Relative Weighting of Admission Variables in Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Programs

Graduate admission committees utilize multiple criteria in determining which applicant\u27s to accept into their training programs. The present investigation attempted to determine the relative weighting of nine variables utilized by committees in making admissions decisions. The Directors of Admission Committees in Marriage and Family Therapy Master\u27s programs identified interview performance, grade point average above 3.2, and the personal statement as the most important criteria with research experience and courses taken receiving the lowest weightings. However, within these programs there was significant variability on even the most highly weighted variables. Implications of these findings for applicants to these programs and future research on what constitutes positive interview behavior are discussed

\u27Doc, There\u27s Something I Have To Tell You\u27: Patient Disclosure to Their Psychotherapist of Unprosecuted Murder and Other Violence

The current investigation examines the incidence of clients telling their psychotherapists of committing violent crimes for which they have not been prosecuted. Thirteen percent of the psychologists surveyed indicated that on at least one occasion a client self-disclosed to them during a psychotherapy session that he/she had murdered someone, not including the killing of another person in the line of duty in the military or as a public peace officer. One third of the psychologists had clients self-disclose an unprosecuted incident of a sexual assault, and more than two thirds had clients self-disclose an unprosecuted incident of a physical assault during a psychotherapy session. Data are reported on psychotherapists\u27 views of the impact of such disclosures on the psychotherapy relationship, adequacy of being informed regarding legal obligations after hearing such reports of violence, and adequacy of graduate preparation to deal with these clinical situations

An Investigation of Self-Assessment Bias in Mental Health Providers

Previous research has consistently found self-assessment bias (an overly positive assessment of personal performance) to be present in a wide variety of work situations. The present investigation extended this area of research with a multi-disciplinary sample of mental health professionals Respondents were asked to: (a) compare their own overall clinical skills and performance to other sin their profession, and (b) indicate the percentage of their clients who improved,remained the same, or deteriorated as a result of treatment with them Results indicated that 25\u27, h of mental health professionals viewed their skill to be at the 90th percentile when compared to their peers, and none viewed themselves as below average. Further, when compared to the published literature, clinicians tended to overestimate their rates of client improvement and underestimate their rates of client deterioration The implications of this self-assessment bias for improvement of psychotherapy outcomes are discussed

MMPI-2 Profiles of Bariatric Surgery Patients: A Replication and Extension

BackgroundMaddi et al. (Obes Surg, 7:397–404, 1997) reported significant elevations on several MMPI-2 scales in a morbidly obese population. Since the number of patients presenting for bariatric surgery has increased significantly in the decade since this study, we replicated the original Maddi et al. study to investigate if there have been any appreciable changes in these patients’ psychological profiles within the past 10 years. Methods First, we replicated the original Maddi et al. study using the same definition of profile elevations used by these investigators. Second, we extended these findings to include a fourth classification of extremely elevated profiles. Finally, we included several measures of different emotional states/characteristics in an attempt to further delineate what these elevated profiles may actually represent.ResultsOur findings generally support the results of the original Maddi et al. study. Additionally, a number of significant relationships were found between our additional measures and MMPI-2 elevations.ConclusionsMany morbidly obese patients presenting for bariatric surgery have elevated MMPI-2 profiles, some of which would be considered “invalid” profiles. We recommend procedures for obtaining more valid profiles from such patients. We also urge the use of other measures in addition to the MMPI-2 to more specifically clarify the personality traits/characteristics in these patients