Therapeutic goals are considered a vital component in psychological treatments, but to date relatively little attention has been paid to the assessment and evaluation of these goals. In order to validate a self-rating version of the Bern Inventory of Therapeutic goals checklist (BIT-C), the present study investigated if goals, measured this way, can differentiate between patients (n= 147) and healthy controls (n= 106). Results suggested that BIT-C was successful in discriminating between client and non-clients. Most importantly, clients had a higher tendency to endorse goal categories related to depressive symptoms, substance abuse, coping with somatic problems and current relationships, but a lower tendency to endorse goal categories relating to eating behaviors compared to non-patients. Further, patients perceived attainment of prioritized goals as more distant than non-patients did. The results were discussed in terms of BIT-C being a measure that can be readily applied to identify key targets in psychological treatments. © 2015 AAC.
The current study investigated the effects of Relational Frame Theory (RFT) based training on mathematical and logical skills. A sample of 21 Swedish high school students attending first grade and second grade were assigned to either training (n= 10) or no-training conditions (n=11). Measures of performance on mathematical tests, Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM), and relational responding tasks were taken prior to and after training. For 8-10 weeks, the experimental group trained using SMART, an online multiple exemplar training program for enhancing relational skills. No significant differences between the groups were found on mathematical performance. A significant increase on SPM performance was observed for the experimental group. The findings are in line with previous research on RFT, suggesting that behaviorally based interventions can enhance intellectual performance. Population characteristics, SMART training procedures, strengths and methodological limitations are discussed. © 2016 AAC.