The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped daily life and amplified mental health challenges worldwide, with university students identified as a particularly vulnerable group. To address this need, the present study evaluated the effectiveness of group mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (GMBCT) as an evidence-based intervention for students receiving psychosocial services during the pandemic. Using a pretest–posttest design, data from 34 students randomly assigned to either GMBCT or individual treatment-as-usual (TAU) provided by a university-based clinic were analyzed. To evaluate treatment effects, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to compare post-treatment outcomes between the two groups while controlling for pre-treatment scores, treatment length, concurrent therapy, diagnosis, and medication management. Results indicated that both interventions led to improvements in depression, anxiety, and overall well-being, but students in the GMBCT group achieved significantly greater reductions in anxiety symptoms. Moderation analyses further demonstrated that the benefits of GMBCT in reducing anxiety and enhancing well-being were amplified among students with higher levels of self-compassion, self-efficacy, and emotion regulation. Conducted entirely online due to pandemic restrictions, the study provides preliminary evidence on the feasibility and effectiveness of delivering GMBCT via telepsychotherapy. These findings suggest that GMBCT may be a cost-effective and scalable intervention for university-based mental health services, with potential to expand access and address the growing mental health needs of students in both crisis contexts and routine care.

Isa sa mga hamong kinahaharap ng komunidad ng UP Diliman ay ang nakakalulang dami ng estudyante at empleado ng Unibersidad na may pangangailangan sa kalusugang pang-isipan. Hindi sapat ang bilang ng mga psychosocial support specialist (PSS) ng UP Diliman Psychosocial Services (UPD PsycServ) sa dami ng mga nagpapatala para sa serbisyong sikolohikal, kung kaya’t kadalasan ay inaabot ng ilang linggo o isang buwan ang paghihintay bago magkaharap at magkausap ang isang estudyante at kaniyang nakatalagang PSS. Ang pangangailangan ng suportang sikososyal ay lalo lamang napalawak at napaigting ng pandemyang COVID-19. Kasabay ng ilang dagdag na balakid ay ang sunod-sunod na lockdown at pansamantalang pagbabawal sa harapang pakikipag-ugnayan.

Batid ng aming pag-aaral ang kagyat na pangangailangan ng  serbisyong evidence-based o nakaangkla sa ebidensiya upang tugunan ang mga hamon sa kalusugang pang-isipan ng Unibersidad. Bilang tugon sa pangangailangang ito ng komunidad ng UP Diliman, nagsagawa kami ng isang programang group psychotherapy na inaasahang pauna sa mga maisasagawang group psychotherapy sa kalaunan. Ang programang ito ay kilala bilang Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy o MBCT. Lumabas sa mga iba’t ibang pag-aaral na ang MBCT ay isang mabisang pamamaraan ng sikoterapi upang maiwasan ang paglala ng depresyon, pagkabalisa, at stress (MacKenzie & Kocovski, 2016; Sipe & Eisendrath, 2012). Kaya, nilayon ng aming pag-aaral na magamit ang group psychotherapy sa pamamagitan ng MBCT upang makapagbigay ng suporta at ginhawa sa mas nakararami. Magagamit din ang mga resulta ng pag-aaral sa pagbuo at pagsasagawa ng mga serbisyong sikolohikal na naaayon sa konteksto at karanasan ng indibidwal, grupo, at komunidad.

Sa kabanatang ito, ilalahad ang ilan sa mga obserbasyon at pagtatanto, maging ang mga puna at pangunahing natuklasan ng aming pag-aaral tungkol sa gamit o husay ng MBCT at kung paano napabubuti ng mga serbisyong sikolohikal ang kakayanan at kasanayan ng mga kliyenteng mag-aaral na harapin ang mga pagsubok sa buhay.

This article aims to develop a model of the therapeutic alliance for psychotherapy guided by the concepts of Loob, Pakikibahagi ng Loob, and the framework offered by the Shared Reality Model. The conceptualization is anchored on data from a qualitative survey with 15 Filipino client-therapist dyads living in the Philippines. In the proposed model, client-therapist dynamics are viewed under two levels of analyses: (a) intrapersonal level (inner world or katangiang panloob) – that includes clients’ and therapists’ personality, values, and beliefs; (b) interpersonal level (relational world or ugnayang panloob) – that encapsulates the client-therapist relationship known as the therapeutic alliance. The model hypothesizes that a shared reality (pakikibahagi) in the form of shared inner world (pakikibahagi ng katangiang panloob) and shared relational world (pakikibahagi ng ugnayang panloob) contribute to psychological well-being. Implications for clinical practice, Sikolohiyang Pilipino theorizing, and directions for further research are explored in this paper.

This theoretical paper presents arguments for the significance of the location of motivation in the practice of clinical psychology.  Identifying the externality and internality of motivation is argued to be clinically relevant in assessing psychopathology as this can potentially resolve comorbidity issues and improve diagnostic reliability.  Furthermore, psychotherapeutic interventions can be tailored to the location of motivation.  Extrinsically motivated pathological behaviours can be addressed through behaviour-based approaches, while intrinsically motivated behaviours need more long-term and in-depth therapeutic approaches.  Lastly, prognosis can be assumed when the location of motivation has been identified – with extrinsically motivated behaviours having better prognosis than intrinsically motivated behaviours.  Some directions for future research include testing the validity and reliability of motivation-based diagnosis, evaluating the effectiveness of matching the location of motivation with type of psychotherapy intervention, and comparing the effectiveness of motivation-matched interventions and disorder-based interventions.

