Psychoanalytic supervision of the difficult patient

Control cases from the broad group of non-neurotic but potentially analyzable patients appear with increasing frequency. The intense, complex transferences they develop place great stress on the psychoanalytic relationship and evoke marked countertransference reactions in psychoanalytic candidates, which reverberate within the supervisory relationship. Through application of a case study method, common themes emerge in the candidate-supervisor dyad: idealization of the supervisor and of classical technique, identification with the patient, parallel process enactments, difficulty maintaining the analytic frame, and the importance of concurrent training analysis. Classical supervisory techniques must be adapted to the "difficult" (non-neurotic) control case. Complex countertransference issues must be carefully addressed while maintaining the teach/treat boundary.     

The Benefits of Spiritual Diaries: A Mixed-Method Study in Korea

Journal of Religion and Health - This mixed study examined the benefits of spiritual diaries in Korea. Quantitatively, differences in spiritual growth and psychological well-being were examined in...     

Understanding the factors that determine workplace coaching effectiveness: a systematic literature review

Meta-analytic results have established that workplace coaching is effective, however, little is known about the determinants of coaching effectiveness. This paper reports an inclusive systematic literature review, covering the quantitative and qualitative research on workplace coaching. We focus on seven promising areas in the current workplace coaching literature that emerged by the synthesis of 117 empirical studies: self-efficacy, coaching motivation, goal orientation, trust, interpersonal attraction, feedback intervention, and supervisory support. The major contribution of our paper is the systematic integration of well-established theoretical constructs in the workplace coaching context and the new insights we provide in the synthesis of these literatures. Based on our review, we provide specific recommendations to be addressed in future research, including recommended research methodologies, which we propose will significantly progress the field of workplace coaching theory and practice.     

The impact of self on materialism among teenagers

No previous research has investigated the relationship between the concept of self and materialism, especially among teenagers. Our study seeks to reverse this trend by examining how independent self‐construal and interdependent self‐construal affect materialism among Brazilian teenagers (grades 7 through 12). Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. We find that independent self‐construal has a positive effect on materialism. Furthermore, we created three sub‐constructs out of the original interdependent self‐construal construct, none of which affected materialism in the same way. Group dependency, a need to achieve the group's authorisation, increases materialism; group loyalty, an attitude of group fidelity, has no effect on materialism; and group respect, a respect for group decision, diminishes materialism. These are interesting results, because they question our prior beliefs on the matter and introduce new factors into the scholarly discussion of this issue. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trauma as an objective or subjective experience: The association between types of traumatic events,personality traits,subjective experience of the event,and posttraumatic symptoms

The study aimed to examine the discrete effect of objective (type of trauma and demographic characteristics) and subjective (proximity to the trauma, subjective experience of the trauma as a threat, the Big Five personality traits, and dissociative symptoms) factors on the risk for PTSD among 1,210 undergraduate students. The findings indicate that survivors of physical/sexual assault scored the highest on proximity to the trauma, subjective experience of the trauma as a threat, neuroticism, dissociation, and PTSD symptoms. In addition, subjective experience of the trauma, proximity to it, type of trauma, dissociation, and neuroticism were associated with the risk for PTSD symptoms. The findings point to the significance of both subjective and objective variables in the risk for PTSD symptoms.     

Daily mood and stress predict pain, health care use, and work activity in African American adults with sickle-cell disease.

This study examined the extent to which daily mood and stress were associated with pain, health care use, and work activity in 41 adults (mean age=36 years) with sickle-cell disease. Multilevel model analyses of daily diaries (M=91 days) indicated that increases in stress and negative mood were associated with increases in same-day pain, health care use, and work absences. Lagged models suggested bidirectional relationships, with evidence that pain may be the more powerful initiating variable in pain-mood and pain-stress cycles. Of importance, positive mood was associated with lower same-day and subsequent day pain, as well as fewer health care contacts, suggesting that positive mood may serve to offset negative consequences of pain and other illness symptoms.     

Efficacy and feeling of a vibrotactile Frontal Collision Warning implemented in a haptic pedal

A haptic pedal has been designed to emulate the behaviour of a common vehicle pedal and render superimposed vibrations with different characteristics. It was installed in a driving simulator, as an accelerator pedal with the secondary function of a vibrotactile Frontal Collision Warning (FCW). The efficacy and feeling of this solution was tested with 30 subjects using vibrotactile signals with 0.50, 1.05, and 1.60 Nm, at 2.5, 5, and 10 Hz, against a baseline visual FCW. Participants had to match the speed of a leading vehicle when the FCW was triggered. Their braking response was evaluated in terms of brake reaction time, matching speed time, control of velocity and headway reduction. Driver’s feelings were assessed with Kansei methodologies. Haptic stimuli were found to be more effective than visual signals, and the characteristics of the vibration also influenced the results. The best performance was achieved at the maximum amplitude, and in the range between 5 and 10 Hz. The perceived functionality and discomfort followed a trend coherent with the objective measurements. The conclusions of this study may be applied to develop effective and safe warning systems in vehicles, limiting the annoyance that they might cause to drivers.     

The effect of expectancy of a threatening event on time perception in human adults

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of a threatening stimulus in human adults in a temporal bisection task. In Experiment 1, for two anchor duration conditions (400/800 vs. 800/1600 ms), the participants completed trials in which the probe duration was followed by an aversive stimulus or a nonaversive stimulus. The results showed that the duration was judged longer when the participants expected an aversive rather than a nonaversive stimulus. In Experiment 2, the effect of the temporal localization of the aversive stimulus was also tested, with the aversive stimulus being presented at the beginning or at the end of the probe duration. The results revealed a temporal overestimation in each condition compared to the trials in which no aversive stimulus was presented. Furthermore, the temporal overestimation was greater when the expectation for the forthcoming threatening stimulus was longer. This temporal overestimation is explained in terms of a speeding-up of the neural timing system in response to the increase in the arousal level produced by the expectation of a threatening stimulus.