The Counseling Psychologist

Wampold, Bruce E.; Lichtenberg, James W.; Waehler, Charles A.

doi: 10.1177/0011000002302001pmid: N/A

The authors present background on the development of principles for the identification of empirically supported interventions in counseling psychology by the American Psychological Association’s Division 17 and include an overview of guiding considerations around which these principles were developed. As a context for these principles, the authors present a brief history of the social-economic-professional context within which the sometimes contentious movement toward the recognition of empirically supported treatments has developed within professional psychology. Seven principles for the consideration of the empirical support of counseling psychology interventions are presented along with discussion of the rationale behind each principle.

Whiston, Susan C.

doi: 10.1177/0011000002302002pmid: N/A

This article is designed to apply the Principles of Empirically Supported Interventions to the research related to career counseling and interventions. Although there is empirical support for career interventions in general, there is significant variation in effectiveness among different treatment approaches. The most effective interventions are individual career counseling and career classes, whereas workshops/structured groups and career classes are the most efficient method of providing services to the largest number of clients. Although the findings are somewhat tentative, there is preliminary support for the inclusion of five critical ingredients in all types of career interventions. Additional research, however, is needed to identify which clients benefit from which interventions under what circumstances.

Sexton, Thomas L.; Alexander, James F.

doi: 10.1177/0011000002302003pmid: N/A

In this article, the authors evaluate family-based counseling interventions from the perspective of the Principles of Empirically Supported Interventions (PESI). At the broadest level of evidence, both the qualitative and meta-analytic reviews provide substantial support for the general efficacy of family-based interventions. At more specific levels of evidence, family-based intervention programs that target at-risk adolescents demonstrate clinical success with a variety of clients and problems, in many locales, when delivered by a range of interventionists. Finally, the authors provide some thoughts on the current state of family-based intervention research and the value of the PESI criteria for identifying and developing effective treatments, as well as guiding future family-based research.

Deffenbacher, Jerry L.; Oetting, Eugene R.; DiGiuseppe, Raymond A.

doi: 10.1177/0011000002302004pmid: N/A

This article applies the Principles of Empirically Supported Interventions (PESI) in counseling psychology to anger management with adults. The review suggests that there is empirical support for cognitive-behavioral interventions generally and for four specific interventions (relaxation, cognitive, behavioral skill enhancement, and combinations of these three interventions). Moderate effect sizes for these interventions were found on targeted anger measures and for all measures combined. The PESI proved to be flexible, multidimensional principles against which to assess counseling interventions and from which to identify what is known and what needs to be learned.

Quintana, Stephen M.; Atkinson, Donald R.

doi: 10.1177/0011000002302005pmid: N/A

The authors evaluate the Principles of Empirically Supported Interventions (PESI) that have been recommended by Wampold, Lichtenberg, and Waehler for how well the principles promote attention to cultural issues. Their review suggests that the PESI could indicate the need to consider cultural issues when evaluating intervention research, but the authors have reservations about how well incorporation of cultural considerations will actually occur in future research based on the three applications of the PESI included in this special issue.

Garfield, Sol L.

doi: 10.1177/0011000002302006pmid: N/A

In this article, the author offers his appraisal of the Principles of Empirically Supported Interventions as developed by a Special Task Group of the Division of Counseling Psychology and also of the three articles evaluating these principles with reference to family interventions, anger management, and career counseling. In general, the author responds quite favorably to the principles presented and to the critical appraisal of the guidelines published earlier by the Division of Clinical Psychology. The latter are tied to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnoses and are not sensitive to important client attributes such as ethnicity, motivation for treatment, education, and the like. The counseling psychology principles also emphasize a number of other important research considerations. The author also offers some specific comments for the three areas mentioned earlier with special reference to some unmet research needs.

Chambless, Dianne L.

doi: 10.1177/0011000002302007pmid: N/A

Division 17’s Special Task Group’s Principles of Empirically Supported Interventions in Counseling Psychology and their application are considered in the context of other work on empirically supported treatments, most notably that of Division 12’s Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological Procedures. Although there are many areas of overlap, it is concluded that Division 17’s group has, in some respects, taken unique positions consonant with the discipline of counseling psychology. Although the merits of the Division 17 group’s decision to eschew lists of empirically supported interventions in favor of review articles are debated, it is concluded that Division 17’s efforts will add measurably to the empirically supported interventions movement in support of practice-science integration.

Lichtenberg, James W.; Wampold, Bruce E.

doi: 10.1177/0011000002302008pmid: N/A

Friedlander, Myrna L.; Carranza, Valentín Escudero; Guzmán, Michele

doi: 10.1177/0011000002302009pmid: N/A

To encourage counseling psychologists to develop international ties, the authors describe a many-faceted partnership between the Universidad de La Coruña’s Postgraduate Program in Family Interventions and the University at Albany’s counseling psychology program. The partnership centers on an exchange program for graduate students and collaborative research in family therapy. In this article, the program is described in detail along with the challenges the authors faced in its creation. The benefits of international collaboration for training, research, and practice are discussed in light of the authors’ experiences to date. To illustrate, Michele Guzmán, the first Albany exchange student, describes how her experience in Spain influenced her professional work and aspirations. The article concludes with recommendations for establishing similar international alliances.

O’Byrne, Kristin Koetting; Brammer, Sara K.; Davidson, M. Meghan; Poston, Walker S. C.

doi: 10.1177/0011000002302010pmid: N/A

This study examined primary prevention articles published in four counseling journals from 1985 to 1999. The authors’ results indicated a relative paucity of prevention-focused literature in counseling journals. Specifically, 52 (1.29%) of the 4,028 articles published over this 15-year period focused on primary prevention. The 52 articles were reviewed for type of article, article topic, setting, and general populations sampled. The lack of prevention articles in counseling journals is problematic as journals reflect issues relevant and important to the field. Implications of the results and recommendations for how counseling psychologists can become more involved in prevention are discussed.