The Teaching and Learning of Psychotherapy by Rudolf Ekstein and R. S. Wallerstein

The homogeneous group has been the most common form of group therapy for chronically physically ill children and adolescents. The goals of these groups have included the provision of peer support, adaptation to the realities of physical illness, and acceptance of and cooperation with the medical management of the disease. The refinement of the theory of developmental ego psychology suggests that the heterogeneous group has potential for aiding the emotional maturation of the chronically physically ill. This paper presents examples of groups of latency-age children, early adolescents, and middle adolescents that included chronically physically ill with physically healthy peers. The groups were planned under the assumption that despite external differences, children and adolescents of a similar age identify with peers in terms of normal age-specific developmental needs and conflicts.     

Group Treatment in Psychotherapy by Robert G. Hinckley and Lydia Hermann

A recently completed clinical trial that investigated the effectiveness of a group-oriented, day treatment program provided an opportunity to pursue a multidimensional approach to the prediction of treatment outcome. The sample consisted of 99 psychiatric outpatients, most of whom had received diagnoses of affective and personality disorders. The predictor variables included a patient personality characteristic (psychological mindedness), a group process variable (patient work), and their interaction. Univariate analyses revealed significant direct relationships between psychological mindedness and both work and favorable outcome, and between work and favorable outcome. Multivariate analyses indicated that psychological mindedness and work had independent significant relationships (additive or interactive) with several of the outcome variables. In combination they accounted for up to a quarter of the outcome variance. The results demonstrate the benefit of using a theoretically consistent multidimensional approach. The time-efficient nature of the predictor measures used in the study make them particularly amenable for use by clinicians and researchers.     

Lewis S. Ford,Transforming Process Theism,Foreword by Robert Cummings Neville

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

Mental Health Values and Response to Alcoholism Treatment

Mental health values consist of the subset of values that refer to what constitutes good mental health. Torrey (1972) suggested that agreement between patient and therapist about such values may influence psychotherapy outcome. The authors found mixed support for this hypothesis using a sample of 100 chemical dependency inpatients. Positive treatment effects were associated with pretreatment agreement between counselor and patient about some mental health values, but with pretreatment disagreement about others. Because outcome measures assess general personality functioning, the authors suggest that attitudes about what constitutes good mental health may predict general psychotherapy effects as well as response to alcoholism treatment.     

The axiology of Robert S. Hartman: A critical study

Formal axiology is based on the logical nature of meaning, namely intension, and on the structure of intension as a set of predicates. It applies set theory to this set of predicates. Set theory is a certain kind of mathematics that deals with subsets in general, and of finite and infinite sets in particular. Since mathematics is objective and a priori, formal axiology is an objective and a priori science; and a test based on it is an objective test based on an objective standard.

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Neuropsychology: Implications for the Treatment of Alcoholism

The author describes cognitive deficits that are attributable to alcoholism and discusses the prospect for recovery of these impaired skills. Rather than viewing neuropsychological testing simply as a diagnostic exercise, the author considers the potential treatment role of this psychological subspecialty and its implication for alcoholism counselors.     

The Disease Concept of Alcoholism by E. M. Jellinek

The authors use the philosophical writings of Martin Buber to discuss intimacy and distance in group psychotherapy. They argue that there are two entirely different types of dynamics. The first is a relationship and real meeting between members of the group that necessarily ends, as do all I–You relationships, with a transition to I–It relations. In the second type of dynamic the relations are on the It dimension, in which others exist only as the content of the individual's experience. Any apparent intimacy that develops is limited by the very attitude to others as objects of the “I,” and ends with disappointment in the realization that there is no real intimacy and meeting.     

Women and Alcoholism: A Biopsychosocial Perspective and Treatment Approaches

Viewing alcoholism in women from a biopsychosocial perspective reveals a unique set of circumstances and challenges that women alcoholics face when compared with men. Biologically, women react differently to alcohol ingestion than do men. Women reach higher blood alcohol levels and sustain more somatic and cognitive damage than men when consuming equivalent amounts of alcohol. Psychosocially, women alcoholics face societal rebuke and chastisement of a greater magnitude than do men. Finally, barriers to treatment faced by women, such as the need for child care, cost of treatment, familial opposition, denial of alcoholism, and inadequate diagnostic training of physicians, must be overcome to create successful treatment approaches for the female alcoholic. Obstacles to and implications for treatment are also discussed.     

Spirituality in the Treatment of Alcoholism: A Worldview Approach

To consider alcoholism an addiction with a spiritual dimension has historically posed a problem for the logical positivism and egalitarian orientations of most Western-trained therapists and academics. Many of these professionals argue that to define alcoholism as including a spiritual component invites nonscientific if not mystical approaches to treatment. For this reason, it has been difficult to legitimize a definition of alcoholism that considers spiritual components to etiology or treatment. In this article, the author suggests that issues of spirituality are an important focus in the treatment of alcohol dependence. To consider spirituality as representative of how one views the world and his or her role in creation may well relieve some of a professional counselor's apprehension about inserting a “theology” into treatment.