Using the Sand Tray to Facilitate Client Creativity: A Strengths Focused Approach to Adolescent Depression

Interventions incorporating the sand tray are presented as a tool for facilitating creative solutions in adolescent clients presenting with depression. The authors describe how interventions using the sand tray promote client strengths and provide a tool for adolescent clients to better understand their depressive symptoms, identify triggers, and practice coping skills. Attention will be given to how these interventions can be used across counseling perspectives including cognitive-behavioral, narrative, and psychodramatic approaches. The intervention is described and the authors present a case study of its use with an adolescent client experiencing significant levels of depression.     

Sandtray Therapy: A Familial Approach to Healing Through Imagination

The application of creative techniques in counseling is often tailored to a unique problem, and limited by individual characteristics of the client. One intervention, sandtray therapy, a derivative of play therapy, has gained strong momentum as a creative technique. With greater flexibility for treating a much larger population, sandtray therapy is more applicable for families than other creative approaches. The purpose of the current article is to give an overview of sand tray therapy, as well as provide information regarding its use for working with families. Specifically, the authors discuss exactly how counselors can successfully incorporate sandtray therapy in the familial population setting, and describe its application through case study.     

Implementing Adlerian Sand Tray Therapy With Adult Male Substance Abuse Offenders: A Phenomenological Inquiry

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions of adult male substance offenders who experienced sand tray therapy as an adjunct to their cognitive behavioral rehabilitative treatment. Results indicate a positive experience for participants. Implications for counselors are discussed.     

Changes in Limb Stiffness Under Conditions of Mental Stress

In 2 experiments, the effects of mental stress on limb stiffness were investigated. The relative contribution to arm stiffness of individual muscle activity, co-contraction, muscle reflexes, and postural adjustments were examined. In each experiment, participants (N = 24, Experiment 1; N = 16, Experiment 2) held their supinated hand under a tray that they were required to return to horizontal after it had been suddenly released. Electromyographic activity in the biceps and triceps muscles was recorded, as were elbow and wrist angles and tray displacement. In Experiment 1, mental arithmetic stress was shown to lead to decreased tray displacement (i.e., increased resistance) compared with displacements under the control, unstressed condition, as well as to increased elbow flexion before tray release. In Experiment 2, the increased resistance to perturbation caused by mental stress was found to be independent of initial elbow angle, but to vary as a function of the amount of upward force exerted before tray release. The authors conclude that stress-induced increases in limb stiffness result from changes in the initial position of the elbow, specified by its angle, together with the initial force exerted by participants to counteract the mechanical perturbations.     

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Techniques for Counseling Incarcerated Female Adolescents: A Case Illustration

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) may successfully address the needs of female juvenile offenders, but systemic barriers prohibit adherence to the full DBT protocol. The authors built a rationale for using select DBT techniques with female adolescent offenders and provided a case illustration.     

Changes in limb stiffness under conditions of mental stress

In 2 experiments, the effects of mental stress on limb stiffness were investigated. The relative contribution to arm stiffness of individual muscle activity, co-contraction, muscle reflexes, and postural adjustments were examined. In each experiment, participants (N = 24, Experiment 1; N = 16, Experiment 2) held their supinated hand under a tray that they were required to return to horizontal after it had been suddenly released. Electromyographic activity in the biceps and triceps muscles was recorded, as were elbow and wrist angles and tray displacement. In Experiment 1, mental arithmetic stress was shown to lead to decreased tray displacement (i.e., increased resistance) compared with displacements under the control, unstressed condition, as well as to increased elbow flexion before tray release. In Experiment 2, the increased resistance to perturbation caused by mental stress was found to be independent of initial elbow angle, but to vary as a function of the amount of upward force exerted before tray release. The authors conclude that stress-induced increases in limb stiffness result from changes in the initial position of the elbow, specified by its angle, together with the initial force exerted by participants to counteract the mechanical perturbations.     

Incarcerated and Court‐Involved Adolescents: Counseling an At‐Risk Population

In this article, the authors provide the counselor wishing to work with incarcerated adolescents with background information relating to the current scope of the problem and the current state of the juvenile justice system in the United States. The authors also review the current research regarding juvenile delinquency and outline a series of clinical techniques. The authors close by providing a developmental framework for enhancing the understanding of and guiding treatment for this difficult population.     

