Dale G. Larson

Dale G. Larson
Santa Clara University | SCU · Department of Counseling Psychology

Ph.D.

About

37
Publications
54,355
Reads
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1,762
Citations
Introduction
My scholarly interests have focused on end-of-life care issues, grief and grief counseling, counseling skills, stress and stress management in the helping professions, and self-concealment. The Self-Concealment Scale has now been used in more than 240 empirical studies. More on my work can be found at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Larson
Additional affiliations
September 1982 - October 2015
Santa Clara University
Position
  • Professor
Education
September 1971 - June 1977
University oif California Berkeley
Field of study
  • Clinical Psychology
September 1967 - June 1971
University of Chicago
Field of study
  • Psychology

Publications

Publications (37)
Article
Full-text available
A pessimistic view of grief counseling has emerged over the last 7 years, exemplified by R. A. Neimeyer's (2000) oft-cited claim that "such interventions are typically ineffective, and perhaps even deleterious, at least for persons experiencing a normal bereavement" (p. 541). This negative characterization has little or no empirical grounding, howe...
Article
Full-text available
This article introduces the construct of self-concealment, the active concealment from others of personal information that one perceives as negative or distressing. A Self-Concealment Scale (SCS) was developed and was included in a questionnaire battery completed by 306 subjects. The SCS had excellent psychometric properties. Self-concealment was c...
Article
Full-text available
An extensive empirical literature has focused on the self-concealment (SC) construct. In this article, we review 137 studies that used the Self-Concealment Scale (SCS) with varied populations (e.g., adolescent; intercultural; international; lesbian, gay, and bisexual; and intimate partner). We propose a working model for the psychology of SC and th...
Article
Full-text available
This article examines the evolution of and need for "end-of-life conversations." Barriers to end-of-life discussions that have been identified in patients and families, health care professionals, and health care systems can seriously interfere with the quality of remaining life for terminally ill patients. Strategies for enhancing end-of-life discu...
Chapter
The therapist-client relationship in psychotherapy is considered one of the most important factors in promoting well-being and facilitating change in clients. This pioneering book provides a novel perspective on relationships by focusing on how they are accomplished through client-therapist interactions. Drawing on the key concept of affiliation fr...
Chapter
Therapist empathic reflections are used to communicate understanding of client communications and experiences. Originally associated with person-centered and experiential psychotherapies, they have been adopted by psychotherapists from a range of approaches. We begin with definitions and subtypes of empathic reflection, drawing on relevant research...
Article
Objective: We present a mixed methods systematic review of the effectiveness of therapist empathic reflections, which have been adopted by a range of approaches to communicate an understanding of client communications and experiences. Methods: We begin with definitions and subtypes of empathic reflection, drawing on relevant research and theory, in...
Book
Full-text available
The second edition of the best-selling book The Helper’s Journey: Empathy, Compassion, and the Challenge of Caring (Research Press, 2020) by Dale G. Larson serves as an inspiring guide to clinicians who serve people facing grief, loss, trauma, life-threatening illness, or other highly distressing life events. Specifically, it is intended for nurses...
Article
Full-text available
Although self-concealment has been a central topic in the field of personality and applied psychologies, it remains somewhat unclear how it should be conceptualized. The present study investigated self-concealment within the framework of psychological inflexibility and mindfulness, two major emotion/behavior regulation processes integrated into con...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Presentation, Division 29 Symposium: Self-Concealment – Clinical and Health-Related Consequences and Mechanisms of Action, Convention Program Supplement
Article
Full-text available
Dale Larson and William Hoyt respond to Robert Neimeyer and Henk Schut's articles in this issue. They argue that Neimeyer and Schut's more pessimistic conclusions about the effectiveness of bereavement counselling are drawn from large meta-analyses of many different approaches, with different populations, recruited in a range of different ways at d...
Article
Full-text available
