The Relation between Individual and Group Conflicts in Psychotherapy

Abstract

I describe three constellations of group life and group process: resistance, rebellion, and refusal. In resistance, an individual or group remains antagonistic to conscious but not unconscious thinking, the latter manifested in derivatives, including symbol and symptom formation, transference–countertransference, and enactment. Rebellion functions on the level of conscious thinking, manifested in challenge, defiance, and the possibility of sociopolitical action. The basic premises and values of the group and/or leader are at the center of the controversy, to be addressed on that level. Refusal establishes a mental boundary between what is considered appropriate and inappropriate. Unconsciousaswellasconscious processes of feeling, thinking, and meaning making are refused entry, left undeveloped, rejected, or obstructed. Working with refusal requires appreciating how and why the mind and its thinking operations are being suspended. The theoretical framework is applied to a case example.     

Oxytocin increases willingness to socially share one's emotions

Oxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide that is attracting growing attention from researchers interested in human emotional and social behavior. There is indeed increasing evidence that OT has a calming effect and that it facilitates pair‐bonding and social interactions. Some of OT's effects are thought to be direct, but it has been suggested that OT also may have indirect effects, mediated by changes in behavior. One potentially relevant behavioral change is an increased propensity for “emotional sharing” as this behavior, like OT, is known to have both calming and bonding effects. In this study, 60 healthy young adult men were randomly assigned to receive either intranasal placebo (PL; n = 30) or oxytocin (OT; n = 30). Participants were then instructed to retrieve a painful memory. Subsequently, OT and placebo participants’ willingness to disclose to another person event‐related facts (factual sharing) vs. event‐related emotions (emotional sharing) was evaluated. Whereas the two groups were equally willing to disclose event‐related facts, oxytocin was found to specifically increase the willingness to share event‐related emotions. This study provides the first evidence that OT increases people's willingness to share their emotions. Importantly, OT did not make people more talkative (word counts were comparable across the two groups) but instead increased the willingness to share the specific component that is responsible for the calming and bonding effects of social sharing: emotions. Findings suggest that OT may shape the form of social sharing so as to maximize its benefits. This might help explain the calming and bonding effects of OT.     

The Group Psychotherapy Literature: 1976

This paper reviews and critiques the literature on countertransference (CT) in group psychotherapy. The literature review is organized within a framework that calls attention to the origins, triggers, manifestations, and effects of CT in groups, as well as CT management factors. An overriding critique is that the present literature lacks a research foundation of any kind. An argument is made for beginning research in this domain, and guidelines for doing so are presented.     

The role of self‐determination in the relationship between social support and physical activity intentions

Using the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (HMIEM) and self‐determination theory as theoretical frameworks, the purpose of the present study was to assess the role of motivation‐related variables in the relationship between perceptions of social support and intentions to be physically active. Undergraduate students completed surveys assessing perceptions of social support, psychological needs satisfaction, self‐determination, and future exercise intentions. Model fit with the data was examined and was considered acceptable, indicating that social support was positively related to the satisfaction of psychological needs, which, in turn, was related positively to self‐determination and then to physical activity intentions.     

Development of Postural Adjustment During Gait Initiation: Kinematic and EMG Analysis

The authors studied the development of postural adjustments associated with the initiation of gait in children by using kinematic and electromyographic (EMG) analysis. Participants (N = 28) included infants with 1-4 and 9-17 months of walking experience, children 4-5 years of age, and adults. Anticipatory postural adjustments (APA) were present in the youngest age groups, including a clear anticipatory lateral tilt of the pelvis and the stance leg, which enabled the child to unload the opposite leg shortly before its swing phase. An anticipatory activation of the hip abductor of the leg in stance phase prior to heel-off was found, suggesting pelvis stabilization. APA did not appear consistently until 4-5 years of age. A decrease in segmental oscillations occurred across the ages, indicating better control of intersegmental coordination in the frontal and sagittal planes during the postural phase of gait initiation. Young walkers presented APA involving movements of both the upper and the lower parts of the body, whereas, like adults, 4- to 5-year-olds were able to laterally shift only the pelvis and the stance leg. The oldest children and the adults also showed lower activation levels of hip and knee muscles but higher activation at the ankle level. Those kinematic and EMG results taken together suggest a clear developmental sequence from an en bloc operation of the body through an articulated operation with maturation, walking experience, or both.     

The Mosher Guilt Scale: Theoretical Formulation,Research Review and Normative Data

The construct of trait guilt and the research results of the Mosher Guilt Scale were reviewed. Trait guilt is a personality predisposition to guilt that inhibits violation of moral standards. Normative data (N=862) for college and inmate males on the MGS were presented, along with personality correlates. The data supported the construct of trait guilt. Both sexual guilt and hostility guilt covaried with race and type of offense. The MGS offers promise for future research in assessing potential for acting out.     

The Inventory of Children's Individual Differences: Development and Validation of a Short Version

The development of programmed, actuarial interpretation of personality tests, especially the MMPI, is discussed. The presentation seeks to present a synoptic overview of the topic, including its more important trends, apparent present status, and possible consequences. Several commercially available systems are described, and an example of the output of each of three of them, in interpreting the same MMPI protocol, is presented for comparative illustration.     

Responses of an Aged Population on the Gerontological and Thematic Apperception Tests

GAT and TAT themes of normals with an age range of 59–94 years were analyzed to determine the comparative efficacy of each instrument to elicit themes depicting loss of sexuality, loss of attractiveness, family difficulties, physical limitations, and dependency. In only the area of physical limitations, did the GAT more successfully elicit relevant themes than did the TAT.     

A Method for the Evaluation of Affective Associations to Figure Drawings

Usual scoring systems for figure drawing techniques are based on structural and content aspects of the drawing, and ignore the affectively toned associations that occur when an observer first sees a drawing. A system for measuring two components of judgment, (a) emission of affective associations (b) evaluation of affective associations, has been developed. This method was applied with some success in studying individuals who had represented in their drawings an image that corresponded to their actual physical appearance. The research so far suggests that the evaluation component of judgment may contribute more to discrimination than the emission component.