Attributions toward violence of male juvenile delinquents: a concurrent mixed-methodological analysis

The authors investigated male juvenile delinquents' causal attributions about others' behavior and the salient pieces of information that the male juveniles used in arriving at their attributions. Participants were 82 male juvenile offenders whom the authors drew randomly from the population of juveniles who were incarcerated at a correctional facility. A concurrent mixed-methodological analysis revealed that the juvenile offenders committed attributional errors about violence nearly 53% of the time. Race and number of prior arrests predicted the number of attributional errors about violence. A phenomenological analysis revealed the following 7 themes stemming from juveniles' reasons for causal attributions: self-control, violation of rights, provocation, irresponsibility, poor judgment, fate, and conflict resolution. Some of these themes were related to age, ethnicity, and number of prior arrests. The authors discussed implications of all findings.     

Working with patients with disruptions in symbolic capacity1

This article focuses on understanding and working with patients who have poorly developed symbolic capacity, or for whom symbolic capacity has been disrupted due to trauma, particularly as it pertains to the use of reverie and interpretation in the analytic process. Many patients who present for Jungian analysis will initially present with deficits in symbolic functioning. This situation results in necessary limitations or modifications in utilizing traditional Jungian techniques such as dream analysis, active imagination, sand tray and other expressive art techniques. The initial phase of analytic work with these patients requires a focus on developing their symbolic capacity before traditional Jungian techniques can be utilized effectively. During the paper Jung's concept of ‘the symbolic attitude’ will be examined as well as the conceptual models of Wilfred Bion and other post-Bionians who outline theories and method for cultivating symbolic capacity and reflective functioning in patients for whom these capacities are impaired or poorly developed.     

Sandplay: Psychotrauma Signs in Asylum Seeking Adolescents

ABSTRACT

This research aimed to identify signs suggesting psychotrauma in Sandplay scenarios of unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents in the Netherlands. The Sandplay method involves the client constructing a three-dimensional scenario in a standardised sand tray, indicating representations of one’s experiences, emotions, and life events. The first Sandplay of 12 adolescents (equally girls/boys ages 15–17 years from African origin) referred to mental health treatment were analysed. Participants signed an informed consent for research. The material investigated procedure reports and photographs of the Sandplay scenarios; the analysis included titles, clients’ commentaries, themes, and contents of the scenarios. Results have shown common use of vehicles, animal, and soldier miniatures, with little engagement with the sand. Most of the scenarios suggested psychological wounding being incomplete representational and mixed, aggressive, empty, closed, and disorganised, displaying the need for protection and nurturance. The most common themes also indicated psychological trauma, presenting elements of emptiness, threatening, and split. The results confirmed literature related to psychotrauma, although Sandplay research with adolescents is rare in the field. Therefore, this research contributes to the understanding of psychotrauma, supporting the use of Sandplay as a nonverbal psychological assessment method for early diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder in that population.     

Sandplay therapy with couples within the framework of analytical psychology

Sandplay therapy with couples is discussed within an analytical framework. Guidelines are proposed as a means of developing this relatively new area within sandplay therapy, and as a platform to open a wider discussion to bring together sandplay therapy and couple therapy. Examples of sand trays created during couple therapy are also presented to illustrate the transformations during the therapeutic process.     

Constructing culture in cowbirds (Molothrus ater)

In past work, the authors produced divergent patterns of courtship and communication in juvenile male cowbirds (Molothrus ater) by providing them with different social experiences during their 1st year. Here the authors determined whether these different social patterns could be transmitted to new generations of juvenile males. In Experiment 1, the authors exposed groups of juveniles to adult males who differed in the amount of male-male competition they produced. In Experiment 2, they gave groups of juveniles either social access to adult males or only visual and acoustic access to those males. In both experiments, juvenile males developed patterns of courtship and competition similar to those expressed by the adult males with whom they had social contact. The juveniles never had the opportunity to observe some of the adults' behaviors that they came to replicate. This suggests that the role of the adults was to establish the social structure in the groups, modifying juveniles' early social interactions. Juveniles were then "cultured" within these different learning environments, constructing social behavior similar to the adult males' behavior in their 1st year.     

Emotional Stress: Investigating the Restrictiveness of Residential Security and the Pains of Juvenile Incarceration

The authors found significant differences in emotional stress levels experienced by juvenile offenders confined to facilities having higher degrees of security and structure.     

