The practice of psychotherapy and spiritual direction

The author compares and contrasts insight-oriented psychotherapy, supportive psychotherapy, and spiritual direction in relation to goals and methods; management of resistance, transference, and countertransference; and selection criteria. The enhancement of spiritual formation through insight-oriented psychotherapy and supportive psychotherapy is also discussed.     

Altruism in surgery of AIDS patients

There is usually a long period of time between infection with the AIDS virus and manifestation of symptoms. Asymptomatic patients often would benefit from elective surgery for diseases such as arthritis which are unrelated to their infection. The surgeons' decisions to accept the risks to themselves, their spouses, and their operating teams in order to relieve pain and suffering appear to be based upon two covenants; one concerns their role within the doctor-patient relationship, and the other concerns their relationship to what they see as the ultimate meaning in life.     

Spiritual opportunities in the liminal rites of hospitalization

This paper describes the way in which a hospital stay functions as a period of liminality. The opportunities for transformation inherent in such an experience are examined, with special attention given to the role of the hospital chaplain as the ritual leader who can help facilitate the movement through liminality and into wholeness.Ann Hallstein the M. Div. from Union Theological Seminary in May 1992 and expects to be ordained in the United Church of Christ.     

Jungian psychology and pastoral care

This article provides a review of the implications of analytic psychology for pastoral care and the caregiver. Four areas of Jung's thought are examined: (1) his mode of treatment, (2) the process of individuation, (3) his theory of personality types, and (4) his concept of synchronicity. We suggest that Jung's system of thought contains a rich reservoir of insight for the enrichment of pastoral care.     

Conscience as the voice of God: A jungian view

Archetypal psychology proposes a genetic basis for experiencing conscience as the Voice of God. Human beings are predisposed to submit themselves to parental directives, but they are also predisposed to submit themselves to some higher, spiritual law. True conscience differs from the Freudian superego in that it sometimes directs one to disobey the prevailing moral code.From the unconscious spring the basest motives and also the noblest motives. The religious person gives careful attention to both. It is difficult but not always impossible to distinguish true conscience from subtle self-deceit.     

Children in the public eye: The functioning of Pastors' children

Pastors' children have been thought to have more behavioral problems than other children since they face high expectations and are part of families that are often under public scrutiny. The purpose of this study was to describe the social competencies and behavioral problems of a national sample of pastors' children, aged 4–16, and to compare them to age and sex standardized norms. Data were obtained on 98 children from a random sample of 62 families, using the Child Behavior Checklist. Results indicate that scores for both boys and girls at each age grouping fell within the acceptable norms for both social competencies and behavioral problems.     

Guilt and/or self-esteem as consequences of religion

Our discussion begins with a consideration of the various types of religion and of guilt. Both religion and morality function in different ways from individual to individual. All these factors need to be taken into account before we can turn to treatment for the painful experience of guilt and bring about an improved self-esteem.     

The beliefs adults and children hold about television and video games.

In Phase 1 of this study, we asked 23 parents between the ages of 30 and 52 years and 26 children between the ages of 10 and 19 years to list effects of television and video games on children. A questionnaire was developed using the most frequently given responses (e.g., television influences children's aggressive behavior, verbal abilities, or time with friends). In Phase 2, this questionnaire was administered to different groups of parents and children and a control group of adults without offspring (N = 204) who were asked to rate the influence of each item on the questionnaire. Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that there were similarities and differences among the groups. For example, parents and other adults held similar beliefs about the influence of television, but parents held more positive beliefs about the influence of video games than the other adults. Children held more positive beliefs about the influence of television than parents, but parents and children held similar beliefs about the influence of video games.     

The autoshaping procedure as a residual block clock

In the first experiment, 4 pigeons were each presented with a recurring sequence of four key colors followed by the delivery of grain (block clock). Once the rate of pecking had stabilized, three of the colors were replaced, during different series of sessions, by a darkening of the key. The rate of pecking was reduced within those segments of the interval between deliveries of food during which the key was dark; when the key was dark during the final portion of the interval, rates were reduced throughout the entire interval. In the second experiment, 3 new pigeons were exposed to a different sequence of colors, and the final stimulus was replaced in successive conditions by a novel color, a darkened key, and a restoration of the original color. The data indicated that darkening the key had a more severe, more extensive, and more persistent effect than did a mere change in color. These results suggest that it may be fruitful to conceptualize the autoshaping procedure as a special version of the block clock in which pecking is suppressed throughout the greater part of the interval by darkening the key. In the final condition, the same stimulus appeared in each of the last three portions of the interval. The rate of pecking was lower during the last two portions than when distinctive colors were presented, with the peak rate now appearing in the fifth of seven equal temporal components.