AX murderers,dragons, spiders and webs: Therapeutic metaphors in couple therapy

Using metaphors in psychotherapy is not a new practice. Metaphor has long occupied the interests of theorists and practitioners of psychoanalysis. Recently, influenced by the work of Erikson, metaphors have been utilized by non-analytic therapists. This paper explores the historical background of metaphors, examines the components of metaphors, explores metaphors and the social construction of reality, and presents a discussion of the use of metaphor in couple therapy.     

Career Stages in Australian Professional Women: A Test of Super's Model

This study empirically tested Super's career stage theory by examining whether differences in Australian professional women's attitudes toward work vary across the career life cycle. A number of career stage research criticisms relating to sample type, recycling issues, and career stage measurement were addressed. Hypotheses were tested via trend analyses providing support for the theoretical propositions in Super's career stage model. Results show that satisfaction with pay and job involvement were lowest in the exploration stage, women in the establishment stage were significantly more satisfied with pay and less willing to relocate for promotion compared to women in the exploration stage, while women in the maintenance stage were more committed to their profession and more involved in their careers than women in establishment and exploration stages. The research findings suggest that Super's career stage model is a useful framework for understanding women's career development.     

The father's shadow/father's body

The shadow of the father plays an important role in a son's ability to live a creatively meaningful life. The mythological basis for the father's shadow is found in the myth of Cronos and his son Zeus. This myth symbolizes a father's body being intimately connected to his son getting in touch with his creative bright shadow. The conclusions reached regarding the importance of the father's shadow are based on research conducted with an ongoing men's group. An early underground phallus dream of Jung is examined, along with the creative work of a patient, both offering evidence of the importance of the body-bond with the father for a son's creative development.David Morgan, CSW, is a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City and Teaneck, New Jersey.     

The accuracy–confidence relationship in an eyewitness task: anxiety as a modifier

The present study investigated the role of anxiety as a moderator of the relationship between accuracy and confidence in an eyewitness recall task. Participants selected as high or low anxious on a test anxiety scale viewed a video clip of a crime. One week later they answered verbally a series of questions about the video, rating their confidence in each answer. Observers were shown a video-recording of each participant's test session and rated how confident they appeared overall. It was argued that people high in test anxiety would appraise their performance to a greater degree than low-anxious people, resulting in a significant correlation between accuracy and subjective confidence for high-anxious but not for low-anxious participants. The results obtained supported this hypothesis, and found similar relationships between accuracy and perceived confidence. Highly anxious participants expressed less overall confidence in their answers than low anxious participants. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.