The Inventory of Altered Self-Capacities (IASC): a standardized measure of identity,affect regulation,and relationship disturbance

This article describes the Inventory of Altered Self-Capacities (IASC), a 63-item standardized measure of disturbed functioning in relation to self and others. The seven scales of the IASC are Interpersonal Conflicts, Idealization-Disillusionment, Abandonment Concerns, Identity Impairment, Susceptibility to Influence, Affect Dysregulation, and Tension Reduction Activities. The psychometric properties of the IASC were examined in general population, clinical, and university samples. The IASC was found to have internal consistency/reliability and validity in all three samples. Generally as predicted, IASC scales were associated with existing measures tapping borderline and antisocial personality features, depression, suicidality, substance abuse, somatization, and dysfunctional sexual behavior     

Constructing New Realities: Integrating Womanist Traditions in Pastoral Counseling with African-American Women

Womanist cultural and spiritual themes are rich resources for pastoral counseling with African-American women. The authors describe womanist cultural themes, present a case example of an African-American woman struggling with identity issues, and provide specific strategies for incorporating womanist cultural and spiritual patterns in counseling African-American women. Counseling Psychology and Counselor Education atCounseling Psychology and Counselor Education at     

Group building: Developing protocols for psychoeducational groups

Short-term, focused and targeted groups have become a staple in the mental health field and in the general cultural intervention milieu. This paper presents a model for group building aimed at guiding the group leader in constructing, organizing and ordering such psychoeducational groups. This model is applicable to a range of themecentered groups, addressing a variety of specific symptoms, habits, developmental milestones, organizational problems, or normative life crises. First, the defining characteristics of psychoeducational groups will be discussed. Subsequently, the steps in building group protocols will be outlined, including the use of phase-specific group dynamics and curative variables. To demonstrate the utility and generalizability of the model, two populations with extremely diverse thematic foci, a latency incest and a smoking cessation group, will be used to illustrate the ordering of the group protocol and the building of appropriate didactic structures. This paper is intended as a companion to an earlier one in this journal (Ettin et al., 1987), which considered the management of group process in just these types of nonprocess groups.     

Inferential procedures for correlation coefficients corrected for attenuation

A model and computational procedure based on classical test score theory are presented for determination of a correlation coefficient corrected for attenuation due to unreliability. Next, variance-covariance expressions for the sample estimates defined earlier are derived, based on application of the delta method. Results of a Monte Carlo study are presented in which the adequacy of the derived expressions was assessed for a large number of data forms and potential hypotheses encountered in the behavioral sciences. It is shown that, based on the proposed procedures, confidence intervals for single coefficients are reasonably precise. Two-sample hypothesis tests, for both independent and dependent samples, are also accurate. However, for hypothesis tests involving a larger number of coefficients than two—both independent and dependent—the proposed procedures require largens for adequate precision. Results of a preliminary power analysis reveal no serious loss in efficiency resulting from correction for attenuation. Implications for practice are discussed.Support for the research reported in this article was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The authors acknowledge with thanks the constructive comments of the editor and three anonymous reviewers.     

Qualitative undergraduate project supervision in psychology: current practices and support needs of supervisors across North East England and Scotland

The dissertation is a core component of a psychology undergraduate degree, though very little research has been conducted into supervision processes at undergraduate level. This study examined the accounts of supervisors of qualitative dissertations in order to identify current practices of supervision and possible resources that might support supervision. Seventeen supervisors from psychology departments in North East England and Scotland were interviewed, and three main themes were identified using thematic analysis: the quantitative culture in psychology teaching, supervisors’ expertise, and the supervision process. Supervisors noted that students were typically constrained in their choice of methodology due to limited qualitative methods teaching, lack of training and guidance for supervisors, and concerns about the risks of demanding qualitative projects. Supervisors therefore often reported staying within their comfort zone, electing where possible to supervise only the methods that they themselves use. Recommendations for practical resources are provided to help support students and supervisors in the process of undertaking qualitative psychology dissertations.     

Paralysis at the Adolescent Gate: Peter Pan Meets Godzilla

When a 13-year-old develops a disturbance so great that he is unable to go to school, is disinclined to see his friends or go out, and is deeply sad and anxious, clinicians tend to turn to his history to understand what is happening. In the case of Peter, what emerges is that it is not his history but rather what he perceived to be his future that led to his breakdown. This article explicates how the perception of what was to come dovetailed with where he was in his development, and how these coalesced to create an emotional paralysis.     

SELF-VERIFICATION AND DRUG ABUSERS:

Abstract— The work of Swann and his colleagues suggests that a desire for self- verification is a ubiquitous human motive, as important as the desire for positive evaluations When the self-view is negative, the reinforcement value of self-verification can lead individuals to maintain lifestyles and seek out other individuals Who will maintain the negative self-view. Trying to change negative self-views by simple verbal invalidation is not often successful. The reinforcing qualities of self-verification for most individuals and the apparently aversive qualities of invalidating an individual s self-views have potentially important implications for treatment of drug abusers. This commentary briefly reviews self-verification research and discusses implications of findings for psychotherapy, particularly as they relate to strengthening clinical progress and attachment to therapy and to giving feedback to clients.     

Circumnavigating Dodge Morgan's Interpersonal Style

ABSTRACT The Interpersonal Circumplex Model provides a third perspective on Dodge Morgan's personality that clarifies and extends the perspectives provided by the five-factor and life-story models. Classification of Morgan as a prototypical autonomous personality “type” allows for nomothetic interpretations based on an extensive empirical literature. An explicit structural representation of agency and communion served to reveal the diversity of substantive interpretations that have been made with respect to these metaconcepts. Agreement on a structural representation of agency and communion might lead to more uniform interpretations of their dynamic relations with each another.     

Balm in Gilead: Spiritual Dimensions in Counseling African American Women

The authors describe African American cultural and spiritual traditions that are the bedrock for therapeutic work with this population. Through the use of a clinical case, they link African American women's emotional issues with healing interventions borrowed from their rich heritage of religious and spiritual rituals and practices.