Therapy has been used in a wide variety of patient populations. Those populations researched in the most current literature include: psychiatric inpatients (Lowenkron & Cheniauz-Junior, 1990); children of alcoholics (Schwartzberg & Schwartzberg, 1990); dysfunctional families (Canevaro, 1990); battered women (Nilsson, 1988); soldiers (Hand, 1988); college students (Pinkerton, Hinz & Barrow, 1989); schizophrenic patients (Kanas, Stewart & Haney, 1988); sexually abused individuals (Herman & Schatzo, 1987); people on probation (Van Deusen, Yarbrough & Cornelsen, 1985); and alcoholics (Moss & Whiteman, 1985).
Several studies have delineated and tested particular Brief Therapy strategies. A few examples provide an indication of the kinds of studies in this area of the literature. One such study was conducted by Thommen, Blaser, Ringer and Heim (1990). The authors studied a Brief Therapy method called Problem-Oriented Therapy which was short-term therapy specifically designed for patients undergoing illness. The aim was to handle problems related to patients subjective experiences of their illness. The focus was on providing patients with comprehensive explanations about the causes and functions served by their subjective experiences of their illness.
The authors stated that patients were told that their subjective experienced of their illness were:
. . .related to basic needs, and they historically arise from interactions with the social environment. . .[The BT strategy]. . .aims at re-organizing the needs of the sick individua
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