A 20-year longitudinal study of body weight, dieting, and eating disorder symptoms

The article describes a 20-year longitudinal study of body weight, dieting, and disordered eating in women and men. Body weight increased significantly over time in both women and men. However, women's weight perception and dieting frequency decreased over time, whereas men's weight perception and dieting frequency increased, and disordered eating declined more in women than in men from late adolescence to midlife. In both women and men, changes in weight perception and dieting frequency were associated with changes in disordered eating. In addition, adult roles such as marriage and parenthood were associated with significant decreases in disordered eating from late adolescence to midlife in women, whereas few associations were observed in men. Despite different developmental trajectories, women demonstrated more weight dissatisfaction, dieting, and disordered eating compared with men across the period of observation.     

Eating disorder diagnoses: empirical approaches to classification

Decisions about the classification of eating disorders have significant scientific and clinical implications. The eating disorder diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) reflect the collective wisdom of experts in the field but are frequently not supported in empirical studies and do not capture the disorders of eating experienced by most people with an eating disorder. Statistical approaches to classification such as latent class analysis and taxometrics can help to create a classification system with greater scientific validity and clinical utility. The field would benefit from direct empirical comparisons of different classification schemes with various clinical and scientific validators. Such studies would enable the creators of the next DSM eating disorder classification to increase understanding of the advantages and disadvantages associated with choosing various diagnostic criteria sets for the eating disorders.     

Where do counsellors in private practice receive their support? A pilot study

Background: Previous research suggests that independent practitioners should ensure that they attend to self-care, and the requirement for self-care is written into ethical practice requirements. Aims: To explore whether or how counsellors in private practice received support, and if so from where. Method: A survey questionnaire containing 29 questions was sent to 525 recipients. Results: 31 questionnaires were completed. The results from these questionnaires indicated that support was primarily received through supervision. Discussion: The support needs of private practitioners are discussed in the context of a very low response rate. The researcher considers factors that might have led to this response rate, as well as reflecting on the study design.     

Psychological Distress in Australian Clients Seeking Family and Relationship Counselling and Mediation Services

There is little published data on the prevalence of psychological distress among individuals and couples seeking counselling and mediation services from non‐government organisations (NGOs). This national cross‐sectional study establishes the prevalence of psychological distress among clients seeking family and relationship counselling and mediation services from Relationships Australia. A national sample of 1,365 clients attending services in April to May 2012 completed the 10‐item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) after their first counselling or mediation session. Individual counselling (M = 23.01, SD = 8.97, 95% CI [22.05–23.97]) and couple counselling (M = 21.63, SD = 8.10, [20.86–22.41]) clients reported a mean K10 score comparable to those reported by clinical studies of clients with anxiety or affective disorders. One quarter to one fifth of these clients reported very high psychological distress. Clients accessing mediation services had a mean score of 18.13 (SD = 7.76; [17.51–18.75]), and one tenth of clients reported very high distress. These elevated rates of very high psychological distress suggest that mental health issues may be a significant problem for a large proportion of clients accessing counselling and mediation NGO services provided under Family Support Programs (FSP) funding. Implications for screening for mental health and appropriate treatment planning are discussed.     

Why Didn’t Freud Reject Pfister? A Response to Isabelle Noth and Christoph Morgenthaler

The Freud-Pfister correspondence is in some sense an Urtext for the most friendly debate imaginable between the self-identified “godless Jew” who founded psychoanalysis, and the liberal Swiss pastor who was drawn to psychoanalysis while retaining his belief in God. Why didn’t Freud reject Pfister? This article will probe this question using the tools of psychoanalysis itself. After reviewing Freud’s associations to childhood religion, the Bible, and his father (citing Rizzuto), I am proposing that Pfister functioned unconsciously for Freud not only as an admiring son and disciple, but also a father substitute—much like Freud’s beloved antiquities—who represented both a God and a father who would admire and love him, and carry Freud’s name forward in the Book of Life.     

Resting gamma power is linked to reading ability in adolescents

Infants who have more power within the gamma frequency range at rest develop better language and cognitive abilities over their first 3 years of life (Benasich et al., 2008). This positive trend may reflect the gradual increase in resting gamma power that peaks at about 4 years (Takano & Ogawa, 1998): infants further along the maturational curve may exhibit both increased resting gamma power and more advanced language and cognitive function. Similar to other neural characteristics such as synaptic density, resting gamma power subsequently decreases with further development into adulthood (Tierney, Strait, O'Connell & Kraus, 2013). If previously reported relationships between resting gamma power and behavioral performance reflect variance in maturation, at least in part, negative correlations between resting gamma and behavior may predominate in later developmental stages, during which resting gamma activity is decreasing. We tested this prediction by examining resting gamma activity and language‐dependent behavioral performance, reflected by a variety of reading‐related tests, in adolescents between the ages of 14 and 15 years. Consistent with our predictions, resting gamma power inversely related to every aspect of reading assessed (i.e. reading fluency, rapid naming, and basic reading proficiency). Our results suggest that resting gamma power acts as an index of maturational progress in adolescents.     

Counselor Ethical Reasoning: Decision‐Making Practice Versus Theory

Counselors’ decision‐making processes have received little attention in the literature. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the ethical decision‐making practices of counselors working in the field. The results of a phenomenological study indicate that linear models and an orientation to professional ethical guidelines learned in graduate training serve as a foundation, yet not a practical guide, in professional ethical decision making. The authors found that 4 themes guide counselors’ ethical decision making: personal values, clients’ best interest, transparency in decision making, and perceptions of formal training and practice. Implications for practice and counselor education are provided, with recommendations for future research.