Anastassios Stalikas

Positive Emotions as Generators of Therapeutic Change

The purpose of this article is to highlight commonalities and facilitate links between the domains of psychotherapy and positive psychology. The authors describe the Broaden-and-Build theory and suggest that it has heuristic value for understanding psychotherapeutic processes. The authors propose that broadening represents a common factor in intrapersonal therapy that contributes to many helpful change events across different psychotherapies. The upward spiral in which positive emotions and broadening feed one another enlarges current psychotherapeutic conceptualizations by suggesting that positive emotions are not just indicators but also generators of change. The positive emotionbroadening spiral offers new avenues for research and ways to understand existing research, an alternative avenue to therapeutic change, and a method to tailor therapeutic work to individual clients. It also bridges researcher, clinician, and client points of view about key change events. Links between different viewpoints enhance therapeutic work. Links across lines of theorizing and research foster interdisciplinary ties that fertilize both fields.

Reliability and Validity of the Greek Version of the Revised Experiences in Close Relationships Measure of Adult Attachment

The present article examined the psychometric properties (factor structure, internal and test-retest reliability, convergent and criterion validity) of the Greek version of the Revised Experiences in Close Relationships (G-ECR-R) self-report inventory. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the G-ECR-R is characterized by a clear two-factor structure consistent with adult attachment research and theory developed mainly in English-speaking countries. The results showed that the scale has adequate classical psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The G-ECR-R anxiety and avoidance dimensions showed convergent validity with the widely used Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) as well as with theoretically relevant variables such as self-esteem and trait anxiety. The results also demonstrated criterion validity on measures of relationship satisfaction. The importance of using culturally validated dimensional measures of ...

Knowledge About Schizophrenia and Attitudes Towards People with Schizophrenia in Greece

Background: This study was the first national survey ever conducted in Greece aiming to monitor the level of stigma Greeks hold against people with schizophrenia (PWS). Aim: To investigate sources, degree of knowledge and attitudes towards PWS in Greece. Method: A cross-sectional nationwide survey was conducted by face-to-face household interviews ( n = 1,199, aged 15 years and over). Results: Television was the main source of information (65.9%). Negative portrayals of PWS were recalled by 60.5%. Only 27.7% attributed schizophrenia to a combination of psychosocial, genetic and environmental factors. Respondents believed that PWS are dangerous (74.6%), have split personalities (81.3%) and cannot work (83.2%). Regarding attitudes, a negative relationship between closeness and social distance was observed. Most respondents (92.1%) would not marry someone with schizophrenia, half (50.5%) would be disturbed by working with PWS and one third (32.9%) would feel afraid to start a conversation. Urban residence and higher education were generally associated with better knowledge and more positive attitudes towards PWS. Conclusions: Knowledge about schizophrenia in Greece is poor. The Greek public has stigmatizing attitudes towards PWS. Educational interventions should especially target rural and semi-urban residents of a lower educational level. The role of television can be crucial.

The Importance of Ethnic Identity: Self-Esteem and Academic Achievement of Second-Generation Greeks in Secondary School:

One of the variables that has recently attracted the attention of researchers is that of ethnicity. However, most studies have been conducted in an American social context and with populations prominent in the USA. Very few studies have been conducted to examine ethnicity in a Canadian context and with an ethnic group that is prominent in Canada. This study has been conducted to examine the relationship between ethnic identity, self-esteem, and academic achievement in second-generation Greek-Canadian secondary schoolchildren. The results indicated that a strong and positive relationship exists between the three variables and that a positive ethnic identity is related to better self-esteem and higher academic achievement. Implications for schools, education, and policy are discussed.

Integrating positive emotions into theory, research, and practice: A new challenge for psychotherapy.

This article elaborates on the themes and directions that emerged from a dialogue on the potential usefulness of positive emotions in psychotherapy. In defining a positive emotion, the authors propose that there are two intersecting axes of interest. The axes are emotional experience—whether something feels good or bad to the client—and therapeutic value—how helpful the emotion is to the therapeutic process. Three of the four quadrants formed by the intersection of these axes potentially contain positive emotions. Special consideration is given to the quadrant of positive experience/ positive value, which has been relatively neglected until now. In this quadrant, positive emotions generate change either in their facilitating role—often in the therapeutic relationship—or as central agents of the change process. The authors conclude by considering how positive and negative emotions interact and call for careful theorizing and research to clearly understand positive emotions in psychotherapy.

