Satir and Congruence

SUMMARY

This response presents a different understanding of Satir's concept of congruence, and its importance in the therapeutic and human experiences that lead toward health and functionality.

Since congruence addresses the primary elements of the human condition-self other, and context-we observe that congruence is relevant across calsses, culture and times.     

Matching theory in natural human environments

Matching theory is a mathematical account of behavior, many aspects of which have been confirmed in laboratory experiments with nonhuman and human subjects. The theory asserts that behavior is distributed across concurrently available response alternatives in the same proportion that reinforcement is distributed across those alternatives. The theory also asserts that behavior on a single response alternative is a function not only of reinforcement contingent on that behavior, but also of reinforcement contingent on other behaviors and of reinforcement delivered independently of behavior. These assertions constitute important advances in our understanding of the effects of reinforcement on behavior. Evidence from the applied literature suggests that matching theory holds not only in laboratory environments, but also in natural human environments. In addition, the theory has important therapeutic implications. For example, it suggests four new intervention strategies, and it can be used to improve treatment planning and management. Research on matching theory illustrates the progression from laboratory experimentation with nonhuman subjects to therapeutic applications in natural human environments.     

Working With Dreams in Group Counseling: Advantages and Challenges

Various challenges exist in the use of dreams in group counseling. Obscure and complex dream symbols and images, intricacies of the dream interpretation process, and a lack of counselor training in dreams are among the restrictions that limit the application of dreams in groups. At the same time, dreams constitute a universal human experience that is intriguing and compelling. Dreams offer a potential in group counseling for advancing the understanding of group members, promoting cohesiveness among group participants, and stimulating therapeutic group-member interactions.     

Interpersonal Perceptions and Metaperceptions in Dialogic Action Therapy: A Relational Methodological Approach to Theory Construction

Abstract

Two forms of understanding in theories of therapy are identified: empathic understanding rooted in individualism, and reality-based understanding that acknowledges the relational character of human existence. We argue for regarding these two forms of understanding as complementary. This requires a paradigmatic shift from methodological individualism to methodological relationalism, which asserts that the analysis of role relationships precedes that of individuals and situations. Informed by methodological relationalism, dialogic action therapy accords prominence to the creation of a therapeutic relationship between therapist and client, between whom bidirectionality of perceptions is inherent. We develop a formal analytic scheme for theory building. Six major constructs, degrees of perception, directionality, agreement, reciprocity, accuracy, and congruence, are employed to facilitate the analysis of therapist and client perceptions and metaperceptions of trust in depth. The implications for therapy and methodology of measurement are discussed.     

Loneliness: counseling adolescents

This paper discusses the related concepts of loneliness and the guidance counseling of adolescents. Part One argues that the fear of loneliness and the accompanying need to avoid it constitutes a universal motivational principle in all human beings, and that it is especially acute during adolescence. Part Two shows how loneliness may serve the counselor as a basis for understanding and interpreting much of adolescent behavior. Part Three proposes some therapeutic principles and procedures designed to alleviate the sense of loneliness and isolation so prevalent among contemporary adolescents.     

What an Understanding of the Dynamics of Gossip Has to Teach About Group Dynamics and Group Leadership

Abstract

Although what transpires in group therapy is not gossip per se–except perhaps when absent or former members are discussed–listening to group interaction through an understanding of the dynamics of gossip can contribute to a greater appreciation of group dynamics and group leadership as well as enlarge therapeutic space. After examining the interpersonal dynamics of gossip, this paper discusses six ways in which an understanding of these dynamics can inform group leadership and shed light on group psychotherapy. Central features of gossip that appear in group interactions are explored: These include projection, displacement, self-esteem regulation, clarification of motivation, unself-consciousness, social comparison and bonding, avoidance of psychic pain, and making the ego-syntonic dystonic. The lively use of imagination in the mature phase of group therapy is conceived of as the time when the darker side of human nature–imagined gossip harnessed for therapeutic purposes–can be welcomed in and processed in a kind, playful, and compassionate manner.     

Assembling human empathy towards care robots: The human labor of robot sociality

This paper conceptualizes human to robot empathy as empathetic arrangements configured in caring spaces. Analyzing empathy towards care robots as arrangements comprising robots, spaces, discourses, bodies and institutions enables recognition of the way empathy is about self-other relationships while eschewing an understanding of empathy in terms of a reciprocal relationship between human and robot. Situating the therapeutic, zoomorphic robot, Paro and the health care support robot, Care-O-Bot as part of empathetic arrangements draws attention to how the cultivation of empathy towards robots governs and regulates patient sociality. In particular, it shows that these robots do not function as substitutes for human carers but instead are dependent on human labor if they are to deliver therapy ethically and effectively. They rely on the affective labor of the patient and the labor of carers and others in the arrangement.     

