Using Drawings to Elicit Nonverbal Constructs in Experiential Personal Construct Psychotherapy

Clients who have experienced psychological wounds prior to the use of language frequently struggle to articulate and make sense of their core constructs around self and others. These early wounds can have a significant influence on future relational interactions, even though they may be experienced at a nonverbal level. While eliciting these preverbal constructs may be essential to the healing process, without verbal representation the therapeutic task can be difficult. In this article, we will discuss the use of symbolism within personal construct psychology as well as the use of drawings as representations of nonverbal constructs. We will then discuss experiential personal construct psychotherapy and its focus on the ways we both connect and disconnect from others. Finally, we will present Kristen, a therapy client who experienced early relational wounds and increasingly dissociated in response to relational stress as she matured. Kristen's work in therapy around her fragmented sense of self included drawing her internal self-parts. Only then was she able to wrap words around that which she previously experienced nonverbally. In this case study, Kristen's drawings and her core constructs as elicited during four years of therapy will be presented and discussed.     

Trauma in Resettled Iraqi Refugees: Differences between Those Seeking Psychological Treatment and Those Not Seeking Psychological Treatment

Psychological distress experienced by resettling refugees has been well documented, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression being prevalent outcomes. This study examined psychological and physiological measures of trauma exposure in 2 groups of Iraqi refugees resettled in Australia, those seeking psychological treatment (n = 25) versus those not seeking treatment (n = 22). Data from a group of healthy sex- and age-matched controls (n = 32) were collected to facilitate norm comparisons for physiological arousal. Continuous recording of electrocardiogram data examined resting heart rate (HR). Refugees seeking treatment had significantly higher levels of PTSD symptomology and depression levels compared to non-treatment-seeking refugees; however, there was no difference in the number of trauma events endorsed. Finally, resting HR was significantly higher in both refugee groups compared with healthy controls; however, there was no difference between the refugee groups. Clinical consideration of this excessive trauma exposure and elevated autonomic arousal is warranted.     

Patients’ Perceptions of Risky Developments During Psychotherapy

Research on risks and unwanted effects is largely missing in psychotherapy. Using exploratory factor analysis six dimensions of personal therapy situation were identified in a preliminary study, three of them were associated with risky developments during the psychotherapeutic process: (1) (poor) quality of therapeutic relationship, (2) burden caused by psychotherapy, and (3) dependency/isolation. Based on the finding of this study an online survey was performed to examine these three dimensions. Aside from these three factors another variable was associated with risky therapy developments: the online questionnaire also asked for premature terminations of psychotherapy as a consequence of risky conditions for the therapeutic development. Risky conditions were found to be associated with the following variables: (1) the combination of female patient–male therapist, (2) the therapeutic orientation (particularly with the psychodynamic approaches) and (3) the duration of therapy. Fewer humanistic and systemic psychotherapies were found among the high risk-prone group of patients who were at risk in at least three of the four variables which were associated with risky developments. Differences in the findings of the study regarding the four therapeutic orientations stress the importance of an extensive differential indication and a cooperative partnership between patient and therapist, in order to facilitate a positive patient participation towards the choice of therapy method and subsequent successful participation throughout the course of treatment. Further studies should also focus on female patient and male therapist psychotherapies.     

The effect of exercise and childbirth classes on fear of childbirth and locus of labor pain control

This study sought to track changes in intensity of fear of childbirth and locus of labor pain control in women attending an exercise program for pregnant women or traditional childbirth classes and to identify the predictors of these changes. The study was longitudinal/non-experimental in nature and run on 109 healthy primigravidae aged from 22 to 37, including 62 women participating in an exercise program for pregnant women and 47 women attending traditional childbirth classes. The following assessment tools were used: two scales developed by the present authors – the Fear of Childbirth Scale and the Control of Birth Pain Scale, three standardized psychological inventories for the big five personality traits (NEO Five Factors Inventory), trait anxiety (State–Trait Anxiety Inventory) and dispositional optimism (Life Oriented Test–Revised) and a questionnaire concerning socioeconomic status, health status, activities during pregnancy, relations with partners and expectations about childbirth. Fear of childbirth significantly decreased in women participating in the exercise program for pregnant women but not in women attending traditional childbirth classes. Several significant predictors of post-intervention fear of childbirth emerged: dispositional optimism and self-rated health (negative) and strength of the belief that childbirth pain depends on chance (positive).     

Representing Indian Philosophy Through the Nation: an Exploration of the Public Philosopher Radhakrishnan

Several authors working on cross-cultural philosophy underscore that a cross-cultural conversational space, which breaks away from dominant theoretical frameworks, is necessary for a genuine cross-cultural dialog. This paper too seeks to contribute to the development of such a space. To this end, its focus will lie on one salient representation of Indian philosophy in the postcolonial context: the ‘Report of the University Education Commission’ of 1948–1949 (Report 1950). The paper will analyze how this document marries shared values like freedom and equality with the role of philosophy for the Indian nation.     

Continuing education in humanistic psychology

This article explores the importance of the relationship between a teacher of meditation and his or her student. Mindfulness meditation is receiving a lot of attention in the psychotherapy literature currently. It is generally viewed as a technique that is taught in groups and then practiced individually by clients or participants. What does not appear to be generally understood is that the teaching and learning of meditation is understood in Eastern traditions as intimately related to the relationship that develops between the teacher and student. This, in fact, is very similar to what we are coming to understand about the importance of the therapeutic relationship to the outcome of therapy, regardless of technique or orientation of the therapist. Personal experiences of the author in a relationship with a meditation teacher are compared with those from a psychoanalytic therapy experience. Meditation is construed from this perspective not only as a technique that is learned and practiced but also as an innate human capability that is activated in the context of a very special kind of relationship with a person who has fully unfolded this capacity in his or her own experience.     

Sex differences in anger-related behaviour: Comparing expectancies to actual behaviour

Expectancies about and the reactions of men and women to a provocation were compared to self- and observer ratings of the actual behaviour in response to the provocation. In Study 1, men and women were provoked by the experimenter during a laboratory task. In Study 2, participants were presented with video clips of the provocation and estimated how a man or a woman would likely react to it. The man was expected to react more aggressively than the woman. In their actual behaviour, however, men were more likely to react with humour or by distancing than were women. The woman was expected to react more submissively than the man, which was inaccurate with respect to both the observer ratings and the self-ratings.