The Use of Metaphor in Clinical Supervision

The authors completed a critical review of the literature on the use of metaphor and the efficacy of metaphoric activities in clinical supervision. The authors conclude that these activities might assist students in understanding the process of becoming a counselor and facilitate students' case conceptualization skills. Cautions to consider when implementing metaphoric activities, limitations of research that has investigated the effectiveness of using metaphors in supervision, and suggestions for future research in this area are presented.     

Heroin addicts reporting previous heroin overdoses also report suicide attempts

Nonfatal heroin overdoses and suicide attempts are both common among heroin addicts, but there is limited knowledge about the association between them. The sample in the present study consisted of 149 regular heroin users in Malmö, Sweden. Out of these 98 had taken an unintentional heroin overdose at some time and 51 had made at least one attempt to commit suicide (but not using heroin). Suicide attempts were significantly more common among those who had taken unintentional overdoses as compared with those who had never taken any overdose (p < 0.01). The more overdoses, the greater the risk of suicide attempt.     

Disruption of order information by irrelevant items: a serial recognition paradigm

Irrelevant speech effect (ISE) is defined as a decrement in visually presented digit-list short-term memory performance due to exposure to irrelevant auditory material. Perhaps the most successful theoretical explanation of the effect is the changing state hypothesis. This hypothesis explains the effect in terms of confusion between amodal serial order cues, and represents a view based on the interference caused by the processing of similar order information of the visual and auditory materials. An alternative view suggests that the interference occurs as a consequence of the similarity between the visual and auditory contents of the stimuli. An important argument for the former view is the observation that ISE is almost exclusively observed in tasks that require memory for serial order. However, most short-term memory tasks require that both item and order information be retained in memory. An ideal task to investigate the sensitivity of maintenance of serial order to irrelevant speech would be one that calls upon order information but not item information. One task that is particularly suited to address this issue is serial recognition. In a typical serial recognition task, a list of items is presented and then probed by the same list in which the order of two adjacent items has been transposed. Due to the re-presentation of the encoding string, serial recognition requires primarily the serial order to be maintained while the content of the presented items is deemphasized. In demonstrating a highly significant ISE of changing versus steady-state auditory items in a serial recognition task, the present finding lends support for and extends previous empirical findings suggesting that irrelevant speech has the potential to interfere with the coding of the order of the items to be memorized.     

A mediational model of trait negative affectivity, dispositional thought suppression, and intrusive thoughts following laboratory stressors

Two studies examined the relationships among trait negative affectivity, dispositional thought suppression, and intrusions in non-clinical samples. In Study 1 (N=87), participants were presented with a series of emotionally evocative images and intrusions were examined 48 h after presentation via self-report. In Study 2 (N=118), intrusions were examined using a behavioral Key-press and self-report at two time points (5 and 20 min) following exposure to a series of emotionally evocative images. In each study, participants were assessed for trait negative affectivity and the tendency to engage in thought suppression in response to unpleasant cognitions. Results from both studies support a model in which chronic thought suppression fully mediates the relationship between negative affectivity and the frequency of intrusions.     

Night-time thoughts in high and low worriers: reaction to caffeine-induced sleeplessness

There is ample evidence for the existence of an association between sleeplessness and worry. Not much is known, however, concerning the nature of this relationship. Therefore, a study was conducted investigating the causal relationship between sleeplessness and nocturnal worry. A 2 x 2 (Worry x Induced sleeplessness) analysis of covariance design was used. The first factor consisted of a subject variable defined by scoring either high or low on a trait measure of worry (the Penn State Worry Questionnaire) and the second factor consisted of 300 mg caffeine or placebo. A total of 96 female undergraduate students participated. The dependent variables comprised measures of nocturnal worry (the Night-Time Thoughts Questionnaire) and subjective and objective sleep parameters. Overall, caffeine caused an increase in nocturnal worry and sleeplessness. A significant interaction effect occurred between Worry and Induced sleeplessness on one of the objective sleep parameters, but no other interaction effects were significant. The results suggest that worry may occur as an epiphenomenon of sleeplessness.     