Therapeutic transformation in ritual,therapy, and human development

A multidisciplinary review and synthesis of transcultural and psychodynamic research reveal a common underlying process of therapeutic transformation in healing ritual, psychosocial therapy, and human development. A conceptual model of this process is presented which provides a transcultural and interreligious guide for planning therapy, for establishing mutual understanding between religious and secular professional helpers, and for recognizing human growth potential in developmental crises.In addition to M.S.W. and Ph.D. degrees in social work, he has an M.A. in religious studies which incorporated Fulbright study of Oriental philosophy in South Korea.     

Out of the consulting room and into the world: hermeneutic dialogue, phronesis, and psychoanalytic theory as practice

One of the relics of positivism has been an underappreciation of the moral and ethical dimensions of psychoanalytic theory and practice. In a positivist metapsychology, cure and therapeutic gain were often defined instrumentally, with relatively little consideration given to aspects of human experience (e.g., moral, cultural, spiritual) that did not fit within a positivist framework. Conceptual and paradigmatic shifts in psychoanalysis have occurred, in part, because of the inability of the classical model to provide a language that adequately captures deeply felt human values and beliefs. Aided by hermeneutic and postmodern influences, many contemporary psychoanalytic theories are beginning to focus greater attention on the notion that analytic therapy is empowered by a set of ethical convictions, beliefs, and commitments, which are tied to a certain understanding of the good life. Along these lines, the author argues that developing a fresh understanding of the moral and ethical dimensions of psychoanalysis requires elaborating a new ontology of human subjectivity and social life. The author offers a sketch of how this gargantuan task might be started by integrating psychoanalysis within a hermeneutic perspective on dialogue, by suggesting that it would be helpful to view psychoanalysis as promoting Aristotelian practical wisdom or phronesis, and by rethinking psychoanalytic theory and interpretation as a form of practice.     

Acknowledging the Archetypal Elements of Grief

The universality of grief as a soul-aching experience within the human condition is evident in even the oldest recorded stories and myths around the world. Theories and scientific studies in the past few decades have attempted to understand the phenomenon of grief, forming a significant body of research and a myriad of ideas and guidelines for the grieving process. Acknowledgment and appreciation of the archetypal elements of grief broadens our understanding of the painful emotions that arise as part of a natural reaction in the aftermath of loss and can assist helping professionals to make wise choices for therapeutic interventions in clinical practice.     

Le genou de Clémence ou l'espace nostrique comme perspective psychothérapeutique

The writer uses the case study of Clemence' knee to present the phenomenological concept of Wirheit in german (Nostrité in french) which can be translate into "being with" or "being together" in english. This concept is worth knowing in psychology because it can run the psychotherapeutic treatment more effective: care proceedings which will be able to create their own "being with" area vill start again the existential dimension of the patient; this sentient and unrepresentable (so unanalysable) base of the psychical human identity. In practice, we'll see that this therapeutic « being with » consists in working a spontaneous problematic "being with" called out by the patient. This defensive position can be identified in the light of a cover for the human being core. With the therapeutic help, such a "being with" will become the place of the embodied and incorporated self as a competent base for existence. It is noteworthy that the method used to make the reader's understanding easier is to start from a psychanalytic understanding of Clemence's problematic to move on a phenomenological one, so as to draw the efficient sight, for psychology, of this "being with" concept came from philosophy.     

Spirituality and Meditative Practice: Research Opportunities and Challenges

Meditative practices have a long history in India and have influenced contemporary meditative programs elsewhere in the world. Over the last several decades, the use of meditation as a therapeutic tool has been investigated in regard to physical, emotional and behavioral effects with impressive results. In parallel to this has been a growing interest in research on spirituality, spiritual growth, and therapeutic modalities that incorporate the spiritual dimension of the person. Ironically, very little research has explored the interface between these two constructs, despite how closely linked they are traditionally. This paper addresses the range of ways in which spirituality and spiritual development might be fruitfully investigated in the context of meditative practice, bringing further understanding to both psychological constructs. Furthermore, the widely recognized significance of both meditative and spiritual experiences suggests that cross-cultural research may be particularly valuable at identifying factors that engage the universal human capacity of spirituality, and the particular potential for meditative practice in doing so.     

An operations model of psychosocial structure and function and of psychotherapy

Currently, personality theory and clinical psychology have a fairly substantial tradition of promoting a strongly scientific basis for clinical work and theorizing. However, an appropriate foundation model has been difficult to identify and establish. A theory of human operations, here proposed, may provide such an elementary model. The theory is rooted in the organizational and industrial field known as operations, which is a highly systematic, precise, flexible, scientific approach to the understanding and management of human goal-seeking action in the broadest sense. The proposed model includes the classical humanistic, clinical, and decision theoretic notions of values, cognition, emotions, ego, behavior, objectives, outcomes, feedback, and defenses. These notions are placed within an overall operations frame of reference and developed in such a manner that they can be used to assess human clinical problems and to design therapeutic interventions. The strengths and limitations of the model are discussed.     

