Affect and the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis1

In connection with controversial IJP articles by Stern et al. and Fonagy on the interpretation of the repressed and the recovery of past memories, the author maintains that the affect that is inherent in positive transference is at the heart of therapeutic action. Points of view put forward in the controversy (based on neurobiological knowledge) are related to Freudian metapsychology, as well as to their precursors whose scope was necessarily limited by a lack of access to more recent scientific discoveries. The author demonstrates metapsychological elements of therapeutic action inherent in the intersubjective relationship, especially identification, manifested in introjection and empathy. He describes cognitive development as spontaneously blossoming from the affective nucleus, and he explains the neuroscientic bases of this step forward. The classic (interpretative) psychoanalytic method makes up the cognitive superstructure necessary for the organisation of the mind that has sprung from the affective substructure. As a primary factor in psychic change, interpretation is limited in effectiveness to pathologies arising from the verbal phase, related to explicit memories, with no effect in the pre‐verbal phase where implicit memories are to be found. Interpretation the method used to the exclusion of all others for a century is only partial; when used in isolation it does not meet the demands of modern broad‐spectrum psychoanalysis, as the clinical material presented illustrates.     

Cross‐cultural validation of factor structure in the Japanese Counselor Burnout Inventory

This article describes the cross‐cultural validation of the Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI; Lee, Baker, Cho, Heckathorn, Holland, Newgent, Ogle, Powell, Quinn, Wallace & Yu, 2007 ) on a sample of professional counselors and psychotherapists in Japan. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to examine the validity of the CBI with three models: a one‐factor model, a five‐factor model, and a second‐order model. The results showed that the five‐factor model was a better fit and more parsimonious than both the one‐factor model and the second‐order factor model. Additionally, the internal consistency reliability for the CBI subscale scores proved equivalent to that found for other populations (e.g. American and Korean). The results suggest that counselor burnout is not a unidimensional construct but a multidimensional construct. Implications and recommendations for future research are provided.     

SOURCES OF SUPPORT AND EXPATRIATE PERFORMANCE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF EXPATRIATE ADJUSTMENT

This study examined the role of 3 sources of support in facilitating expatriate adjustment and performance. A model was developed that examined the effects of perceived organizational support (POS), leader-member exchange (LMX), and spousal support on expatriates' adjustment to work, the country, and interacting with foreign nationals. In turn, it was expected that expatriate adjustment would influence expatriate task performance and contextual performance. The model was tested using a sample of 213 expatriate-supervisor dyads via structural equation modeling. The results indicated that POS had direct effects on expatriate adjustment, which in turn had direct effects on both dimensions of performance. Although LMX did not influence adjustment, it did have direct effects on expatriate task and contextual performance. Spousal support did not relate to adjustment or performance. Practical implications for facilitating expatriate adjustment and performance are discussed.     

CROSS-NATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN RELATIONSHIPS OF WORK DEMANDS, JOB SATISFACTION, AND TURNOVER INTENTIONS WITH WORK–FAMILY CONFLICT

A study of work interference with family (WIF) among managers is described, contrasting four clusters of countries, one of which is individualistic (Anglo) and three of which are collectivistic (Asia, East Europe, and Latin America). Country cluster (Anglo vs. each of the others) moderated the relation of work demands with strain-based WIF, with the Anglo country cluster having the strongest relationships. Country cluster moderated some of the relationships of strain-based WIF with both job satisfaction and turnover intentions, with Anglos showing the strongest relationships. Cluster differences in domestic help were ruled out as the possible explanation for these moderator results.     

Rostro‐caudal and dorso‐ventral gradients in medial and lateral prefrontal cortex during cognitive control of affective and cognitive interference

Characterizing the anatomical substrates of major brain functions such as cognition and emotion is of utmost importance to the ongoing efforts of understanding the nature of psychiatric ailments and their potential treatment. The aim of our study was to investigate how the brain handles affective and cognitive interferences on cognitive processes. Functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation was performed on healthy individuals, comparing the brain oxygenation level dependent activation patterns during affective and cognitive counting Stroop tasks. The affective Stroop task activated rostral parts of medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) and rostral and ventral parts of lateral PFC, while cognitive Stroop activated caudal parts of medial PFC and caudal and dorsal parts of lateral PFC. Our findings suggest that the brain may handle affective and cognitive interference on cognitive processes differentially, with affective interference preferentially activating rostral and ventral PFC networks and cognitive interference activating caudal and dorsal PFC networks.     

Approaching countertransference in psychoanalytical supervision: A qualitative investigation1

A recent examination of the literature concerning countertransference and its developments reveals its clinical usefulness in different psychoanalytical cultures. Nevertheless, a shortage of publications is apparent with respect to its approach in supervision. The authors aim in this study was to examine the concepts of transference and countertransference and how countertransference is approached in supervision, in the training of candidates, at an institute of psychoanalysis belonging to a society affiliated to the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). Qualitative research was carried out, interviewing supervisors and supervisees. Through analysis of the material acquired, the authors classifi ed the data into initial, intermediate and fi nal categories. The principal fi ndings were subdivided into three categories: the concepts of transference and countertransference, psychoanalytical listening and the complementarity of the phenomena, and the approach to countertransference. The concepts of transference and countertransference predominantly used by those interviewed are based on the totalistic outlook. Countertransference in supervision has been approached in a more direct and objective way when compared with the previous period, although great care is taken to delimit the boundaries between supervision and personal analysis. The main aim of supervision is to broaden comprehension and to deepen the interpretations directed towards the patient. These fi ndings suggest that the evolution of the concept of countertransference in different psychoanalytical cultures and developments in the analytical fi eld are contributing to this change.     

Sculpting Present and Future: A Systemic Intervention Model Applied to Psychosomatic Families

We present a therapeutic intervention model for use with psychosomatic families. This method, the result of our extensive research on various psychosomatic disorders, uses family sculptures of the "present" and "future": each family member is requested to represent the family as it now "is," and how it "will be" in the future. We discuss the theoretical reasons for our choice of this method: (a) the opportunity to use a therapeutic language that is similar to the nonverbal language of the psychosomatic symptom, and (b) the usefulness of reinserting temporal dimensions into family systems that seem to have lost their evolutionary potential and to be in a sort of "time lock." Two clinical cases are discussed (a child with chronic asthma and an anorexic adolescent); the use of sculptures in both cases revealed the underlying problems and made positive therapeutic interventions possible. Finally, we point out how the use of sculpture as a therapeutic technique enables therapists to deal with multiple systemic levels.