Acculturation is a central experience for Latinos in the United States. In this article, the authors define acculturation and address its evolution from a unidimensional to a multidimensional construct. Also, the authors present central dynamics of the Latino culture and to Latino families before they address the manner in which acculturation relates to selected health indices. Last, the authors present the family as a mediator between acculturation and health for Latinos.

Although emotion has long been considered important to psychotherapeutic process, empirical assessment of its impact has emerged only recently. The present study applied two meta-analyses to explore the association between therapist expression of emotion and psychotherapy outcome, and client expression of emotion and psychotherapy outcome. Overall, 66 studies (13 for the therapist meta-analysis and 43 for the client meta-analysis) were included. A significant medium effect size was found between the therapist’s emotional expression and outcomes (d = 0.56) and a significant medium-to-large effect size between the client’s emotional expression and outcomes (d = 0.85). Third-party rating of emotional expression emerged as a significant moderator of outcomes. Limitations of the research, diversity considerations, and therapeutic practices that conclude the article are then presented.

The success of psychotherapy depends on the nature of the therapeutic relationship between a therapist and a client. We use dynamical systems theory to model the dynamics of the emotional interaction between a therapist and client. We determine how the therapeutic endpoint and the dynamics of getting there depend on the parameters of the model. Previously Gottman et al. used a very similar approach (physical-sciences paradigm) for modeling and making predictions about husband–wife relationships. Given that this novel approach shed light on the dyadic interaction between couples, we have applied it to the study of the relationship between therapist and client. The results of our computations provide a new perspective on the therapeutic relationship and a number of useful insights. Our goal is to create a model that is capable of making solid predictions about the dynamics of psychotherapy with the ultimate intention of using it to better train therapists.

Mathematical models, such as the one developed by Gottman et al. (1998, 2000, 2002) to understand the interaction between husbands and wives, can provide novel insights into the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship. A set of nonlinear equations were used to model the changing emotional state of a therapist and client. The results suggest: (1) The person that is most responsive to the other achieves the most positive state, (2) the emotional state of the client oscillates before reaching its final state, (3) therapy is least successful when the therapist starts from a negative state, and (4) there is an inverse relationship between models that change only the influence parameter and models that change only the inertia parameter, creating a series of four basic models to work with. These theoretical models require further, empirical investigation to test the derived parameters. If validated, or revised based on observations of therapist-client relationships in development, they could provide specific direction in creating successful therapeutic relationships for training clinicians and those already in practice.

This meta-analysis investigates the practical significance of the Student Success Skills (SSS) program on student achievement. Each study involved the SSS intervention, math and reading scores, at least one treatment and comparison group, and a certified school counselor. The sample involved students (n ¼ 1,279) in Grades 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9. Overall effect sizes for math (.41), reading (.17), and the SSS program (.29) were determined. New guidelines for interpreting the results are introduced.