Session helpfulness and session evaluation in short‐term counselling

The relationship between perceived session helpfulness and session evaluation was examined in 11 dyads during eight sessions of short‐term counselling. Results based on the Session Evaluation Questionnaire (Stiles, 1980) showed that, for clients, while depth, arousal, and positivity correlated with perceived session helpfulness, only depth and positivity entered a stepwise regression, yielding a multiple correlation of 0.76. For counsellors, while depth and positivity correlated with session perceived helpfulness, only depth entered the stepwise regression analysis, with a correlation of 0.70. Session depth also consistently correlated with change in perceptions of helpfulness from one session to another. Clients had higher depth scores for sessions that both participants rated as helpful. They had lower depth scores for sessions rated as less helpful by both participants or for sessions where participants disagreed in their helpfulness ratings. The centrality of counselling depth in affecting experiences of counselling helpfulness is discussed.     

The use of psychoeducational groups to improve marital functioning in high risk Israeli couples: a stage model

A modular and sequentially-based psychoeducational groupwork method, including the rationale for this type of work with couples in Israel, is presented. Modules of this form of groupwork are illustrated using two examples of groupwork with couples experiencing chronic post-traumatic stress disorder and groupwork with couples in low-income multiproblem neighborhoods. Issues that arise in the training of professionals to do this kind of psychoeducational groupwork in Israel are discussed.     

Prenatal gender preference of mothers of feminine and masculine boys: Relation to sibling sex composition and birth order

A mother's (prenatal) wish for a girl has, at times, been implicated as an etiological factor for boyhood femininity or its DSM-III-R diagnostic equivalent, the Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood. In one sample of 52 feminine and 52 nonclinical control boys from Los Angeles, the proportion of mothers who recalled a wish for a girl during the pregnancy did not differ significantly between groups (26.9% vs. 19.2%, respectively); however, in both groups, the maternal wish for a girl was significantly more common in sibships in which all of the proband's older siblings were male. In a second sample of 103 feminine boys from Toronto, the maternal wish for a girl was significantly higher than that found in the Los Angeles sample (43.7% vs. 26.9%), but a control group was not available; as in the Los Angeles sample, the maternal wish for a girl was significantly more common in sibships in which all of the proband's older siblings were male. Implications of these findings for further study of maternal influences on boyhood femininity are discussed.     

Menstrual-related perceptual changes in women with premenstrual syndrome: Factors to consider in treatment

The state-dependent model of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) suggests that women's perceptions of daily stressors are affected by menstrual cycle phase. Our objective was to further examine the applicability of this model to perceptions of specific kinds of daily stressors and to explore its generalizability to perceptions involving significant others. Thirty-two undergraduate women, 10 PMS and 22 asymptomatic controls, completed the Daily Stress Inventory (DSI) and the Daily Rating Form (DRF) for 35 days. Questionnaires measuring perceived social support and self-esteem were completed premenstrually and postmenstrually. Results indicated that all women perceived a greater number of stressors as being severe premenstrually as compared to postmenstrually. Furthermore, all women perceived a lesser number of signifcant others as being present in their social support network premenstrually. However, only the PMS women were less satisfied with their social support and had more negative self-esteem premenstrually as compared to postmenstrually. Results are discussed within the context of designing treatment intermentions for women with PMS.     

Compassion: An east‐west comparison

Compassion is an emotion that occupies a central position in Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy while it is often a neglected subject in contemporary western philosophy. This essay is a comparison between an Eastern view of compassion based upon Mahāyāna Buddhist perspectives and a western view of the same emotion. Certain principles found in Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy such as the Bodhisattva Ideal, and suffering (dukkha) to name two, are explored for the information they contain about compassion. An essay by Lawrence Blum is taken as representative of a Western view (but not exclusively) and it is analyzed for its shortcomings in light of the Buddhist view. The conclusion briefly describes the value of understanding an eastern view on compassion as a means of filling the void one finds in western medical ethics discourse which focuses so heavily, and redundantly, upon issues such as patient autonomy and paternalism.     

The argumentative impact of causal relations — An exemplary analysis of the free predicate in the promotional discourse

The semantic relations between and within utterances are marked by the use of connectors and adverbials. One type of semantic relations is causal relations expressed by causal markers such as because, therefore, so, for, etc. Some of these markers cover different types of causal relations such as causality, explanation and justification. In certain types of discourse, causal relations also imply an intentional element. This paper describes the way in which the semantic and pragmatic functions of causal markers can be accounted for in terms of linguistic and rhetorical theories of argumentation.     

Family-centered intensive case management: A step toward understanding individualized care

New York State's initial attempt at individualizing services occurred within the context of an experiment. We randomly assigned children 5–12 years old who were referred for out-of-home placement in treatment foster care to either treatment foster care, Family-Based Treatment (n=15), or to Family-Centered Intensive Case Management (FCICM) (n=27). FCICM used teams of case managers and parent advocates to provide in-home services. Flexible service dollars, respite care, and behavior management skills training were available to assist teams in individualizing care. Preliminary outcomes indicate that children in FCICM are doing as well or better than children assigned to FBT in their functioning and symptom reduction. Parents of children in FCICM have made gains, although not at a statistically significant level, in behavior management skills and family strengths that allow them to provide care for their children at home.     

Matching adolescents with foster mothers and fathers: An evaluation of the role of temperament

We tested the notion that better foster care adjustment would be observed when the temperaments of mothers and fathers were matched with those of adolescent foster children. We hypothesized that families in which foster parents and foster children had high (easy) scores on subscales of the Revised Dimensions of Temperament Scale (DOTS-R) would also report higher family functioning and higher foster care adjustment than parents and children from families in which one or both family members had low (difficult) scores on these scales. The hypotheses were supported when the mothers and fathers family assessments were used but rejected when the observations of the case managers and adolescents were tested. Methodological and substantive explanations for the findings are discussed and recommendation for foster care practice and continuing research are provided.