Research in the consulting room

Psychoanalysis, this paper argues, has since its inception practised an effective method of research based on the clinical consulting room, and this explains its success in generating new knowledge over a long period. Different sciences evolve research methods which are appropriate to their particular objects of study. The clinical research method is well adapted to the distinctive object of study of psychoanalysis?-?the variety of unconscious states of mind. Convergences between psychoanalytic and more conventionally scientific methods, including experimental studies, are greatly to be welcomed, but the paper nevertheless suggests that additions to psychoanalytic understanding will continue to come mainly from clinical work with children and adults. Selon l'auteur, la psychanalyse a pratiqué dès ses débuts une méthode de recherche fort efficace, basée sur ce qui se déroule dans le cabinet de consultation clinique; c'est cela, dit-il, qui explique son succès à faire naître, depuis fort longtemps, de nouvelles connaissances. Chaque discipline scientifique développe sa propre méthode de recherche, censée s'appliquer à ses objets d'étude spécifiques. La méthodologie clinique est bien adaptée à l'objet d'étude spécifique de la psychanalyse, à savoir la diversité des états psychiques inconscients. S'il convient, bien évidemment, à accueillir certaines convergences entre la méthode psychanalytique et d'autres, plus classiquement scientifiques (y compris les études expérimentales), l'auteur prétend néanmoins que des avancées dans la compréhension psychanalytique continueront à surgir principalement du travail clinique auprès d'enfants et d'adultes. In questo articolo si sostiene che la psicoanalisi ha fin dal suo esordio messo in pratica un metodo di ricerca efficace basato sul lavoro clinico nella stanza di consultazione, e questo spiega come sia stato possibile produrre con successo nuova conoscenza nell'arco di un lungo periodo. Scienze diverse sviluppano metodi di ricerca appropriati ai loro particolari oggetti di studio. Il metodo di ricerca clinico si adatta bene all'oggetto peculiare di studio della psicoanalisi - la molteplicita' degli stati mentali inconsci. Ben vengano le convergenze tra il metodo psicoanalitico e altri metodi scientifici piu' convenzionali, compresi gli studi sperimentali, ma nell'articolo si suggerisce che nuove aggiunte al sapere psicoanalitico continueranno a venire soprattutto dal lavoro clinico con adulti e bambini. Dieser Artikel argumentiert, dass Psychoanalyse seit ihren Anfängen eine effektive Forschungsmethode, basierend auf dem klinischen Behandlungszimmer, praktizierte und dies erklärt ihren Erfolg, neues Wissen über eine lange Zeit hinweg zu schaffen. Verschiedene Wissenschaften erschaffen Forschungsmethoden, die jeweils ihren Studienobjekten angemessen sind. Die klinische Forschungsmethode ist dem bestimmten Studienobjekt der Psychoanalyse -die Verschiedenheit von unbewussten Gemütszuständen, angepasst. Konvergenzen zwischen psychoanalytischen und konventionelleren Wissenschaftsmethoden, einschliesslich experimenteller Studien, sollten sehr willkommen geheissen werden, aber der Artikel schlägt vor, dass Zusätze zum psychoanalytischen Verstehen hauptsächlich weiterhin aus der klinischen Arbeit mit Kindern und Erwachsenen kommen werden.     

Disquiet in the consulting room: everything/nothing that is said here is confidential

Writing from experiences in the consulting room in private practice in Australia, the author refers to the layered complexity of a conflict of ethical duty which has legal and social implications. The paper explores how the ethics that are congruent with creating a safe vas bene claustrum can be diametrically opposed to the social and legal structures and processes on which we all rely. It is suggested that within the vas, analysts and analysands engage in a shared process of emotionally connected, layered, symbolic thinking. Subpoenas directed at analysts are seeking concrete evidence that will stand up in court. The paper argues that this is a category error based on ignorance and misconceptions of what analytic work entails. The intrusion of a subpoena into the vas has the potential to cause havoc in the mental health and the lives of already vulnerable, possibly traumatized and isolated individuals. It can undermine a fundamental human right and undermine the profession of psychotherapy as a whole. The paper proposes that analysts have an ethical obligation to protect the work contained within the vas from these category errors and to educate other professionals as to why we cannot provide the kind of evidence that the courts require.     

From consulting room to institution to society

Abstract

An examination of the links between clinical work and the context in which it takes place. The article will explore how the dynamics of the staff group can spill over into the consulting room and how unresolved issues in the consulting room can spill over into the staff group. It will also explore how the dynamics of both can be affected by broader social and political attitudes.     

