John S. McNeil

Results of anger control training for battering couples

This paper describes progress made by violence-prone spouses and parents in keeping their anger under control and stopping themselves from battering other family members. A total of 134 subjects took part in a 10-week structured group therapy program. All had experienced violence in their family, either as a perpetrator or as a victim. After anger control training 85 % of the families were free of further violence and remained so, according to an independent survey completed 6–8 months later.

The GRE: A Question of Validity in Predicting Performance in Professional Schools of Social Work.

Several forceful arguments have been presented which raise questions about the use of the GRE as a primary factor in the admissions process. Two issues that are raised repeatedly are concerned with (a) whether or not the test is culturally biased and (b) how successfully the GRE predicts future performance. More germane to social work is the question: to what extent does the GRE measure qualities deemed necessary for the successful practice of social work? Results of this study revealed that the GRE, as a primary basis for admission, is not a valid predictor of future performance in schools of social work. Moreover, its elimination does not produce a lower quality of student.

The Family and Schizophrenia: Toward a Psychoeducational Approach

Families of schizophrenics traditionally have been viewed as causative agents in the development of the mental disorder. This article traces the prevailing conceptions of families with schizophrenic members and the various roles families have been perceived to play, both in terms of etiology and treatment. Current perceptions of the role of families with schizophrenic members are reviewed together with the research evidence. The paradigmatic shift from perceiving family interaction as a causative agent of schizophrenia to perceiving families as partners in the treatment process is emphasized.

Book Review: Understanding and Treating the PsychopathUnderstanding and Treating the Psychopath. By DorenDennis M.New York: John Wiley, 1987. 286 pp.

Albert Rothenberg defines creativity as “the state, capacities, and conditions of bringing forth entities or events that are both new and valuable.” In his most recent offering, The Creative Process of Psychotherapy, he applies the findings of his exploratory approach to researching creativity to the process of psychotherapy. He postulates that to be effective the process of therapy must be a mutually creative one between a client and therapist. Furthermore, for effective therapy to occur, the therapist must model creativity (in this case risk-taking and flexibility) for the client. Dr. Rothenberg also believes that the best therapists are highly rigorous, consistent, and logical as well as intuitive and imaginative. He postulates that the creative modes that he has identified can be both learned and consciously applied by persons who wish to become more creative in their work. Dr. Rothenberg describes three modes that, according to the results of his research, appear to be widely used in the creative process: the homospacial process, the janusian process, and the articulation process. The homospacial process is described as “actively conceiving images and representations of multiple entities as superimposed within the same spacial location.” The janusian process consists of “opposite or antithetical ideas, concepts, or propositions which are deliberately and consciously conceptualized side-by-side and/or coexisting simultaneously.” Articulation is, by his definition, “the joining of an element with another one which produces both a coming together and a separation at the same time.” He conceives of both the janusian and the homospacial processes as types of articulation, and concludes that the creative function of articulation is “to produce tangible entities that are new and separate from previously existing entities and, at the same time, are connected to their forebears.” Although one has a rather dismaying sense at the outset of this book that the concepts would have been much more understandable had one read the earlier works of Dr. Rothenberg, his descriptive style of writing, the organization of the book, and the prolific illustrations from the various “arts” (literature, visual arts, science, and, of course, psychotherapy) readily expand the reader’s conceptual grasp of his ideas. His analyses of the work of well-known therapists are especially helpful and interesting. His discussions of the specific uses of metaphorical intervention, empathetic knowledge, insight, paradox, irony, and the creative use of error in the process of therapy (which especially involves the transference and countertransference processes) are also notable. Dr. Rothenberg’s book is a well written, stimulating guide for those who wish to deepen their understanding of their own practices and of what makes psychotherapy effective in general. He is able to offer not only an overall conceptual format for what he considers creative psychotherapy but also specific directions for increasing the creativity of the reader’s own practice of the “art” of psychotherapy.