Factors affecting substance abuse treatment in Greece and their course during therapy

The effective therapy of substance abuse is attributed to a wide range of factors. A relevant bibliography review has highlighted those factors, which are most commonly employed by mental health professionals: Readiness (recognition, taking steps, and ambivalence), Self-efficacy, Expectation about the therapy outcome, Satisfaction by the therapy treatment, Perceived Social Support, Depression/Anxiety/Stress levels of the client (clinical profile), Positive and Negative Emotions and the way in which clients realize the Meaning of Life. These factors have been thoroughly researched for the purposes of the current study during the different treatment stages of a residential treatment program. The sample included 157 clients. In total, four measurements of the factors have been conducted in the three basic stages of treatment (Counseling Centre, Residential Phase, and Social Re-integration). The analysis of the Repeated Measures Design revealed a statistically significant increase in factors, such as Taking Steps, Self-efficacy, Perceived Social Support, Positive Emotions and Meaning of Life, while it showed an important decrease in factors, such as Problem Recognition, Ambivalence, Depression and Stress. The findings of the study both confirm the important role already recognized factors play in treatment and present the impact new factors can have on the therapeutic outcome.

Thought-Shape Fusion in bulimia nervosa: an experimental investigation.

The aim of the present study was to experimentally investigate a cognitive distortion, ‘Thought Shape Fusion’ (TSF), in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN). TSF has been postulated as a specific distortion in patients with eating disorders and occurs when the thought about eating a forbidden food increases a person’s estimate of her weight / shape, elicits a perception of moral wrongdoing and makes her feel fat. Previous psychometric measures of TSF in clinical and control groups, experiments eliciting TSF in a student sample and in patients with anorexia nervosa, all confirm a strong association between TSF and eating disorder psychopathology. Twenty patients diagnosed with BN participated in a within-participants experimental design with the aim of eliciting TSF and investigating further the possible effects of corrective behaviours (checking and mental neutralizing). Verbal analogue scales constituted the main outcome measures. TSF triggered a perception of moral wrongdoing, heightened levels of body dissatisfaction, elevated feelings of anxiety and guilt and prompted urges to engage in checking and mental neutralizing. Corrective behaviours significantly reduced the effects of the experimental procedure. Components of TSF are present in BN and are likely to play a mediating role in the maintenance of the disorder. The precise connection between TSF and BN remains to be explored in future clinical trials.

Counsellor interpretations and the occurrence of in-session client change moments in non-dynamic psychotherapies

This study explored the relationship between therapist interpretations and optimal in-session client processes in 20 sessions conducted by exemplary psychotherapists of three different theoretical orientations: Client-Centred Therapy (CCT), Rational-Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), and Gestalt/Existential Therapy (GT). The results indicated that interpretations were used with similar frequency across therapeutic approaches, but they were neither superior nor inferior to other interventions in relation to the occurrence of optimal in-session client processes. The results support the notion that interpretation is a commonly used therapist intervention and that different therapies accentuate different aspects of interpretation. Implications for psychotherapy integration are offered and the findings are discussed with reference to theory and clinical practice.

Therapist Interpretations and Client Processes in Three Therapeutic Modalities: Implications for Psychotherapy Integration

This research investigated therapist interpretations and subsequent client actions in 3 therapeutic modalities—client-centered therapy, gestalt/existential therapies, and rational–emotive behavior therapy—by employing the coding system of the consensual qualitative research method (C. E. Hill, B. J. Thompson, & N. E. Williams, 1997). By allowing conceptual categories to emerge from these qualitatively analyzed data, the authors found that each approach had its own specific pattern of interpretation content as well as style of delivering the interpretations. Client reactions to interpretations were mostly positive. The results suggest that interpretation is a common therapeutic element and that different therapies nonetheless accentuate different aspects of interpretation. Implications for psychotherapy integration are offered, and the findings are discussed with reference to theory and clinical practice. The common factors perspective searches for fundamental similarities across therapies (Arkowitz, 1997) and suggests that the effectiveness of psychotherapy is contingent on factors other than theoretical orientation (Ahn & Wampold, 2001; Hubble, Duncan, & Miller, 1999). Although stud

An Investigation of Counselor Interpretations in Client-Centered Therapy

Preliminary findings by the McGill Psychotherapy Process Research Team indicate that not only are interpretations used in client-centered therapy, but they are also efficient in producing in-session client change. Using the Hill Counsellor Verbal Response Category System—Revised (Friedlander, 1982) as a guide to locate interpretations, we investigated the qualitative differences between interpretations leading to different in-session client change events in six sessions conducted by Carl Rogers. The occurrence of in-session therapeutic phenomena were assessed using the Experiencing Scale (Klein, Mathieu, Gendlin, & Keisler, 1970) and the Category System of Good Moments (Mahrer & Nadler, 1986). Results indicate that significant in-session therapeutic phenomena are preceded by interpretations and that qualitative differences exist between interpretations that precede change events and those that do not. Implications for psychotherapy theory, research, and practice are discussed.