Sustained Empathic Focus and the Creation of a “We Space” Revisited in the Light of Recent Findings in Neurobiology

This article is an attempt to expand our understanding of the curative process with an emphasis on the group therapy setting. It presents a self psychological approach that underlines the importance of a “sustained empathic focus” on each patient’s subjective experience and the creation of what we have referred to as shared “vulnerable moments” and a “we-space.” The relationship of our approach to recent findings in the field of neurobiology is then considered.     

A POSTMODERN APPROACH TO WOMEN'S USE OF VIOLENCE: DEVELOPING MULTIPLE AND COMPLEX CONCEPTUALIZATIONS

We review the research on intimate partner abuse and, in particular, the articles in this issue, from within a feminist and postmodern framework. Research on women's use of violence is reviewed in terms of how researchers have constructed and measured violence and have conceptualized intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender. What and how we measure determines what we find ( McHugh & Cosgrove, 2005 ). We call for new conceptualizations of intimate violence and for more complex constructions of gender. We offer a postmodern perspective on gender and IPV arguing that interpersonal violence always involves gender, that approach and method influence results, and that men and women use violence in both similar and different ways.     

What are we really priming? Cue-based versus category-based processing of facial stimuli.

Results from 5 experiments provide converging evidence that automatic evaluation of faces in sequential priming paradigms reflects affective responses to phenotypic features per se rather than evaluation of the racial categories to which the faces belong. Experiment 1 demonstrates that African American facial primes with racially prototypic physical features facilitate more automatic negative evaluations than do other Black faces that are unambiguously categorizable as African American but have less prototypic features. Experiments 2, 3, and 4 further support the hypothesis that these differences reflect direct affective responses to physical features rather than differential categorization. Experiment 5 shows that automatic responses to facial primes correlate with cue-based but not category-based explicit measures of prejudice. Overall, these results suggest the existence of 2 distinct types of prejudice.     

Spirituality and Young Women in Transition: A Preliminary Investigation

This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge about spirituality and life transitions. Through qualitative investigation, 9 young women in professional education programs described their definition of spirituality, their spiritual activities, and how they used their spirituality to cope with life transitions as they prepared to enter the workforce. These women viewed spirituality as including connectedness and a special relationship with a Being outside of themselves. Their spiritual activities were private and non‐traditional (e.g., meditation, prayer, being in nature), and most of them reported that their spirituality helped them deal with their life transition.     

Adult perceptions of the infant as a function of gender labeling and observer gender

Four hundred sixty four adults rated a videotape of the activities of a 22-month-old infant whose gender was labeled differently with different subject groups. One group was told that the infant was male, a second group was told that the infant was female, and a third group was told that the infant was hermaphrodite, i.e., appeared to have the genitals of both sexes. Some subjects rated each activity as being either masculine or feminine (forced-choice method) while other subjects rated each activity with a neutral choice also available (free-choice method). The data indicate that, for both methodological groups, labeling the infant “male” resulted in significantly more activities being rated masculine than feminine, whereas the converse was true when the infant was labeled “female.” A label of “hermaphrodite” resulted in an approximately equal ratio of activities being rated as masculine and as feminine. There were no significant interaction (Gender Label × Observer Gender) for the forced-choice group, but for the free-choice group, significant interaction between child's gender label and observer's gender was found.     

No place to hide: the group leader's moments of shame

Shame is a powerful, universal experience; yet because of its painful, secretive nature, it often remains an underground affect for many therapists. On behalf of our patients and ourselves, we must de-stigmatize it. My aim is to further a dialogue among group therapists about processing our own shame, by openly discussing the phenomenology and dynamics of shame. Such discussion is not easy, as shame by its nature seems almost unspeakable; yet leaders, due to the group setting, are especially at risk of having shame activated. Using a self-psychological/intersubjective approach, this paper suggests how we as therapists can become cognizant of and work with our own shame. Given the dearth of experience-near accounts of the group therapist's own shame, the author provides detailed vignettes of her own experiences with shame in the clinical setting.     

Evaluation of a break-to-choice chained-schedule intervention for multiply maintained problem behavior

Interventions for multiply maintained problem behavior often involve developing separate treatment conditions to address each function. Although isolating treatment conditions lead to positive outcomes, developing individual treatments for each identified function may be time-consuming. Alternatively, synthesizing treatment procedures may allow for more efficient treatment effects. We extended previous research by evaluating functional communication training (FCT) and chained schedules of reinforcement to treat multiply maintained problem behavior in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. First, we conducted a functional analysis that concluded problem behavior was multiply maintained. Next, we taught functional communication responses (FCRs) and implemented a chained schedule of reinforcement. During the initial link, FCRs for a break resulted in the presentation of a choice menu with the other putative reinforcers in the terminal link. The relevant reinforcer was delivered contingent on the emission of subsequent FCRs. Finally, we systematically schedule thinned to caregiver-informed terminal schedules for each participant. The results of our study demonstrated that FCT, in combination with a sequential compound schedule of reinforcement, effectively decreased multiply maintained problem behavior and increased appropriate alternative responses (FCRs and compliance) even at terminal schedules of reinforcement.