"Am I going crazy, doc?": a self psychology approach to therapeutic assessment.

In this case study, we explore the effectiveness of Therapeutic Assessment with a severely disturbed 25-year-old man, referred by his therapist, following Finn's (2007; Finn & Tonsager, 1992, 1997) model. This patient-therapist pair had been working together for approximately 2 months, but the therapy had ceased to progress. The therapist requested a clearer picture of his patient's affective functioning, interpersonal functioning, and self-functioning that might facilitate more effective treatment.

Drug abuse and responsible fathering: a comparative study of men enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment.

Aim: Because very little is known about the parenting of drug-abusing men, this study was designed to document ways that drug abuse contributes to compromise of responsible fathering.

Design, Setting, Participants: Generalized linear models and data representing different dimensions of responsible fathering were used to clarify ways that the fathering of 106 men receiving methadone maintenance treatment differed from that of 118 men living in the same community with no history of alcohol or drug abuse.

Measurement: Men who enrolled in the study completed two structured interviews and a battery of five self-report measures selected to document current and historical dimensions of responsible fathering.

Drug-abusing fathers: patterns of pair bonding, reproduction, and paternal involvement.

Despite concerns about compromise of fathering as a public policy issue, very little is known about the status of drug-abusing men as parents. In this pilot study, 50 men enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment completed a structured research interview designed to generate basic information about patterns of pair bonding, reproduction, and paternal involvement. Descriptive analysis of these data highlighted a number of trends in the nature of fathering that, although at odds with popular stereotypes, were similar to trends noted in research conducted with other populations of disenfranchised men.

Anatomy of a hypnotic response: Self-report estimates, actual behavior, and physiological response to the hypnotic suggestion for arm rigidity.

The present study closely examines subject response to the arm-rigidity item of the HGSHS:A. Subject behavior, subject self-report, and surface EMG of the biceps and triceps muscles were monitored. Two distinct ways of passing the item were observed and verified by EMG recordings: some subjects (tremblers) exerted muscular effort to bend the arm and kept it rigidly straight.

The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility: accuracy of self-report and the memory for items.

Whereas early studies have found moderately high agreement between self- and observer-rated scores on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A), these studies shared a common confound in that participants were aware of being directly observed. In the present study, confederates made surreptitious observations of group participants' hypnotic responding. Following the hypnotic procedure, participants indicated whether or not they remembered each item and provided self-reports of their hypnotic response.

Looking for poppa: parenting status of men versus women seeking drug abuse treatment.

This survey of individuals seeking methadone maintenance treatment was pursued to document the parenting status of drug-dependent men and clarify ways their status as parents differs from that of drug-dependent women. Data concerning demographic characteristics, drug abuse history, and parenting status were systematically coded from the medical records of 362 men and 162 women seeking methadone maintenance treatment during a 12-month period. Analysis of parenting status by gender indicated that, although a greater proportion of women were the parent of at least one biological child, there were actually more fathers than mothers within the cohort.

The computer-assisted cognitive/imagery system for use in the management of pain.

Background: There is growing interest in computer-delivered psychological interventions for a number of clinical conditions, including pain.

Objectives: This study tests the effectiveness of a new computer-delivered pain-management program using a laboratory pain paradigm.

Methods: One hundred twenty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either the computerized pain-management group or the distraction control group.

Drug dependence, parenting responsibilities, and treatment history: why doesn't mom go for help?

Despite longstanding concern that the presence of children deters drug-dependent women from entering treatment, there have been few empirical tests of the relationship between parenting responsibilities and treatment-seeking behavior. In this study, the relationship between number of biological children and treatment history was examined in a cohort of 153 women seeking methadone maintenance treatment. In a standard multiple regression analysis that also allowed for the potential influence of (a) age, (b) education, (c) ethnic minority status, (d) cohabitation with a sexual partner, (e) chronicity of opioid use, and (f) knowledge of HIV infection, there was a significant, negative relationship between number of children and number of earlier contacts for drug abuse treatment.