An Elegy,a Love Song,and a Lullaby

In the course of the past decade, I have found himself looking as much to poets and the experience of reading poetry as to the work of other analysts in my ongoing effort to become a psychoanalyst. Both the poet and the psychoanalyst are individuals whose life's work is that of making “raid[s] [on] the inarticulate” (Eliot, 1940, p. 128) in their effort to delve as deeply as possible into what it is to be human and to render that experience in the medium of language. To this end, I offer a reading of Seamus Heaney's (1987) “Clearances,” an elegy Heaney wrote for his mother soon after her death. I explore the ways in which the experience of mourning—whether in a poem or in an analytic experience—is not simply “conveyed” (as if illuminating something already there) but created in the very act of writing/saying the poem or of bringing feelings to life in words in an analytic session.

I begin by presenting a brief biographical account of Heaney not to “explain” his poetry in analytic terms but to allow the reader to create a more imaginative, more human reading of the poem as he or she enters into the conversation between the life of the man and the life of the poetry. Then I discuss the ways in which “Clearances” comes to life as a variety of coexisting forms of love that together shape an experience of grief.     

It’s Greek to me: Domain specific relationships between intellectual helplessness and academic performance

ABSTRACT

In a study of the domain specificity of intellectual learned helplessness, we collected data from 376 students in 14 classrooms. We measured feelings of intellectual helplessness for mathematics and language skills, anxiety about performance in each of these domains, and general working memory. Multilevel modeling analyses found that feelings of helplessness in language skills were negatively related to grades in language but were unrelated to grades in mathematics. Similarly, feelings of helplessness in mathematics were negatively related to grades in mathematics but were unrelated to grades in language. Controlling for anxiety or working memory did not change these relationships, nor did they vary across the age of students. The results support conceptualizations in which learned helplessness has a domain specific component.     

Project Destiny

Abstract

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders present significant challenges to educators and community professionals in contemporary practice. At the same time, parents of middle school students experience parenting as a difficult time period that is laden with a variety of feelings. A central strategy for assisting both parents and professionals during this developmental period is to work collaboratively with one another. This sharing of ideas and strategies is helpful in attaining goals for students that are usually not met in the absence of cooperative team work. Furthermore, the recommended direction for service provision for these youth is to work through a coordinated, interagency approach across the community.

This paper presents the first year's methods and initial findings from Project Destiny, a three year study that is attempting to enhance the knowledge and strategies of professionals, parents and community teams for working with middle school students having emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). Initial results from the project's work in three communities suggest that teachers at the middle schools have been interested and able in acquiring new knowledge and skills for working with the youth. These gains were evident in self-evaluations completed by the teachers. Additionally, 60% of parents of youth with EBD were recruited and participate regularly in parent support and advocacy groups. Efforts to integrate the project with local interagency teams have been somewhat less successful due to the current political and economic climate that has eliminated essential resource personnel on local teams. The Project Destiny model has merit for further replication and further analysis of student performance and will be completed in the final year of the project.     

The world and image of poetic language: Heidegger and Blanchot

This essay engages ways in which the manifestation of ??world?? occurs in poetry specifically through images, and how we can conceive of the imagination in this regard without reducing the imagination to a mimetic faculty of consciousness subordinate to cognition. Continental thought in the last century offers rich resources for this study. The notion of a ??world?? is related to the poetic image in ways fundamental to the Heidegger??s theory of language, and may be seen in Continental poetics following Heidegger, including Blanchot??s examination of poetry in his account of the space of literature. By means of images, I shall demonstrate, poetic language is exemplary in relation to ??world?? in two ways. (1) Images, poetically arranged, generate and open up a sense or experience of a world, specific to that poem, for its reader. Poetic images then, exhibit a generative evocation of world. (2) Through images, a poem may evoke the way in which space and time are inhabited as a world of human dwelling in an ontologically or existentially meaningful way. The relation of images to world is, then, an illumination or a disclosure of world. The first of these relations remains, to a large extent, immanent to the poem, but may be seen as an analogue of the essentially human experience of inhabiting a world. The second relation transcends the poem and relates the poem immediately to the existential framework of human dwelling.     

What Does it Mean to Notice my Students’ Ideas in Science Today?: An Investigation of Elementary Teachers’ Practice of Noticing their Students’ Thinking in Science

Abstract

Efforts toward improving K-12 science education emphasize teachers noticing students’ thinking as they engage in disciplinary practices and reasoning. This noticing requires specialized teacher knowledge and skills as it involves attending to students’ ideas, as well as making sense of and responding to those ideas so that the disciplinary substance in them is recognized, made explicit, and supported. This study investigates three elementary teachers’ in-the-moment noticing of students’ ideas while teaching science and their thinking about what it means to engage in this teaching practice. Results indicate that teachers notice many different kinds of student science ideas, and also that teachers have different ways of thinking about which student ideas are substantive during a science lesson. This research contributes to our theoretical understanding of the nature of teacher noticing in science. Noticing students’ science ideas involves not only the presence of ideas and the ability to notice them, but also a teacher’s understanding of this teaching practice in the moment.     

