Experiential personal construct therapeutic artistry: The therapy relationship and the timing of interventions

Abstract

Experiential personal construct psychotherapy focuses on the intimate, interconnected, and evolving relationship between the therapist and the client as vital to therapeutic growth. Great creativity is demanded of the therapist who aspires to connect with clients in life‐changing psychotherapy. This article first describes the essential nature of the therapy relationship with its implicit and explicit demands for therapist creativity. These principles then are illustrated through a discussion of the critical issue of timing therapeutic interventions.     

Enhancing the Creative Process in Couple Therapy

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews the literature as it relates to psychotherapy and creativity. The focus is on the creative process and the role of the therapist as “artist” in the practice of couple therapy. The theory on which the paper is based in problem-centered with influences from the writing of Satir, humanistic psychology and psychodynamic psychotherapy. The paper attempts to offer suggestions as to how therapists might enhance their innate creative ability when working with couples.     

Dual brain,creativity, and health

Abstract

The importance of the specialized functions of the right and left hemispheres is reviewed, with applications to education, treatment, creativity, and research duly noted. Experimental studies serve as indications of how alexithymia and creativity of the so‐called dual brain has been examined. Patients with com‐missurotomies, patients in psychotherapy, priests, creative subjects, and normal controls have been compared through a variety of experimental methods in terms of hemispheric specialization. The results indicate that creative and healthy subjects tend to have freer access to mutual interaction of both hemispheres without marked inhibitory or disinhibitory effects from either cerebral hemisphere.     

Hildegard of Bingen and her vision of the feminine

Abstract

This new vision of mind-body healing continues The Eternal Quest, which introduced this issue of Psychological Perspectives. In this survey of quotations we will trace the rise of current ideas about the role of our hourly (ultradian) and daily (circadian) rhythms of activity and rest, creativity and depression, rejuvenation and illness. These quotations suggest that we are in an exciting period of convergence in which the traditional practices of yoga, meditation, and psychotherapy are intersecting current research at the molecular-genetic level. We will end this survey with some suggestions about the practical application of this new “Yoga of the West.”     

Altruism and the Resolution of the Transference Resistance: Partners in Clinical Psychoanalysis

ABSTRACT

The article is devoted to the central place of altruism in clinical psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Using an experiential-subjective perspective, I demonstrate how I overcame an inhibition in utilizing altruism in my theoretical and clinical work, which then reduced barriers against working with the experience of vitality, closeness, and creativity for my patients and myself. I then could follow the importance of resolving the transference resistance against consolidating the experience and functioning of the self or person. At this time, altruism has also become a subject of interest in several fields that deal with human and animal behavior such as evolutionary science, social biology, and anthropology. Psychoanalysis, with its special subjective and experimental perspectives, can make valuable contributions in these realms of knowledge and research.     

Créativité verbale et valence émotionnelle : « Je deviens plus créatif quand je vois un mot positif ! »

IntroductionThe modulating effect of emotion on creativity is one of the most current topics in cognitive research. Emotion, and particularly positive emotion, is supposed to be conducive of creativity and to enhance the processes of creative thinking.ObjectiveThis work aimed to study the modulating effect of emotional valence of the task material (words-stimuli) as well as the emotional valence of the task instructions on verbal creativity performance.MethodAn experiment was conducted on a set of 27 stimuli-words and six instructions-phrases selected on the basis of pretest valence ratings. The valence of the stimuli-words (negative, neutral and positive) was crossed with the valence of the instructions-phrases (negative, neutral and positive) in a 3 × 3 factorial design. However, only five experimental conditions were considered relevant and used in the Experiment. Three components of verbal creativity identified in the literature were measured: fluidity, flexibility and originality.ResultsResults showed that positive instructions and words increased verbal creativity, especially the originality of the responses, which is considered as a basic component of creativity. Conversely, negative valence had an inhibitory and obstructive effect on verbal creativity.ConclusionThis study supports previous research showing the existence of a significant influence of emotional valence of words on cognitive functioning, and adds to the very little (or absent) research on the modulating effect of the valence of instructions and on the relationship between verbal creativity and emotional valence, a relationship that can be fostered in education.     

Psychoanalysis in Psychiatric Institutions - Theoretical and Clinical Approaches

The paper presents historical remarks about psychoanalysis in institutions with a special focus on the contributions of nurses working in psychoanalytic settings. A case report of the forensic psychotherapy ward in Reichenau Mental Hospital, which is organised as a therapeutic community, shows how individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy and special nursing care contribute to significant progress in the treatment of a severely narcissistic arsonist.     

