Pastoral work,metacommunication and myth

The writer discusses two phenomena the pastoral counselor encounters in work with families and individuals: family survival myths and individual survival myths or fatal statements. Family survival myths are inefficient defense mechanisms, directed at the support of the parental relationship and the maintenance of the family balance. Fatal statements are expressions inherited from the family of origin. They function as myths and are intended to help one survive. From his perspective the pastor can, through a process of metacommunication, open the possibility to discuss the myth and so help people to free themselves from an unhealthy and life inhibiting bondage.     

Family myths in romantic fiction

Three types of myths frequently appearing in contemporary romantic fiction deal with traditional family values, spousal relationships, and love. Several myths belonging to each type are illustrated and analyzed. It is argued that by naturalizing some behaviors and idealizing others, romantic novels not only may indoctrinate their readers with a patriarchal ideology but also may inculcate upon them pathogenic family processes.     

With Onions and Tears: A Multidimensional Analysis of a Counter-Ritual

“Family rituals” and “family myths” are useful concepts for understanding some of the behavior of disturbed families and hence for planning therapeutic interventions. A case of a family of a schizophrenic patient is described in which a “counter-ritual” involving onion-peeling to induce tearing was invented. The intervention addressed the family's inappropriate laughter and denial of sadness and seemed to lead to therapeutic gains for the identified patient and the family. This counter-ritual, as an indirect affect-inducing experience, is analyzed from a variety of perspectives and a partial parallel is drawn to an Iranian cultural ritual. A suggestion is made that more light may be shed on the mechanisms and structures of myths and rituals in families by drawing on studies of myths and rituals in ethnography. “Counter-ritual” is offered as a general concept for a type of active family intervention that involves inventing and employing rituals antithetical to pathological ones engaged in by some families.     

Thoughts on autism with special reference to a paper by melanie klein

The article begins with a brief exploration of the various aspects of adolescent's psychic qualities as these are described in Greek mythology. It is argued that myths are an integral part of the way that adolescence is perceived and myths play an important role in adolescents' psychic and external world, as well as in their mythological thinking. Connections are made with the attraction towards the creation of myths about adolescence in ancient and contemporary societies. Three clinical vignettes from adolescents' psychoanalytic psychotherapy are presented in an effort to support the idea of the value and importance of mythology in adolescence in the clinical practice. Through the clinical material, we try to explore how psychic and developmental disturbances, which might lead to psychopathology, are reflected in family and personal myths and also in the mythological thinking of adolescents.     

Marriage and Family Therapists' Endorsement of Myths About Marriage

Marriage and family therapy training programs aim to provide students with research-based knowledge about marriage and divorce. A group of 223 California-based clinical members of the American Association for Marital and Family Therapy (AAMFT) was surveyed on their endorsement of 21 myths about marriage. Therapists provided correct responses to an average of 9.4 of these items. Endorsement of specific myths correlated with varying demographic, professional and family of origin variables. Implications for therapist training, practice, and future research are discussed.     

Annotation: culture and family therapy

This annotation considers the importance of understanding culture for the theory and practice of family therapy. A number of theoretical approaches are described. Some are concerned with ubiquitous and universal family processes like the family life cycle, while others are concerned with the particularity of family life such as the content of myths and rituals. Some practical implications for the participants of the therapy, and the choice of therapeutic approach is discussed.     

Induction,trance, and ritual in family mythologizing

The authors put forward a theory of family mythologizing as a process of induction, trance, and ritual. These phenomena, in the context of expressive language, comprise myths. Mythologizing is assumed to be part of normative development. All individuals and families employ myths as schemata for organizing highly complex yet cognitively inexplicable relationships. The authors propose a systemic explanation for the operations of mythologizing and present case illustrations.     

Monosymptomatic hysteria in childhood, family and professional systems involvement

A conceptual framework for understanding childhood hysteria is presented. A family orientation for evaluating the relative contributions of the child, family and professionals is used, incorporating five previously described psychological concepts (abnormal illness behaviour, identification and imitation, family myths, childhood predicament, locus of control). Three case histories are presented to illustrate the clinical method and to emphasize the need for careful assessment and the avoidance of hastily contrived strategies for treatment. The principles of liaison psychiatry within a paediatric setting previously described in the literature are important factors in the successful management of these families.     

Ibsen's truth, family secrets, and family therapy

In certain Ibsen plays a character (would-be family therapist) enters during a crisis revolving around family secrets. Taking two such plays as models, this paper examines family processes and clinical issues surrounding secrets and myths. In Ghosts, Ibsen demonstrates the tragic foreclosure visited upon the Alvings' lives by a generation of secrecy. For contrast, in The Wild Duck the would-be reformer Gregers brings out the truth, to expose and correct consequences of his father's past machinations. The biographical roots of Ibsen's obsession with truth and illusion are explored. Lastly, the notion that Ibsen and early family therapist were reformers is viewed in historical perspective.     

Battered Women

SUMMARY

This review of research findings on woman battering reveals how research has played a major role in changing social policy and challenging common myths and stereotypes. The earliest literature contained the ideas of a few psychotherapists who viewed woman battering as a rare phenomenon that involved masochistic women and sadistic men, which led to the myth of psychopathology as the mediating factor. Research following the birth of the battered women's movement destroyed this and some subsequent myths. It led to changes in medical practitioners' attitudes toward battered women patients and law enforcement's reaction to battering victims and their abusers. It also revealed important facts about the courts' handling of abusers and their victims and about violent relationships that result in homicide. The myth that children living in violent households are unharmed has been soundly discredited, yet despite these findings, many battered women continue to face serious difficulties when they attempt to divorce their abusers and obtain custody of their children. Other myths have been exposed by researchers on the basis of their findings. However, once ideas gain popular public acceptance, they tend to continue to exert influence. Nevertheless, positive changes have occurred in the entire spectrum of medical, legal, and social services with which battered women must interface. The research findings reviewed here help highlight current needs and suggest future directions.     