Trees and Us: Poetic Metaphors and Pastoral Images

This article elaborates on my earlier contention that poetry and pastoral care have a great deal in common (Capps, The Poet’s Gift, 1993) by focusing on Joyce Kilmer’s well-known poem “Trees.” I use this poem to support the metaphorical association of trees and human beings and to advocate for the pastoral image of the upholder. A brief sketch of Kilmer’s life is presented, and parodies of the poem are used to address the question whether pens are mightier than swords (a question that Kilmer’s own life as a poet and soldier also evokes). The article concludes with Denise Levertov’s poem “From Below” which, together with Kilmer’s “Trees,” illumines the image of the pastor as ordained to be the upholder of the community and of the individuals who comprise it.     

Vicissitudes of Student Group Psychotherapists

Abstract

This article describes the main processes and themes in consciousness-raising gender conflict groups for undergraduate students who study in parallel a course on gender and psychology. The main theme of the course is that gender is a classification system that influences individuals, interactions between individuals, and social institutions. The aim of the groups is to provide students with a safe environment to discuss their thoughts and feelings following the encounter of these ideas. Group leading is based on a combination of principles derived from consciousness-raising groups from the 1970s and a model for working with groups in conflict.     

Emotions and their computations: Three computer models

Abstract

Three computational models: a narrative reader (BORIS), an editorial reader (OpEd), and a stream of thought generator (DAYDREAMER), are presented and discussed, with specific focus on the emotion-related processing and representational elements of each. These models exhibit comprehension and/or generation of emotional behaviour through the interaction of cognitive processes (memory retrieval, planning, and reasoning) over intentional constructs (goals and beliefs).     

Medical Students’ Creation of Original Poetry,Comics, and Masks to Explore Professional Identity Formation

Introduction. This study examines differences in students’ perceived value of three artmaking modalities (poetry, comics, masks) and whether the resulting creative projects offer similar or different insights into medical students’ professional identity formation. Methods. Mixed-methods design using a student survey, student narrative comments and qualitative analysis of students’ original work. Results. Poetry and comics stimulated insight, but masks were more enjoyable and stress-reducing. All three art modalities expressed tension between personal and professional identities. Discussion. Regardless of type of artmaking, students express concern about encroachments of training on personal identity but hoped that personal and professional selves could be integrated.

     

The Inter-Life project: researching the potential of art,design and virtual worlds as a vehicle for assisting young people with key life changes and transitions

ABSTRACT

Careers work in the twenty-first century faces a key challenge in terms of digital technologies: to evaluate their potential for careers work in challenging settings. Given the rapidity of developments, technologies require evaluation in research innovations and naturalistic settings. Virtual worlds offer potential for careers and guidance work, and the therapeutic domain. To illustrate this, we present examples in which young people explore their feelings and ideas, plans and difficulties, while preparing for film-making. During this they develop important life transition skills. We argue that the power of virtual worlds – to support emotional and cognitive engagement – could be utilised in practice settings. We conclude that they are serious candidates as digital tools in the careers and guidance domain.     

Memoirs from a Mental Health Affiliation

SUMMARY

For students entering the Level II ficldwork experience in mental health, there is often great concern about one's ability to work effectively with the mentally ill population. Developing competency and comfort with this population is a critical area of practice and students can benefit from peer-oriented learning experiences which address their particular issues. This memoir recounts one student's log as a learning chronicle for the benefit of other students. It outlines common fears, coping skills and knowledge that are mastered during the course of practice in a typical psychiatric setting.     

When paying attention pays off: the mindfulness skill act with awareness promotes creative idea generation in groups

ABSTRACT

Past work has linked mindfulness to improved individual-level creativity, but remained silent about group-level creativity. Of all mindfulness skills, the ability to observe and attend to various stimuli (Observation) is the most powerful predictor of individual-level creativity. Studies examining effects of specific mindfulness skills on factors pertinent to group creativity suggest that for group-level creativity, the ability to focus attention with full awareness (Act with awareness), may be equally, or even more, important. We tested the relation between mindfulness and group-level creative idea generation using two brainstorming studies: one exploratory and one confirmatory. Mindfulness skills were either measured (Study 1; N = 88 groups) or the Act with awareness skill was targeted with a short, incidental guided meditation session (Study 2; N = 68 groups). Results from both studies showed differential relations between mindfulness and group creative idea generation: Only Act with awareness positively predicted the originality of ideas (Study 1 and 2) and the number of creative ideas in groups (Study 2). How mindfulness skills relate to creativity thus depends on the particular mindfulness skill involved and whether creativity happens at the individual or group level.     

