The effectiveness of collaborative story building and telling in facilitating group cohesion in a college classroom setting

This study tested the notion that the construction and telling of a collaborative group story would facilitate the development of group cohesion within the context of an actual classroom setting over the duration of the course. Participants were 125 students in 8 classes (4 experimental, 4 control) of a group psychotherapy course that focused on the principles and techniques of cognitive behavior therapy in conjunction with psychodrama techniques. Results showed significantly higher cohesion scores in the experimental condition compared to the control condition, suggesting that collaborative story building and telling is a viable strategy for improving group cohesion.     

形形色色的算命迷信

最近,收到一位不到20岁的海外学子的来信,信中说他带着从小的梦想和满腔的热情到国外攻读学位,但意外的看了"好易通"上的八字命评,说是什么"此人般般事不成,得来即是去之时",自此精神上受到了打击,生活和学习都摆脱不了这个迷信的阴影,十分苦恼,希望得到帮助.     

Understanding Transference and Countertransference

Abstract

Professional misconduct-especially misconduct involving client-worker boundary violationsgenerates serious costs for clinical social workers. It harms the very clients we aim to help; it frequently tarnishes the reputation of not only the individual social worker involved but also the face of the entire profession; and, it adds significantly to the overall costs of malpractice insurance. This paper defines the scope of the problem and provides support for understanding transference and countertransference as important contributors to prevention.     

Transference in Psychological Testing

Transference as a theoretical construct within the conceptual framework of psychoanalysis is examined, pointing out the limitations this imposes on its use. After discussing why the term transference cannot be applied to psychological testing, the ways in which it has been misused are presented. The concept of externalization is introduced as an important means of understanding the structural dynamics of patients being tested, and its relevance to transference is stressed.     

Depth of Transference in Groups

An ongoing controversy in the field of group psychotherapy is whether transference regression is greater in groups than in individual treatment. There appears to be a general consensus that group behavior may be understood as operating on at least three levels—the conscious–rational, the oedipally determined transference, and the preoedipal maternal transference level. The more rational levels are associated with transference dilution, whereas the more primitive levels accompany transference intensification. Dilution occurs as a result of reality demands and inputs of the group situation and because of multiple targets of displacement. Transference intensification is a product of mutual stimulation, contagion effect, frustrating inputs, and support of the group theme. Certain patients benefit most from the dilution features of a group, and others profit most from intensification. The therapist's technique and the patient's pathology are the main determinants of which aspect gets emphasized and utilized.