Trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder are more prevalent in people with intellectual disabilities (PWID) than in the general population, yet the evidence base for trauma interventions in this population is sparse. Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) may be particularly well-suited to PWID for a number of reasons, including its…

This book reviews the theoretical underpinnings and practice of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a radical treatment developed by Marsha Linehan to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD). DBT has proven to be effective with a wide range of mental health problems, including self-harm, suicidality, substance abuse, and eating disorders that…

Clients sometimes react negatively when their in-session problem behavior is simply blocked. This article illustrates how a FAP (Functional Analytic Psychotherapy) therapist can work effectively in session with a client's problem feeling of unlovability by: 1) understanding its antecedents and functions, 2) using therapeutic love to reinforce…

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) targets a client's interpersonal behavior for change with the goal of improving his or her quality of life. One question guiding FAP case conceptualization is, "What interpersonal behavioral repertoires will allow a specific client to function optimally?" Previous FAP writings have suggested that a therapist…

Functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP) provides a behavioral analysis of the psychotherapy relationship that directly applies basic research findings to outpatient psychotherapy settings. Specifically, FAP suggests that a therapist's in vivo (i.e., in-session) contingent responding to targeted client behaviors, particularly positive reinforcement…

Treatment linkage and adherence to psychotherapeutic interventions can be challenging with suicidal individuals. Health behavior theories, specifically the Health Belief Model, Stages of Change, and Theory of Planned Behavior, focus on individuals' beliefs, their readiness to change, their perceptions of illness severity and "threat," their…

Motivation has received increasing attention across counseling approaches, presumably because clients' motivation is key for treatment effectiveness. The authors define motivation using a self-determination theory taxonomy that conceptualizes motivation along a relative-autonomy continuum. The authors apply the taxonomy in discussing how various…

A view of human functioning is presented in which functioning is seen as integrating head and heart, emotion and reason, in a process by which people are constantly making sense of their lived emotional experience to form narratives of told experience. Because much of the processing involved in the generation of emotional experience occurs…

A young woman initiated counselling services at a community agency to address her explosive anger that was a remnant of childhood physical and emotional abuse. Sensorimotor psychotherapy was used to help this client learn how to monitor and regulate her sensorimotor processes. In conjunction with this approach, Cognitive behavioural therapy was…

Many researchers and clinicians believe that the therapeutic relationship is essential in bringing about clinical change. Empirical research to support this contention is scarce in part due to the difficulty of specifying and measuring theoretically derived mechanisms of change and the important dimensions of the client-therapist relationship.…

The first (1997) international conference on adventure therapy (Perth, Australia) was attended by over 270 participants from 21 countries. Major themes included defining adventure therapy, therapeutic behavior change versus changing attitudes and values, the ethics of therapy, whether adventure therapy must link to a recognized school of…

In this paper the course of the therapy of an adopted latency-aged girl is described in some detail. There was considerable improvement outside the sessions while within sessions she remained a not-very-vocal child and continued to play in the way that a younger child might. The clinical material is examined in a discussion of the possible…

Fire-setting students are those who intentionally or unintentionally set one or more fires due to curiosity, stress, a need for attention, or due to criminal delinquency. This article describes the nature of fire-setting behaviors, discusses the profile and risk factors associated with the behavior, and outlines a group program using empathy…

This brief article describes a session with a client utilizing a device known as the Electromyometer (EMG) and biofeedback processes. The author explains how his procedure encompasses aspects of Dynamic Psychotherapy, which is a therapeutic approach utilizing galvanic skin resistance in psychotherapy, and EMG which has been primarily used on…

This paper discusses bulimia among college women, and describes a workshop utilizing structured short-term group treatment for these bulemic women. An overview and definitions of bulimia are given, and research supporting the theory that binge eating is a reaction to excessive dietary restraint is reviewed. Treatment goals and techniques used in…