General,Artistic and Scientific Creativity Attributes of Engineering and Music Students

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research was to investigate similarities and differences in general, artistic, and scientific creativity between engineering versus music students, as 2 groups respectively representing scientific and artistic domains. One hundred music and 105 engineering students from a large, Northeastern university completed measures of general creativity, music creativity, engineering creativity, and a demographic questionnaire. Results indicated that musicians scored higher in general and artistic creativity, with no significant differences in scientific creativity. Participants had higher levels of creativity, compared with normative data from previous studies. Gender, age, and specialization within major yielded no significant differences. Implications for creativity measures are discussed, including cognitive risk tolerance.     

The barbarism of reflection: A Vichian perspective on the nuclear arms race

Abstract

This article explores how the I—Thou relation described by Martin Buber can be important in the therapeutic effect of psychotherapy relationships. It also discusses the characteristics that Buber viewed as essential to interhuman encounter, both as helpful aspects of a psychotherapy relationship in themselves and as guidelines for increasing the likelihood of the occurrence of I—Thou relations.     

Stressful Life Events and Distress in Breast Cancer: A 5-Years Follow-Up

Background/ObjectiveEnvironmental factors such as psychosocial stress have demonstrated to have an impact on the breast cancer (BC) course. This study aims to explore the impact of psychotherapy and stressful life events (SLE) on BC survivors’ illness trajectories.Method68 women with BC underwent Positive Psychotherapy or Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management and 37 patients were included as a control group. The effects of distress reduction and SLE on their 5-year recurrence were investigated. Additional analyses examined the effect of receiving vs. not receiving psychotherapy and of the type of therapy on survival and disease-free interval, DFI.ResultsA one-point decrease of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) after psychotherapy predicted a lower risk of 5-year recurrence, OR = 0.84, p = .037, 95% CI = 0.71-0.99). Also, a one point-increase in the number threatening SLE (OR = 1.92; p = .028, 95% CI = 1.07-3.43) was related to higher 5-year recurrence.ConclusionsThe findings highlight the necessity of studying not only a given situation (i.e., psychotherapy, SLE) but its specific impact on individuals.     

Control-Mastery

Abstract

This paper will introduce the theory of Control-Mastery, an empirically supported, cognitively oriented interpersonal theory of psychotherapy. Control-Mastery theory offers a distinctive approach to counter-transference in particular and suggests a unique way to understand unconscious functioning. The theory also provides specific guidelines for conducting psychotherapy as well as a useful framework for understanding the impact of familial as well as cultural context on individual psychological struggles.     

Cognitive pathways of team climate for creativity: Implications for member creativity and job performance

ABSTRACT

The present study examines the contextual effects of team climate for creativity on creative behavior and job performance of employees. Drawing on the team-knowledge management perspective, we identify team-learning orientation and collective problem solving as main intermediate cognitive processes. The results, based on 856 employees across 102 work units of a high-tech company, demonstrate that these 2 team-level cognitive processes mediate the cross-level effects of team climate for creativity on creative behavior and job performance. This study reveals the cognitive ramifications of team climate for creativity as a favorable social context for employee creativity. By highlighting the cognitive process activated by team climate for creativity, this work complements existing studies focusing mostly on the affective and motivational mechanisms that underlie the team context–creativity relationship.     

Tragedy and the art of questioning in depth psychotherapy

Abstract

This essay examines how the art of questioning is central to depth psychotherapy. Conceiving of depth psychotherapy as a tragic art suggests the kind of inquiry unique to psychotherapy is that oriented to pathos. To explicate the art of pathic inquiry, this essay draws upon Nietzsche's depiction of Greek tragedy as structured by the relations between the artistic deities Apollo and Dionysus. As a tragic art, the structure of pathic questioning is formed by the principles these gods embody: reason and passion. Their intertwining within a psychotherapeutic discourse stimulates a liberative self‐knowledge, exemplified here by the differing approaches of Eugene Gendlin and James Hillman.     

Student essay competition prize winner creativity and inhibition: A comparison of freud and klein

Abstract

This essay reviews Freud's and Klein's approaches to the question of the nature of creativity. It attempts to show that a fuller understanding of creativity involves some linking between these two apparently divergent approaches. The work of Marion Milner and the Winnicottian School is suggested as a possible way forward in our understanding.     

