Psychodynamic psychotherapy for children and adolescents: an updated narrative review of the evidence base

While the evidence base for psychodynamic therapy with adults is now quite substantial, there is still a lack of research evaluating the effectiveness of psychodynamic therapies with children and young people. Those studies that have been carried out are also not widely known in the field. To help address the second point, in 2011, we carried out a review of the evidence base for psychodynamic psychotherapy for children and adolescents, which identified 35 studies which together provided some preliminary evidence for this treatment for a range of childhood disorders. The present study is an updated review, focusing on research published between March 2011 and November 2016. During this period, 23 additional studies were published, of which 5 were reports on randomised controlled trials, 3 were quasi-experimental controlled studies and 15 were observational studies. Although most studies covered children with mixed diagnoses, there were a number of studies examining specific diagnostic groups, including children with depression, anxiety and disruptive disorders. whilst the quality of studies was mixed, some were well-designed and reported, and overall indicated promising findings. Nevertheless, further high-quality research is needed in order to better understand the effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy across a range of different disorders, and to ensure that services can provide a range of evidence-based treatments for children and young people.     

External support for collaborative problem solving in a simulated provider/patient medication scheduling task

Taking medication requires developing plans to accomplish the activity. This planning challenges older adults because of age-related cognitive limits and inadequate collaboration with health providers. The authors investigated whether an external aid (medtable) supports collaborative planning in the context of a simulated patient/provider task in which pairs of older adults worked together to create medication schedules. Experiment 1 compared pairs who used the medtable, blank paper (unstructured aid), or no aid to create schedules varying in complexity of medication constraints (number of medications and medication co-occurrence restrictions) and patient constraints (available times during the day to take medication). Both aids increased problem-solving accuracy and efficiency (time per unit accuracy) compared to the no-aid condition, primarily for more complex schedules. However, benefits were similar for the two aids. In Experiment 2, a redesigned medtable increased problem-solving accuracy and efficiency compared to blank paper. Both aids presumably supported problem solving by providing a jointly visible workspace for developing schedules. The medtable may be more effective because it externalizes constraints (relationships between medication and patient information), so that participants can more easily organize information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).     

The counselling and psychotherapy profession in Canada: regulatory processes and current status

ABSTRACT

Like the Canadian landscape and culture, the status of professional regulation for counselling and psychotherapy is a mosaic reflecting the unique cultural, linguistic and contextual realities of Canada. Statutory regulation in Canada is constitutionally a provincial/territorial matter. In the past five years, a major movement towards professional regulation has emerged. The authors describe the variable status of regulation, focusing on three provinces: Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario. They explore the federal Agreement of Internal Trade, designed to facilitate inter-provincial/territorial mobility of regulated professionals. Finally, the authors summarise national research and development activities of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association that enhance the pan-Canadian mobility of practitioners and support shared professional understandings. These activities range from bilingual, national validation of competencies, definitions, titles and scopes of practice to symposia and an entry-to-practice competency assessment.     

Perceptions of adolescent bullying: Attributions of blame and responsibility in cases of cyber‐bullying

Cyber‐bullying (where victims are targeted via online social networking or other electronic means) has gained increased attention in research and the broadcast media, but previous research has not investigated attribution of blame in such cyber‐bullying events. This experiment hypothesized that participants would assign higher ratings of blame to bullying perpetrators when the bullying situations were depicted as having highly foreseeable outcomes (vs. unforeseeable outcomes), and as occurring in school (vs. online). In addition, a significant interaction was predicted between outcome foreseeability and bullying situation, with highly foreseeable in‐school events being rated as the most predictable and attributable to the bully's actions. One‐hundred sixty‐three participants completed surveys containing demographic items, items regarding their past experiences of victimization, and one of four randomly‐assigned vignettes detailing a bullying situation (which participants rated). While hypotheses regarding outcome foreseeability were supported, no cyber‐bullying vs. in‐school main effects (or corresponding interaction effects) were detected. Implications for future research and practice, as well as study limitations, are discussed.     

Near,Far, or In Between?—Target Edges and the Transport Component of Prehension

It is well known that during visually guided prehension movements the peak velocity of the arm is scaled for object distance (e.g., Gentilucci et al., 1991; Jakobson & Goodale, 1991; Servos, Goodale, & Jakobson, 1992). Those movements are being directed not to single points in space, however, but rather to objects with extent. Thus, object distance must be computed relative to some particular point on the object. Whether that point corresponds to the location of a particular edge, for example, has not been clearly demonstrated. In the present study, subjects (N = 9) were presented with a series of oblong blocks positioned at different locations. Peak velocity increased with object size for reaches in which different-sized objects had their near edges lined up; in contrast, the peak velocities of reaches directed to objects of different sizes did not differ when the far edges of the objects were lined up. The present study, therefore, provided confirmation that subjects calibrate the peak velocity of their reaches relative to the far edge of a target object.     

Challenges of Being Simultaneously Gay or Lesbian and Spiritual and/or Religious: A Narrative Perspective

The purpose of this article is to describe the struggle that gays and lesbians face as they incorporate their sexual orientation and identity within the context of an existing religious or spiritual identity. An overview of the religious and spiritual context that makes individuals unique will be followed by how the narrative perspective can help individuals who identify themselves as gay or lesbian with their struggle for identity. Finally, new narrative directions will be suggested for marriage and family therapists and their work with gays and lesbians who are confronted with these issues.     

Cultural Competence When Working With American Indian Populations: A Couple and Family Therapist Perspective

This article focuses on treating the underrepresented American Indian and Alaska Native population in therapy. The lack of literature on this topic may impede the ability of couple and family therapists (CFTs) to work effectively with members of this group. Issues such as the underutilization of therapy, dropout rates, culturally syntonic joining and assessment, religion, and spirituality are discussed. In addition, potential boundary issues of gift giving and community integration are explored. Finally, cultural strengths are addressed so they may be clinically integrated with this unique population.     

COPY AND RECALL PERFORMANCE OF 6–8-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN AFTER STANDARD VS. STEP-BY-STEP ADMINISTRATION OF THE REY-OSTERRIETH COMPLEX FIGURE

Turner syndrome (TS) is a genetic disorder in females characterized by the complete or partial absence of one X chromosome. Its most consistent physical features include short stature and ovarian dysgenesis. TS individuals demonstrate a characteristic neurocognitive profile involving weaknesses in visuospatial processing. The hypothesis of defective right hemisphere specialization has been offered to explain the visuospatial deficits in TS. In contrast, an alternative explanation proposes a more uniform dysfunction of the left and right hemispheres, based on findings of symmetrical abnormalities. This article presents an overview of the two hypotheses, along with relevant findings on hemispheric specialization with respect to TS. The impact of the genetic and hormonal mechanisms on the neurocognitive profile of TS is also discussed and directions for further empirical research are identified.     

Specific and general autobiographical knowledge in adults with autism spectrum disorders: The role of personal goals

Autobiographical knowledge is stored hierarchically, at both specific and general levels of representation. It has also been proposed that the self is the structure around which autobiographical memories are organised. The current series of studies assessed whether the autobiographical memory difficulties observed in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) could be due to problems in using the self as an effective memory cue. A series of cueing paradigms were used to assess the accessibility of both specific and general autobiographical knowledge relating to (i) currently pursued goals (either high or low in self–concordance) and (ii) goals that participants were not currently pursuing. Results demonstrated that while event-specific knowledge was impaired in the ASD group, general event knowledge appeared relatively intact. Moreover, while both event-specific and general event knowledge were organised around goals of the self in control participants, a corresponding relationship was only observed for general event knowledge in the ASD group.