The T. Mort. Chaplaincy at Ground Zero: Presence and Privilege on Holy Ground

Drawing on interviews with the chaplains and archival material from Disaster Chaplaincy Services—NY, this article discusses the formation of the chaplaincy at the Temporary Mortuary at Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It describes the initial chaplaincy response in New York by local clergy and the SAIR team of the American Red Cross. The first 6 weeks of chaplaincy at Ground Zero are explored highlighting the significant contributions of the Archdiocese of New York and Episcopal Diocese of New York out of St. Paul’s Chapel. The mission and impact of the Temporary Mortuary chaplains’ ministry of presence and blessing is discussed with some final reflections for the future of Disaster Chaplaincy.     

Beyond Co-Existence to Mutual Influence: An Interdisciplinary Method for Psychoanalysis and Religion

As the disciplines of psychoanalysis and religion find themselves in a heightened cross-disciplinary context, issues of methodology remain at the forefront. This article constructs an interdisciplinary method based on the image of psychoanalysis and religion as neighbors who border along an “intimate edge”—a space of simultaneously overlapping, yet distinct concern. Using what is termed a “hermeneutic of mischievousness,” this method maintains an interpretive location for that which preserves, transgresses, and transcends the disciplinary boundaries. The article concludes with a brief application of the method to the relationship between the “analytic third” and Christian trinitarian theology.

What Really Happened: A Tribute to John C. Fletcher

John C. Fletcher, a pioneer in the field of bioethics and friend and mentor to many generations of bioethicists, died tragically on May 27th at the age of 72. The son of an Episcopal priest from Bryan, TX, Fletcher graduated in 1953 with a degree in English Literature from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. After completing a Masters in Divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary and a stint as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Heidelberg in 1956, he was ordained in the Episcopal Church and received a doctorate in Christian ethics from the Union Theological Seminary in New York. After ordination, Fletcher worked in various Episcopal churches and founded the Interfaith Metropolitan Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. However, despite his religious faith, he was also a skeptic, and renounced his ordination in the mid-1990s due to his need for ‘intellectual honesty.’

Fletcher began his bioethics contributions in the early 1970's, when he became a founding Fellow of the Hastings Center and eventually the first Chief of the Bioethics Program at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. At the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, he was the Founding Director of the Center for Bioethics and a professor of biomedical ethics at the medical school, and became the Kornfeld Professor of Biomedical Ethics until his retirement in 1999. Fletcher was a prominent authority and voice in the national and international bioethical dialogue through his talks, his testimonies before scientific and congressional panels, his many articles, and his bioethical and religiously-orientated books, including: An Introduction to Clinical Ethics (1997), Coping with Genetic Disorders: a Guide for Clergy and Parents (1982), Ethics and Human Genetics: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (1989), which he wrote with sociologist Dorothy C. Wertz. Dr. Fletcher received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities in 2000. With the passing of Dr. John C. Fletcher, bioethics has lost one of its great voices, a dedicated teacher and mentor, and a friend and colleague to scholars in bioethics and a host of other fields. Below is a touching tribute from one of his former students.     

The Priest’s Husband

Clergy self-concepts provide an important resource for research into the psychosocial pressures that often breed domestic tension and marital discord in ministerial families. More than 30 years ago the Journal of Religion and Health published (15:3, 1976) Platt and Moss’s initial study of clergy families, research focused on the self-perceptions of the wives of Episcopal priests. That investigation explored some of the intrapsychic ingredients and interpersonal concerns of these women. Oden now concentrates on clergy spouses from a different vantage—the historically recent phenomenon of the Episcopal priest’s husband. This article grows out of the first formal study of such a growing parochial reality. Husbands of priests present novel issues because there has never been anyone like them before. They are men who will inevitably find themselves confronted by congregational expectations that can modify their self-concepts and retailer their marriages, “for better or for worse”.     

