Dennis M. Kivlighan

Endorsement of Therapeutic Factors as a Function of Stage of Group Development and Participant Interpersonal Attitudes.

Yaloms (1985) hypotheses about the relationships between group participant interpersonal style, stage of group development, and endorsement of therapeutic factors were examined. Thirty-six growth-group participants filled out critical incident forms that were classified into 1 of 10 therapeutic factors with Bloch, Reibstein, Crouch, Holroyd, & Themens (1979) taxonomy. As hypothesized, more affiliative participants placed greater emphasis on cognitive therapeutic factors, whereas more nonaffiliative participants placed greater emphasis on behavioral factors

CLIENT ATTACHMENT TO THERAPIST, DEPTH OF IN-SESSION EXPLORATION, AND OBJECT RELATIONS IN BRIEF PSYCHOTHERAPY

Two studies explored attachment inpsychotherapy. In the 1st study, clients(N 38) in time-limited therapy com-pleted the Experiences in Close Rela-tionships Scale as a measure of adultattachment, the Client Attachment toTherapist Scale (CATS), Working Alli-ance Inventory (WAI), and measures ofsession depth and smoothness. Consis-tent with J. Bowlbyx92s (1988) concept ofa secure base promoting greater explo-ration, secure attachment to therapistwas signix1ecantly associated withgreater session depth and smoothness.Insecure adult attachment was associ-ated with insecure therapeutic attach-ment. CATS subscales predicted uniquevariance in session experience not ac-counted for by the WAI alone. The 2ndstudy was a new analysis of data origi-nally reported by B. Mallinckrodt, D. L.Gantt, and H. M. Coble (1995). Amongwomen clients (N 44) who completedthe CATS, WAI, and the Bell ObjectRelations and Reality Testing Inventory,2 CATS subscales predicted uniquevariance in object relations dex1ecits notaccounted for by the WAI alone.

Congruence in client-counselor expectations for relationship and the working alliance

The relationship between congruence in client-counselor expectations for relationship and ratings of working alliance was examined. Participants from 25 counseling dyads completed revised version of the Psychotherapy Expectancy Inventory (Berzins 1971) and the Working Alliance Inventory (Horvath & Greenberg 1989) after the 3rd session.

The Missouri Psychoanalytic Counseling Research Project: Relation of Changes in Counseling Process to Client Outcomes

A short-term psychoanalytic counseling model was used to identify process dimensions and client outcomes. Six counselors saw 16 clients over the course of 2 semesters. Clients responded to measures at pre- and posttest and after each session, and counselors filled out measures following each session. Sessions were audio- and videotaped and viewed by trained raters. P-technique factor analysis identified 4 dimensions: Psychoanalytic Technique, Working Alliance, Client Resistance, and Client Transference. Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicated that counselor use of psychoanalytic technique and the working alliance increased steadily across the sessions, whereas client resistance steadily decreased. The alliance dimension also changed in a quadratic fashion. The process dimensions also influenced each other and were related to better client outcomes. Implications are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided. The research reported here is about the process and outcomes of time-limited psychoanalytic counseling and is based on a program of theory-driven inquiry derived from the work of Patton and Meara (1992). The need for the study arises from the absence of systematic empirical knowledge about the key elements of the psychoanalytic counseling process, particularly as those are continuously measured over the course of counseling. Given our own understanding of psychoanalyti c counseling as both researchers and practitioners, we were interested in answering the following questions: (a) What are the important dimensions of the psychoanalytic counseling process? (b) What is the nature of changes in these dimensions over time? (c) What are the ways in which these dimensions are related to each other over time? (d) How are changes in these dimensions related to client outcomes? To help us examine these questions we formulated a model to guide our inquiry.

Examining Immediate and Long-Term Efficacy of Rape Prevention Programming with Racially Diverse College Men.

