A Clinician's View of Attachment Theory and Research: A Discussion of the Papers in Three Issues of Psychoanalytic Inquiry

In this essay, I take up concepts raised in papers in the three issues of Psychoanalytic Inquiry edited by Diana Diamond and Sidney Blatt. To give coherence to my discussion, I consider the many subjects covered (often several in one paper) under the headings of Mothering, Representation, Trauma and Pathology, and Therapeutic Change and Its Measurement. I focus throughout on the relevance of findings to the outlook of a clinician, at times providing examples based on my experience as an analyst to further elucidate my conceptualizations.     

Demographic variables and microCog performance: relationships for VA patients under treatment for substance abuse

The associations of demographic variables with cognitive performance, as measured by the MicroCog ability domain scores, were assessed with 222 substance abusers who were patients in a VA medical center. Analysis indicated that age was negatively related to all five outcomes scores, and education was positively related to measures assessing Attention/Mental Control and Reasoning/Calculation. These findings are consistent with past theoretical and applied research. The demographic variables, as a group, accounted for a total of 17% to 37% of the variance in the five domain scores.     

Much Ado About Nothing?

Mary Lee Smith. Sex bias in counseling and psychotherapy Bernard E. Whitley, Jr. Sex roles and psychotherapy: A current appraisal