A Study of Social and Political Attitudes Among Members of Propagandist Societies

Summary

The effects of anger arousal, type of expression, and communication destiny on anger and aggressive drive are examined. One hundred ten students were exposed to an insulting or a noninsulting communication. Subjects replied to the communication by supporting it, opposing it, or taking a neutral position. Some were told that their replies would be read by the person who had written the communication (target), and others that their responses would not be shown to the target. Results show that anger arousal produced more hostility than the nonarousal and that anger arousal interacted with type of expression. Angry subjects who had expressed their feelings became more hostile than subjects who had expressed the opposite of their feelings. Angry subjects who had taken a neutral position, however, were lowest in hostility. Experimental effects attributable to other variables were nonsignificant. The results are interpreted in terms of a cognitive interference hypothesis.     

Are there gender differences in cognitive reflection? Invariance and differences related to mathematics

ABSTRACT

Cognitive reflection is recognized as an important skill, which is necessary for making advantageous decisions. Even though gender differences in the Cognitive Reflection test (CRT) appear to be robust across multiple studies, little research has examined the source of the gender gap in performance. In Study 1, we tested the invariance of the scale across genders. In Study 2, we investigated the role of math anxiety, mathematical reasoning, and gender in CRT performance. The results attested the measurement equivalence of the Cognitive Reflection Test – Long (CRT- L), when administered to male and female students. Additionally, the results of the mediation analysis showed an indirect effect of gender on CRT-L performance through mathematical reasoning and math anxiety. The direct effect of gender was no longer statistically significant after accounting for the other variables. The current findings suggest that cognitive reflection is affected by numerical skills and related feelings.     

Incongruent Feeling States in Psychoanalysis

ABSTRACT

Analysts occasionally find that we have dreamt of a patient or experienced feelings in sessions that appear to have nothing to do with the feelings or content presented by the patient. This can be disturbing or confusing, but is always fascinating. This article defines and illustrates these phenomena, grapples with their meanings, and attempts to understand how they came about.     

Resistant Readers?

Abstract

This article employs three complementary motivation theories to analyze the difficulties of Kelly, a student who has been termed a “resistant reader.” Twelve questions, emanating from the three theories, are offered to guide the analysis of factors contributing to Kelly's avoidance of reading. Each question is accompanied by strategies to encourage reading. The reader is cautioned against incorrect and pejorative assumptions when working with students like Kelly. The term resistant reader is rejected as inaccurate.     

Out of the Ashes

SUMMARY

From the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, a consumer describes her painful journey through a long course of psychosocial rehabilitation in a day treatment program, culminating in the cherished goal of emptoyment. As an individual with multiple disabilities, her past experience with occupational therapy in physical rehabilitation only addressed the presenting body part, not the whole person. Her feelings and need to learn emotional coping skills were not acknowledged until her desperate call for help through an overdose. In the process of becoming whole, she deals with the new stigma of an even more disabling label-mental illness.     

Fieldwork Journal at F.E.G.S.

SUMMARY

The challenge of working with the mentally ill population on the first Level I fieldwork exposure is often experienced in a setting where the on-site supervisor is a therapist from another discipline. Many skilled mental health professionals can offer a rich learning experience and assist students in mastering generic clinical skills in relating to and understanding the psychiatric population. Occupational therapy students bring to this clinical relationship the opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions through group work, and individual evaluation and treatment, which benefits both the clients and the larger program. This article recounts the journal of a Level I student's journey through a setting that provided a receptive environment for fostering growth in the process of becoming truly comfortable and effective in the skills and roles of an occupational therapist in a mental health environment.     

Perceptions of Sense of Control,Relative Deprivation,and Expectations of Young Jews and Palestinians in Israel

Abstract

The author focused on the impact of personal deprivation, sense of control, and social context on the future expectations of advantaged and discriminated groups. Analysis of 6,430 Jewish and Palestinian high school students in Israel showed that Palestinian students had lower expectations and stronger feelings of deprivation than Jewish students. Also those who felt deprived had lower expectations regarding the prospects of marriage and the probability of owning a home and a car and of holding a permanent job. However, sense of control influenced these expectations more than did feelings of deprivation. The findings indicated that the processes by which future expectations are formed might be different for Jewish and Palestinian students and that these differences are—at least in part—related to long-term discrimination against Palestinians in Israel.