ABSTRACT
Historically, homework has been touted as a critical, adjunctive compo-nent to psychotherapy (e.g., Shelton and Ackerman, 1982). Two premises have evolved and form the foundation of our current thinking regarding the use of homework in the context of psychotherapy. The first suggests that systematic use of homework permits therapy to become a twenty-four-hour-a-day experience. The second recognizes that assigned tasks outside of the therapy hour promote transfer from the therapy session, and generalization into day-to-day living. Homework assignments encourage clients to integrate relevant concepts which repattern rules and meta-rules regarding themselves, their interaction styles, and/or coping methodolo-gies (Burns and Auerbach, 1992).
