Darcy Haag Granello

Supervision of Group Work: A Model to Increase Supervisee Cognitive Complexity

This article describes a model for supervisors of group counselors to use to promote cognitive complexity in their supervisees. Counselor cognitive complexity has been linked to many positive counseling skills, including greater flexibility, empathy, confidence, and client conceptualization. Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Objectives provides a mechanism to help supervisors encourage the growth of cognitive complexity in their supervisees. Applied to supervisees learning group work, this model can help guide supervisors to use interventions that match the cognitive developmental level of the supervisee and push the supervisee toward higher levels of thinking. Examples for interventions that match trainee cognitive complexity and stage of group are included.

Measuring treatment outcomes and client satisfaction in a partial hospitalization program

Mental health practitioners are increasingly being called on to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment they provide. The partial hospitalization component of the mental health industry also has felt this call for outcome research. This article presents the results of one programs attempts to answer that call through an assessment of treatment outcome and client satisfaction at a partial hospitalization program. Participants (N=287) were evaluated at admission, discharge, and 3-month follow-up. The article outlines the procedures used for assessment and uses the results as an example of the type of data that can be obtained through outcomes measurement. The article is intended to provide an example of program evaluation that is easy and inexpensive to administer.

Measuring Treatment Outcome in a Child and Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program

Mental health practitioners are increasingly being called upon to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment they provide. The partial hospitalization component of the mental health industry has also felt this call for outcome research. This article presents the results of assessments of treatment outcome at a child and adolescent partial hospitalization program. The research design was an effectiveness study, a type of clinical outcome evaluation. Subjects were evaluated at admission and discharge, using the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. The article is intended both to demonstrate the effectiveness of a partial hospitalization program and to provide an example of program evaluation that is easy and inexpensive to administer.

Using a Contextual Approach in Counseling Men

Abstract There is increasing attention in the literature on the restrictive effects of male socialization and its impact on male clients in psychotherapy. This article consolidates the existing literature on thematic issues in mens lives and addresses the different ways these themes may manifest themselves in the counseling session. Implications for the practitioner are considered.

Holistic Wellness in Older Adulthood: Group Differences Based on Age and Mental Health:

Purpose: To understand how demographic variables and depression symptoms relate to the prevalence of wellness, resilience, and age perception within a sample of community-dwelling older adults. Design: In all, 200 residents across 12 senior housing sites were surveyed. Research questions included the following: (1) Do group differences exist in wellness, resilience, and age perception based on age, sex, race, education, and depression symptoms? (2) Which profile of variables is most strongly associated with self-rated depression among older adults? Method: Multivariate analyses of variance were used to examine group differences. A discriminant analysis demonstrated which variables comprised the profile of individuals who ascribed to depression symptoms. Findings: Younger respondents (i.e., age 55-70) had significantly lower levels of wellness (η2 = .034) and resilience (η2 = .052). Respondents suffering from depression symptoms had lower levels of wellness (η2 = .155), resilience (η2 = .163), and positive age perception (η2 = .067) and higher rates of negative age perception (η2 = .052). The discriminant analysis correctly categorized 75.3% of the cases related to depression symptoms, and resilience and certain forms of wellness were most relevant. Conclusions: The current study sheds light into within-group differences in wellness, resilience, and age perception that depend on variables such as age and depression.

Comparing successful aging, resilience, and holistic wellness as predictors of the good life

ABSTRACT Objectives: The purpose of the study was to compare the relative contributions of Rowe and Kahn’s definition of successful aging (SA), resilience, and the holistic wellness paradigm for predicting happiness, life satisfaction, and self-rated physical health in late life. Method: A cross-sectional research design was used to survey 200 residents across 12 senior housing sites. Criteria with strong psychometric properties representing the three constructs were operationalized using hierarchical regression within the context of relevant control variables to compare the relative strengths of the three paradigms for predicting measures of quality of life. Results: In this study, 8.5% of the sample met modified criteria for SA and were used as a comparison group with those who did not meet the criteria. Overall, holistic wellness and resilience predicted happiness, life satisfaction, and physical health better than SA alone. When predicting happiness and life satisfaction, race and holistic wellness were significant predictors. Age and holistic wellness were the best predictors of self-rated physical health. Conclusion: The criteria underlying SA poorly predicted happiness, life satisfaction, and self-rated physical health compared to the resilience and holistic wellness models. The results suggest that definitions of aging well are complex and require greater nuance. The findings have important implications for clinicians seeking translatable theoretical models that are amenable to practice with older adults, especially for those living in independent senior housing communities.

Using a partnership approach for suicide prevention programming: An enhanced public health approach

S risk assessment involves a complex set of skills that requires knowledge, training and experience. Mental health professionals who conduct such assessments need concrete, practical information on suicide assessment in order to conduct culturally and developmentally appropriate suicide risk assessments. In general, the determination of suicide risk is based on a comprehensive assessment of individual risk factors and warning signs as well as a careful appraisal of protective factors that can work to mitigate the risk. Much of the research emphasizes the content of suicide risk assessment and instead of the principles that guide the process of assessment. The presenter’s own research, clinical experience and comprehensive reviews of the literature reveal a dozen overarching principles that guide the implementation of suicide assessment, regardless of setting, population or specific type or method of assessment used. These clinical aphorisms guide the work of individuals who engage in suicide assessment, becoming a part of the expert thinking that directs the process. Taken together, they can form a foundation for the process of suicide risk assessment. Ultimately, a comprehensive and thorough suicide risk assessment is the cornerstone of appropriate and effective interventions with suicidal individuals.