PERMA and the building blocks of well-being

Seligman (2011) hypothesized that PERMA (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment) are the elements of well-being. Goodman, Disabato, Kashdan & Kaufmann (2017) reported strong evidence that subjective well-being is the final common path of such elements and their data are entirely consistent with Seligman’s hypothesis. They argued, incorrectly however, that he suggested that PERMA constituted a different kind of well-being rather than just its building blocks. The complicated issue, one that transcends psychometrics, of how to decide on elements of well-being is discussed.     

A non-finitely based quasi-variety of De Morgan algebras

In this paper we exhibit a non-finitely based, finitely generated quasi-variety of De Morgan algebras and determine the bottom of the lattices of sub-quasi-varieties of Kleene and De Morgan algebras.Supported by Vicerrectoría Académica de la Facultad de Ciencias and by División de Investigación, Sede Bogotá of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.Special issue of Studia Logica: Algebraic Theory of Quasivarieties Presented by M. E. Adams, K. V. Adaricheva, W. Dziobiak, and A. V. Kravchenko     

The case for existential therapy in HIV-related psychotherapy

Few topics currently evoke such debate and dynamics as HIV and AIDS. It is a phenomenon that affects people at all levels of their existence, including in their psychotherapy experience. There is an ever growing field of HIV related psychotherapy. Currently this field contains work from a cognitive behavioural focus, a systemic one, work from a psychodynamic focus and from the Group Analytic approach. In this paper the case for existential psychotherapy will be made as an important approach with a great deal to offer the field of HIV-related psychotherapy.     

A simple,inexpensive, liquid-tight swivel connection for use in chronic infusion systems

This note describes the fabrication of a simple, inexpensive, liquid-tight swivel joint for twist-free coupling of small, freely moving animals to infusion systems. The device uses a disposable hypodermic needle and syringe as the main components, and fabrication requires only readily available hand tools and minimal mechanical expertise.     

Gossip and counselling: The tendency to gossip and its relation to vocational interests

In this study we attempted to treat gossip as a psychological disposition related to vocational interests, using a newly developed instrument, the Tendency to Gossip Questionnaire (TGQ). One hundred and twenty Israeli students (58 females, 62 males) at the Haifa Technion and the University of Haifa were administered the TGQ together with the Social Desirability Scale and the Ramak-Vocational Interests Questionnaire. We found that: (a) women tended to report that they gossiped more than men did, but this difference was confined to one specific content area of gossip only; and (b) interest in people-oriented professions was related to the tendency to gossip even when social desirability and gender were controlled for statistically. The last finding supports the ‘spillover’ hypothesis (Staines, 1980) on the relationship between vocational and avocational interests. The positive relationship between the tendency to gossip and an interest in people-oriented professions might mean that both derive from the same basic needs. We suggest that counselling and psychotherapy can be regarded as sublimated forms of gossip. It is our hope that the TGQ may be of help in expanding our knowledge about the relationship between the tendency to gossip and other psychological dispositions.

This paper attempts to examine the relationship between Existential thought & Client Centred approach to counselling. This task is undertaken by means of an examination of both the similarities and differences between the two fields, as well as relevant research. The paper draws upon thinking of major writers in the fields under consideration, and in doing so looks at such themes as meaning and existence, such concepts as philosophy and technique in psychotherapy and counselling and characteristics of the therapist and the counselling process.