In this issue of Communique a program to enhance communication skills in counseling is presented. The books reviewed are about transactional analysis and behavioral self-control. The vibrations column covers new developments in various areas of counseling as well as recent research and materials. Other research is reported on. (WS)

Presented for practitioners is a history of the development of abnormal psychology. Areas covered include the following: Early medical concepts, ideas carried over from literature, early treatment of the mentally ill, development of the psychological viewpoint, Freud's psychoanalytic theory, Jung's analytic theory, the individual psychology of…

Saturation Group Therapy was conducted on a small group of patients for 16 consecutive weekends with 15 hours of group therapy each weekend. The subjects all had recognizable psychiatric problems. Three separate papers are included: (1) the patients' participation, (2) therapists' participation, and (3) a goal-oriented group therapy model for a…

The relationship between two diverse but commonly used psychotherapy process rating scales was determined by correlating therapist statements classified via the Hill Interaction Matrix with statements rated on the dimensions of empathy, respect, genuineness, and specificity. Results suggest these measures share significant common variance. Empathy…

This study discusses the role figurative language can play in promoting insight in a patient undergoing psychotherapy. The first part of the study reviews some of the research into the nature of creative insight; the next section discusses some of the research relating to the value of metaphor in the treatment of schizophrenic patients. The major…

The present study compared the effects of assertion with that of progressive relaxation training in systematic desensitization. Nineteen Ss were selected on the basis of exemplifying high debilitating test anxiety according to Alpert and Haber's (1960) Achievement Anxiety Test. Results showed that test anxious Ss who received either relaxation or…

A method of supplying consultation services to school districts is reported. The philosophy underlying this approach is that teaching front line personnel better methods and techniques of handling mental health problems will ultimately lead to true prevention by way of curricular change, changes in teaching techniques, and clearer definition of…

The bibliography lists 31 items relating to drug therapy selected from "Exceptional Child Education Abstracts." One in a series of over 50 similar selected listings, the bibliography cites research reports, conference papers, journal articles, texts, and program guides. Each entry contains bibliographical data, availability information, indexing…

Short-term treatment has been steadily gaining in popularity in the past five years although its historical antecedents are of much longer standing. This annotated bibliography is the result of a literature search covering the major journals in psychology, psychiatry, and social work during the period from 1945 to 1974. A total of 243 articles…

Successful psychotherapy is characterized by a sense of vital intensity and personal intimacy between client and therapist. Current theory and research have left this level of interpersonal contact untouched. The hypothesis is advanced that the intensity and intimacy of interpersonal contact supplies the motivation which allows the patient to make…

Using a new A-B measure of psychotherapist effectiveness derived from the Strong Vocational Interest Blank, this study sought to determine whether psychiatrists could be differentiated from other medical specialists. They could not. (Author/JKS)

By taking an advocacy stance between the intrafamilial and extrafamilial systems, focusing on individual and family need levels, the family-focused approach to managing mental health/social deviancy problems offers the clinician a promising framework to broaden the scope of service delivery befitting a wider and growing knowledge base. (Author)

Clinical interest in individual psychotherapeutic intervention with the aged mentally ill has gradually risen during the past several decades. However, a broad review of the literature suggests that published descriptions of such interventions have generally been global and vague. (Author)

This paper offers a comparative analysis of the process of conjoint marital therapy within the three major contemporary models of treatment: (1) psychoanalytic; (2) behavioral; and (3) systems theory. On the basis of this comparative analysis, some thoughts toward the future of marital therapy are offered. (Author)

A pilot research study is described, aimed at investigating the hypotheses that psychosexual factors are of central importance in the psychological recovery of the mastectomy patient and that counseling would prove beneficial. Results indicated that sexual self-concept superseded mortality as the primary concern of most recovering mastectomy…