Medically Documented Suicide Ideation Among U.S. Army Soldiers

We used administrative data to examine predictors of medically documented suicide ideation (SI) among Regular Army soldiers from 2006 through 2009 (N = 10,466 ideators, 124,959 control person‐months). Enlisted ideators (97.8% of all cases) were more likely than controls to be female, younger, older when entering service, less educated, never or previously deployed, and have a recent mental health diagnosis. Officer ideators were more likely than controls to be female, younger, younger when entering service, never married, and have a recent mental health diagnosis. Risk among enlisted soldiers peaked in the second month of service and declined steadily, whereas risk among officers remained relatively stable over time. Risk of SI is highest among enlisted soldiers early in Army service, females, and those with a recent mental health diagnosis.     

Tryptophan Hydroxylase 1 Variant rs1800532 is Associated with Suicide Attempt in Serbian Psychiatric Patients but does not Moderate the Effect of Recent Stressful Life Events

Tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1) gene, coding for serotonin synthesizing enzyme, and recent stressful life events (SLEs) have been commonly associated with suicidal behavior. TPH1 has been also hypothesized to be involved in stress–response mechanisms. The aim of this study was to assess TPH1 variant rs1800532 and its possible interaction with recent SLEs as risk factors for suicide attempt (SA) in Serbian psychiatric patients, including 165 suicide attempters and 188 suicide nonattempters. rs1800532 and recent SLEs were independently associated with SA, while rs1800532 did not moderate the effect of recent SLEs on SA vulnerability among Serbian psychiatric patients.     

Gruppenpsychotherapie für Brustkrebspatientinnen

Zusammenfassung  Der Brustkrebs erzwingt geradezu unsere Aufmerksamkeit mit seiner hohen Prävalenz—30% aller Krebsneuerkrankungen bei nordamerikanischen Frauen sind Brustkrebs—, und er ist die zweithäufigste Todesursache bei Frauen in Nordamerika. Weiße nordamerikanische Frauen haben ein Risiko von 1:9, im Laufe ihres Lebens an Brustkrebs zu erkranken. Es gibt zahlreiche Anknüpfungspunkte, darunter genetische und familiäre Prädisposition, primäre Krebserkrankung/Langzeitüberleben und rezidivierende oder metastasierende Krankheit. Brustkrebs ist eine Krankheit, bei der jede Form der Krebsbehandlung eingesetzt wird—Chirurgie, Chemotherapie, Bestrahlung, Hormontherapie und die viel versprechenden, kürzlich entwickelten immunologischen Interventionen. Zugleich ist die Brust als Körperteil kulturell hochgradig besetzt und als Symbol der Weiblichkeit, der Attraktivität, der Sexualität und der Fortpflanzung aufmerksam und emotional viel beachtet. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird die Anwendung von Gruppenpsychotherapien auf dieses Spektrum klinischer Belange diskutiert.

Cognitive Response Repertoires to Child Noncompliance by Mothers of Aggressive Boys

Cognitive response repertoires to videotaped child noncompliance episodes were examined in mothers of aggressive (MAs) and nonaggressive 4–6-year-old boys. Mothers provided open-ended solutions to three subtypes of child noncompliance under conditions of time pressure, or after they waited for 15 s to consider alternatives. Solutions were coded as assistance/facilitation, coercion, deference, or explanation/clarification. Compared with controls, MAs offered fewer explanation/clarification responses, more coercive responses, and fewer unique solutions during pressured responding. Two to 6 weeks later, mothers were videotaped while participating with their sons in a challenging block-building task. Maternal responses to the vignettes predicted conflict escalation during block building, even after rates of concurrent and past child noncompliance were partialled out. Implications for parent-training models are considered.     

On self-disclosure: The vulnerable therapist

The therapist may stimulate the family's growth by sharing his personal experiences directly with them. This helps by providing the family with a model of a real (versus symbolic) person and encouraging them to respond in new and competent ways. As a result, the emotional commitment of the therapeutic system may deepen, while unconscious conflicts that have been causing impasses may surface and be resolved. The therapist hopes that his self-disclosure will benefit the therapy, but understands that there are risks involved. Specific guidelines can help in deciding when not to share, what kinds of problems can be revealed, and what attitudes best strengthen this endeavor. Self-disclosure is discussed here in an experiential frame-work. The author illustrates the above points with examples from his own personal clinical and supervisory experiences.The author would like to thank his wife, Linda Barth Garfield, MSS, without whose sustaining support this paper could not have been written, and his partner, Ellen Berman, MD, for her valuable comments and encouragement. The masculine pronoun is used in this paper for convenience, and because the author is often referring to himself.     

Symbolic experiential journeys: An introduction

This introductory article describes the origins of this special issue on Symbolic-Experiential Family Therapy. It goes on to elaborate the basic assumptions of Carl Whitaker's approach which emerge as unifying themes in the contributors' articles. It concludes with a tribute to Whitaker.The author wishes to acknowledge Linda Barth Garfield, MSS, and Ellen Berman, MD, for their helpful assistance and editorial comments in the development of this paper.     

In defense of strategic therapy

The practice of strategic therapy has raised a number of critical issues and has stimulated criticism of various sorts. Among the criticisms leveled at strategic therapy are that it involves the taking of too many risks, that it is deceptive, that it is controlling and manipulative, that it is disrespectful, and that it is superficial and narrow. Each of these five major areas of concern is discussed and addressed with case examples to illustrate a rationale and justification for the use of these less conventional methods.