166 Canadian J o u r n a l o f C o u n s e l l i n g / Revue canadienne de c o u n s e l i n g / 1 9 9 7 , Vol. 31:2
a n d t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s w h i c h are o c c u r r i n g w i t h i n s o c i a l sciences, society a n d a p p l i e d d i s c i p l i n e s s u c h as c o u n s e l l i n g a n d therapy. It s h o u l d p r o v e o f s p e c i a l value to r e s e a r c h e r s a n d supervisors o f r e s e a r c h w h o are w o r k i n g to revise, d e c o n s t r u c t , a n d r e c o n s t r u c t r e s e a r c h m e t h o d s a n d p u r p o s e s to m e e t the n e e d s a n d r e l e v a n c e c l a i m s o f the p o s t m o d e r n era.
References
Bakhtin, M . (1981). The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Trans. C . Emerson & M . Holquist. Austin: University o f Texas Press.
K u h n , T. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University o f Chicago Press. Lather, P. ( 1991 ). Getting Smart: Feminist Research and Pedagogy with/in the Postmodern. New York:
Routledge.
Talley, Joseph. (1992). The Predictors of Successful Very Brief Psycho-therapy: A Study of Differences by Gender, Age, and Treatment Variables. Charles Thomas Publishers.
Reviewed by: R o n a l d W a r n e r .
A classic is a classic e v e n i f it takes a y e a r o r two to d i s c o v e r it. Talley's study is a m u s t f o r c o u n s e l l o r s a n d m a y be a classic. T h e interest i n b r i e f e r a n d m o r e cost-effective m o d e l s o f p s y c h o t h e r a p y is i n c r e a s i n g l y attractive f o r m a n y agencies a n d c l i n i c s — i n c l u d i n g u n i v e r s i t y c o u n s e l l i n g c e n t r e s — f a c i n g the c h a l l e n g e o f p r o v i d i n g q u a l i t y service i n a n e r a o f i n c r e a s i n g d e m a n d s a n d d i m i n i s h i n g resources. J o s e p h T a l l e y ' s b o o k is a n i m p o r t a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n to the b r i e f t h e r a p y o u t c o m e l i t e r a t u r e because it is the m o s t s c i e n t i f i c a l l y r i g o r o u s study, that this w r i t e r has e x a m i n e d , o f the effectiveness o f treat-m e n t at the l o w e r e n d ( n u treat-m b e r o f sessions) o f the b r i e f t h e r a p y c o n t i n u u treat-m r a n g e .
Talley's c o n t r i b u t i o n to the p s y c h o t h e r a p e u t i c o u t c o m e l i t e r a t u r e is that h e p r o v i d e s r i g o r o u s e m p i r i c a l e v i d e n c e ( b e y o n d c l i e n t satisfaction) o f the effectiveness o f t r e a t m e n t l a s t i n g f r o m o n e to seven sessions. T h e r e s e a r c h d e s i g n i n c l u d e d c o n t r o l g r o u p s , a n d p s y c h o m e t r i c i n d i c a t o r s o f t h e r a p e u t i c c h a n g e , as w e l l as a s o p h i s t i c a t e d m e a s u r e o f c l i e n t satisfaction. T h i s study, u n d e r t a k e n at D u k e U n i v e r s i t y C o u n s e l l i n g a n d P s y c h o l o g i c a l Services C e n -tre, i n v o l v e d 95 c l i e n t s ( w h o r e c e i v e d a m e a n o f 2.4 sessions) a n d 12 therapists w i t h a p r e d o m i n a n t l y p s y c h o d y n a m i c t r e a t m e n t style. T h e re-search d e s i g n e m p l o y e d a r a n d o m c o n t r o l g r o u p as w e l l as two c o m p a r i s o n g r o u p s , a n d u t i l i z e d f o u r p s y c h o m e t r i c i n s t r u m e n t s ; the Z u n g S e l f - R a t i n g D e p r e s s i o n Scale, the Z u n g S e l f - R a t i n g A n x i e t y Scale, the V i s u a l A n a l o g u e D e p r e s s i o n a n d A n x i e t y Scales, a n d the B e c k D e p r e s s i o n Inventory. A l s o i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o this d e s i g n was a 16-item C l i e n t Satisfaction I n d e x .
