Interpersonal Psychoanalysis: The Selected Papers of Clara M. Thompson Edited by Maurice Green

The aging process presents a challenge to the narcissism of the individual due to physical, social, and psychological changes and losses. There is a danger that mental health professionals may add to narcissistic trauma by underestimating the elderly patient's potential for change. An older adults group established on a short-term psychiatric unit is presented. Therapeutic principles and strategies are discussed which are aimed at helping the aged patients make restitution for losses and regain self-esteem through renewed engagement with their environment. The importance of cohesion and inclusion in the group is examined, with attention given to the particular needs and conflicts experienced by the older adult population. The use of techniques to promote the experience of mastery is also discussed.     

They Call Us Problem Child: Delinquency,Medicalization, and Social Class in Primary Education

This article recounts my seven-year struggle with my son in his high-performing school district, and his immediate shift in identity from delinquent to honor student when we changed districts. I argue that social class is encoded in setting and family form. Factors like context, class and family form discrimination, diagnosis in schools, and access to resources, all shaped Coby’s social experiences.     

Small Groups: Studies in Social Interactions Edited by A. Paul Hare,F. Borgatta,and Robert F. Bales

Abstract

A large body of literature has supported the application of attachment theory to the understanding of psychotherapy. In addition, a more recent social psychological literature is exploring the application of attachment theory to the area of group dynamics and group process. The current study is designed to integrate these two distinct bodies of literature. In a preliminary fashion, we examined the relationship between group therapists’ group attachment styles and their assumptions and expectations of their patients’ attitudes about group psychotherapy. Seventy–six therapists completed the Smith, Murphy &; Coats (1999) measure of group attachment style. They also completed the Revised Group Therapy Survey (Carter, Mitchell, &; Krautheim, 2001) from the viewpoint of a typical patient they treat. As hypothesized, therapists with more group attachment anxiety assumed that patients would hold more negative myths and misconceptions about group treatment than therapists with less group attachment anxiety. The utility of a group attachment construct in future research and practice is discussed.