From Copenhagen to the consulting room: Pauli and Jung in Copenhagen

In this paper the city of Copenhagen is used as a starting point to highlight some critical historical events, both concerning the exchange of ideas between the physicist Wolfgang Pauli and C.G. Jung and the history of psychotherapy in Scandinavia. Pauli's years in Copenhagen under the influence of Niels Bohr and his philosophy prepared him mentally to receiveC.G. Jung's ideas. The paper also recounts the one occasion that Jung was in Scandinavia, attending the 9th conference of the General Medical Society for Psychotherapy in Copenhagen, just before going to New York in 1937 to give his final seminars on Pauli's dreams. The reason for focusing on these particular events is that they also constitute part of the history of the reception of psychodynamic psychology in Sweden and Scandinavia.     

How race travels: relating local and global ontologies of race

Philosophical Studies - This article develops a framework for addressing racial ontologies in transnational perspective. In contrast to simple contextualist accounts, it is argued that a globally...     

Between the street and the consulting room: The role of therapeutic frame in working with homeless clients

This paper explores the context of psychotherapy with people who are homeless and the kinds of dynamics and challenges that typically arise in this work. The paper specifically considers the process of therapy as it takes place with clients who have been recurrently homeless and who have difficulties with sustaining shelter that has its roots in deficits in early containment. Clinical case material from psychotherapy conducted with two homeless men is presented and the implications of the approach adopted are explored both in relation to policies around the provision of services for homeless people and the more specific issue of psychotherapy intervention.

It is argued that a clear, well-articulated set of expectations has to be developed around this work in order to protect it and to provide it with the greatest opportunity for providing the kind of safety that is required for the development of this work. It is argued that the most important issue here relates to the provision of a consistent therapeutic framework and a care around the development of the specific psychotherapeutic frame within, and in relation to, the other frames present in the person's life.     

How race affects evidence accumulation during the decision to shoot

The biasing role of stereotypes is a central theme in social cognition research. For example, to understand the role of race in police officers’ decisions to shoot, participants have been shown images of Black and White males and instructed to shoot only if the target is holding a gun. Findings show that Black targets are shot more frequently and more quickly than Whites. The decision to shoot has typically been modeled and understood as a signal detection process in which a sample of information is compared against a criterion, with the criterion set for Black targets being lower. We take a different approach, modeling the decision to shoot as a dynamic process in which evidence is accumulated over time until a threshold is reached. The model accounts for both the choice and response time data for both correct and incorrect decisions using a single set of parameters. Across four studies, this dynamic perspective revealed that the target’s race did not create an initial bias to shoot Black targets. Instead, race impacted the rate of evidence accumulation with evidence accumulating faster to shoot for Black targets. Some participants also tended to be more cautious with Black targets, setting higher decision thresholds. Besides providing a more cohesive and richer account of the decision to shoot or not, the dynamic model suggests interventions that may address the use of race information in decisions to shoot and a means to measure their effectiveness.     

Bion’s discovery of alpha function: Thinking under fire on the battlefield and in the consulting room

This paper has traced Bion’s discovery of alpha function and its subsequent elaboration. His traumatic experiences as a young tank commander in World War I (overlaid on, and intertwined with, childhood conflicts) gave him firsthand exposure to very painful emotions that tested his capacity to manage. Later, in the 1950s, after his analysis with Melanie Klein and marriage to Francesca Bion, he undertook the analysis of psychotic patients and learned how they disassembled their ability to know reality as a defense against unbearable emotional truths in their lives. This led Bion to identify an aspect of dreaming that was necessary in order for reality experience to be given personal meaning so that one may learn from experience. Simultaneous with working out this new theory of dreaming, Bion also revisited his World War I experiences that had remained undigested and all these elements coalesced into a selected fact – his discovery of alpha function. In subsequent writings, Bion explored the constituent factors of alpha function, including the container/contained relationship, the PS?D balance, reverie, tolerated doubt and other factors which I have termed the ‘Constellation for Thinking’.     

consulting the oracle

Abstract

Is it possible that even logic is not logical? Is it possible that our current belief in a rational and material world is no less a subjective point of view than any other mystical faith? Kurt Gödel in mathematics and Carl Jung in psychology independently established the limits of rationalism half a century ago. Yet the profound implications of their work for our own currently changing world view are not well understood. In this essay, Robertson introduces us to some of the basic themes that underlie the life works of both Gödel and Jung. These themes lead us to a new and startling comprehension of the paradox of self-reference and the limits of rationalism that are inherent in the way we construct our conceptions of reality.     

Showing that the race model inequality is not violated

When participants are asked to respond in the same way to stimuli from different sources (e.g., auditory and visual), responses are often observed to be substantially faster when both stimuli are presented simultaneously (redundancy gain). Different models account for this effect, the two most important being race models and coactivation models. Redundancy gains consistent with the race model have an upper limit, however, which is given by the well-known race model inequality (Miller, 1982). A number of statistical tests have been proposed for testing the race model inequality in single participants and groups of participants. All of these tests use the race model as the null hypothesis, and rejection of the null hypothesis is considered evidence in favor of coactivation. We introduce a statistical test in which the race model prediction is the alternative hypothesis. This test controls the Type I error if a theory predicts that the race model prediction holds in a given experimental condition.