The patterns of growth and development of the therapeutic alliance over the course of therapy have been of continued interest to psychotherapy researchers. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a simple institutional metacommunication intervention with clients had an effect on the development of the alliance. This adjunctive…

The tendency to ruminate has been consistently linked to psychological disturbances, such as increased stress, anger, and fear in response to provocations. However, existing measures of rumination focus on the disposition to ruminate rather than on rumination about a specific situation. This limits the ability to explore rumination about a…

The present study developed and examined a conceptual model of working through self-defeating patterns. Participants were 390 college students at a large midwestern university. Results indicated that self-defeating patterns mediated the relations between attachment and distress. Also, self-esteem mediated the link between self-defeating patterns…

Investigated the role of a group structuring technique on the amount and depth of process involvement in two counseling training groups. The results partly supported the conclusion that early structure significantly affects process involvement among group members. Additionally, both groups showed strong gains in depth of process involvement over…

Participants in assertiveness training groups who rated their degree of interest in improving their assertive skills in 26 areas indicated that being assertive when confronted with another's aggression was the highest priority, whereas saying no in various situations assumed a much lower priority. (Author)

Investigated the relationship between cognitive complexity of self-reported emotional experience and accurate empathic understanding in a group of experienced counselors. A significant positive correlation was found between cognitive complexity of self-reported emotional experience and accurate empathic understanding. (Author)

Predicted that high fear of negative evaluation (FNE) subjects would show greater comfort with counselor behaviors and greater preference for a friend and another counselor when exposed to a reflective response style. Results evidenced few differences due to FNE status, response style, or sex, offering no support for the hypothesis. (Author/BEF)

Compared inductive social skills training (ISST), skill assembly social skills training (SASST), and cognitive-relaxation coping skills (CRCS) training with no-treatment control group for general anger reduction. At four-week follow-up, compared with controls, all treatment groups showed equivalent reductions of amount of anger experienced in wide…

Examines the effects of emotional openness and other potential predictors of attitudes toward seeking psychological help in a sample of college students. Results indicate that gender (male), perception of stigma, discomfort with emotions, and lower psychological distress accounted for 25% of variance in attitudes toward seeking psychological…

Investigated comparability of self-statements generated by different cognitive assessment methods; effect of an assessment delay on cognitive phenomena; and interrelationships among different cognitive variables. Subjects were heterosocially anxious women (N=64) who engaged in a conversation with a male confederate. Self-statements generated by…

Defined verbal behavior categories for clients (the Client Verbal Behavior System, CL-VBS), and for counselors (the Counselor Verbal Behavior System, CO-VBS), to match the categories in the Carkhuff and Ivey training models, in order to study the acquisition of the skills and their impact on client responses and outcomes. (Author/JAC)

Examined the effects of a weekend communication skills training program for divorced persons. Subjects in the experimental group (N=13) received interpersonal skills training, while the control group (N=14) received no training. Results indicated experimentals significantly increased their perceived level of social support, self-disclosure and…

Handicapped individuals matched on self-reported assertiveness were assigned to one of two conditions. Behavioral role playing, self-report, and activity budget pre- and post-test measures revealed that assertion-training subjects reported greater gains in assertive behavior and showed greater improvement in performance on seven criterion measures…

Evaluates the reliability and validity of a new self-report measure of Self-Understanding of Interpersonal Patterns (SUIP). Measure demonstrates good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and discriminant validity. The SUIP further demonstrates convergent validity with measures of analytical and self-improving personality traits in a…

Fourteen make and 14 female undergraduates who volunteered for a program to increase their dating effectiveness were matched for six dates, each date with a different opposite-sex subject. Heterosexual interaction frequency and subjective measures of comfort increased significantly with treatment. (Author)