The developing ego in group psychotherapy

Analytic group psychotherapy offers the potential for developing ego functions and enhancing identity formation. The nature of the interaction in group psychotherapy forces participants to deal with their perception of reality and revise their perceptions. After a brief review of the literature, focusing on the theoretical basis and ego development in analytic group psychotherapy, the paper discusses the following ego functions and gives an example of each: adaptation to reality, judgment, drive control, object relations (relationships with others), thought process and communication, defenses, affect differentiation, autonomy, mastery-competence, regulation of self-esteem, and frustration tolerance. The paper concludes with an example of assessing ego functions from a clinical vignette taken from one group psychotherapy session.     

Bulimia,dietary restraint,and concern for dieting

The concept of dietary restraint has recently been used to explain binge-eating in dieters. It has been proposed that the violation of various restraint rules typically leads to hinging in individuals exhibiting high dietary restraint. This study examined the role of dietary restraint in a clinical sample of bulimics. After eating a preload to break dietary restraint, bulimic binge-eaters (those who binge but do not purge) were found to eat significantly more than bulimics who binged and purged (bulimia nervosa) and significantly more than normals. In addition, purging bulimics were found to have more concern about dieting than binge-eaters, while normals were found to have less concern about dieting and less anxiety about eating than both bulimic groups. These data suggest that the psychopathology of bulimia nervosa and bulimia (binge-eating) may be substantially different. It was proposed that the most distinguishing characteristic may be the preoccupation with dieting, weight, and body size, which is more extreme in bulimia nervosa.     

Countertransference in group psychotherapy

This paper attempts to up-date our understanding of countertransference in the therapy group setting. After a brief review of some of the psychoanalytic and the group psychotherapy literature dealing with countertransference, the paper points out the vulnerability of the group therapist and presents examples of possible countertransferential situations, such as stereotyped roles, reactions to external aspects of patients, and therapists' insecurities. It concludes by suggesting ways in which group therapists can become more sensitive to their countertransferences.     

Activation-induced restoration of sensorimotor functions in rats with dopamine-depleting brain lesions.

Bilateral electrolytic lesions of the lateral hypothalamus or intraventricular 6-hydroxydopamine injections produced substantial depletions of striatal dopamine in rates. All animals with brain damage showed marked sensorimotor impairments. However, they began to move and respond appropriately to environmental stimuli when placed in a sink of water, in a shallow ice bath, or among a colony of cats or rats. A reversal of the sensorimotor dysfunctions was still apparent shortly after the animals were removed from each activating situation. However, the terapeutic effects dissipated rapidly, and by 4 hr after an exposure the rats responded as poorly as they had prior to activation. These findings are strikingly similar to the "paradoxical kinesia" seen in parkinsonism, a clinical disorder attributed to degeneration of central dopamine-containing neurons. Collectively, they suggest the importance of activation in maintaining responsiveness to senory stimuli in rats following dopamine-depleting brain lesions.     

Drinking by rats after lateral hypothalamic lesions: a new look at the lateral hypothalamic syndrome.

Rats that have recovered from aphagia and adipsia following lateral hypothalamic lesions are believed to be incapable of experiencing thirst and to drink water simply to facilitate the consumption of dry food. However, the present results indicate that these animals will drink in response to dehydration of the intracellular or intravascular fluid compartments and to hyperangiotensinemia, if testing continues beyond a few hours. Comparable effects also were obtained in rats with mesencephalic brain damage, which appeared to destroy portions of the substantia nigra and the ascending nigrostriatal dopaminergic projections. These findings, when placed in the context of a recent neurochemical model for recovery of function, provide the basis for a new interpretation of the lateral hypothalamic syndrome.     

Terminations

Whether the person leaving the group is a group member or a group therapist, the basic dynamics of separation are the same, involving the separation process as well as mourning. Terminations evoke ambivalent feelings of both separation-pain and hope. Group members and the departing person experience a loss, which reminds them of other losses, and the departing person (group member or therapist) may also experience some guilt. Any termination will have an effect on the-group-as-a-whole, as well as on the individual members, and must be dealt with prior to the actual leaving, as well as after the termination.     

Acting out in group psychotherapy

Acting out is a common occurrence in group psychotherapy. After a brief review of relevant psychoanalytic and group psychotherapy literature, this paper presents various kinds of acting out by the individual group members and the handling of such acting out by the therapist, discusses acting out by the group as a whole, and gives a brief overview of acting out by the group therapist. Specific examples are given of acting out and ways of dealing with it.     

What triggers causal attributions? The impact of valence and subjective probability

Various field studies and experimental simulations demonstrated that causal reasoning increases after unexpected as well as after unpleasant events. However, unpleasant events are seen as less likely than pleasant ones in everyday life. Accordingly, the subjective probability of the event and its hedonic quality were naturally confounded in these studies. To isolate the contribution of both determinants, the subjective probability and the valence of an event were independently manipulated in a laboratory experiment. Subjects completed an ostensible ‘professional skills test’ and received either success or failure feedback in relation to a criterion set by the experimenter. The subjective probability of success was varied by informing subjects about the distribution of success and failure in a comparable population (either 23 per cent or 77 per cent were said to meet the criterion). The results indicate a pronounced valence effect: The intensity of causal reasoning and the number of possible reasons reported for the outcome was greater after negative than after positive feedback, independent of the a priori probability of the outcome. No evidence for an increase in causal explanations after unexpected, as compared to expected, events was obtained. Several mediating processes are discussed.