring procedures that make it a useful assessment tool. Through its use, comparisons can be made among clients, and the reliability of assessment and diagnosis can be increased.     

Attribution Retraining as a Structured Group Counseling Intervention

The efficacy of attribution retraining as a structured group counseling intervention was tested. Participants were classified as having either an adaptive or nonadaptive attributional style. Three groups of participants were then created: Adaptive Group, Nonadaptive Group, Treatment Group (nonadaptive attributional style participants who received treatment involving attribution retraining). Results indicated that participants in the Treatment Group made relatively more adaptive attributions (similar to the adaptive Group) for an experimentally induced uncontrollable failure and reported lower levels of depressive mood than the Nonadaptive Group. Results are discussed as providing partial support for the efficacy of attribution retraining as a structured group counseling intervention.     

An Examination of the Technique of Interpretation in Counseling

Perceptions of the value and application of interpretation in counseling vary widely among researchers and practitioners. An exploration of the use of interpretation in counseling often presents contradictory opinion and data. Relating counseling theories, propositional and semantic aspects, and attributional theory to interpretation assists in clarifying the nature of the technique.     

Structured Separation with Counseling: A Therapeutic Approach for Couples in Conflict

A three-month trial separation with counseling is suggested as a form of crisis intervention for couples in conflict. The purpose of the counseling is to help the marital partners understand their relationship, resolve their conflicts, decide whether their future relationship will be together or apart, and grow through the separation process. A one-year follow-up was conducted with eighteen couples who completed structured separation with counseling.     

The Genealogical Search as a Counseling Technique

With selected populations, research into one's family history can serve as a foundation for personal healing, family communication, and personal growth. A framework for using genealogical research in counseling is provided, and a list of questions to guide the search is offered. Potential client issues and characteristics are discussed.     

A Content Analysis Technique for Evaluating Outcomes in Counseling

This study involved the content analysis of tape-recorded interviews in an attempt to validate criteria used for evaluating outcomes of counseling. A reputation (sociometric) inventory was used to select three types of students: socially effective, aggressive, and withdrawn. Each student was interviewed by a trained interviewer, and the content of interviews was analyzed according to topics discussed and affect associated with the topics. In general, socially effective students discussed a significantly greater number of topics than either the aggressive or withdrawn students. Few significant differences were found in positive- to negative-affect ratios but the socially effective did generally display more positive affect than the other groups. Though this study failed to validate this technique for appraising outcomes of counseling, the investigators believe that it has promise sufficient for further research.     

Utilizing a Music Listening Technique in Inpatient Psychiatric Group Counseling

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to describe and illustrate through a hypothetical case example how counselors can utilize an expressive arts technique called music listening in inpatient psychiatric group counseling. The authors give a rationale to implement here-and-now interventions, specifically music listening, in response to the critique of current inpatient therapy in psychiatric hospitals following a shift from long-term inpatient psychiatric care to brief stabilization admissions.     

Group Counseling Children of Divorce in the Elementary Schools: Understanding Process and Technique

One approach to counseling the children of divorced or separated parents includes the children in peer-group counseling sessions. The authors offer guidelines and techniques for elementary school counselors in establishing such a group-counseling program.     

The Application of Counseling Skills in the Business and Industrial Setting

Counselors have often failed to seek employment in the business and industrial communities. It can be demonstrated, however, that counseling skills are quite applicable in business and industry settings and that the financial resources to hire counselors exist. Therefore, to encourage counselors to seek employment in business and industry, the article explores the applicability of their skills within this nontraditional setting and offers suggestions regarding the job search.     

我国传统心理治疗思想在哀伤辅导中的应用

我国传统心理治疗思想有自己独具的文化特色,它以“中和”为核心,即通过对事物协调,使之达到和谐有序,具有形神合一、天人合一的特点。我国传统心理治疗主张利用和谐的人际关系。提出集修心、修体、修德与修行于一体进行心理调适的方案,即以养神促进调养整个形体;心理治疗与德行修养相统一。这些思想与理念是对当前哀伤辅导工作的有益补充,对建构本土化的哀伤辅导理论和实践具有重大的指导意义。     

Promoting Student Adjustment to College: A Counseling Technique Utilizing Humor

A procedure utilizing humor during guided imagery has been devised to assist the adjustment of people to life demands. The humorous imagery situation technique activates an adaptive sense of humor useful in promoting healthy, psychological adjustment.     

