Objective: Shame has long been seen as relevant to substance use disorders, but interventions have not been tested in randomized trials. This study examined a group-based intervention for shame based on the principles of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in patients (N = 133; 61% female; M = 34 years old; 86% Caucasian) in a 28-day…

Objective: Despite substantial progress in the development and identification of psychosocial evidence-based treatments (EBTs) in mental health, there is minimal empirical guidance for selecting an optimal "set" of EBTs maximally applicable and generalizable to a chosen service sample. Relevance mapping is a proposed methodology that…

Despite the overall efficacy of psychotherapy, dropouts are substantial, many clients do not benefit, therapists vary in effectiveness, and there may be a crisis of confidence among consumers. A research paradigm called "patient-focused research"--a method of enhancing outcome via continuous progress feedback--holds promise to address these…

HIV-prevention intervention effectiveness depends on understanding whether clients with highest need for HIV-prevention counseling accept it. With this objective, a field study with a high-risk community sample from the southeastern United States (N = 350) investigated whether initial knowledge about HIV, motivation to use condoms,…

The present study evaluated an implementation intention intervention that aimed to increase attendance at scheduled, initial appointments for psychotherapy by helping clients to manage negative feelings about attendance. Participants received a postal questionnaire that measured their views about attending psychotherapy. One half of the sample was…

Randomly assigned smokers (n=126) to six-session smoking cessation treatments consisting of skills training or support counseling strategies and nicotine gum or rapid smoking nicotine exposure strategies. Counseling and nicotine strategies were completely crossed; all four combinations resulted in equivalent one-year abstinence rates. Treatments…

Notes that, in assessing and diagnosing children and adolescents for psychological treatment, attention must be paid to variations across sources of assessment data, comorbidity of diagnoses, and potential utility of family diagnosis. Presents specific methodological recommendations regarding randomized clinical trials, control groups, dependent…

Examined time-limited therapies provided by two therapists to two clients to discover relations between clients' understanding of therapists' intentions and episode level outcome, similarities and differences between the participants' valuing of different intentions, and shifts in intentions valued from beginning to end of therapy. Documented some…

Evaluated outcomes and costs of six methods for motivating therapists to meet service delivery goals at community mental health center for children and adolescent over five-year period. Four incentive interventions generated more cost savings than they required in monetary outlays. Most cost beneficial were bonus plans. (Author/NB)

Clients in a smoking cessation program rated their confidence in their ability to resist smoking at the end of treatment and throughout a 6-month follow-up period. Posttreatment scores significantly predicted subsequent smoking status. Results suggest that efficacy ratings can be useful predictors of relapse, particularly when assessed during the…

Compared 93 children and adolescents who completed psychotherapy with 60 who dropped out after intake. At intake, groups did not differ on demographic, family, or clinical measures, including Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) scores. Six months and one year later, groups were compared again. No comparison showed significant main effects of therapy.…

Describes development of cognitive therapy (CT) for depression and its application to diverse clinical populations. Examines how CT works and discusses both limitations of CT and recent developments and modifications of the therapy that have evolved in response to these perceived limitations and that bring it closer to other therapy approaches.…

Examined relationship of patient (n=32) pretreatment interpersonal functioning to therapeutic alliance. On basis of interpersonal circumplex interpretation, results generally indicated that friendly submissive interpersonal problems were positively related to development of aspects of alliance and that hostile-dominant problems were negatively…

Results indicated that when the client was described as an unemployed welfare recipient with a seventh-grade education, he was seen as having a poorer prognosis and self-concept; psychologists were less interested in treating this client; and when professional psychotherapy was chosen, it was less likely to be insight-oriented psychotherapy.…

Studied effects of short-term, dynamically oriented individual therapy and patient characteristic quality of object relations (QOR) in study involving 8 therapists and 144 psychiatric outpatients. Best results were attained by high QOR therapy patients; worst results were attained by low QOR control patients. Results were suggestive of optimal…