The Client's Theory of Change: Consulting the Client in the Integrative Process

This article casts a critical eye upon the integration literature and asserts that, as in psychotherapy in general, the client has been woefully left out of the therapeutic process. An alternative that privileges the client's voice as the source of wisdom and solution is presented. It is proposed that conducting therapy within the context of the client's own theory of change offers ways of integrating multiple therapy perspectives. An argument is made for not only recasting the client as the star of the drama of therapy, but also giving the heroic client directorial control of the action as it unfolds.     

ABA-Based Programs for Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Parental and Professional Experiences at School and at Home

Having a child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) poses a range of challenges to families, many of which can be addressed through appropriate intervention. A study of parental (n = 95) and professional (n = 67) experiences was carried out in relation to two settings: (a) schools that provided intensive interventions based on the science of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and (b) non-intensive ABA-based home programs. Results show that parents whose children attend ABA-based schools were generally more satisfied with their child's educational provision, monitoring procedures, and level of staff training, than parents who were not offered ABA-based education in schools.     

Understanding intuition and how the mind works

The associations between maternal reports of positive marital quality (i.e., positive emotional expressions, constructive conflict, and mothers’ marital satisfaction) and 3–6-year-olds’ (N = 62) positive peer relations were examined as a function of child temperament and gender. Although a zero-order correlation indicated that marital quality was unrelated to peer relations, a regression analysis indicated that high levels of positive marital quality were associated with more positive peer relations for preschoolers low in effortful control, but not for those high in effortful control. In addition, a moderating effect of gender revealed that the relationship between marital quality and positive peer relations was positive for girls but negative for boys. However, positive emotionality did not moderate the relations among marital quality and peer relations. The present study provides important preliminary findings that highlight the need for further study of the significance of positive marital relations for child development.     

Geographical Concomitants of Negro Criminal Intelligence

This study attempts to demonstrate the relationship between teachers’ personal early experiences of attachment with their parents and their emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions to a hypothetical student's request to speak with them, expressed in short or detailed form. A similar procedure has been used by Perrine and Steele King for students, and now has been used for teachers. For this purpose, self-report questionnaires were administered to a sample of 395 female teachers. The results showed a significant relationship between parental bonding experiences and behavioral and emotional, but not cognitive, reactions to an hypothetical student's request. The optimal parenting group reported more positive emotional and behavioral reactions, while the affectionate control group reported more negative emotional reactions to the hypothetical student's request than the other groups. These results offer useful implications to be utilized in teachers’ training programs.     

Early life experiences and self-compassion: a structural equation modelling / Experiencias en la vida temprana y autocompasión: un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to examine the relationships between early life experiences and self-compassion. Sample of the study consists of 268 university students, in Turkey. Participants completed the Early Life Experiences Scale and the Self-compassion Scale. The relationships between early life experiences and self-compassion were examined using correlation analysis and the hypothesis model was tested through structural equation modeling. In correlation analysis, self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness factors of self-compassion were found negatively and self-judgment, isolation and over-identification factors of self-compassion were found positively related to early life experiences. The structural model fitted well (χ² = 21.92, df = 9, χ²/df = 2.43, p = .00914, AGFI = .93, GFI = .97, CFI = .98, NFI = .97, NNFI = .95, IFI = .98, RFI = .92, SRMR = .047, RMSEA = .073). According to path analysis results, self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness were predicted negatively by early life experiences. Further early life experiences predicted self-judgment, isolation and over-identification in a positive way. This research shows that early life experiences have a direct impact on the self-compassion.     

When Clients Die

Abstract

The contexts of loss are as numerous as they are varied. This article reflects upon loss within the context of the helping relationship and illustrates how storytelling, journaling, and correspondence can be used to process the experience of a counselor's loss. The richness of personal accounts, interwoven and connected, provides voice and place to the experience of the deceased and their loved ones. Through such a process, the counselor is assisted toward an integrative healing intervention that can be used to work through their shattered dreams following the death of their clients.     

The Scope of Client Aggression Toward Social Workers in Israel

The phenomenon of client violence toward social workers has been documented in various parts of the world. The goal of this study is to describe the phenomenon and explore the relationship pattern between contextual variables and clients’ aggression. The study encompassed a sample of 645 workers in 34 municipal social service agencies. Of the entire sample, 80% reported being exposed to some form of aggression at least once over the last 3 months. The findings highlight 2 broad axes related to client aggressiveness: frequency and level of aggression. With respect to frequency, we can discern a continuum running from common types of aggressive behaviors to rare ones. The other axis focuses on the level of aggressiveness used, from minor types of client aggression, such as verbal assaults and threats, increasing to more severe ones, such as property damage, and, finally, to physical injury. The routineness of aggression in the work environment lends it the appearance of being normal, and functioning in such an environment desensitizes social workers to clients’ aggressiveness. Also examined and discussed are organizational and personal factors that contribute to the aggressive behavior of clients, including seniority, gender, workload, inadequate service conditions, and coworkers’ aggressive behavior.