NSU Horizons Spring/Summer 2008

22 horizons Mark C. Sobell and Linda C. Sobell Mark C. Sobell, Ph.D., ABPP, and his wife, Linda C. Sobell, Ph.D., ABPP, of CPS, used media ads to recruit 825 people who identified themselves as open to changing their drinking behavior. All were asked to complete self-assessments by mail, with no per- sonal contact. In response, half the group received two pamphlets on alcoholism that were freely available in the community. The other half received personalized feedback comparing their drinking behavior to national norms and identifying the health risks associ- ated with their particular drinking patterns. Following up after one year, the Sobells learned some- thing surprising. Both groups substantially reduced their drinking. Many respondents positively changed their behavior after merely seeing the ads and before receiving the materials. Simply seeing the ad or the message in the ad resulted in their change in drink- ing behavior. The Sobell’s research sheds light on the fact that natural recovery, or self-change, is a very common and successful path- way to change for nearly 75 percent of people with alcohol problems. Under a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Sobells will continue to study the power of message content. Their research is pointing the way to cost-effective, large-scale interventions with enormous public health implications for those who want to lessen their own alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. The Sobells and their CPS peers are conducting research “clearly tied to solving society’s most pressing problems,” said Karen Grosby, M.Ed., dean, Center for Psychological Studies. This approach is in alignment with one of NSU’s main objectives—to produce cutting-edge research that can be applied in the real world. Typically, a university’s clinical psychology program has a strong undergraduate focus. In contrast, NSU follows a graduate program- centered model. Here, doctoral students receive their training in NSU-operated clinics that provide a tremendous service to the community across a broad spectrum. NSU’s Psychology Services Center helps South Florida residents of all ages deal with everything from anxieties and traumatic stress to family violence and attention deficit disorder. In turn, the clinics become the source of data en- abling graduate students to conduct important research under the direction of their professors. NSU’s drive to develop a topnotch clinical psychology program began in 1980 with a push for accreditation organized around recruitment of a core group of a half-dozen clinicians with national reputations. With 31 clinical psychologists and its distinc- tive graduate focus, CPS now ranks among the top nine programs nationally, both in the number of professors and research productiv- ity, according to a recent University of Kansas study. Nathan Azrin NSU’s drive to develop a topnotch clinical psychology program began in 1980 with a push for accreditation organized around re- cruitment of a core group of a half-dozen clinicians with national reputations. One of them, Nathan Azrin, Ph.D., ABPP, is still active on the CPS faculty. Trained at Harvard University by famous be- havioral scientist B.F. Skinner, Azrin is “one of the most cited psychologists in the world,” explains Grosby, who adds that he has “driven the reputation of the department.” The public knows Azrin as the author of Toilet Training in Less Than a Day , the popular how- to guide that sold three million copies and has been reproduced in dozens of languages. But it is his work with the profoundly retarded, the so-called “untrainables,” upon which a large part of his legacy rests. The techniques he pioneered nearly half a century ago remain in widespread use today. Azrin developed “shaping” or “successive approximation” strat- egies to get the profoundly retarded to perform at higher levels than previously thought possible. His methods involve identifying be- havioral tasks, beginning with their smallest components, then giving the patients small, frequent rewards to encourage a succession of desired behaviors. “To get someone dressed, for example, requires putting on a shirt,” said Azrin. “But first, the person must reach for the shirt. And before that, the person must get up and go toward it. And even more basically, you need to say to the person, ‘look at me,’ and get them to make eye contact.” Immediate rewards at each achievement level made the impossible possible. The flip side of reward is punishment, and today’s parents can thank Azrin for inventing “time-out,” the popular al- ternative to spanking, by which misbehaving youngsters are sent away to reflect quietly while considering their misdeeds. Azrin’s pioneering work has also included “job club” reemploy- ment procedures in standard use during corporate layoffs within the United States, Great Britain, Scandinavia, and elsewhere. He is also known for inventing the regulated breathing method to treat stuttering. His myriad lifetime achievements led an observer to credit him as one of today’s great thought-leaders “moving psychol- ogy toward science and away from armchair analysis.” Renowned psychologist and CPS professor Nathan Azrin, Ph.D.