NINE EXPERTS DESCRIBE THE ESSENCE OF RATIONAL-EMOTIVE THERAPY WHILE STANDING ON ONE FOOT

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of agreement among a panel of rational-emotive therapy (RET) experts about the essence of RET. The panel of experts consisted of the 9 members of The International Training Standards and Review Committee of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy in New York. The question that the experts were asked was an adaptation of a Talmudic story known in Jewish lore as “While Standing on One Foot.” Responses were assigned to either of 2 categories: general cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or RET-specific. There seems to be a range of responses that capture the essence of RET. A strong case can be made for subsuming many aspects of CBT under RET because much of what is associated with CBT has its origins in RET. The confusion about where RET ends and general CBT begins goes to the very heart of RET’s status today. Reprinted from Journal of Counseling & Development, March/April 1996, Volume 74. ACA. Reprinted with permission. No further reproduction authorized without written permission from the American Counseling Association. Stephen G. Weinrach, who maintained a private practice in Havertown, Pennsylvania, was a professor of counseling and human relations at Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, and a Fellow of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy in New York. The author was grateful to Michael Bernard, Raymond DiGiuseppe, Windy Dryden, Albert Ellis, Howard Kassinove, G. Barry Morris, Ann Vernon, and Janet Wolfe for their responses on which this article was based. The author expressed particular appreciation to Martin Gerstein, Jeffrey K. Messing, Ellen Finkelstein, Joanne Christopher, and Colleen Deeter, who provided valuable editorial assistance. Raymond DiGiuseppe and Windy Dryden made the publication of this study possible through their generous assistance and incisive knowledge of rational-emotive therapy.     

Central New York Psychiatric Center: an approach to the treatment of co-occurring disorders in the New York State correctional mental health system

Central New York Psychiatric Center operates a maximum security inpatient treatment hospital and outpatient mental health services for all of the 72 New York State prisons. In this article prevalence data, patient characteristics, and interventions offered to inmates diagnosed with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorders in the New York State prison system are reviewed and discussed. Available interventions have resulted from the close collaboration of the State Department of Correctional Services and State Office of Mental Health. Aspects of current programs and plans for future service developments are discussed along with implications for the treatment of an offender population diagnosed with a co-occurring disorder.     

Remembering Nat Schoenfeld

William Nathan Schoenfeld was born in New York City on December 6, 1915, and died in Sun City West, Arizona, on August 3, 1996. He was an undergraduate at the College of the City of New York, where he received a BS degree in 1937. He received his PhD from Columbia University in 1942 and then continued there as a faculty member, advancing from lecturer to full professor. In 1966 he moved to Queens College of the City University of New York, where he remained until his retirement in 1983. During his years at Queens, he also took on visiting appointments in Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela. In retirement, he spent roughly a decade in Israel, where he occasionally taught as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He returned to the United States for his final years. He is survived by his wife, Melanie, their three children, Rivka, Joshua and Naomi, and a son, Mark, from a previous marriage.     

A Group Approach Used for Counseling Perpetrators of Sexual Crimes in a Prison Setting

This article describes a group approach for working with incarcerated male perpetrators of incest or incest-like crimes. The article is based on a program currently being pilot tested in the New York State prison system at Collins Correctional Facility. Suggestions for interviewing group members are given, an approach for treatment is described, and termination guidelines are discussed.     

Surviving Incarceration: Two Prison-Based Peer Programs Build Communities of Support for Female Offenders

Both men and women adopt various roles in the inmate subculture to survive the pains of imprisonment. It is assumed that one reason females feel the pains of imprisonment more harshly than males is because of the difficulty in being separated from their family and children. To ameliorate the pains of separation, female inmates re-create their lost family in prison. Recent works have found that the nature of America's female prison “pseudo family” may be evolving, and correspondingly, diminishing in importance. Since one's associates in prison can affect institutional adjustment, being associated with a supportive social network can prevent periods of maladjustment. This exploratory study, based on the narratives of 49 female offenders, examined the effects of two HIV prison-based peer programs on inmate peers in New York State and its unique ability to help these female offenders cope with the pains of incarceration. The author found that such programs provided leadership, support, and guidance for female offenders, and not only created a prosocial environment, but fashioned an entire community. This community continued outside of the prison walls, provided women with emotional support, and subsequently resulted in increased levels of institutional and post-release success. The use of prison-based peer programs creates a positive, conventionally oriented alternative to the traditional female pseudo family and poses significant implications for rehabilitation and reentry initiatives.     