The growing debate within the bereavement field about the efficacy of grief counselling offers two contrasting viewpoints. At one extreme is Neimeyer's claim that ‘such interventions are typically ineffective, and perhaps even deleterious, at least for persons experiencing a normal bereavement’. At the other is the more cautiously optimistic positi...
Article
Full-text available
Replies to comments made by G. A. Bonanno and S. O. Lilienfeld (see record 2008-07318-017), which commented on the original article by D. Larson and W. Hoyt (see record #200711559-003) for what Bonanno and Lilienfeld believe are inaccurate conclusions regarding the empirical literature on grief counseling. In the brief space allotted for this resp...
Article
Full-text available
To evaluate the Advanced Illness Coordinated Care Program (AICCP), delivered by allied health personnel to improve care for patients coping with advanced illness and in need of preparation for end-of-life (EOL) care. Clinical trial involving 275 patients and 143 surrogates in 6 settings who were randomly assigned to the AICCP or usual care (UC). Th...
Article
In this commentary on Werth's (this issue) article, the author attempts to continue the work of "meaning making" by describing 10 lessons that were evident to him, based on 25 years of experience as an end-of-life researcher and clinician. He highlights the impact of stress, the importance of communication, the idiosyncratic definition of a "good d...
Article
Full-text available
Professional psychologists are increasingly likely to encounter opportunities to work with patients and families facing end-of-life issues. Psychologists can provide psychological assessment, intervention for patients and families, consultation with and support of health care team members, grief therapy, and program development and evaluation. Psyc...
Article
Full-text available
The current exploratory study examines the different functions of social support (rather than the people who provide them) and their relationship to burnout among 128 Israeli (40% males and 60% females; mean age 28 yrs), 64 Israeli Arab (35% males and 65% females; mean age 24 yrs), 751 Hungarian (38% males and 62% females; mean age 21 yrs), and 48...
Article
Full-text available
The importance of interdisciplinary care for patients and families facing the end of life is examined. Descriptions of varying forms of team functioning are provided with an emphasis on the characteristics of high-functioning interdisciplinary teams. The value of empowering the patient and family to direct the care they receive from their team is e...
Article
Oncology staff and patients, like all people faced with stressful situations, are confronted with the dilemma of whether to conceal or reveal the distress they are experiencing. For both staff and patients, self-concealment as a coping response increases stress and simultaneously diminishes the likelihood of helpful, empathic responses from others....
Article
The International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement (IWG) was founded in 1974 and consists of an international group of clinicians, scholars, and researchers in this field. At a recent meeting in Monterey, California, the group developed the following working document.
Article
Although hospice staff support groups are frequently cited as a valuable resource in coping with hospice work stress, few guidelines exist for implementing a successful group experience. This article summarizes a pilot study of a 12-week audiotape staff support group training program for hospice and oncology workers developed collaboratively by the...
Article
Full-text available
The demanding and emotionally complicated nature of hospice and oncology work can lead to self-doubts and other embarrassing and distressing thoughts and feelings about oneself as a helper. These troubling thoughts and feelingsfornithe core of helper secrets. This article presents an exploratory analysis of helper secrets gathered from 200 hospice...
Article
This article summarizes a national survey of the hospice community. Respondents provided detailed information in the following areas: (a) What formal mental health training is provided for staff members? (b) Who conducts this training? (c) What areas are covered and where would more training be useful? (d) How is the training conducted--what format...
Article
Rorschach responses of borderline persons, acute and chronic schizophrenics, normals, and neurotics were compared on summary, composite, and fabulized combination scores and on a score reflecting decline in the quality of responses to individual cards. The groups' summary scores were as ego function theory would predict; normals had the highest sco...
Article
A study of kinesthetic figural aftereffects in 32 Ss showed consistency within each of two testing sessions with respect to baseline judgments and magnitude of the aftereffect. Between testing sessions, however, there was no personal consistency in magnitude of kinesthetic figural aftereffects, although there was highly stable performance on a conc...

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