Social skills and cognitive-relaxation interventions for general-anger reduction were compared with a no-treatment control in a pretreatment, posttreatment, and 5-week-follow-up design. By follow-up, treatment groups reported significantly less genera] anger, lowered tendencies to suppress or exhibit general anger, and lowered state anger and greater constructive coping in an analogue provocation than did the control group. Cognitive-relaxation subjects reported significantly less personal-situational anger than did control subjects. Social skills subjects did not differ from either group on this measure. Cognitive-relaxation subjects also perceived their treatment as significantly more helpful than did social skills subjects. No group differences were found for physical and verbal antagonism in the analogue, though these measures were low in the initial assessment, or for trait anxiety, anger-related physiological reactivity, or daily anger intensities, though the latter approached significance (p < .06). Implications for the treatment of general anger are discussed.

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Researchers have hypothesized that administrative variables in counseling service delivery may be significant factors in client attrition. The present study was an investigation of the relation between the length of time that clients spent on a waiting list and attrition after intake. Participants were 1,688 clients at a major university's counseling center. Attrition was defined as failure to attend the first interview after intake. Statistical analyses revealed that time spent on the waiting list did not differentiate counseling conlinuers from noncontinuers for either educational/ vocational or emotional/social clients.Research on counseling center attrition rates has revealed that as many as 25% of the university-student help seekers that receive an intake interview fail to return for the first interview (Epperson, 1981). Typically, those studying attrition have concentrated on one of the following three variables: (a) similarities and differences between those students who terminate after intake and those who do not (

We compared cognitive (CT) and interpersonal-process (IP) group therapies in the treatment of moderate, unipolar depression in college counseling-center clients. Subjects who sought services early in the semester were randomly assigned to CT or IP groups and compared with a waitinglist group composed of subjects who requested services just prior to the Christmas recess. Multivariate analyses revealed no significant differences between treatment and waiting-list conditions. Because the control was confounded by the Christmas holiday, we compared the CT and IP groups directly. Both treatments led to significant reductions in depression and depressed thinking and to increments in self-esteem at midtreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up assessments but did not differ from each other at any point in time. There was no evidence of differential effectiveness or mechanisms of therapeutic change as a function of type of treatment.Depression is the common cold of mental health because of its high incidence in all segments of the population (Bellack, Hersen, & Himmelhock, 1981). Depression is particularly prevalent among college students with 17% to 24% of students generally (Bumberry, Oliver, & McClure, 1978;Oliver & Burkham, 1979) and 45% of students seeking counseling (Ostrow, Kivlighan, Zamostny, Cornfild, & Shapiro, 1985) reporting depression. Because depression interferes with personal and academic development, may lead to suicide, and appears in so many students, many counseling centers have expanded use of time-limited group therapy programs. Of these, cognitives-therapy (CT; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979) and interpersonal-process (IP; Yalom, 1985) groups are two leading approaches.According to the humanistic-existential theory of IP therapy, depression results from poor self-concept and low selfesteem. IP groups, therefore, attempt to create an environment in which clients experience themselves fully and develop positive self-esteem as they learn to trust their experience. This environment is developed through group dynamics rich in intrinsically "curative factors" (Leszcz, Yalom, & Norden, 1985), for example, interpersonal learning, catharsis, and selfunderstanding, which enhance self-esteem. IP groups examine the interpersonal communications and emotional transactions among group members and focus on here-and-now group dynamics to help clients express their feelings more directly, act more independently, and feel more connected to others. Acceptance by others is thought to promote increased self-acceptance and self-esteem, which consequently reduce depression. Thus, in IP groups improved self-esteem precedes and mediates reductions in depression.CT theory suggests that depression is more a function of distorted thinking and biased information processing (Beck et al., 1979), that is, cognitive distortions lead to depressed affect and behavior. CT therefore helps clients identify and

Codependence is used increasingly to describe various dysfunctional relationships. This article differentiates codependent from contradependent behavior and defines both in an interpersonal context. A model is proposed to address gender issues, diagnosis, and treatment from an emotional health perspective.