We describe 2 frameworks in which personality dimensions relevant to health, such as Conscientiousness, can be used to inform interventions designed to promote health aging. First, contemporary data and theory do not suggest that personality is "immutable," but instead focus on questions of who changes, in what way, why, when, and how.…

Therapist competence in assigning homework was used to predict mid- and posttreatment outcome for patients with Cluster C personality disorders in cognitive therapy (CT). Twenty-five patients that underwent 40 sessions of CT were taken from a randomized controlled trial (Svartberg, Stiles, & Seltzer, 2004). Therapist competence in assigning…

There is relatively little theory on how psychotherapy clients self-heal since most theories of therapy stress the magic of the therapist's interventions. Of the theories that exist, this paper briefly discusses Carl Rogers' theory of self-actualization; and the dialectical theories of Greenberg and his colleagues, Jenkins, and Rychlak. Gendlin's…

This investigation was designed to study the effects of an extratherapy intervention. It was found that attrition can be reduced significantly and total therapy involvement can be lengthened. It was also found that client process can be altered and improved and that this leads to more constructive personality change. (Author)

Issues related to the selection of assessment procedures, the scaling of assessment devices, the computation of difference or change scores, and the translation of these scores into common indexes of outcome are explored. Suggestions are provided for refining the measurement of inferred states. (Author/BL)

Research supported by Rehabilitation Services Administration Grant RD-906 and Social and Rehabilitation Services Grant RT-13.

Described methods of meditation, how it can benefit mankind, and warned of fraudulent teachers. (RK)

Presents reprint of original work published in 1957 in "Journal of Consulting Psychology" in which Carl Rogers takes one small segment of theory of psychotherapy, of personality, and of interpersonal relationships; spells it out more completely; and explores its meaning and usefulness. Rogers examines psychological conditions necessary and…

Presents a marker-based method for tracking the assimilation of a previously outcast voice into the self, conceived as a community of voices. Using a qualitative assimilation analysis of a sample case, tracks two major themes, excerpts 43 passages, and rates each passage on the Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale (APES). APES ratings…

Ten compulsive behaviors were recorded by a client during 23 weeks of counseling. The frequency records indicated sizeable decreases in the behaviors following relaxation, with additional, smaller decreases following desensitization. Changes in the MMPI and Fear Survey Schedule corroborated the client's self report of improved functioning. She had…

Structural, mean- and individual-level, differential, and positive personality continuity were examined in 599 patients treated for major depression assigned to 1 of 6 forms of a 6-month pharmacy-psychotherapy program. Covariation among traits from the Five Factor model remained invariant across treatment, and patients described themselves as…

A STUDY OF MENTAL HOSPITALIZATION WAS MADE IN A UNIVERSITY-AFFILIATED, ACTIVE-CARE STATE INSTITUTION CONCERNED MAINLY WITH SCHIZOPHRENICS. THE AUTHOR EXAMINED THE ROUTES PATIENTS FOLLOW THROUGH THE HOSPITAL IN RELATION TO THERAPY AND THE PATIENT'S RETURN TO OUTSIDE LIFE. HE OBSERVED THAT THE PATIENT'S SOCIAL POSITIONS ARE DEFINED IN LARGE PART BY…

Today, the term 'behavior therapy' has no clear denotation. Those who adhere to the more delimited meanings of behavior therapy tend to disregard significant nonbehavioral therapeutic development. They also overlook convincing data demonstrating that in adult humans, conditioning is produced through cognitive mediation. Adoption of a more…

Reports a case of multiple personality in which therapy was directed at the marital couple, rather than focusing on the multiple personality. The functions of the symptom in the areas of impulse discharge, superego operation, boundaries of closeness-distance, and self-object representations for the couple and family are discussed. (Author/JAC)

Experimental interest in anger arousal has typically been incidental or secondary to the study of aggresssion. Novaco developed a cognitive behavior therapy approach to chronic anger problems. Clinical techniques have followed the work of Meichenbaum (1974, 1975) in the development of an approach called "stress inoculation" that has been…