Boundary and analytic attitude: reflections on a summer holiday break

The effect of a boundary in analytic work at the summer holiday break is discussed in relation to archetypal experiences of exclusion, loss and limitation. Some attempts by patients to mitigate an analyst's act of separation are reviewed as enactments, and in particular the meanings of a gift made by one patient. Analytic attitude towards enactment from within different schools of practice is sketched, with reference to the effect on the analyst of departing from the received practice of their own allegiance. A theory is adumbrated that the discomfort of ‘contravening the rules’ has a useful effect in sparking the analyst into consciousness, with greater attention to salient features in an individual case. Interpretation as an enactment is briefly considered, along with the possible effects of containing the discomfort of a patient's enactment in contrast to confronting it with interpretation.     

Analytic attitude – focus or embodiment? Subtle communications in the transference/countertransference relationship

The paper considers a ‘befallment’ that occurred in the course of analysis at a time when the focus of work was too much at a conscious level, dissociated from the patient’s embodied and visceral depths. A rigidly held attitude of focal attention is considered as potentially a defence against embodied experiences of overwhelm and vulnerability that may haunt shadowy realms which remain unlit by the narrow beam of conscious awareness. Rather as a dream drifts in from the unconscious, an enactment by the analyst brought neglected aspects of the transference and countertransference relationship into the room. Later, the patient’s own dreaming mind offered images that suggested an underlying dynamic. These subtle communications, alongside the patient’s attitude toward the analyst’s lapse, are considered as factors in the achievement of greater embodied integration. The analyst’s difficulty in arriving at a formulation of such events is discussed, along with the necessity of holding such ‘befallments’ in mind over long periods of time before any explanation can be adumbrated.     

Love for a Marriage Story: The Association Between Love and Marital Satisfaction in Middle Adulthood

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The present study examined the associations between perceptions of love and marital satisfaction and gender moderations among Korean middle-aged married men...     

Differential effects of reasoning and speed training in children

The goal of this study was to determine whether intensive training can ameliorate cognitive skills in children. Children aged 7 to 9 from low socioeconomic backgrounds participated in one of two cognitive training programs for 60 minutes/day and 2 days/week, for a total of 8 weeks. Both training programs consisted of commercially available computerized and non-computerized games. Reasoning training emphasized planning and relational integration; speed training emphasized rapid visual detection and rapid motor responses. Standard assessments of reasoning ability - the Test of Non-Verbal Intelligence (TONI-3) and cognitive speed (Coding B from WISC IV) - were administered to all children before and after training. Neither group was exposed to these standardized tests during training. Children in the reasoning group improved substantially on TONI (Cohen's d = 1.51), exhibiting an average increase of 10 points in Performance IQ, but did not improve on Coding. By contrast, children in the speed group improved substantially on Coding (d = 1.15), but did not improve on TONI. Counter to widespread belief, these results indicate that both fluid reasoning and processing speed are modifiable by training.     

Healthcare Policy in the United States: A Primer for Medical Family Therapists

As family therapists increasingly practice in healthcare settings, they need to be aware of forthcoming changes in healthcare policy and the impact of these changes on their clinical work and the lives of their clients. In this paper, we provide a primer on healthcare policy for family therapists, which describes current and proposed changes in healthcare that will potentially revolutionize healthcare delivery for families. We describe three key initiatives: (1) Triple Aim; (2) the Accountable Care Organization; and (3) the Patient Centered Medical Home. We conclude with a discussion about future directions and healthcare policies that include families.     

The epistemic force of perceptual experience

What is the metaphysical nature of perceptual experience? What evidence does experience provide us with? These questions are typically addressed in isolation. In order to make progress in answering both questions, perceptual experience needs to be studied in an integrated manner. I develop a unified account of the phenomenological and epistemological role of perceptual experience, by arguing that sensory states provide perceptual evidence due to their metaphysical structure. More specifically, I argue that sensory states are individuated by the perceptual capacities employed and that there is an asymmetric dependence between their employment in perception and their employment in hallucination and illusion. Due to this asymmetric dependence, sensory states provide us with evidence.     

Distinct processes shape flashbulb and event memories

In the present study, we examined the relation between memory for a consequential and emotional event and memory for the circumstances in which people learned about that event, known as flashbulb memory. We hypothesized that these two types of memory have different determinants and that event memory is not necessarily a direct causal determinant of flashbulb memory. Italian citizens (N = 352) described their memories of Italy’s victory in the 2006 Football World Cup Championship after a delay of 18 months. Structural equation modeling showed that flashbulb memory and event memory could be clearly differentiated and were determined by two separate pathways. In the first pathway, importance predicted emotional intensity, which, in turn, predicted the frequency of overt and covert rehearsal. Rehearsal was the only direct determinant of vivid and detailed flashbulb memories. In the second pathway, importance predicted rehearsal by media exposure, which enhanced the accuracy and certainty of event memory. Event memory was also enhanced by prior knowledge. These results have important implications for the debate concerning whether the formation of flashbulb memory and event memory involve different processes and for understanding how flashbulb memory can be simultaneously so vivid and so error-prone.