Trauma,personality disorders and chronic depression – the role of the conversational model of psychodynamic psychotherapy in treatment resistant depression

Objective: To report preliminary data describing the interim treatment outcome of 44 patients referred with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), comorbid personality disorders and histories of early childhood trauma using the Conversational Model (CM) of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Method: Patients (N = 44), 13 males and 31 females with long histories of depression ranging from 2 to 30 years, resistant to multiple trials of treatment, were referred by mental health practitioners, including psychiatrists. They were treated with twice weekly CM psychotherapy by multidisciplinary trainees and supervised by experienced trained clinicians. Questionnaires were administered at assessment and at 12 months to assess symptoms, functioning, self-esteem, history of trauma, personality functioning and suicidality. In this preliminary study, there was no separate control group, and patients served as their own controls. Results: Patients with TRD were found to have comorbid severe personality disorders and histories of early childhood trauma. Significant improvement in symptoms, self-esteem, functioning and suicidality was noted after 12 months. Conclusion: Patients responded with symptomatic and functional improvement to twice weekly CM therapy.     

Mental Health Concerns of Older Adults Living in Long-Term Care Facilities: An Area of Expansion for MFTs

As baby boomers reach retirement age, the number of older adults living in long-term care will inevitably increase. Living in long-term care often brings psychological, relational, and emotional challenges for older adults, their families, and professional care-providers. Despite these trends and associated challenges, there appears to be an underrepresentation of attention addressing the mental health care of older adults and their families in marriage and family therapy (MFT) literature. Emphasis needs to be turned to assessing the quality and effectiveness of mental health resources for older adults in residential facilities, and to filling the gap where needed services are unavailable. The current review summarizes research addressing residential care for older adults, detailing a) mental health challenges faced by residents, families, and professional care-providers, b) effective mental health treatment options, and c) how MFTs are uniquely suited to working in long-term care settings.     

Effects of Planning and Goal Setting on Reducing Latency to Task Engagement for Struggling Readers in Middle School

The current study examined the effect of a planning and goal-setting intervention in reducing latency to task engagement. This study used a multiple baseline design across participants for two seventh-grade and two eighth-grade students in a remedial reading class. The behavioral intervention was administered in small groups at the start of each class period. Latency for transitions was measured from the conclusion of teacher directions to the initiation of assigned academic tasks. Results showed the implementation of the intervention was closely associated with immediate decreases in latency to task engagement. The intervention reduced the mean latency to task engagement for all participants and reduced the variability over baseline. Visual analysis indicate a functional relation between the intervention and changes in latency. Implications for results and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

An Intriguing Third Way: Mapping Contextual Education for Curricular Integration

This article emerges from the experience of incorporating doctoral students into our Contextual Education (CXE) Program at Emmanuel College (Toronto). This change, I argue, helped us to distinguish more clearly among and thus distinctly orient the different kinds of relationships and theological practices that make up our program towards the often‐elusive goal of curricular integration. After outlining a definition of integration, I contextualize that definition in our particular practices at Emmanuel College using Kathryn Tanner's (1997) understanding of theology as a cultural practice as my guide. I then offer a brief overview of our CXE Programs to demonstrate how nurturing strategic partnerships within them has made certain forms of integration possible for our students. I close with some activities for practical application in other CXE contexts.     

Distinctiveness-based stereotype threat and the moderating role of coaction contexts

Two experiments, using computer avatars, examined the role of coaction contexts (competition versus cooperation) in distinctiveness-based stereotype threat. In Experiment 1, African-American participants performed an anagram-solving task with two ostensible coactors either in a high-distinctiveness (participant being a numerical minority with two Caucasian coactors) or in a low-distinctiveness (racial-cues absent with silhouette-image avatars) environment; coaction contexts were structured either in terms of competition or in terms of cooperation. Participants situated in the high-distinctiveness environment performed better when they engaged in cooperation than in competition whereas those in the low-distinctive environment did not show a significant difference. In Experiment 2, which was conducted to replicate and extend Experiment 1 with a different social category/domain, females took a mathematics test with two ostensible coactors. Whereas the competition versus cooperation difference was not significant among participants placed in a low-distinctiveness (female-majority or all-female) environment, participants situated in a high-distinctiveness (female-minority) environment showed significantly lower levels of stereotype-associated concerns and better performance on the math test in cooperation than in competition. Our findings suggest that distinctiveness-based stereotype threat is less likely to occur when the context of group performance is framed as cooperation as opposed to competition.     

Disease-avoidant behaviour and its consequences

Medical conditions that are non-contagious, but that appear contagious, seem to result in the sufferer being avoided. Error management theory (EMT), suggests that such false alarms occur because the cost of infection poses a greater threat to ones fitness than avoidance. Study 1 attempted to demonstrate a disease-related false alarm effect by asking participants, to evaluate a series of vignettes, featuring people with infectious diseases, non-infectious diseases that looked infectious and non-infectious diseases that did not. Judgements of contracting infection under varying levels of contact, and desire to avoid were obtained. Consistent with EMT, a false alarm effect was evident. Study 2 examined the importance of the face as a key indicator of real and apparent infection, by determining whether facial symptoms result in a greater desire to avoid people with infectious and non-infectious diseases. Consistent with expectation, participants reported a greater desire to avoid people with facially displayed symptoms. Together, these results support the idea that humans have evolved a general tendency to avoid individuals with disease signs, especially if displayed upon the face. One consequence is that where a facially displayed disease sign persists, even if known to be benign, its bearer will experience chronic avoidance.     

An intervention to increase walking requires both motivational and volitional components: a replication and extension

An intervention to increase walking has previously been developed, consisting of three motivational techniques, designed to increase self-efficacy, and three volitional techniques, designed to help translate intentions into action. Previous research found large effects (d?=?0.90) on the objectively measured walking behaviour of 130 English adult volunteers, mediated by self-efficacy. The present study aimed to replicate this intervention, and decompose the intervention to assess whether both motivational and volitional intervention components are necessary. A three-group experimental design was employed, with n?=?35 adult volunteers randomly allocated to receive one of three interventions: (a) a "combined" intervention, containing motivational and volitional components in session at T1 and a filler task at T2, (b) a "motivation first" intervention, where the motivational components were received at T1 and the volitional components at T2, or (c) a "volition first" intervention, where the volitional components were received at T1 followed by motivational components at T2. At T2, there was a significant main effect of time, such that there was an increase in walking, but this did not differ between groups. At T3, the "combined" intervention group showed a large (d?=?1.06) and significant (p?=?0.036) increase in walking behaviour, in contrast to both other interventions (time?×?groups interaction, p?=?0.003). The "combined" intervention also produced a significant increase in self-efficacy, relative to the two other interventions. This study demonstrates generalisability of previous large intervention effects and suggests that use of both motivational and volitional components is optimal in producing change in walking behaviour. Future research should explore the mechanisms by which techniques to increase self-efficacy and planning interact.     

Increasing Sales Productivity Through Improved Sales Call Allocation Strategies

Abstract

Analytical tools have been found to greatly assist sales managers in making better sales call allocation decisions, but many of these approaches are either too simplified to provide meaningful results or too complex for many sales organizations to use. Recently a grid analysis approach has been suggested as a promising way to increase sales productivity by improving sales call allocations. We present several methodological improvements for developing the grid and report a successful application of grid analysis.