Group Therapy with Individuals and Families Coping with Illness or Disability in Israel

This paper illustrates a group intervention with individuals and family caregivers coping with illness/disability, and focuses on the relationship between the process of group development and the process of coping with the illness/disability. People experiencing illness/disability cope with a great deal of pressure and stress that stem from the illness's biopsychosocial demands. A group can provide encouragement and support and reduce helplessness, isolation, and despair through cooperation and use of mutual resources. The design of the intervention was based on our clinical experience with numerous groups for ill/disabled individuals or their family. The process is described and analyzed using examples from three documented groups, and is presented in terms of four variables: group process, group atmosphere, group content, and group intervention.     

Preinternship Preparation of Clinical and Counseling Students in Psychological Testing, Psychotherapy, and Supervision: Their Readiness for Medical School and Nonmedical School Internships

Internship directors have been critical of students' preinternship preparation in test-based assessment and psychotherapy but have not, until recently, expressed their quantitative expectations for this training. Using data from the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers application form, this study investigated the quantitative statements of 96 counseling and 238 clinical students regarding their preinternship testing, psychotherapy, and supervision training, comparing findings to medical school and nonmedical school directors' quantitative expectations. Results generally demonstrated adequate psychotherapy training but suggested deficiencies in testing training, particularly as related to medical school directors' expectations. Counseling students received more training in individual therapy with adults but not in other forms of therapy. Clinical students produced more integrated test-based reports. Both groups received similar amounts of supervision.     

Narrative in psychotherapy theory,practice, and research: A critical review

This paper offers a critical review of narrative approaches to therapy, in terms of theory, practice and research. It proposes that narrative approaches currently lack a theory that explains adequately how the reworking of narratives brings about changes and how a client's various narratives are integrated. Research approaches to the study of narrative in therapy are at an early stage. A review of current research into narrative approaches to therapy is presented, and suggestions are offered for further research.     

Mobile phone mood charting for adolescents

Mobile phones may provide a useful and engaging platform for supporting therapeutic services working with adolescents. This paper examines the potential benefits of the mobile phone for self-charting moods in comparison to existing methods in current practice. The paper describes a mobile phone application designed by the authors which allows adolescents to record moods on their personal mobile phones. The authors propose that a personal mobile device is more suitable for adolescents than other devices. A pilot study with a non-clinical adolescent group in schools comparing a mobile and a paper diary is presented, along with discussion and analysis of the results. The main finding of the study was that compliance was significantly higher on mobile phones than paper, and the task was not found to be any more difficult to complete using mobile phones than with paper charts. A number of salient issues requiring further research are also identified.     

The Relationship Between Dropout and Outcome in Naturalistic Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Dropout from psychotherapy is frequent and limits the benefits patients can receive from treatment. The study of factors associated with dropout has the potential to yield strategies to reduce it. This study analyzed data from a large sample of adults (N = 1,092) receiving naturalistic cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to test the hypotheses that dropouts, as compared to completers, had (1) higher symptom severity at treatment termination, (2) a slower rate of symptom change during treatment, and (3) a higher odds that the therapist rated treatment as ending for reasons related to poor outcome. Results showed that although dropouts ended treatment with higher symptom severity than completers, dropouts and completers did not differ in their rate of symptom change during treatment, suggesting that dropouts had higher symptom severity at termination because they received fewer sessions of treatment, not because their symptoms changed at a slower rate. Dropout was also associated with a higher odds of having a therapist-rated termination reason indicating a poor outcome, suggesting that dropout is more likely if patients are dissatisfied with some aspect of the therapy outcome or process. These findings suggest that strategies for monitoring and enhancing patient satisfaction with the process and outcome of treatment may help patients stay in treatment longer and end treatment with fewer symptoms than if they had dropped out.     

Initiation of evidence-based psychotherapies in Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) requires that all VA hospitals and clinics provide access to evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs). Despite these widespread dissemination efforts, only a minority of Veterans receive EBP services. Reasons for these low rates of EBP utilization are largely unknown. This study examined the characteristics of Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who did (Initiation group) and did not (No-Initiation group) initiate a VA-approved EBP after participating in an information session. Veterans chose their preferred treatment from a menu of EBPs. Results demonstrated that Veterans in the No-Initiation group had longer periods of time between their referral and first EBP visit. Among Veterans in the Initiation group, the majority (68%) initiated a trauma-focused EBP as their first or second treatment, suggesting that providing a range of treatment options did not negatively impact their willingness to engage in PTSD treatment. Results are discussed in terms of VA initiatives to improve access to and initiation of mental health care for Veterans.     

Symptomatic distress and effectiveness of psychological treatments delivered at a nationwide student counseling service

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of student counseling in Denmark and to compare the symptomatic distress among student counseling clients with that of Danish outpatients. The pre-intervention level of self-reported symptomatic distress among 1256 students closely paralleled that of psychiatric outpatients. Participants in the intervention study were the 739 student clients with two or more counseling sessions. For the 530 (71.7%) participants with both pre- and post-measurements, the mean pre–post Cohen’s d effect size (ES) was .76 on the Global Severity Index of the Symptom Check List-90-Revised. An intention-to-treat analysis of all 739 clients resulted in an ES of .59. The number of recovered clients according to the Jacobson and Truax criteria was 295 (68.8%) of the 429 (80.9%) clients above the clinical cut-off at pre-intervention, while 66 (12.5%) of the 530 clients reliably deteriorated. The mean number of sessions was 5.0. Individual counseling, number of sessions, and ending counseling in agreement predicted better outcome. In line with results from other countries, this study may indicate that in Denmark student counseling is an effective intervention for a highly needy clientele, even though a high proportion of clients deteriorated (12.5%) or dropped out (31.7%).     

国外自杀心理学研究与理论评介

以自杀致病理论、自杀评估理论、自杀治疗理论为线索,回顾与总结了国外近十年来的自杀心理学理论与研究概况,同时重点介绍了致病理论中的应激—易感模型、逃避自我理论、杀死自我理论;自杀评估理论中的SSF评估、四阶段过程模式;自杀治疗理论中的SATIR理论和荣格艺术治疗理论等,并做了简短评论     

心理治疗中的循证实践及其哲学思考

心理治疗中的循证实践是指治疗者根据个体已有的临床技能与经验,利用最佳的研究证据,在考虑病人人格、文化及偏好等因素的情况下进行的心理治疗实践。通过描述心理治疗中循证实践运动发展的两个阶段,考察其哲学基础及存在的问题,对其发展趋势及对整个心理学发展的意义进行了展望。