This article reports on the first empirical attempt to analyze "sacred moments" in the therapist-client relationship, and their implications for the client, the provider, and the therapeutic alliance. In the first study, 58 mental health providers from a large school of medicine completed a survey that asked them to describe an important moment in their work with a client over the past year. They then responded to questions about (a) the degree to which they attributed sacred qualities to the important moment; (b) predictors of the sacredness of these moments; and (c) consequences of these moments for the client, provider, and therapeutic alliance. More than half of providers (55.5%) indicated that their important moment in treatment was sacred. Perceptions of the sacredness of the moment were strongly correlated with greater perceived client gains, therapeutic relationship gains, provider gains, and work motivation. These findings were largely replicated in a second study of 519 clients who had been in mental health treatment during the past year. Sacred moments in treatment represent a potentially important resource that may contribute to the well-being of providers, clients, and the therapeutic relationship. More generally, these findings point to the value of attending to the spiritual dimension of the relationship between providers and clients.

This article reports results of an experiment with 83 kindergarten through 6thgrade children conducted to determine the effectiveness of a theoretically based active mediation strategy for reducing the harmful effects of gender-stereotyped television. The researchers found that a mediation strategy derived from genderschema theory led to less favorable evaluations of stereotyped television characters. It also led to (a) less positive evaluations of the program among children whose parents do not monitor their viewing, and (b) less endorsement of stereotyped attitudes among younger children. This suggests that mediation is successful among children who may be especially vulnerable to media effects, or those who need it the most.A large body of literature suggests that television can perpetuate stereotypes about men and women. Content analyses reveal that television is filled with stereotyped portrayals, and effects research demonstrates that viewers' gender-role attitudes are influenced by these depictions (Herrett-Skjellum & Allen, 1996). As with other media effects research, children are considered especially vulnerable to learning gender stereotypes because they lack real-world experiences and are still undergoing socialization. Research on mediation, however, suggests that harmful outcomes can be reduced by counteracting the very elements of television exposure that contribute to effects in the first place (Nathanson & Cantor, 2000). Gender Stereotypes on TelevisionNumerous content analyses reveal that television depicts men and especially women in a stereotyped manner (Davis, 1990;Dominick, 1979;Downs,

Dementia is often associated with challenging behaviors that can significantly impact the quality of life of individuals with dementia and pose great difficulty for long-term care staff. Antipsychotic medications, historically the mainstay approach for managing such behaviors, have increasingly been associated with limited efficacy and increased death risk with older dementia patients. In an effort to promote and realize the promise of nonpharmacological management of challenging dementia-related behaviors, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system has developed and implemented STAR-VA, an interdisciplinary behavioral intervention for managing challenging dementia-related behaviors of veterans, in 17 VA nursing homes, as part of a pilot implementation initiative. Sixty-four veterans with challenging behaviors associated with dementia participated in the STAR-VA intervention coordinated by Mental Health Providers completing specialized training. Challenging behaviors clustered into 6 behavior types: resistance to care, agitation, violence/aggression, vocalization, wandering, and other. Results indicate that STAR-VA led to significant reductions in the frequency and severity of challenging dementia-related behaviors, with overall effect sizes of approximately 1. In addition, the intervention led to significant reductions in depression and anxiety. Overall, the results support the feasibility and effectiveness of STAR-VA for managing challenging dementia-related behaviors in veterans in real-world, nursing home settings.

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