Explorations of the effectiveness of a voluntary sector psychodynamic counselling service

This paper reports two studies of individual psychodynamic counselling provided by a voluntary sector service. The first study examines evidence of the effectiveness of counselling, as evaluated by the General Health Questionnaire and Personal Opinion Survey. Measures of the process of counselling indicated the improvements that clients attributed to counselling, the changes that occurred during it, and the factors that were most beneficial, as well as the approaches used by counsellors. The second study, using the CORE Outcome Measure and ratings of problem severity, found counselling to be equally effective with disadvantaged and non‐disadvantaged clients, as defined by British Department of Health criteria, but these clients differed somewhat in their perceptions of helpful aspects of counselling. Both studies also indicated predictors of positive outcome of counselling. The studies are used to illustrate some of the methodological issues around research in this area.     

Is overt stuttered speech a prerequisite for the neural activations associated with chronic developmental stuttering?

Four adult right-handed chronic stutterers and four age-matched controls completed H(2)(15)O PET scans involving overt and imagined oral reading tasks. During overt stuttered speech prominent activations occurred in SMA (medial), BA 46 (right), anterior insula (bilateral), and cerebellum (bilateral) plus deactivations in right A2 (BA 21/22). These activations and deactivations also occurred when the same stutterers imagined they were stuttering. Some parietal regions were significantly activated during imagined stuttering, but not during overt stuttering. Most regional activations changed in the same direction when overt stuttering ceased (during chorus reading) and when subjects imagined that they were not stuttering (also during chorus reading). Controls displayed fewer similarities between regional activations and deactivations during actual and imagined oral reading. Thus overt stuttering appears not to be a prerequisite for the prominent regional activations and deactivations associated with stuttering.     

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD 25) and behaviour therapy

This paper deals with the problems involved in the treatment of complex neurotic conditions. A seventh feature is added to Wolpe's list of the six features that make a neurosis complex. The use of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD 25) in the treatment of such difficult cases is discussed and three cases are presented.     

HIV infection with immunodeficiency presenting with subacute cognitive decline: recent illustrative cases

We describe three recent patients in whom evaluation of subacute, progressive encephalopathy led to the initial diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus infection. The clinical neurological picture of a predominance of abnormalities of mental function with few elementary neurological deficits, in conjunction with a paucity of systemic symptoms and lack of evidence for prior opportunistic infections preceding the encephalopathy are notable. The cognitive, behavioral, and neuropsychiatric disturbances are described in detail to illustrate the range of manifestations of disordered mental states associated with encephalopathy in individuals with HIV infection. The importance of a comprehensive and broad-minded work-up by brain magnetic resonance imaging, cerebrospinal fluid examination, and specific microbiological tests in delineating the potential multifactorial pathogenesis of the cerebral syndromes in relation to the HIV infection is emphasized. The gratifying long-term clinical improvements in parallel with resolution of neuroimaging and other laboratory abnormalities in response to antiretroviral drug treatment are reported.     

Intergroup disgust sensitivity as a predictor of islamophobia: The modulating effect of fear

The present research investigated whether intergroup disgust sensitivity (ITG-DS) predicts greater Islamophobia, and whether this positive association is modulated (strengthened or weakened) by the experience of concurrent incidental non-disgust emotions (fear, sadness, anger, happiness). In Study 1 (N = 225) participants completed measures of ITG-DS (an emotionally charged individual difference variable reflecting heightened tendency to experience disgust and revulsion reactions toward ethnic outgroup encounters) and dispositional measures of fear, sadness, anger, and happiness. Results revealed that among those experiencing greater (vs. lower) fear or sadness, the positive relation between ITG-DS and Islamophobia was significantly stronger. In Study 2 (N = 174), fear, sadness, and happiness were experimentally induced. Among those induced to experience fear, the positive relation between ITG-DS and prejudice toward Muslims was significantly strengthened relative to control. Overall, specific negative emotions, especially fear, interacted with individual differences in intergroup-relevant disgust sensitivity to inform outgroup evaluations.