Thoughts about the internalised speaking object: psychoanalytic psychotherapy with children of delayed verbal development

This paper discusses the meaningful effects of intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy on language development in children with verbal delay or disorder. Three clinical cases of children aged five to seven are presented; two of these display significant verbal delay and one exhibits unusually high verbal abilities. Following Meltzer, the author explores the concept of the ‘internalised speaking object’ – a good object speaking to the child, which has been internalised. This internal model is essential for the child’s development of language and speech. At times, these children experience this internal object as a persecutory object which must be warded off and avoided. Even more so, when the external object addresses the children verbally, language itself becomes a persecutor and they experience a fear of disintegration. During such times, the therapist must find new and creative ways for communication. The author describes his therapeutic efforts in dealing with these difficulties which stem both from the lack of a reciprocal verbal communication and from the therapist becoming a persecutory object to the child, and demonstrates the manner in which he facilitated gradual shifts in the patient, from an anxious and defensive position into a more relaxed one. These efforts set in motion a process of internalisation of a speaking object by the child and the development of internal language, that is, thinking along with expressive verbal language. The article furnishes some evidence to support the idea that verbal development relies significantly on establishing good, strong and healthy early object relations.     

From Yeshiva to Academia: The Argumentative Writing Characteristics of Ultra-Orthodox Male Students

Argumentation - This study compares the argumentative writing characteristics of students from different sociocultural backgrounds. We focused on Jewish ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) students, educated...     

Is the Goddess Haḍimbā Tantric? Negotiating Power in a Western Himalayan Sacrificial Arena

International Journal of Hindu Studies - Neither the goddess Ha?imbā of the Western Himalayan Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh nor the frequent animal sacrifices that are offered to her...     

The development of awareness of stuttering in preschool children

The development of awareness of stuttering and of fluent speech in preschool children was examined by means of an instrument designed for this purpose. The measure employs a videotape of two identical puppets, one of whom stutters. Twenty stuttering children and twenty normally fluent children were followed for three visits over two years. The effects of group, age, and severity on the awareness score over the three visits were investigated. Results indicated statistical significance for experimental versus control groups, for older versus younger subgroups, and between the first and second, and first and third visits. Differences in stuttering severity were not associated with statistically significant differences in awareness scores. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.     

Petition and contemplation in Maimonides’ conception of prayer

Maimonides’ statements on prayer pose considerable challenges to interpreters who seek to find his work a unified and coherent philosophy of religion. It is especially difficult to see how his advocacy of a silent meditation that follows intellectual comprehension of divine matters can be harmonized with his thoroughly ritualized approach to the daily supplicatory prayer of Jewish liturgy. Yet, it is the purpose of the following pages to outline an interpretation of Maimonides’ philosophy of religion according to which supplicatory prayer and intellectual meditation are not disparate spiritual phenomena, but complementary dimensions of a distinctive form of ethical‐intellectual worship.     

Review of: Julian Huxley, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Evolution: The Modern Synthesis—The Definitive Edition</Emphasis>, with a New Forward by Massimo Pigliucci and Gerd B. Müller. MIT Press, 2010

Julian Huxley’s 1942 book Evolution: The Modern Synthesis is an historically important book which remains well worth reading. In this review I focus on Huxley’s debt to Richard Goldschmidt and Cyril Darlington. I discuss the conceptions of the genome developed by Goldschmidt and Darlington and their continuing relevance.     

Injury increases the risk for PTSD: an examination of potential neurobiological and psychological mediators

A growing number of common traumatic events involve both physical and emotional injuries. In contrast to previously held beliefs, the rapidly growing body of literature shows quite convincingly that physical injury, over and above exposure to the traumatic event itself, increases rather than decreases the risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A pertinent question becomes how bodily injury contributes to the risk of developing PTSD. In this article, we review contemporary findings regarding the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms by which bodily injury may augment or independently contribute to chronic posttraumatic stress. In addition, we propose three theoretical pathways through which physical injury can increase the risk for PTSD. These pathways are: additive, unique, and recovery impeding. Finally, we highlight unresolved issues pertaining to each one of these pathways and propose directions for future research to address them.     

Long term course of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder in traffic accident victims: a three-year prospective follow-up study

The purpose of the present study was to gather prospective longitudinal data on the long-term course and outcome of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The target population for this study was 74 injured traffic accident victims who had been previously followed-up for one year after the trauma. Nineteen of the original 24 PTSD subjects (79%) and 39 of the original 50 Non-PTSD subjects (78%) were available for this study, which took place during the fourth year after the accident. Our results show that 10 (53%) of the 19 patients with PTSD at one-year still suffered from PTSD after another two-year follow-up interval, while 9 recovered from PTSD during this follow-up period. Only 2 of the 39 without PTSD at one year developed delayed onset PTSD. The best predictor of recovery from chronic PTSD was the initial level of posttraumatic reaction immediately after the accident. These results demonstrate that spontaneous recovery from PTSD can occur even among patients who are currently considered chronic. Severity of initial reaction to the trauma appears to be a major risk factor for non-remitting chronic PTSD.     

Changes in positive and negative affect as predictors of change in felt age: Results from the Health and Retirement Study

The present study aimed to examine how changes in positive and negative affect and their interaction predict changes in felt age in a longitudinal design of two waves drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Participants (n = 4174) at an average age of 67.97 completed the 2008 and 2012 left behind questionnaire of the HRS. Our results showed that an increase in positive affect and a decrease in negative affect from Wave 1 to Wave 2 predicted an accelerated decrease in felt age. There was an interaction effect showing that for those with an increase in negative affect, a higher change in positive affect predicted reduced odds for accelerated increase in felt age. To conclude, improving favorable change in the combination between positive and negative affect might in turn relate to the individual’s self-perceptions of aging, in the second half of life.     

Subtyping stuttering I: a review

A reliable and practical subtype system of stuttering should enhance all related scientific work concerned with this disorder. Although a fair number of classification systems have been offered, to date, none has received wide recognition or has been routinely applied in research or clinical spheres. Whereas progress has been made in understanding and treating the disorder, for the most part stuttering continues to be viewed and addressed as a unitary problem. The objectives of the current article are to (a) highlight the motivation for identifying sub-types of stuttering, (b) outline the issues involved in researching subtypes, and (c) address the question of whether or not subtyping is plausible for this disorder. Toward these ends, a broad-based review of past concepts regarding subtypes of stuttering and stutterers is presented according to seven categories that reflect the various authors' conceptual or experimental approaches. Selected studies for each category are also presented to illustrate the research problems and challenges. It is concluded that islands of progress can be identified in subtype research, particularly in studies of children. It is recommended that future studies include multiple factors or domains in the data collection process, especially with young children during the formative years of the disorder, when substantial overlap in the development of several speech/language domains occurs. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: (a) Readers will be able to describe the theory and research concerning the numerous attempts to subtype stuttering, particularly during the past 50 years; (b) Readers will be able to explain the general issues that need to be resolved in order to identify subtypes as well as current and future research strategies aimed at achieving these goals.