Bradley T. Klontz

The Effectiveness of Equine-Assisted Experiential Therapy: Results of an Open Clinical Trial

This article describes an equine-assisted experiential therapy approach and presents treatment outcomes in 31 participants in an equine-assisted, experiential therapy program. Participants completed psychological measures prior to treatment, immediately following treatment, and 6 months after treatment. Reported reductions in psychological distress and enhancements in psychological well being were significant immediately following treatment and were stable at 6-month follow-up. The article discusses the clinical implications and limitations of the present study and directions for further research.

The Treatment of Disordered Money Behaviors: Results of an Open Clinical Trial

While destructive financial behaviors permeate our culture, the field of psychology has remained relatively silent on the issue. This article argues for the need for psychologists to identify disordered money behaviors as treatable psychological problems and provide the public with effective approaches to treatment. It describes one such experimental treatment utilizing experiential therapy and examines treatment outcomes of 33 individuals with problematic financial behaviors who participated in a 6-day experiential therapy program. Following treatment, participants showed significant and lasting reductions in psychological distress, anxiety, and worry about money and financerelated situations and showed measurable signs of better overall financial health.

The Effectiveness of Brief Multimodal Experiential Therapy in the Treatment of Sexual Addiction

The authors assessed treatment outcomes in 38 self-identified sex addicts who participated in a brief residential, multimodal experiential group therapy treatment program. Participants completed psychological and sexual symptom measures prior to treatment, immediately following treatment, and six months after treatment. Significant reductions in overall psychological distress, depression, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and preoccupation with sex and sexual stimuli were reported by participants immediately following treatment and were stable at 6-month follow-up. Significant reductions in anxiety, intrapsychic conflict regarding sexual desire, and shame felt as a result of acting out on sexual desires were reported by participants from posttreatment to 6-month follow-up. The clinical implications of the present study, limitations of the study, and directions for further research in this area are discussed.

ETHICAL PRACTICE OF GROUP EXPERIENTIAL PSYCHOTHERAPY

Ethical issues related to the practice of group experiential therapy are discussed. Particular emphasis is given to ethical considerations associated with group psychotherapy versus individual psychotherapy, therapist competency in the use of experiential techniques, leader power issues, and aftercare. The “Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct” of the American Psychological Association (2002) and the “Association for Specialists in Group Work Best Practice Guidelines” (L. Rapin & L. Keel, 1998) are referenced to highlight ethical principles and guidelines as they relate to this discussion.

Financial Enmeshment: Untangling the Web

Children learn through observing and interacting with their parents. Much of what children learn about money comes from these observations and interactions. An area of concern in parent – child relationships is the impact of boundaries and roles. Parents whose boundaries with their children are rigid and inflexible do not prepare their children to effectively deal with stress in their lives. Similarly, parents whose boundaries are too flexible may impede their children’s ability to develop appropriate coping skills. This is true of their development of personal finance, money, consumption, and debt coping skills. Financial enmeshment occurs when parents involve their children in adult financial matters before the children are cognitively and emotionally ready to cope with the information. Financial enmeshment may have a negative effect on the child’s development. Financial enmeshment can be addressed through financial therapy. This paper explores the dynamic of financial enmeshment and discusses tools available to financial professionals to help identify the dynamic and structure interventions.

The Mokihana Program: the effectiveness of an integrated department of education and department of health school-based behavioral health approach

As a result of difficulties with access to care and resulting low levels of service utilization, the mental health problems of children often go undiagnosed and untreated. One of the most promising approaches to increasing access to care is the delivery of mental health services in school settings, where almost all of the children in a community can be accessed. However, as a result of competing needs, cultures, and objectives, integrating mental health services into schools can be challenging. In the wake of a devastating hurricane in 1992 and efforts to identify and treat children with posttraumatic stress, many of these barriers were overcome on the island of Kauai, Hawaii and led to the development of the Mokihana Program, an integrated Department of Education and Hawaii Department of Health initiative for providing school-based behavioral health services. This study examined the effectiveness of the Mokihana Program in the treatment of 123 elementary age children and 56 adolescents by comparing teacher ratings of behavior problems and adaptive skills at intake and at 1-year follow-up. It was hypothesized that symptom severity would decrease from pretreatment to follow-up. Findings showed statistically significant improvements across a wide spectrum of behavioral problems and adaptive functioning. The authors explore the challenges and opportunities in sustaining and replicating this type of departmental integration in the service of children and youth.

Stages of Change and Motivational Interviewing in Financial Therapy

To maximize effectiveness in helping clients change financial behaviors, it is critical to recognize the stage of change in which the client currently resides, identify resistance to change when it is present, and tailor one’s approach accordingly. This chapter explores stages of change, precursors of change, and ambivalence and resistance towards change, and introduces techniques financial therapists can use to help a client successfully navigate through the change process. A case study is presented to illustrate the application of motivational interviewing in financial therapy.

Cognitive-Behavioral Financial Therapy

This chapter explores the use of cognitive-behavioral theory and techniques in financial planning and financial therapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapy concepts, such as automatic thoughts, underlying beliefs, behavioral techniques, homework, schemas, and thought records are introduced. Research on the use of cognitive-behavioral therapy to treat gambling disorder, hoarding disorder, and compulsive buying disorder is presented.

Internal Consistency and Convergent Validity of the Klontz Money Behavior Inventory (KMBI)

The Klontz Money Behavior Inventory (KMBI) is a standalone, multi-scale measure than can screen for the presence of eight distinct money disorders. Given the well-established relationship between mental health and financial behaviors, results from the KMBI can be used to inform both mental health care professionals and financial planners. The present study examined the internal consistency and convergent validity of the KMBI, through comparison with similar measures, among a sample of college students (n = 232). Results indicate that the KMBI demonstrates acceptable internal consistency reliability and some convergence for most subscales when compared to other analogous measures. These findings highlight a need for literature and assessments to identify and describe disordered money behaviors.

Reliability and Convergent Validity of the Klontz Money Script Inventory-Revised (KMSI-R)

Few contemporary, empirically-based instruments exist to assess attitudes and beliefs about money despite a large research base linking mental health outcomes to financial beliefs. An abbreviated form of the Klontz Money Script Inventory (KMSI), the Klontz Money Script Inventory-Revised (KMSI-R), has been developed to inform mental health practitioners and financial advisors about the money attitudes and beliefs of their clients using an empiricallybased instrument. This study examined the technical adequacy of the KMSI-R among a sample of college students (n = 326). Results indicate high reliability for the KMSI-R as well as weakto-moderate positive correlations when compared to the Money Attitude Scales.