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Proponents of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) have directed complaints of potential unethical practice against psychotherapists who refrain from using EBTs as first-line interventions for a range of psychiatric disorders on the grounds that these treatments should be given priority because of their exceptional scientific backing. This article counters these claims and highlights core ethical concerns associated with the research and practice of EBT itself; namely, the appropriateness of saturating the field with short-term models of psychotherapy and the questionable assumption that these can yield meaningful and lasting change; the uncertain relevance of the results of EBT investigations for psychotherapists working with real-world clients; the foreclosure of opportunities to address clients' unmet developmental needs and self-fragility posed by the directive/didactic therapeutic stance inherent in EBTs; and, the reduced quality of psychotherapy offered to the public at large and threats to the clinical competence of early-career mental health professionals caused by overemphasizing training in EBTs over the acquisition of relational skills in graduate schools and postgraduate training sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an emerging consensus that satisfaction among intimate partners does not presuppose the absence of conflict, or even utilization of prescribed conflict resolution skills, but entails mutual desires to take wholesome reparative steps to recover from heated disagreements and to be overt in one's appreciation, gratitude, and affectionate gestures. A dialogical existential approach to couples therapy is uniquely suited to sensitize clients to the communicative goodwill and reciprocal fairness that mitigates the frequency and volatility of conflict stemming from reactive prideful monologue, while engendering an appreciation for the constructive role of guilt, apology rendering, and responsiveness to the other constitutive of humble dialogue. Existentially informed couples therapy can help demystify the extravagant expectations people expect from intimate relationships, normalize the inescapable mundane aspects of conjugal life, and create urgency for change by referencing the preeminent value of loving relationships and the anticipatory guilt and dread associated with insufficiently loving a cherished spouse or life partner in the context of that person's mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapeutic relationships with well-established alliances and favorable signs of therapist empathy and genuineness are strong predictors of successful psychotherapy. However, amassing the declarative knowledge associated with knowing that a constructive therapeutic relationship contributes to successful outcome is insufficient in preparing a clinician with the procedural knowledge leading to him or her knowing how to competently implement this. The present article strives to address this gap by definitionally and descriptively unpacking key aspects of alliance building, and therapist empathy and authenticity/genuineness, for pragmatic learning purposes. It is argued that a humanistic revival in the education and training of beginning psychotherapists is long overdue to enable them to acquire the self-expansion, relational versatility, and ethical sensibility necessary to optimally perform their clinical duties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. Gender and ethnic differences in separation-individuation were assessed in a sample of 125 male and 175 female undergraduates (M age = 19.56, SD = 1.29) self-identified as White, African American, Hispanic, or Asian. Measures used included a demographic questionnaire and the Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence (SITA; J. B. Levine, C. J. Green, & T. Millon, 1986; J. B. Levine & S. Saintogne, 1993). Except for results showing a greater tendency among the men to shun dependent ties and a superior capacity for forming close peer attachments among the women, separation-individuation development tended to be indistinguishable between the genders. Additional findings suggest that (a) Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans are more concerned with engulfment fears and needs for nurturance than Whites are; (b) Asians are more apt to shun dependent ties than Whites are; and (c) compared with Whites, African Americans anticipate rejection more and are less adept at forming close attachments with teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which assessed the Parental Bonding Instrument while focusing on religiosity in young adulthood in the United States. Aims of the study; Methodology of the study; Results of the study.