The objective of this study was to investigate the conditions under which family counseling was terminated and the relationship of the type of termination to children's self-concepts and parents' attitudes. For the purposes of this study, family counseling was terminated by either mutual termination or by family termination. Mutual termination referred to the family and the counselor mutually agreeing that termination from counseling was appropriate. Family termination referred to the family deciding without counselor agreement that termination from counseling was appropriate. For the purposes of this study a family's degree of commitment to the counseling process was indicated by the type of termination the families chose, that is, mutual or family termination.

This study was conducted to investigate whether cognitive variables (as measured by six self-report inventories) covaried with changes in behavior following group assertiveness training as postulated by several assertiveness training theorists and practitioners. Statistical analysis of the data did not support any of the hypotheses. No significant differences were found between the groups on any of the self-report measures or the behavioral ratings, although experimental group subjects consistently scored higher (in the predicted direction) on all self-report measures or were rated higher than placebo group subjects. The hypotheses that experimental group subjects would exhibit significantly higher levels of self-reported assertiveness, self-acceptance, self-esteem, and self-confidence than placebo group subjects were rejected. The hypothesis that the experimental group would exhibit a significantly greater shift toward self-reported internal locus of control than the placebo group was rejected. The hypothesis that the experimental group would exhibit significantly larger decreases in levels of self-reported anxiety than the placebo group was also rejected. Furthermore, no support was found for the hypothesis that experimental group subjects would exhibit significantly higher levels of objectively-rated assertive behavior than placebo group subjects. An examination of the data revealed substantial improvements on each of the six self-report measures for subjects in …

According to Alfred Adler, founder of Individual Psychology, a feeling of inferiority is in some degree common to all people. People who are unable to overcome these inferiority feelings by striving for cooperation may become discouraged. Although there are three scales to measure social interest, no scales measuring discouragement for adults was found. Additionally, Adler held basic assumptions regarding homosexuality, and the findings suggest that the assumptions should be reexamined. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, three University of North Texas candidates developed a discouragement scale for adults 18 years of age and older, known as the Discouragement Scale for Adults (DSA). Discouragement was examined relative to the five life tasks. Second, this candidate normed the instrument for the scores of gay male subjects and compared it to the scores of the other subject groups. Since the emphasis was on developing the instrument and norming it for various subject groups, no hypothesis was developed. Data was collected on three subject groups, known as the general norm subjects, the discouraged subjects, and the gay male subjects. Analyses were performed on the scores. Among the analyses, it was found that gay male subjects were slightly more discouraged than the general …

The problem of this study was to determine whether using radio communication can facilitate learning in counseling practicums. This study had four purposes: 1. To determine whether the use of radio communication would be effective in providing positive reinforcement to the counselor during counseling sessions. 2. To determine whether the use of radio communication would be effective in enhancing the learning of facilitative responses by counselors in practicum situations. 3. To determine the effect of positive reinforcement on the student counselors' performance. 4. To provide information that might be beneficial with regard to future research involving the use of radio communication in counselor training.

The problem with which this investigation was concerned is that of treating agoraphobia with cognitive-behavioral group therapy and cognitive-behavioral group therapy combined with the drug alprazolam (Xanax). The purpose of the research was twofold. The first goal was to determine the relative effectiveness of the two treatment conditions on phobic behavior, anxiety, and depression. A second goal was to analyze the results and make recommendations concerning each of these modalities available to agoraphobics, their families, and to treatment specialists. The research design of this study was a randomized, pretest-posttest, experimental group design. The sample (N = 15) consisted of Group I (N = 7), who received behavioral-cognitive group therapy combined with the medication alprazolam, and Group II (N = 8), who received behavioral-cognitive group therapy only. The treatment included 15, 2-hour weekly group sessions, with the addition of a brief medication evaluation prior to each group meeting for Group I. During these sessions, the subjects received information about agoraphobia in the form of brief didactic segments, treatment materials, homework assignments, group interaction, and various forms of desensitization. Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. Multidimensional behavioral-cognitive group therapy can significantly reduce phobic avoidance, anxiety, …

The problem with which this study is concerned is to examine whether relationships can be identified between a counselor's change in verbal and physiological responses when subjected to low-stress and high-stress producing counseling encounters. It was concluded that under high-stress as opposed to low-stress conditions 1) counselors' heart-rates increase and become more variable; 2) counselors' levels of verbal effectiveness are relatively uninfluenced; and 3) no consistent and predictable relationship can be identified between counselors' verbal and physiological functioning. Caution is strongly advised in generalizing to subjects separate from this study.

This investigation concerned the effects of behavioral charting, token reinforcement, social reinforcement, and combinations of behavioral charting with token or social reinforcement, upon the production rates of sheltered workshop clients. The differential effects of these reinforcement methods were investigated by arranging for the application of each reinforcement mode in a sheltered workshop setting and comparing the mean production rates achieved by two groups of sheltered workshop clients under each reinforcement condition. The findings derived from this sample led to the conclusion that positive reinforcement, and specifically social reinforcement used both alone and in combination with behavioral charting, can be a very effective mode of reinforcement for sheltered workshop clients. It was suggested that more attention might be devoted in rehabilitation facilities to using the simpler and more readily available forms of reinforcement which behavioral charting and social reinforcement represent.