T h e p r e - t r e a t m e n t a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f these d e p r e s s i o n a n d a n x i e t y symp-t o m o r i e n symp-t e d scales i n d i c a symp-t e d s i g n i f i c a n symp-t l y h i g h e r scores f o r symp-the c l i n i c a l g r o u p t h a n f o r the c o n t r o l a n d c o m p a r i s o n g r o u p s . A n d at p o s t - t r e a t m e n t t h e r e was n o s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n g r o u p s o n any o f these
meas-Canadian J o u r n a l o f C o u n s e l l i n g / Revoie canadienne de c o u n s e l i n g / 1 9 9 7 , Vol. 31:2 167
ures. S i m i l a r l y the pre-post t r e a t m e n t scores for the c l i n i c a l g r o u p i n d i c a t e d s i g n i f i c a n t r e d u c t i o n s i n d e p r e s s i o n a n d a n x i e t y s y m p t o m s . A l s o as meas-u r e d by these scales, n o effects o f very b r i e f t h e r a p y were f o meas-u n d for c l i e n t age a n d g e n d e r , t h e r a p i s t g e n d e r a n d e x p e r i e n c e ( i n c l u d i n g t h e r a p i s t g e n d e r x e x p e r i e n c e i n t e r a c t i o n ) . N o r d i d the findings show a p o s i t i v e l i n e a r r e l a t i o n -s h i p b e t w e e n n u m b e r o f -se-s-sion-s a t t e n d e d a n d -s y m p t o m r e d u c t i o n .
T w o c h a p t e r s are d e v o t e d to p r o v i d i n g very d e t a i l e d a n d t h o r o u g h discuss i o n o f the rediscussultdiscuss a n d e v a l u a t i o n o f thediscusse p discuss y c h o m e t r i c i n discuss t r u m e n t discuss i n c l u d -i n g l -i t e r a t u r e rev-iews, g e n d e r a n d s a m p l e g r o u p effects, s c r e e n -i n g a n d p r e / p o s t - t r e a t m e n t measures. A n y o n e c o n s i d e r i n g u s i n g these i n s t r u m e n t s w o u l d be w e l l a d v i s e d to e x a m i n e these c h a p t e r s c a r e f u l l y f o r the w e a l t h o f i n f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e d .
T h e s e c o n d o u t c o m e m e a s u r e e m p l o y e d i n assessing the effectiveness o f the very b r i e f t h e r a p y was the C l i e n t S a t i s f a c t i o n I n d e x . T h e 16 items o f this i n d e x (i.e., c o m p o n e n t s o f c o u n s e l l i n g s u c h as i n c r e a s e d u n d e r s t a n d i n g , f e e l i n g c o m f o r t a b l e w i t h the c o u n s e l l o r , c o u n s e l l o r a p p e a r i n g a u t h e n t i c / r e a l , etc.) were h i g h l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h o v e r a l l satisfaction f o r a l l g e n d e r / a g e g r o u p s w i t h the e x c e p t i o n o f o n e (i.e., " T h e c o u n s e l l o r e n c o u r a g e d m e to discuss m y f e e l i n g s that I m i g h t have a b o u t h i m / h e r d u r i n g the sessions" p . 1 3 0 ) .
Talley r e p o r t s that the m o s t u n e x p e c t e d finding was that the single i t e m that best p r e d i c t e d satisfaction w i t h t r e a t m e n t was, "the c o u n s e l l o r e n c o u r -a g e d m e to b e l i e v e th-at I c o u l d i m p r o v e m y s i t u -a t i o n , " -a n d this i t e m - ac-c o u n t e d f o r 6 8 % o f the v a r i a n ac-c e ! A s T a l l e y p o i n t s o u t , this finding was u n e x p e c t e d because it is "not a s a l i e n t p a r t o f i n s i g h t o r i e n t e d p s y c h o -d y n a m i c t h e r o i e s o f b r i e f p s y c h o t h e r a p y " (p. 6 5 ) . T h i s i t e m is m u c h m o r e a p a r t o f c o g n i t i v e - b e h a v i o u r a l m o d e l s .
T h e m a j o r c r i t i c i s m o f Talley, i n this reviewer's o p i n i o n , is that the a u t h o r d i d n o t first subject this study to j o u r n a l p e e r r e v i e w before b o o k p u b l i c a t i o n . N e v e r t h e l e s s , this w e l l w r i t t e n r i g o r o u s study m a k e s a n i m p o r t a n t c o n -t r i b u -t i o n -to -the k n o w l e d g e base o f p s y c h o -t h e r a p y o u -t c o m e s ; " — e v e n a l i m i t e d a m o u n t o f p s y c h o t h e r a p y c a n b e h e l p f u l to a g o o d m a n y p e o p l e "
(p. v i i , f r o m the F o r e w o r d o f the b o o k by the d i s t i n g u i s h e d professor o f psychology, H a n s S t r u p p ) . T h i s r e v i e w e r h i g h l y r e c o m m e n d s Talley's b o o k to p r a c t i t i o n e r s a n d r e s e a r c h e r s w h o have a n interest i n b r i e f o r very b r i e f therapy.