A modern psychoanalytic approach to caregiver support groups

Caregiver support groups traditionally focus on education, reduction of social isolation, and supportive sharing. However, the support group literature has increasingly reflected an interest in the emotional effects of caregiving. While some authors promote the therapeutic value of supporting defenses against painful feelings, others have documented the value of encouraging their expression in groups. This paper is based on the author’s experience in co-leading an Alzheimer’s family support group, using a modern psychoanalytic approach which encourages the full expression of the caregivers’ emotional experience. Using emotional communication to explore resistances to intimacy and aggression in groups, the author demonstrates how the interplay of co-leadership and Modern Psychoanalytic theory and techniques promotes group cohesion and encourages maturational growth in group members. This model is also prescribed as an antidote to leader “burnout,” a not uncommon phenomenon for leaders of such emotionally charged groups. Private Practice, New York, New York.     

Reducing REBT’s “Wince Factor:” an insider’s perspective

The author discusses three aspects of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) that occasionally make him wince. They are: REBT does not adequately address issues relating to diversity-sensitive counseling; there is a tendency for some REBT adherents to display poor interpersonel skills, and lack a philosophical commitment to the interdependence of humans on one another; and, there is a tendency for REBT to promise more than it can deliver. A list of 15 recommendations and wishes for a “new and improved” version of REBT are included. Reprinted from Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 14(1), 63–78, 1996. The author expressed his appreciation to Dominic DiMattia and Ellen Finkelstein who provided valuable suggestion to a draft version of this article and to Windy Dryden who initiated this dialog and saw it through to its publication. Stephen G. Weinrach was a professor of counseling and human relations at Villanova, PA and a Fellow of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy in New York. He maintained a private practice in Havertown, PA. He died in 2004.     

Instruktivt Och Fylligt Om Beteendeanalys

Abstract

Medical psychology: Contributions to behavioral medicine C. K. Prokop and L. A. Bradley (Eds.): New York: Academic Press 1981, 525 sid. Reviewed by Karl-Olov Fagerström.

The utilization of classroom peers as behavior change agents Phillip S. Strain (Ed.): New York: Plenum Press, 1981. Reviewed by Arnold Torstenson.

Resistance: Phychodynamic and behavioral approaches Paul L. Wachtel: New York and London: Plenum Press, 1982 Reviewed by Bo Melin.     

Hiroshima and the King of Tyre

This paper—originally a sermon––addresses issues involved with nuclear idolatry from a biblical perspective. It utilizes psychological understanding and historical narrative as a context for theological reflection. It thus places depth psychological insight in service of social ethics. It was delivered at the Church of the Epiphany, Manhattan, New York, on August 14, 2005. The Rev. Curtis Hart, M.Div, is Director of Pastoral Care and Education, and Lecturer in Public Health, Medicine,and Psychiatry, Division of Medical Ethics, at the Weill Cornell Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.     

Review Essay: The Fate of Romance Over Time

Can Love Last? The Fate of Romance Over Time by Stephen A. Mitchell (New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2002, 224 pp.)

This review of Stephen Mitchell's posthumously published book details the intelligence, vitality, and emotional depth that so many found in Mitchell as writer, teacher, colleague, analyst, friend, and family member. The review also notes the loss that Mitchell's death brought to the lives of individuals and to the life of the psychoanalytic movement.     

BOOK REVIEWS

The Myth of Masculinity. JOSEPH H. PLECK, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1981, 229 pp., $22.50.
Women and Mental Health . E lizabeth H owell and M arjorie B ayes (Eds.), New York: Basic Books, 1981, 448 pp., $27.50 hardbound; $18.95 paper.
Women in the Middle East , three 16 mm films, color, 26 minutes each, released 1982, $425 each ($50 rental), $260 in videocassette, New York, Icarus Films.
A Wives' Tale , 16 mm, color, 73 minutes, $1, 000 ($100 rental), New York, The Cinema Guild.     

