Those rare moments when clients ask direct questions of their therapists likely represent a point when they are particularly open to new considerations, thereby representing an opportunity for substantial therapeutic gains. However, clinical errors abound in this area because clients' questions often engender apprehension in therapists, causing therapists to respond with too little or too much information or shutting down the discussion prematurely. These response types can damage the therapeutic relationship, the psychotherapy process, or both. We explore the nature of these clinical errors in response to client questions by providing examples from our own clinical work, suggesting potential reasons why clinicians may not make optimal use of client questions, and discussing how the mixed psychological literature further complicates the issue. We also present four guidelines designed to help therapists, trainers, and supervisors respond constructively to clinical questions in order to create constructive interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record

An important original study by Dorland and Fischer noted how the use of inclusive language can affect the therapeutic relationship positively for gay, lesbian, and bisexual clients. In this extension of that study with heterosexual participants (N = 179), there seemed to be low, but positive, salience of the language used by the therapist. These participants showed negligible, but positive, sensitization to issues related to inclusiveness, so the ethical practice of inclusive language use seems to have little downside (and potentially a large positive impact).

At the heart of my work with clients are my attempts to cultivate a spirit of curiosity as they encounter themselves and the life circumstances that contribute to their mental health challenges. Promoting this personal strength helps them wonder, inquire, entertain, and "brainstorm" about potential ways to resolve their conflicts. Curiosity is both promoted and rewarded by considering alternative worldviews in ways that I frame as a "highly personalized bicultural encounter." Understanding my client's personal "culture" and contrasting this worldview with alternative considerations promotes ideas regarding the creative tension in opposites (C. G. Jung, 1917/1928, Two essays on analytical psychology, 1966 revised 2nd ed. Collected Works Vol. 7, London: Rout ledge), which can help develop wholeness and balance. Specific actions, strategies, supporting research, and a brief case example are offered.

A sample of gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults (N=19) was interviewed regarding their perception of the relevance and interpretation of items in the Reasons for Living Inventory (Linehan et al., 1983). Interviews revealed that many RFL items were relevant to these LGB participants. However, participants also revealed that a number of the items conveyed assumptions of traditional heterosexual lifespan trajectories and belief systems with limited relevance to LGB experiences. Overall, the findings of these interviews suggest that previous research with LGB adults indicating fewer reasons to live as endorsed on the RLF, may have been an artifact of the lack of alignment of the items with the experiences of members of this population. Based on these findings, suggestions are made for the development of a version of the RFL using more inclusive language, specifically focused on the experiences of LGB individuals.

Prior research has identified a negative association between suicidal ideation and help-seeking, a phenomenon called "help-negation." Help-negation has been documented to occur for both professional and nonprofessional sources of help. In this study help-seeking attitudes, stigma concerns, and perceptions of social support were examined as possible mediators of help-negation. Data were collected from a nonclinical sample of college undergraduates at a midwestern university (N = 321). Findings provided partial support for the mediation hypotheses. Help-seeking attitudes and stigma were significant predictors of help-seeking intentions (β = .34 and β = -.17, p < .05, respectively), but did not mediate help-negation for professional sources. Perceptions of social support, on the other hand, fully mediated help-negation for nonprofessional sources (β = .27, p < .05).

The authors present the findings of a special task group (STG) organized to explore effective training strategies for the practice guidelines focused on diverse populations. They provide a brief literature review and summarize survey data from academic training directors regarding current use of practice guidelines. The authors then describe the Integrative Training Model (ITM), developed by the STG, as a framework for students and professionals to incorporate the complex array of information contained in each set of guidelines. Unique challenges associated with incorporating the ITM are described, as well as pedagogical considerations for both students and current professionals. The authors believe the ITM may help students and professionals increase their diversity competence by developing a more holistic understanding of the various dimensions and social group experiences that affect their clients and themselves.

Coming out has long been depicted as a process that is conducive to personal growth. However, LGBTQ psychology has yet to conduct systematic, theoretically informed research to study how individuals experience coming out growth (COG) and the impact of such experiences on the lives of sexual minorities. The present investigation seeks to address these gaps in the literature through an examination of stress-related growth within the context of coming out as a sexual minority. Findings from a preliminary investigation of COG in a sample of 418 gay and lesbian adults are presented, including the development and initial validation of the coming out growth scale (COGS), and data addressing the relationship between COG and relevant constructs found in the literature on identity development and stress-related growth.

Recent research has suggested that psychologists could reframe counseling services as coaching in order to increase the use of psychological services by the general public. This study explored the differential impact of the terminology suggested by replacing the term counseling with the term coaching when assessing college students' expectations about and intentions to seek psychological services. Results indicated that students in general had similar expectations for directiveness, motivation, outcome, or intentions to seek psychological services regardless of terminology used to describe the services.

The process of identifying empirically supported treatments developed by the Division 12 of the American Psychological Association has been criticized from various perspectives. However, there are a number of alternative evidence-based models for using research findings to increase the efficacy of mental health services. In this article, the principles of empirically supported interventions developed and adopted by Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) are presented. These principles (a) utilize a broad perspective of evidence, (b) consider a range of psychological interventions, (c) emphasize the quantitative aggregate of research evidence, (d) consider various levels of specificity, and (e) recognize philosophy of science issues that impinge on the types of conclusions that can be made.

ABSTRACT Stress responses to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were investigated in a New York City metropolitan (NYC Metro) college sample 2 days, 1, 2, 3 and 8 months post-trauma. Stress responses from a Midwestern College sample were also assessed 2 days after the attack. Results revealed substantial stress responses in both groups 2 days post-trauma. Only small, but significant, differences between the NYC Metro group and the Midwestern group were found, with the NYC group reporting slightly higher stress scores on the Impact of Event Scale (Horowitz, Wilner, and Alvarez, 1979 Horowitz , M. , Wilner , N. , and Alvarez , W. ( 1979 ). Impact of event scale: A measure of subjective stress . Psychosomatic Medicine , 41 , 209 – 218 . [PUBMED] [INFOTRIEVE] [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The stress responses in the NYC Metro group decreased significantly over time, however, means 3 and 8 months post-trauma suggest that some individuals continued to experience considerable stress responses.