Understanding the Effects of Cognition in Creative Decision Making: A Creativity Model for Enhancing the Design Studio Process

ABSTRACT

The essential components of creativity—persons, processes and products—were investigated inside a creative environment by deeply focusing on the cognitive stages of the creative decision making process. Mental imagery and external representation were considered as the implicit parts of creativity for enhancing design studio process. An experiment was conducted with 15 subjects who designed the public area of a train as the task in design studio. Observation, protocol analysis, and rating scales were used as assessment tools. Considering the components of creativity, it was found that the highest correlation was between process and overall creativity. Person and product followed process, respectively. However, no significant relationship was observed between imagery and creativity in design process. Three-dimensional representations were found to lead to more creativity compared to 2-dimensional depictions.     

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in the treatment of victims of domestic violence: A pilot study

IntroductionThe purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of EMDR in reducing PTSD symptoms, anxiety and depression.MethodThirty-six women participated in this study; 12 were treated with EMDR, 12 received eclectic psychotherapy, and 12 were assigned to the control group.ResultWomen in the EMDR condition showed significantly reduced PTSD and anxiety compared with those in the eclectic psychotherapy condition. The two psychotherapy approaches led to significantly reduced scores (PTSD, depression, anxiety) after treatment compared to the control group. These effects were maintained at the 6-month follow-up. Finally, effect sizes for the IES and STAI scores were greater for the subjects in the EMDR condition.ConclusionThis study met our expectations in the sense that our findings confirm the advantages and the potential of EMDR.     

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with People in Abusive Relationships

Summary

Psychoanalytic perspectives on violence between partners is describedand forms a foundation for an approach to group and individual psychotherapy of men and women in relationships in which there is physical violence between partners. The empirical results of a study of the outcome of psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy are described. Nineteen men and 16 women completed research measures before beginning psychotherapy and after completing 16 sessions of group psychotherapy. Twelve people who completed group psychotherapy continued in individual psychotherapy and completed measures again after 16 sessions of individual psychotherapy, and nine people completed measures again after the 16 sessions of group and 32 sessions of individual psychotherapy. Statistical analyses addressed outcomes in terms of verbal and physical aggression and dysphoric affects and anger. Both research and clinical outcomes are discussed.     

Inferiority and bereavement: Implicit psychological commitments in the cultural history of Scottish psychotherapy

Abstract

The author has argued that psychoanalytic psychotherapy was seen in Scotland as a way to purify Christianity of supernaturalism and moralism, and to propel the faith in a scientifically rational and socially progressive direction. In making this historiographic claim, certain disciplinary protocols are followed, such as the symmetry postulate and a deprecation of reductive psychohistorical explanation. Nonetheless, the contemporary historian of psychotherapy is a psychologized subject whose historical practice rests upon a complex, prereflective background of psychological presuppositions.     

Network-level dynamics underlying a combined rTMS and psychotherapy treatment for major depressive disorder: An exploratory network analysis

BackgroundDespite the growing use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a treatment for depression, there is a limited understanding of the mechanisms of action and how potential treatment-related brain changes help to characterize treatment response. To address this gap in understanding we investigated the effects of an approach combining rTMS with simultaneous psychotherapy on global functional connectivity.MethodWe compared task-related functional connectomes based on an idiographic goal priming task tied to emotional regulation acquired before and after simultaneous rTMS/psychotherapy treatment for patients with major depressive disorders and compared these changes to normative connectivity patterns from a set of healthy volunteers (HV) performing the same task.ResultsAt baseline, compared to HVs, patients demonstrated hyperconnectivity of the DMN, cerebellum and limbic system, and hypoconnectivity of the fronto-parietal dorsal-attention network and visual cortex. Simultaneous rTMS/psychotherapy helped to normalize these differences, which were reduced after treatment. This finding suggests that the rTMS/therapy treatment regularizes connectivity patterns in both hyperactive and hypoactive brain networks.ConclusionsThese results help to link treatment to a comprehensive model of the neurocircuitry underlying depression and pave the way for future studies using network-guided principles to significantly improve rTMS efficacy for depression.     

Constructive Metatheory: II. Implications for Psychotherapy

Abstract

The implications of constructive metatheory for the conceptualization and practice of psychotherapy are briefly outlined. It is argued that the constructivist therapist construes the client as an active and developing process, and that psychological problems are approached not as piecemeal flaws or deficiencies, but as expressions of current discrepancies between an individual's adaptive capacities and the challenges she or he faces. Likewise, the process of psychotherapy is portrayed as one of trial-and-error experimentation with different (novel) ways of “being in the world.” Ideally, the client and therapist create an intimate and emotionally charged alliance in and from which the client can explore and experiment with self and world relationships. These practical features dovetail with many assertions of the major me-tatheories of psychotherapy, and it is argued that constructive metatheory may be uniauely suited to facilitating attempts at conceptual integration