The problem of relapse in stuttering: Some thoughts on what might cause it and how to deal with it

Bloodstein recently wrote that “the most vital part of science is not accurate measurement or the insistence on empiricism. It is an attitude of inquiry into the how and why of things” [Bloodstein, O. Foreword. In: Maintenance of Fluency (E. Boberg ed.). New York: Elsevier, 1981, p. vii]. In the paper below, I present some unsubstantiated and no doubt controversial thoughts on the how and why of relapse in stuttering. The overall thrust of these thoughts is that stutterers have different propensities to stutter because of the inherent variability in their speech production systems. For this reason, for therapy to have long-range success, stutterers must learn to accept and deal with the inherent variability in their speech production mechanisms.     

A Review of “Where did the gods go?”

Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men's Lives and Loves. By Jean Shinoda Bolen. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.

Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women. By Sylvia Brinton Perera. Toronto: Inner City Books, 1981.

The Goddess Within: A Guide to the Eternal Myths That Shape Women's Lives. By Jennifer Barker Woolger and Roger J. Woolger. New York: Fawcett Books 1989.     

A Review of: “The Use of Dreams in Couple Counseling”

Avalanche: Heretical Reflections on the Dark and the Light. By W. Brugh Joy, M. D. New York: Ballantine, 1990.

Carnal Acts. By Nancy Mairs. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1990.

Anne Heath is a free-lance writer and artist with a background in journalism, poetry, and radio drama. She is currently working on a book about travel as a rite-of-passage for women in mid-life.

The Untouched Key. By Alice Miller. New York: Doubleday, 1990.

“To blame is to hold on to anger as though it could compensate for what we lost. Nothing can. Only griming can heal us…”

Crisis Intervention Verbatim. By Nira Kfir. (1989). New York: Hemisphere Publishing.

The Japanese Psyche. By Hayao Kawai. Dallas, Texas: Spring Publications, 1988.

The Psychology of C. G. Jung: Vol. 111. Consciousness. By C. A. Meier. Boston: Sigo Press, 1989.

Progress without Loss of Soul: TO-ward a Wholistic Approach Modernization Planning. B y Theodor Abt. Wilmette, Illinois: Chiron Publications, 1989.

Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. By Stephen LaBerge and Howard Reingold. New York: Valentine books, 1990.

“The rapid acceptance of lucid dreaming suggests that it will have a significant impact on the way that dreams are perceived for both the general public and the scientific community.”

Body and Soul: The Other Side of Illness. By Albert Kreinheder. Toronto: Inner Cities. 1991.

Wisdom of the Heart: Working With Women's Dreams. By Karen A. Signell. New York: Bantam Books, 1990.     

Re: Views

Book reviewed in this article: Behavioral Group Therapy, 1981: An Annual Review: Dennis Upper and Steven M. Ross. Consulting with Parents and Teachers: Joseph H. Brown and Carolyn S. Brown. Workbook for Preparing a Modern High-Intensity Resume: Heinz Ulrich. Mentors & Proteges: Linda Phillips-Jones New York: Arbor House. Land That Job!: Thomas L. Moffatt New York: Harper & row.     

“Empty nest” or relationship restructuring? A rational-emotive approach to a mid-life transition

One of the problems which women face at mid-life, is the transition from active mothering to continuing motherhood. Mothering is a role which starts with the birth of a woman's first child, and ends with the independence of the last. Motherhood is a lifetime relationship. The transition from active mothering to continued motherhood is fraught with maladaptive potential for many women. RET provides the tools for helping women restructure the relationship to their adult children when the mothering role ends.Rose Oliver is a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City.Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 25th Anniversary Conference on Rational-Emotive Therapy, New York, NY, June, 1980, and the Eighth Annual Conference on Feminist Psychology, Boston, MA, March, 1981.This paper originally appeared inWomen & Therapy, Volume 1(2), Summer, 1982.