PRIVATE THEORIES AND PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUE

That if real success is to attend the effort to bring a man to a definite position, one must first of all take pains to find him where he is and begin there. This is the secret of the art of helping others (Kierkegaard [] 1962, p.?27)

The aim of this study is to explore the importance, to the therapeutic process, of the relation between the patient's and the therapist's problem formulations and private theories of pathogenesis and cure. Four cases of young adults in psychoanalytic psychotherapy were compared, two with unequivocally positive and two with more ambiguous outcome at termination. The patients and therapists were interviewed about their private theories initially and at termination of therapy, and a qualitative comparison was made between the cases. In the two more successful cases the therapists had early in therapy perceived obstacles for the therapeutic work in the patients' ways of thinking, feeling, and relating, and made interpretative interventions focusing on these. This was not observed in the less successful cases. In the more successful cases the patient's and the therapist's private theories were more similar at termination than initially, whereas the opposite development was found in the less successful cases. One hypotheses generated is that the therapeutic process can be facilitated by a therapist listening to the patient's private theories, making interpretative interventions focusing on obstacles to the therapeutic work, including contradictions between their private theories, and monitoring the patient's reactions to these interventions.     

Structural Validity and Generalisability of a Referent Cognitions Model of Turnover Intentions

A model proposed and empirically tested by Aquino, Griffeth, Allen, and Hom (1997 ) using employees of a hospital in the northeastern United States was replicated in samples of Korean factory workers from two divisions of a large organisation. Results in both samples suggested that the relationships among model variables and relationships with withdrawal cognitions replicated quite closely. Results also suggested that the way people are treated in an organisation by their supervisors exerts a powerful effect on their turnover‐related responses. Most importantly, the results of this study in combination with the earlier results from Aquino et al. (1997 ) highlight the impact of employee expectations of future job advancement on turnover‐related responses. Employees who perceive that their present situation will improve are more satisfied with their present outcomes and their supervisors. They are also less likely to consider quitting even when being unsatisfied with their present situation. Un modèle proposé et testé empiriquement par Aquino, Griffeth, Allen, and Hom (1997 ) sur des employés d’un hôpital du nord des Etats‐Unis a été réutilisé auprès de plusieurs échantillons de travailleurs d’une usine coréenne appartenant à deux divisions d’une grande organisation. Les résultats sur les deux échantillons montrent que les relations entre les variables du modèle et les relations avec les cognitions défaillantes reproduisent de très près ceux du modèle original. Les résultats montrent aussi que la façon dont les salariés sont traités dans une organisation par leurs supérieurs a de fortes retombées sur leurs réponses concernant les démissions. Plus important encore, les résultats de cette étude en concordance avec ceux initiaux obtenus par Aquino et al. (1997 ), soulignent l’impact des attentes des employés à propos de leur avancement dans leur futur emploi sur leurs réponses concernant les démissions. Les employés qui perçoivent que leur situation présente va s’améliorer sont plus satisfaits de leur rémunération présente et de leurs supérieurs. Ils sont aussi moins enclins à envisager de démissionner même s’ils sont insatisfaits de leur situation présente.     

Multiple objective programming with piecewise linear functions

An approach to generating all efficient solutions for multiple objective programs with piecewise linear objective functions and linear constraints is presented. The approach is based on the decomposition of the feasible set into subsets, referred to as cells, so that the original problem reduces to a series of single objective linear programs and feasibility tests over the cells. The concepts of cell-efficiency and complex-efficiency are introduced and their relationship with efficiency is examined. A generic algorithm for finding efficient solutions for bi-objective piecewise linear programs is proposed. Applications in location theory as well as in worst case analysis are highlighted. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Systematic Review and Quality Assessment of Therapeutic Group Process Questionnaires

ABSTRACT

The aims of this study were to systematically review the literature on questionnaire-based group process measures and assess the psychometric scale development properties of these measures. A systematic search of questionnaire-based measures of group process was conducted from four databases: PsycINFO, Medline, EMBASE and AMED. A quality assessment was undertaken using established criteria. Only studies that described the development of questionnaire-based scales were included. Seventeen studies which described thirteen measures were included in the analysis. The developed list highlights a range of questionnaires that can be used by clinicians and researchers seeking to measure either “specific therapeutic group mechanisms” or “overall group experiences.” Further research should focus on developing the content validity of these scales by involving the target population during item selection and reduction.