The problem of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of systematic desensitization on test anxiety, general anxiety, and attitude toward school among fifth-grade elementary-school children.

This investigation examined the effect of a biochemical and parent education program emphasizing the physiological aspects of the hyperkinetic disorder and the effect of a parent education program teaching parenting skills found in Systematic Training for Effective Parenting on the behavior of hyperkinetic children. The following conclusions are presented as a result of these findings: 1. The intake of nutrients in conjunction with parent education groups which teach physiological reasons for hyperkinesis has an effect on the behavior and physiological symptoms of hyperkinetic children. 2. The education of parents using Systematic Training for Effective Parenting is effective in changing the behavior of hyperkinetic children. 3. Aberrant behavior in children, in some cases, may be due to a condition, or conditions, subject to manipulation.

The problem with which this investigation was concerned was that of the use of parents as therapeutic agents. The purpose of this study was twofold. The first was to determine the effect of filial therapy on parental acceptance, self-esteem, parent-child relationship, and family environment. A second was to analyze the results and make recommendations concerning the effectiveness of filial therapy as a treatment modality for parents and their children. The experimental design of the study was a nonrandomized, pretest-posttest, control group design.The sample (N=47) consisted of the experimental group (parents N=15, children N=9) who received filial therapy and the control group (parents N=12, children N=ll) who did not. The treatment included ten, two hour weekly parent training sessions. During these sessions the parents were taught the principles of client-centered play therapy and were instructed to conduct weekly one-half hour play sessions at home with their own children. Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1) Filial therapy does significantly increase the parents' feeling of unconditional love for their children and 2) Filial therapy does significantly increase the parents' perception of expressed conflict in their family. In addition to the statistically significant results, there were some …

This study was designed to investigated the role of religious ideology in one's willingness or reluctance to seek professional psychotherapeutic assistance. The subjects consister of 220 members randomly selected from six different denominations: Baptist, Church of Christ, Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, and Unitarian. The major findings of the study were as follows: 1. HC Ss displayed significantly less personal recognition of need for psychotherapeutic help, less interpersonal openness and greater overall reluctance to seek professional psychological help than LC Ss. 2. There was no significant difference between HC and LC Ss in terms of sensitivity to stigmatization and confidence in the mental health profession and mental health professionals. 3. MC Ss scored lower in each of the five areas investigated than did either HC or LC Ss. It was concluded that individuals who are highly conservative in their religious beliefs may be more reluctant to admit that they have a psychological problem with someone else than individuals who subscribe to more moderate or liberal religious beliefs.

This study's problem concerned the conflict between the ethical desirability of giving participants relevant information about themselves versus the current practice of withholding sociometric data. Group counseling was selected to provide a relative basis for comparison of the effects of structured sociometric feedback (SSF). This study's ultimate purpose was to gather empirical evidence concerning the appropriateness and safety of conveying sociometric data to participants of sociometric studies.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Intensive Filial Therapy in: (a) improving the self-concept of child witnesses of domestic violence; (b) reducing internalizing behavior problems, such as withdrawal, somatic complaints, anxiety and depression, of child witnesses of domestic violence; (c) reducing externalizing behavior problems, such as aggression and delinquency, of child witnesses of domestic violence; (d) reducing overall behavior problems of child witnesses of domestic violence; and (e) increasing communication of empathy between mothers and child witnesses of domestic violence. A second objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Intensive Filial Therapy with Intensive Individual Play Therapy and Intensive Sibling Group Play Therapy with child witnesses of domestic violence. The experimental group consisted of 11 child witnesses of domestic violence whose mothers received 12 Intensive Filial Therapy training sessions within a three week period and had 12 mother-child play sessions. The Intensive Individual Play Therapy comparison group, consisting of 11 child witnesses, and the non-treatment control group, consisting of 11 child witnesses, were utilized from the Kot (1995) study. The Intensive Sibling Group Play Therapy comparison group was utilized from the Tyndall-Lind (1999) study. Children in all studies completed the Joseph Preschool …

This study utilized ethnographic methodology to describe the communicative interactional patterns in families with a member who has breast cancer. Three breast cancer patients whose families were between the adolescent and launching of children developmental lifestage (McGoldrick & Carter, 1982) were chosen for the study. Data were collected from a series of three interview sessions over a period of four weeks with a two week time lapse between each of the interview sessions. Interview sessions were conducted in the families' homes by the researcher. All interviews were video and audio tape recorded for the purpose of preserving data for transcribing and coding. Research questions examined individual perception of meaning in regard to the disease, the structure and organization of the family in relation to the illness, and the effects of family communicative interaction on the course and management of the disease. Findings indicated that family members' responses to the diagnosis of "breast cancer were influenced by multi-generational "beliefs. All three families formulated a collective belief which supported the mother's belief about the disease. Each of the three families were mother-centered, and each mother seemed to use a metacommunicative approach to mediating family transactions. Each of the three fathers were reported …