Examining the Alliance-Outcome Relationship: Reverse Causation, Third Variables, and Treatment Phase Artifacts

Psychotherapy research reveals consistent associations between therapeutic alliance and treatment outcomes in the youth and adult literatures. Despite these consistent findings, prospective associations are not sufficient to support the claim that the alliance is a change mechanism in psychotherapy. The current study examined the direction of effect of the alliance- outcome relationship, the contribution of early symptom change in treatment to the development of therapeutic alliance, and the potential for pretreatment interpersonal functioning characteristics to be third variables that account for the association between alliance and outcome. Participants were adolescents with depression and a history of interpersonal trauma that presented to a community mental health center for treatment. Findings demonstrated that a more positive therapeutic alliance predicted greater subsequent symptom improvement, even after removing symptom change occurring before the measurement of alliance. Results also suggested that early change only slightly contributed to alliance development. Finally, though pretreatment interpersonal functioning was related to the first session alliance, these pretreatment client characteristics were not related to later alliance or symptom change. Overall, results provided some support for therapeutic alliance as a mechanism of change in psychotherapy. Methodological and clinical issues are discussed.

Translating and Subtitling Humor Through Theory and Practice

This project assesses translating and subtitling humor in Italian and Spanish language films subtitled into English. Humor in film is problematic to translate when subtitling: visual humor may need no assistance to be delivered to a target audience, but verbal humor requires thorough analysis to be constructed effectively in the target language. To keep humor alive in target language translations, translators must understand the structure and function of humor. This project researches humor theory, translation and subtitling. It analyzes humor function through humor theory and applies this knowledge to translating audiovisual mediums. An understanding of joke structure and humor function can serve as a guide for translators to recognize, devise and evaluate equivalent translations of humor in film.

Personal Reflections on Providing Psychotherapy in a Third Language

This paper reflects upon the increasing diversity of the United States and the subsequent necessity for mental health providers who can provide psychotherapy services in more than one language. Review of the current literature of clinicians who provide bilingual services highlight the challenges and rewards of working in a second language. The literature focuses on the experiences of those bilingual clinicians who are bilingual in English and Spanish. However, there is little to no research concerning clinicians who can provide psychotherapy in three languages. This writer speaks of her experience growing up in a bilingual Vietnamese-English household in Southern California and her journey of becoming fluent in Spanish. Lastly, she provides recommendations to training programs on how to support trainees who aim to provide psychotherapy services in multiple languages.