多元概化理论在结构化面试中的应用研究

使用多元概化理论对由7名评委和34名考生组成的结构化面试数据进行了分析.结果表明:1.面试设置的5个维度中,仪表举止维度与其它4个维度之间的协方差相对较小;2.各个维度的概化系数都在0.69以上,其中,概化系数最小的是仪表举止维度,最大的是口语表达维度;3.通过增加评委人数可以提高面试信度,但增幅递减.     

Investigation of the Use of a Family Health History Application in Genetic Counseling

The paper-based pedigree is the current standard for family health history (FHH) documentation in genetic counseling. Several tools for electronic capture of family health data have been developed to improve re-use and accessibility, data quality and standardization, ease of updating, and integration with electronic medical records. One such tool, the tablet-based Proband application, provides a flexible approach to data capture in dynamic and diverse clinical settings. This study compared Proband FHH collection to paper-based methods and investigated the usability of Proband in a clinical setting. After one use by 23 genetic counselors and students, Proband had 91% accuracy with a FHH audio scenario, which was significantly less (p?<?0.001) than paper’s 96% accuracy. These differences were attributed to incorrect or missing ages of grandparents (p?<?0.001) and great-aunts/uncles (p?=?0.012) and missing documentation of consanguinity (p?<?0.001). Possible explanations for these differences include greater experience with paper FHH documentation and pre-populated prompts for consanguinity on the paper template used. Proband’s perceived usability increased with use, with individual System Usability Scores increasing between first and last use (p?=?0.033). We conclude that tools for dynamic, provider-driven FHH documentation such as Proband show promise for improving risk assessment accuracy and quality patient care.     

The Application of Facilitated Imagery to Marital Counseling

SUMMARY

The purpose of this study was to assess whether facilitated imagery is a successful technique for improving both marital satisfaction and individual psychological functioning. Twenty marital couples were randomly assigned to two experimental groups: Both received three sessions of structured marital enrichment and one also received three facilitated imagery sessions. Posttests were given at one month and four months following treatment. Subjects exposed to facilitated imagery showed significantly greater improvement on some scales of marital satisfaction and individual psychological functioning, and these improvements persisted at the four-month posttest. In posttest interviews, subjects reported the primary benefit was insight into themselves and their spouses.

A series of 2x(3) repeated measure analyses of variance were used to detect changes for husbands and wives. Subjects exposed to facilitated imagery reported significantly greater improvement than enrichment-only subjects on some scales of marital satisfaction and individual psychological functioning. In addition, improvements persisted at the four-month posttest for the enrichment-plus-imagery subjects, but declined for the enrichment-only subjects. In interviews, the majority of imagery subjects reported that the process had been helpful to them both personally and relationally. Subjectively they reported gaining insight into themselves or their spouse as the primary benefit obtained from the imagery work.     

Systemic Thinking in a Linear World: Issues in the Application of Interactional Counseling

Counseling practitioners are increasingly being exposed to the theoretical ideas and clinical techniques based in systems thinking. Systemic or interactional counseling approaches are based on an alternative view of causality and symptomatic behavior. As a result, several treatment, ethical, and legal challenges await the counselor who attempts to implement these theoretical ideas. Because of these potential problems, practitioners interested in such approaches must recognize and be prepared to deal with the unique diffculties that accompany this method of counseling. Using spouse abuse as an example, the author reviews the basic components of systemic approaches, identifies the potential problems inherent in their implementation, and offers solutions for the interactional counselor.     

The Systems Approach: A Technique for Establishing Counseling and Guidance Programs

Schools and agencies are under increasing pressure to demonstrate program effectiveness and be accountable in terms of cost to the consumer. Systems methodology, developed for use in other fields, may have the potential for program development in counseling. This article discusses some of the ways in which systems technology may be directly employed in a counseling setting.