This study utilized a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design in understanding the secondary system of therapeutic alliance from the perspectives of parents and caregivers of children with autism. In the quantitative phase, data from the accomplished questionnaires of 124 parent–caregiver dyads were collected and analyzed. Four factors extracted from the literature: treatment attitude, treatment compliance, level of stress, and perceived autism severity were examined as possible predictors of parent–therapist alliance, caregiver–therapist alliance, and parent–caregiver alliance. In the qualitative phase, eight parent–caregiver dyads (who both scored high in their alliance with therapist, alliance with each other, treatment attitude, treatment compliance, and level of stress) were interviewed to probe on their experiences of alliance-building, parenting, and caregiving. The integration of both quantitative and qualitative data led to the formulation of a conceptual framework that explains how the factors influence the secondary system of therapeutic alliance. These findings emphasize that tapping into the personal experiences of parents and caregivers can help in identifying what they value in a working, therapeutic relationship. Moreover, communication, skills training, and feedback among therapists, parents, and caregivers are essential to enhance positive attitude toward treatment, promote compliance to treatment recommendations, and address sources of personal stress. Nevertheless, this study calls for future studies to build into the factors associated with the systemic therapeutic alliance and to implement intervention programs that may target issues relating to attitude toward treatment, compliance to treatment, and experience of parental and caregiver stress.

Introduction: This study focuses on a boy with autism spectrum disorder presenting with biting behaviors that interfere significantly with functioning.
Method: This was a single-case study design examining how techniques of applied behavior analysis can be utilized to decrease the frequency of the child’s biting behavior and increase more adaptive behaviors.
Results: The findings of the functional analysis indicated that other-inflicted biting behaviors were maintained by contingent escape from task demands (demand condition) and access to preferred objects and activities (tangible condition). Moreover, the self-inflicted biting behavior was found to be maintained by sensory stimulation (alone condition). Given these, a structured behavioral intervention, consisting of differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors, coupled with extinction targeted to each function of the behavior, was effective in reducing other-inflicted biting behavior in the demand conditions (67% reduction) and in the tangible conditions (95% reduction) as well as reducing self-inflicted behaviors in the alone conditions (100% reduction). More appropriate, adaptive behaviors like compliance, picture-assisted requests, and oral sensory activities also increased significantly.
Conclusion: These findings indicate that assessment and treatment based on the principles of applied behavior analysis can reduce not only problematic behaviors but also improve adaptive functioning.

The development of the Filipino Coping Strategies scale was based on the qualitative data on the resilience of Filipinos and the ways by which they cope with stressful life experiences and the quantitative data on foreign measures of coping. Integration of both data led to the formulation of nine coping strategies: cognitive reappraisal (pagsusuri), social support (paghingi ng tulong), problem-solving (pagtugon), religiosity (pagkarelihiyoso), tolerance (pagtitiis), emotional release (paglabas ng saloobin), overactivity (pagmamalabis), relaxation/recreation (paglilibang), and substance use (pagbibisyo). Initially, the scale was composed of 45 items with five items under each domain. This was pilot tested to 627 male and female Filipinos aged 18 above. Reliability analysis revealed items that are internally consistent with each other resulting in the reduction of items to 37. Furthermore, construct validity was established via a) factor analysis through principal components analysis extraction method and varimax rotation method and b) test for convergent validity by correlating each domain of the Filipino Coping Strategies scale with the corresponding domains of Ways of Coping by Folkman and Lazarus and the COPE Inventory by Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub. Independent samples t-test revealed significant differences among males and females in each coping strategy which served as the basis for norm groups. The Filipino Coping Strategies scale is a four-point Likert scale which aims to measure the coping strategies of Filipinos towards stress and generates a coping dispositional profile which can be used to aid in the assessment of coping behaviors.

This paper utilised a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design comparing the experiences of 17 parents who use; and 23 parents who do not use psychotropic medicine for their children diagnosed with autism. The main objective is to identify the factors influencing their decision-making process. Quantitative analyses revealed that attitude towards treatment significantly differentiates parents who use (with more positive attitude levels) and parents who do not use (with more negative attitude levels) prescribed medicines. Furthermore, treatment attitude has been found to have significant association with three treatment decision variables. There was a low negative correlation with treatment cost and a high positive correlation with treatment belief and perceived behaviour severity. In the qualitative analysis, six factors were identified that influenced parents’ decision to use or not to use medicine: (1) perceived  mental health condition; (2) perception towards autism diagnosis; (3) doctor’s prescription and recommendation; (4) beliefs and attitudes towards treatment; (5) perceived necessity and expectation of treatment decision which include perceived improvement of the child (from parents who decided to have both therapy and medication and from parents who decided to have only therapy); and, (6) the problems encountered. Integrating both the quantitative and qualitative data led to the formulation of a treatment decision model that explains the interaction of five major variables (child, parent, doctor, decision, and treatment) in the decision-making process from which the parent variable, specifically perception and beliefs towards treatment directs the decision to use on not to use such treatment.