Modification of coronary-prone behaviors in coronary patients of low socio-economic status

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a group cognitive-behavioral treatment to modify coronary-prone behaviors in patients from a fairly low social and educational level. Participants were 98 male coronary patients randomly allocated to one experimental and two control groups. All groups received standard medical treatment. The experimental group received an additional psychological treatment and one of the two control groups received a health education treatment. Results showed that only the psychological treatment group significantly reduced Pressured Drive and Speed-Impatience after treatment, and at 1- and 2-year follow-ups. Depression was also significantly reduced only in this group at 2-year follow-up. The results are considered a reliable first step in the process of validating this program designed to improve coronary heart disease patients' quality of life.     

Reading and Writing: Psychoanalytical Treatment in a Case of Paranoia

Difficulties encountered in clinical work with psychoses require psychoanalytical approaches different from those used for treating neurosis. The authors use a clinical case of a paranoiac patient to highlight the role played by writing, drawing, and painting in the psychoanalytical treatment of psychosis. They also discuss the role of the reader-analyst in this patient’s transferential process, which led to the emergence of a new subjectivity.     

Intensive training of phonological skills in progressive aphasia: a model of brain plasticity in neurodegenerative disease

Three patients with a typical syndrome of nonfluent primary progressive aphasia (Mesulam's syndrome) were trained daily with a remediation protocol including auditory exercises specifically designed to involve several aspects of phonological processing, a domain known to be specifically affected in the condition. The speech content of the exercises was based on the temporal theory of phonological processes according to which increasing the duration of formant transition should facilitate phoneme discrimination and phoneomic awareness. Significantly improved performance on the trained tasks was demonstrated in the three patients. Improvement further generalized to other tasks such as nonword repetition and reading. We conclude that such results (1) argue for using intensive focused therapy of language impairment in neurodegenerative disorders, (2) may constitute a good model of brain plasticity in neurodegenerative disorders in general, and (3) support theories of phonological processing emphasizing temporal features of the auditory signal.     

Temporal performance in 4-8 year old children. The effect of chronometric information in task execution

The present study explores temporal performance in children between 4 and 11 years of age. In order to optimise the children's performance, verbal instructions and demonstrations were used to specify the temporal requirement of the task. Moreover, specific feedback was given, which indicated the success of a response, or, in case of a mistake, indicated the type of error made. The task was presented in two phases: training and experimental. In the first phase, the child practised until a learning criterion was reached. In the experimental phase, four conditions were defined according to the information provided to the children. In general, the results of the training phase showed an improvement in performance with advancing age. Significant differences were found in children between 7 and 8 years of age, which points to an important transition period. Results of the experimental phase showed a pronounced impact of instructions on the performance of the task and on the strategies used to control timing behaviour. Specifically, the instructions that contained chronometric information caused an impairment in task performance and a change in the strategy used.     

Behavior assessment system for children

The Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) is a well-designed and useful set of measures for the assessment and identification of school-age children with emotional disturbances and behavioral disorders. The BASC consists of five measures designed to gather information about a child or adolescent from a variety of sources (teachers, parents, direct observations, students, and historical records). In combining this information into an integrated system, the BASC uniquely attempts to provide a multidimensional understanding of a child. This review summarizes the technical qualities of the BASC and critiques its usefulness for practicing school psychologists. Although there are shortcomings, the BASC is made up of some of the best measures of their kind and represents an approach of choice for identifying children with emotional and behavioral disorders in schools.     

Spirituality-Focused Genograms: Keys to Uncovering Spiritual Resources in African American Families

This article invites therapists to explore the spiritual resources of African Americans through the use of spirituality-focused genograms. Spiritual issues can be considered in the context of family dynamics, as well as cultural factors including gender, socioeconomic status, language, geographic origins and issues of racism and oppression. Examples of the use of spirituality-focused genograms in therapy are presented.     

Lens on International Clinical Supervision: Lessons Learned from a Cross-National Comparison of Supervision

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy - Clinical supervision is an essential mechanism for training psychologists internationally. But although it is performed globally, scholarship has primarily...     

Leveraging Healthcare to Promote Responsive Parenting: Impacts of the Video Interaction Project on Parenting Stress

We sought to determine impacts of a pediatric primary care intervention, the Video Interaction Project, on 3-year trajectories of parenting stress related to parent–child interactions in low socioeconomic status families. A randomized controlled trial was conducted, with random assignment to one of two interventions Video Interaction Project (VIP); Building Blocks or control. As part of VIP, dyads attended one-on-one sessions with an interventionist who facilitated interactions in play and shared reading through review of videotaped parent–child interactions made on primary care visit days; learning materials and parenting pamphlets were also provided to facilitate parent–child interactions at home. Parenting stress related to parent–child interactions was assessed for VIP and Control groups at 6, 14, 24, and 36 months using the Parent–Child Dysfunctional Interaction subscale of the Parenting Stress Index—Short Form, with 378 dyads (84 %) assessed at least once. Group differences emerged at 6 months with VIP associated with lower parenting stress at three of four ages considered cross-sectionally and an 17.7 % reduction in parenting stress overall during the study period based on multi-level modeling. No age by group interaction was observed, indicating persistence of early VIP impacts. Results indicated that VIP, a preventive intervention targeting parent–child interactions, is associated with decreased parenting stress. Results therefore support the expansion of pediatric interventions such as VIP as part of a broad public health strategy to address poverty-related disparities in school-readiness.