Implications of the Empirically Supported Treatment Movement for Psychoanalysis

In this article, I critique the empirically supported treatment (EST) movement and discuss the limitations of traditional psychotherapy research from a psychoanalytic perspective. The EST movement is based on a medical model that assumes that a psychotherapeutic treatment can be conceptualized independent of the human relationship in which it takes place. Psychotherapy and psychoanalysis are, however, treatments only in a metaphorical sense and are more akin to educational processes than medical treatments. Every therapeutic dyad is unique, and research that treats therapy as a standardized, disembodied entity will not contribute to our understanding. Nevertheless, there is a real need for psychoanalysts to become more actively involved in psychotherapy research both for political and scientific reasons. Although I do not believe that “empirical validation” in the form envisaged by the American Psychological Association task force is a realistic goal, I do believe in the value of microscopic studies of therapeutic process, particularly in the context of research-informed case histories.     

APP23 mice as a model of Alzheimer's disease: an example of a transgenic approach to modeling a CNS disorder

Animal models are considered essential in research ensuing elucidation of human disease processes and subsequently, testing of potential therapeutic strategies. This is especially true for neurodegenerative disorders, in which the first steps in pathogenesis are often not accessible in human patients. Alzheimer's disease is vastly becoming a major medical and socioeconomic problem in our aging society. Valid animal models for this uniquely human condition should exhibit histopathological, biochemical, cognitive, and behavioral alterations observed in Alzheimer's disease patients. Major progress has been made since the understanding of the genetic basis of Alzheimer's disease and the development and improvement of transgenic mouse models. All present Alzheimer's disease models developed are partial but nevertheless essential in further unraveling the nature and spatial and temporal development of the complex molecular pathology underlying this condition. One of the more recent transgenic attempts to model Alzheimer's disease is the APP23 transgenic mouse. This article describes the development and assessment of this human amyloid precursor protein overexpression model. We summarize histopathological and biochemical, cognitive and behavioral observations made in heterozygous APP23 mice, thereby emphasizing the model's contribution to clarification of neurodegenerative disease mechanisms. In addition, the first therapeutic interventions in the APP23 model are included.     

Therapy for helpless monkeys

During the course of pilot studies and two formal experiments examining the learned-helplessness phenomenon in rhesus monkeys, 5 subjects failed to escape in a shuttlebox following earlier experience with aversive stimulation in primate-restraining chairs. The present report details a therapeutic manipulation designed to reverse these subjects' maladaptive behavior in the shuttlebox. Introduction of a different fear stimulus (a net previously used to restrain the animals) was found to be effective in inducing shuttlebox escape and avoidance learning. The implications of the present findings for an understanding of the learned-helplessness phenomenon and their relevance to therapy for human depression are discussed.     

Ontological and epistemological reflexivity: A core skill for therapists

This paper argues that a core skill needed to be an effective therapist is to have developed an awareness of one's own ontological and epistemological positions in relation to one's work as a therapist. In the same way that researchers need to develop reflexive awareness of their assumptions about what there is to know (ontology) and how they can come to know about it (epistemology), therapists need to be aware of their fundamental assumptions about human beings and the world they live in (ontology), as well as their beliefs about how best to develop an understanding of their clients and the meaning(s) of their experiences (epistemology). Regardless of which therapeutic model is adopted, the language used to talk about (and in) therapy, the kinds of questions asked of clients and the comments/interpretations offered, all presuppose and reinforce particular versions of human being and experiencing, which are themselves not usually questioned or challenged during the course of therapy. It is essential that therapists are aware of their own fundamental assumptions about what it means to be human and that they recognise their ontological and epistemological positions as positions that they are taking (rather than perceiving them to be self‐evident truths). This is important for two reasons: (a) if clients do not share the therapist's assumptions, the therapeutic work cannot proceed and be effective; and (b) without such an awareness, therapists are at risk of unwittingly imposing their own model of the person upon the client which raises ethical issues.     

MAKING ROOM FOR MADNESS IN MENTAL HEALTH: THE IMPORTANCE OF ANALYTICALLY‐INFORMED SUPERVISION OF NURSES AND OTHER MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

In this paper, I discuss the importance of psychoanalytically informed supervision and training of nurses and other professionals in mental health settings. Using examples from supervision groups I will illustrate how a psychoanalytic approach to mental health can complement other ways of thinking about practice and management. Psychoanalysis provides a framework for understanding the relationship between the internal world of the patients, the therapeutic relationship and the social system. I will also argue that this understanding helps to develop and maintain therapeutic factors while reducing the risk of damaging behaviour and beliefs.     

在科学与伦理之间——人胚胎干细胞研究向何处去

人胚胎干细胞的研究使我们不得不在科学与道德之间作选择。治疗性克隆是如帕金森氏病、糖尿病等许多疾病的最有潜力的治疗方法。体细胞核转移是治疗性克隆关键步骤,因此治疗性克隆与克隆人只有一步之遥。科学史证明,科学的进步给人类带来了许多福利而不是灾难。我们不能低估人类理性的力量。