This investigation tested the hypothesis that the probabilistic structure underlying psychotherapy interviews is Markovian. The "goodness of fit" of a first-order Markov chain model to actual therapy interviews was assessed using a x squared test of homogeneity, and by generating by Monte Carlo methods empirical sampling distributions of…

The effects of first-session interviewer self-disclosures that differed in three levels of intimacy--low, medium and high--and three kinds of temporal focus--historical (past tense and external to the interview process), current (present tense and external to the interview process), and existential in which the interviewer disclosed immediate…

This article labels some types of general group silence in group counseling and offers some techniques which have been found useful in dealing with these silences. (Author)

Studied the process of child psychotherapy by means of analyses of client verbal behaviors. Analyses of variables demonstrated the nature of each client's verbal responding as well as their pattern of change. Summarized the overall verbal response behavior of each client best through the factor analyses. (Author)

Studied child psychotherapy by analyzing therapists' verbal behaviors with two child clients. According to the research expectations, high levels of interrater reliabilities for the Carkhuff scales and relatively high agreement levels for Hill's system were found. Overall verbal response behavior of each therapist was summarized best through…

This paper reviews some of the research findings relating to the issue of personalism versus situationism in the psychology of personality. The recurrent controversy regarding the relative importance of situations, personal dispositions, and interactions between these is addressed with a focus on the manner in which persons perceive, construe, and…

This paper, presented at the April 1976 meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, reports part of an ongoing study of psychiatric interviews at Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital in Philadelphia. Faculty from the Department of Mental Health Sciences are videotaped in initial evaluative interviews with clients who volunteer from the…

A family contracting approach, delineating those behaviors which could not be used as sole justifications for involuntary hospitalization is recommended to decrease a psychiatric patient's fear of arbitrary, family-initiated commitment. The contract outlines the decision rules which might necessitate involuntary hospitalization. Advantages are…