An additional antecedent of empathic concern: valuing the welfare of the person in need

Two experiments examined the role of valuing the welfare of a person in need as an antecedent of empathic concern. Specifically, these experiments explored the relation of such valuing to a well-known antecedent--perspective taking. In Experiment 1, both perspective taking and valuing were manipulated, and each independently increased empathic concern, which, in turn, increased helping behavior. In Experiment 2, only valuing was manipulated. Manipulated valuing increased measured perspective taking and, in part as a result, increased empathic concern, which, in turn, increased helping. Valuing appears to be an important, largely overlooked, situational antecedent of feeling empathy for a person in need.     

A method to optimize the response range while maintaining Rorschach Comprehensive System validity

Brief and lengthy Rorschach records have been identified as common problems in protocol administration. Clinicians have debated how to prevent overly short and long records, but they have been reluctant to alter standardized administration for fear of introducing bias. The present study examines a nonintrusive method for constraining responses by prompting for an extra response when only one is offered per card and by removing the card after four responses are given. Among patients who typically produce brief records, consisting of a residential sample of civil and forensic patients with a range of disordered thinking, the alternative administration method demonstrated improved Comprehensive System validity in assessing thought disorder and eliminated the need to readminister the test due to fewer than 14 responses. The findings have clinical implications for protocol administration with thought-disordered populations that typically produce brief records.     

In the eyes of the beholder: exploring psychologists' attitudes towards and use of e-therapy in Norway.

Norwegian psychologists' use of and attitudes towards e-media such as email and mobile text messaging in interaction with clients (e-therapy) were explored. A two-dimensional scale for measuring attitudes towards e-therapy was developed. A total of 1040 (23%) members of the psychologist association responded to a questionnaire June 2003. Of these, 45% had used e-media in interaction with clients. The mean reported attitude towards e-therapy was neutral, with only 3% of the psychologists feeling that use of e-media between client and therapist is unacceptable. Having a psychodynamic theoretical stance was related to attitudes towards e-therapy. Positive attitude was related to clinical use of email and Short Messages Service (SMS). It appears likely that e-therapy will become more common, and that therapist's attitudes are related to such use.     

Nanotoxicology and Ethical Conditions for Informed Consent

While their strength, electrical, optical, or magnetic properties are expected to contribute a trillion dollars in global commerce before 2015, nanomaterials also appear to pose threats to human health and safety. Nanotoxicology is the study of these threats. Do nanomaterial benefits exceed their risks? Should all nanomaterials be regulated? Currently nanotoxicologists cannot help answer these questions because too little is known about nanomaterials, because their properties differ from those of bulk materials having the same chemical composition, and because they differ so widely in their applications. Instead, this paper answers a preliminary ethical question: What nanotech policies are likely to contribute to society’s ability to give or withhold free informed consent to the potential risks associated with production and use of nanomaterials? This paper argues that at least four current policies appear to jeopardize the risk-disclosure condition that is required for informed consent. These are the funding problem, the conflict-of-interest problem, the labeling problem, and the extrapolation problem. Apart from future decisions on how to ethically make, use, and regulate nanomaterials, this paper argues that, at a minimum, these four policies must be modified. Government must spend greater monies on nanotoxicology; ensure independent nanotoxicology research; label consumer products containing nanomaterials; and avoid assuming that nanotoxicological properties are based merely on mass and chemical composition. Otherwise free informed consent to these new technologies and materials may be jeopardized.     

Social Support Mediates Loneliness and Human Herpesvirus Type 6 (HHV-6) Antibody Titers

The current study investigated the impact of a severe environmental stressor and the role that declining social integration played in mediating its effect on loneliness and immune status. Increased loneliness and decreased social support in the months following the stressor (storm) were significantly associated with increased HHV-6 antibody liters, reflecting poorer control over the virus. Poorer social integration mediated the relationship between loneliness and HHV-6, even after controlling for nonspecific polyclonal B-cell activation, disease status (CD3+CD4+ cell counts), living arrangements, acute social losses (bereavement), and potential disruptions in social-support resources. These findings suggest that specific elements of social support may explain the oft-noted negative effects of loneliness on the immune system, and generalized to a medically vulnerable population.