Midlife Women's Negotiations of Barriers to and Facilitators of Physical Activity: Implications for Counselors

The authors investigated barriers to exercise and facilitators that enable midlife women to engage in an active lifestyle. Findings provide counselors with insight into the meanings that women ascribe to physical activity so they can better assist clients in making choices that enhance their overall health and wellness.     

On the function of a ‘break’ within the psychoanalytic double session

This article considers theoretical and clinical implications of the practice of ‘double sessions’ as defined by two consecutive sessions of psychotherapy divided by a 10-minute break. Limited existing literature of ‘double sessions’ is critiqued and the therapeutic significance of the 10-minute break provides the focus for this article with reference to the Lacanian practice of ‘scansion’. The author draws on relevant therapeutic experience and case material to elucidate the potential benefits of the introduction of double sessions with particular client groups. It is argued that the break provides the opportunity to access often hidden archaic defences as the effects of rupture and reconnection are worked through. Equally, the separation of the break allows the patient's immediate associations following the end of the first session to be brought immediately back into the work. The practice is problematised in relation to potential contraindications with particular patient groups and this, in turn, elucidates the conceptual differences between Freudian/Lacanian and object relations traditions.     

Clinical Commentary

Abstract

This paper is the narrative of a first-time father with a son born seven weeks early by Caesarean section. Against the anxiety and trauma of his infant's birth and his wife's illness, another inner darker drama is being relived. Michael shows all the wounds of a battered child. He asks two awesome questions - Will I be to my son as my father was to me? Will my son be to me as I was to my father? Fearful and at first unvoiced questions, the developing interviews gave them a voice. We respected Michael's sharing of the early and fearful days and nights when his infant first came home. We sometimes found it hard to empathize with his running away to hide in work, until we understood what he was hiding from. Most poignant was his struggle with his anger and hurt with his father and his desire to understand, ‘Why?’, so that he would not be like this to his son. We saw a sensitive revelation of life being born inside him anew, as he made contact with his real infant and his psychic infant within. Of particular interest was the therapeutic use of the research interview space and the interviewer.     

Self‐promotion Statements in Video Resumes: Frequency,intensity, and gender effects on job applicant evaluation

Although video resumes have received a substantial amount of media attention and there seems to be a growing awareness among Human Resource professionals of video‐based job applications, little is known about the effect of video resumes on applicant evaluation. This research investigates the effectiveness of self‐promotion within the context of video resumes. Self‐promotion frequency and intensity and applicant gender were manipulated. Ratings by recruiters and college students indicate that high levels of self‐promotion in video resumes are ineffective for male applicants and potentially detrimental for female applicants. Job applicants should use caution when attempting to promote themselves using video resumes. More research is needed on impression management tactics used at the earliest stages of selection and on the mechanisms operating within video resumes that impact applicant evaluation.     

When theory abandons us – wading through the 'swampy lowlands' of practice

This paper uses three clinical examples to illustrate the experience of feeling abandoned by theory – times when no one model has sufficient signposts to show the way. Therapy is considered to be an endlessly creative interpersonal encounter, to which the client brings the major resource for change. It is argued that the therapist is influenced by worldview, values and beliefs, and personal style, as well as by theoretical model. Further, it is suggested that there is a need to acknowledge and investigate the limitations of therapy. An argument is made for 'going beyond the model', for seeking an ethical practice based on what our clients tell us is important, and for sharing across models the common dilemmas and goals of therapy. Clinicians are encouraged to articulate their own 'swampy lowland' principles of practice.     

‘The trouble with Year 10’. 13 – 16 year old school students’ attitudes to higher education

This study looked at the impact of Widening Participation interventions on the attitudes of young people towards higher education. A total of 2731 adolescents aged 13–16 years completed a self-report measure of their attitudes to higher education, general and academic self concept and identification with school, family and peers. This was matched with data on the students’ academic attainment and social backgrounds. As expected, attainment scores were significantly positively correlated with take up of Widening Participation activities aimed at increasing participation in higher education, attitudes towards going to university and academic motivation. However, attainment was negatively correlated with perceptions of family attending university and identification with family. Regression analyses found that perceptions of family views about attending university were not a predictor of taking part in Widening Participation activities but were a predictor of attitudes towards higher education. Students in Year 10 aged 14–15 were significantly more negative on most factors than either older or younger students.     

Religiosity, Religious Doubt, and the Need for Cognition: Their Interactive Relationship with Life Satisfaction

Previous research has found a consistent, negative relationship between holding religious doubts and mental well-being, and a small positive relationship between religiosity and mental well-being. To assess the interrelationship between religious doubt, religiosity, and need for cognition on life satisfaction, a survey was administered to an almost exclusively Christian sample of 192 Americans drawn from undergraduates and alumni of a small mid-western college, undergraduates from a small south-eastern college, and several churches from the metro-Detroit area. Zero-order correlations revealed relationships between religiosity and life satisfaction, as well as religious doubt and life satisfaction. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that the three-way interaction of religiosity, religious doubt, and the need for cognition was predictive of life satisfaction. Significant two-way interactions also emerged for both gender and religiosity, and gender and religious doubt as predictors of life satisfaction. Based upon these findings, counseling applications are discussed, and the importance of probing for interactions in research on religious influences on well-being is espoused. Portions of this research were presented at the 2004 Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, HI.