Doppelte Wirklichkeiten

The paper describes phenomenological, psychodynamic, interpersonal and developmental aspects of shame affects and shame conflicts, the difference between the experience of shame and guilt, and assessment instruments for shame. The relationships between the experience of shame and family dynamics are presented on a conceptual and case material level. In both family systems and in individuals, shame protects privacy, intimacy and boundaries. Beyond this, families as private spheres can protect their members from exposure and shame. Shame is closely connected with the development of family self-images and the family feeling. As a result of these and family loyalty bonds, a borrowed feeling of shame can develop. The development of family myths and family secrets can be motivated by shame and by many defensive operations, which contribute to confusion and disturbances in the perception of the self and interpersonal relationships. These defences also appear in transference. An awareness of shame and loyalty can foster therapeutic change in family systems.     

Do the myths still exist? Revisiting people's negative beliefs about organ donation upon death

The prevalence of myths preventing people partial to donation in Australia from consenting is unknown. Respondents (N?=?468: 381 donors, 26 non-donors, 61 undecided) were surveyed about their (negative) donation beliefs. Approximately 30% of donors were neutral or supported negative beliefs about organ allocation, especially donation to undesirable organ recipients and a black market organ trade. Confusion about brain death, lack of family and religious support, and discomfort with donation were negative beliefs endorsed by some respondents irrespective of donor preference. Proportionally, donors had greater trust in hospitals/doctors than other groups. Some myths still exist but may vary with donation preference.     

Attitudes Toward Prostitution and Acceptance of Rape Myths1

Rape myths and prostitution myths are a component of culturally supported attitudes that normalize violence against women. Prostitution myths justify the existence of prostitution, promote misinformation about prostitution, and contribute to a social climate that exploits and harms not only prostituted women, but all women. This study investigated the relationship between prostitution myth acceptance and rape myth acceptance in a sample of university undergraduates. Rape myth acceptance was positively correlated with prostitution myth acceptance among 783 university undergraduates from California, Iowa, Oregon, and Texas. College men were significantly more accepting of prostitution myths than were college women. Results suggest that acceptance of prostitution myths are a component of attitudes that justify violence against women.     

From instinct to identity: Implications of changing psychoanalytic concepts of social life from Freud to Erikson

Applied to the interpretation of social phenomena, Freud's insights have been at once extraordinarily fruitful yet susceptible to oversimplification and pejorative stereotyping. A number of his fundamental concepts–the existence of an irrational mass mind, the Oedipal family constellation, the pathology of psychic regression–have, when used to understand collective experience, created powerful myths. Only gradually did he and his successors modify and amplify these myths, resulting in the elaboration of ego psychology and the concept of identity. These concepts connected psychoanalysis with contemporary social, political, and historical thought and allowed more nuanced forms of explanations.     

Cognitive-Behavior Family Therapy: Contemporary Myths and Misconceptions

The field of couple and family therapy has grown in the direction of expanding its horizons by looking toward innovative ideas and whatever works to facilitate change. Despite its demonstrated track record with a broad range of behavioral and emotional disorders, the cognitive-behavior therapies (CBT) may have been underutilized by couples and family therapists unlike some of the more traditional and postmodern approaches. This article explores some of the basic tenets of the cognitive-behavioral approach with families and proposes it as both a useful intervention tool as well as a theoretically compatible model to systemic approaches. In addition, a number of contemporary myths and misconceptions are discussed that may be precluding CBT's utilization by therapists in the field.     

Rape Myths: History, Individual and Institutional-Level Presence, and Implications for Change

Rape myths, which are present at both the individual and institutional/societal levels, are one way in which sexual violence has been sustained and justified throughout history. In light of an increasing accumulation of rape myth research across a variety of disciplines, this paper proposes to use a feminist lens to provide an overview of the historical origins of rape myths, to document the current manifestations of these myths in American society, and to summarize the current body of research literature. We focus on the history of several specific rape myths (i.e., ??husbands cannot rape their wives,?? ??women enjoy rape,?? ??women ask to be raped,?? and ??women lie about being raped??) and how these particular myths permeate current legal, religious, and media institutions (despite their falsehood). The paper concludes with suggestions for further research and describes how existing evidence could be used to aid in eradicating rape myths at both the individual and institutional levels.     

Re-Visioning Medicine

Studies suggest that medical students and physicians have higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation than their peers in the general population. Some authors have suggested that medical culture perpetuates these problems by erecting “barriers to treatment,” preventing students and physicians from getting the help they need. Here, the author begins a broader examination of the potential role of culture by examining the myths and symbols that form the basis for medical culture and the medical self-image. The author argues that a medical self-image based on a de-contextualized medical mythology, the Asclepius myth, results in a sense of professional identity that is unbalanced, dehumanized, and characterized by unattainable expectations. The outward expression of this medical self-image, the medical culture, is often a-relational, unhealthy, stressed, or even toxic. The author suggests some ways of re-modeling medical culture, including its rituals and symbols, and medical education in ways that incorporate what is currently kept in its shadow.     

Re-editing family mythology during family therapy

Family mythology includes false or edited beliefs about the present which may be coupled with family legends which support those beliefs. Families are particularly likely to use their histories dys-functionally if they either see the present as an exact replication of the past or, in contrast, deny that the past has any relevance whatever. Re-editing myths involves enabling families to alter their relationships and their self perceptions. This allows a fresh exploration of the past; a process which can support and encourage further change. Case material is used to illustrate this.