The authors investigated the short- and long-term (5-month) effectiveness of a theoretically driven, programmatic rape prevention intervention on a sample of primarily White and Black college men. A racially diverse sample was included, and the potential effectiveness of both a culturally relevant and a traditional colorblind intervention was assessed. In contrast to earlier investigations, which have consistently reported an overall rebound of scores at the follow-up assessment, results from a hierarchical cluster analysis indicated 3 patterns of treatment response: improving, deteriorating, and rebounding. Results also indicated that Black students in the culturally relevant treatment condition were more cognitively engaged in the intervention than their peers in the traditional treatment condition.

Helpful impacts in group counseling : Development of a multidimensional rating system

The underlying structure of group therapy participants perceptions of helpful therapeutic impacts were explored through principal-components analysis. Critical incidents obtained from 210 interpersonal growth group and 74 group counseling participants were rated on a measure that incorporated items from the Therapeutic Factors (S. Bloch, J. Reibstein, E. Crouch, P. Holroyd, & J. Themen, 1979), and Categories of Good Moments (A. R. Mahrer & W. P. Nadler, 1986) rating systems and R. Elliotts (1985) taxonomy of helpful impacts. Principal-components analysis revealed four underlying factors that accounted for 59.2% of the variance. These factors were labeled Emotional Awareness-Insight, Relationship-Climate, Other Versus Self Focus, and Problem Solving-Behavior Change. The identified helpful therapeutic impact dimensions were related to perceptions of group leader behavior and to ratings of group climate.

Relation between Counselors' Use of Intentions and Clients' Perception of Working Alliance.

I examined the relation between counselor intention use and client-rated working alliance. Subjects were 42 volunteer clients paired with 42 counselor trainees for 4 counseling sessions. Ratings were obtained for client interpersonal attitudes, client-rated working alliance, and counselor intention use

Participants' Perception of Therapeutic Factors in Group Counseling The Role of Interpersonal Style and Stage of Group Development

Yalom (1985) hypothesizes that clientsperception of therapeutic factors depend on the stage of group development and on client individual difference variables. The hypotheses were tested using the critical incident reports obtained from 18 participants in three 11-session counseling groups. Judges classified the critical incident reports into therapeutic factor cat egories. Perceptions of the relative importance of these factors were analyzed by stage of group development (early versus late) and by client interpersonal orientation (affiliative versus nonaffiliative and dominant versus submissive). Results indicate differences in the relative importance of the therapeutic factors as seen by the group participants for stage of group development and for participants affiliativeness. No differences were found for dom inant versus submissive clients. The results are discussed in relation to theories of group de velopment, clinical group practice, and interpersonal conceptualization of counseling and therapy.

Convergence in Client and Counselor Recall of Important Session Events.

The authors examined convergence of clients and counselors recall of important session events by comparing client and counselor Critical Incident Questionnaires (CIQs) from 27 counseling dyads. In addition, clients reported interpersonal problems before and after counseling. Trained judges rated matched pairs of CIQs for similarity of change mechanisms and content. Individual growth modeling was conducted with the Hierarchical Linear Model program. Results showed that (a) convergence of client and counselor recall of important therapeutic events increased linearly over time, and (b) increasing convergence was related to counseling outcomes, as measured by a decrease in interpersonal problems. Implications for counseling practice and future research are discussed.

Changes in counselor adherence over the course of training.

Following recommendations of S. F. Butler and H. H. Strupp (1993), novice counselors were used to examine the development of adherence and counselor interactional style over the course of manual-based training in time-limited dynamic psychotherapy (TLDP; H. H. Strupp & J. Binder, 1984). Adherence to TLDP was assessed with the Vanderbilt Therapeutic Strategies Scale. Counselor interactional style was assessed with the client version of the Working Alliance Inventory. Growth curve analyses showed a significant linear increase in TLDP adherence and in client-rated working alliance for the novice counselors across 4 supervised training sessions. Time-series analysis (cross-correlations) indicated there was a lead-lag relationship with (a) counseling sessions in which higher ratings of counselor interactional style followed sessions with more counselor adherence to a general psychodynamic interviewing style and (b) sessions with higher ratings on adherence to psychodynamic interviewing style preceded sessions with higher level of adherence to TLDP specific strategies.