Evidence of means–end behavior in Asian elephants (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Elephas maximus</Emphasis>)

The present study explores to what extent Asian elephants show “means–end” behavior. We used captive Asian elephants (N = 2) to conduct four variations of the Piagetian “support” problem, which involves a goal object that is out of reach, but rests on a support within reach. In the first condition, elephants were simultaneously presented with two identical trays serving as the “support”, with the bait on one tray and the other tray left empty. In the next two conditions, the bait was placed on one tray, while additional bait was placed beside the other tray. In the last condition, both trays contained bait, but one of the trays had a small gap which prevented the elephants from reaching the reward. Subjects were required to choose and pull either tray with their trunk and to obtain the bait (i.e. goal). Results showed that one elephant performed all of the support problems significantly above chance after several sessions, suggesting that the elephant was capable of understanding that pulling the tray was the “means” for achieving the “end” of obtaining the bait. This study showed that elephants show means–end behavior when subjected to a Piagetian “support” task, and indicates that such goal-directed behavior occurs in species other than primates.     

Testimony and interrogation of minors: assumptions about maturity and morality

This article examines the legal histories and social contexts of testimony and interrogation involving minors, developmental research on suggestibility and judgment, interactions between development and legal/sociological contexts, and the reasoning behind how minors are treated in different legal contexts. The authors argue (a) that young witnesses, victims, and suspects alike possess youthful characteristics that influence their ability to validly inform legal processes, some of which were recently recognized by the Supreme Court as they apply to the juvenile death penalty, and (b) that consideration should be given to reforming current practices in the context of juvenile interrogation. ((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).     

Empathy‐Promoting Counseling Strategies for Juvenile Sex Offenders: A Developmental Approach

Bridging research into practice, the authors propose a clinical model for use in the development of empathy in juvenile sex offenders. Case illustrations are provided.     

Preliminary Development of Trauma-Focused Treatment Groups for Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders

Summary

Most male juvenile offenders have been exposed to trauma. Many juvenile offenders have experienced both acute and chronic trauma. Trauma exposure among offenders is closely linked to their criminal behavior, yet few protocols have been developed to treat posttraumatic sequelae in a delinquent population. This article describes initial efforts to develop group therapy services for incarcerated male juvenile offenders who have histories of significant trauma exposure and current symptoms of PTSD. Four separate pilot groups were conducted in two Massachusetts Department of Youth Service secure residential facilities. The treatment included trauma psychoeducation (including the relationship between trauma and offending), therapeutic trauma exposure through discussion and expressive arts, and coping skill development. The treatment development and initial implementation as well as directions for future research are discussed.     

Song perception during the sensitive period of song learning in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata)

The sensitive period is a special time for auditory learning in songbirds. However, little is known about perception and discrimination of song during this period of development. The authors used a go/no-go operant task to compare discrimination of conspecific song from reversed song in juvenile and adult zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), and to test for possible developmental changes in perception of syllable structure and syllable syntax. In Experiment 1, there were no age or sex differences in the ability to learn the discrimination, and the birds discriminated the forward from reversed song primarily on the basis of local syllable structure. Similar results were found in Experiment 2 with juvenile birds reared in isolation from song. Experiment 3 found that juvenile zebra finches could discriminate songs on the basis of syllable order alone, although this discrimination was more difficult than one based on syllable structure. The results reveal well-developed song discrimination and song perception in juvenile zebra finches, even in birds with little experience with song.     

Relational‐Cultural Theory and Reality Therapy: A Culturally Responsive Integrative Framework

The authors propose an integration of relational‐cultural theory and reality therapy. The authors contend that the traditional assumptions of reality therapy are consistent with the relational aspects of relational‐cultural theory and together provide a culturally responsive approach for diverse clients. The authors also include an overview of the 2 theories as well as highlight the convergences and divergences. In addition, the authors present a case illustration depicting the integration method in practice.     

Less guilty by reason of adolescence: developmental immaturity, diminished responsibility, and the juvenile death penalty

The authors use a developmental perspective to examine questions about the criminal culpability of juveniles and the juvenile death penalty. Under principles of criminal law, culpability is mitigated when the actor's decision-making capacity is diminished, when the criminal act was coerced, or when the act was out of character. The authors argue that juveniles should not be held to the same standards of criminal responsibility as adults, because adolescents' decision-making capacity is diminished, they are less able to resist coercive influence, and their character is still undergoing change. The uniqueness of immaturity as a mitigating condition argues for a commitment to a legal environment under which most youths are dealt with in a separate justice system and none are eligible for capital punishment.