Do psychologically-minded clients expect more from counselling?

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between psychological mindedness and clients' expectations about counselling. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was employed to assess correlations among study variables. METHODS: Participants were 104 counselling-centre clients at a mid-size, Southwestern US university. Participant volunteers filled out the Psychological Mindedness Scale, life orientation test-revised (LOT-R), and the expectations-about-counselling questionnaire. RESULTS: Clients who reported higher levels of psychological mindedness (PM) reported greater expectations of self-involvement in counselling and greater expectations of positive outcome. In contrast, PM was not significantly related to clients' expectations about their counsellors' in-session behaviour or to expectations about their counsellors' general personality style. Dispositional optimism (LOT-R) did not play a major role in the relationship between PM and expectations about counselling. CONCLUSIONS: High PM clients do seem to expect more from counselling than low PM clients, particularly in terms of self-involvement in the process and with respect to positive outcome. Consequently, therapists should consider assessing clients' PM, expectations, and the relationship between PM and expectations.

Validation of a networked virtual reality simulation of temporal bone surgery.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the content validity and concurrent validity of a haptically (force feedback) rendered, virtual reality simulation of temporal bone surgery. METHODS: Eleven naive surgical trainees were given a 1-hour lesson on the operation, cortical mastoidectomy, in the virtual environment with the trainer on a networked simulator and then asked to perform this procedure on a real temporal bone. RESULTS: The simulator was found to be a convincing representation of temporal bone drilling and could be said to exhibit face validity. The simulator was an effective means of teaching both the surgical anatomy and the surgical approach as judged by oral assessments made before and after the virtual reality training session. The trainees were successful in identifying most surgical landmarks during their first temporal bone dissection, and over two thirds found the landmarks at the correct time during the procedure. Some trainees exhibited acceptable or better technique with the drill despite this being their first temporal bone dissection. Subjective assessments indicated a high level of acceptance of simulated surgery for training, and there was perceived value in specific enhancements of the virtual environment that facilitated learning. Particular enhancements of value were the networked simulation, the option to make the model semitransparent to reveal anatomic relationships, and error reporting when the sigmoid sinus or facial nerve was injured. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual reality simulation of temporal bone surgery was an effective method for teaching surgical anatomy and planning and was well accepted by trainees.

A networked haptic virtual environment for teaching temporal bone surgery.

This paper describes a computer system for teaching temporal bone surgery using networked haptic work benches. The system enables an instructor and student to collaboratively explore and drill a volumetric bone model including significant anatomical features. Subjective evaluations by otologists have been favourable, and experimental trials are planned.

Surgical training using haptics over long internet distances.

This paper describes a collaborative surgical training prototype using haptics, which has been able to operate across the world. It allows two users to collaboratively manipulate a simulation of pliable human body organs, as well as guide each other's 'hands' over 22,000 km of internet connection. It uses a force impulse collection mechanism feeding haptics data to a single physics server program. The server runs a 'pseudo' physics model that is resilient to latency.