In this investigation we examine the elements of enactments--in-session dialogues used to observe and modify family interactions in structural family therapy. Twenty-one videotaped segments of 18 therapy sessions with different families were used to compile detailed descriptions of therapist techniques and client responses. Enactments were analyzed as consisting of three distinct phases--initiation, facilitation, and closing--each of which required more numerous and complex interventions than are usually described in the clinical literature. Judges were able to reliably describe therapist interventions that led to successful enactments as well as what therapists did or failed to do that led to unproductive outcomes. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Contemporary thinking about catharsis in psychotherapy is still dominated by Breuer and Freud's work with the cathartic method. Psychoanalysts take the fact that Freud abandoned catharsis as evidence of its ineffectiveness, while the emotive therapies developed in the 1960s returned to Freud's earliest view that neurosis results from repressed affect and can be cured by cathartic uncovering. Emotional memories continue to be thought of as foreign bodies lodged in the human psyche and requiring purgation. Unfortunately, this view divorces people from responsibility for their conduct and encourages a fractionation of human experience into feeling, thought, and action. In the current presentation, emotion is construed instead as a class of blocked or partially blocked actions, and in terms of a two-stage adaptational process. Implications of this view for psychotherapeutic practice are proposed, emphasizing richer selfexpression and fuller appreciation of the consequences of responsible vs. disclaimed actions.Most current thinking about catharsis derives from Breuer and Freud's cathartic method and from the emotiove therapies of the 1960s-either Requests for reprints should be sent to

The present study evaluated the impact of catharsis on the outcome of brief psychotherapy. A group of University Health Service patients was treated with emotive psychotherapy and compared with another group, treated with insight-oriented analytic therapy. Outcome data consisted of change on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scales of Depression, Psychasthenia, and Schizophrenia; change in comfort with affect, measured by Hamsher's Test of Emotional Styles; ratings of change in personal satisfaction; and progress toward behaviorally defined goals. The emotive group experienced significantly more catharsis, and high-catharsis patients changed significantly more on behavioral goals and showed a trend toward greater improvement in personal satisfaction. The findings confirmed the effectiveness of emotive psychotherapy in producing catharsis and tended to validate the hypothesis that catharsis leads to therapeutic improvement.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The trajectory of assessment in structural family therapy moves from a linear perspective, in which problems are located in the identified patient, to an interactional perspective, in which problems are seen as involving other members of the family. Minuchin, Nichols, & Lee (2007) developed a 4-step model for assessing couples and families consisting of: (1) broadening the definition of the presenting complaint to include its context, (2) identifying problem-maintaining interactions, (3) a structurally focused exploration of the past, and (4) developing a shared vision of pathways to change. To study how experts actually implement this model, judges coded video recordings of 10 initial consultations conducted by three widely recognized structural family therapists. Qualitative analyses identified 25 distinct techniques that these clinicians used to challenge linear thinking and move families toward a systemic understanding of their problems. We discuss and locate these techniques in the framework of the 4-step model.

This study examined the role of emotional catharsis in brief emotive psychotherapy and its differential effects within three time frames. Forty-one patients at a University Health Service were seen in one of three ways: (a) i hour, twice a week; (b) 1 hour, once a week; or (c) 2 hours, every other week. Duration of therapy (number of weeks) and amount of therapy (number of hours) were not varied. Outcome was asesscd using (a) the sum of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Scales D, ft, and Sc; (b) a personal satisfaction interview; and (c) behavioral target complaints. The amount of emotional catharsis produced in each session was also measured. Patients in the 1-hour group produced the most catharsis and improved the most on the personal satisfaction interview and behavioral target complaints, with high-catharsis patients showing the greatest improvement. Patients in the J-hour group improved the most on the MMPI scales, irrespective of the amount of catharsis produced. These findings are seen as supporting the contention that within a specific time frame emotional catharsis can lead to certain positive outcomes in brief emotive psychotherapy.