Working with chronic and relentless self‐hatred,self‐harm and existential shame: a clinical study and reflections

This paper is the first of a two‐part series which explores some of the theoretical and experiential reference points that have emerged in my work with people whose relationship to their body and/or sense of self is dominated by self‐hatred and (what Hultberg describes as) existential shame. The first paper focuses on self‐hatred and the second paper focuses on shame. This first paper is structured around vignettes taken from a 14‐year analysis with a woman who was bulimic, self‐harmed and repeatedly described herself as ‘feeling like a piece of shit’. It draws together elements of Jung's concepts of the complex and symbol, and Laplanche's enigmatic signifier to focus on experiences of ‘inner otherness’ around which we are unconsciously organized. It also brings Jung's understanding that emotion is the chief source of consciousness into conversation with Laplanche's approach to the transference which is that by being aware that they do not ‘know’, the analyst provides a ‘hollow’ in which the patient's analytic process can evolve. These combinations of ideas are linked speculatively to emerging understandings of the neuroscience of perception and throughout the paper clinical material is used to illustrate these discussions.     

Cultural unconscious in research: integrating multicultural and depth paradigms in qualitative research

Culturally focused research has gained momentum in many disciplines, including psychology. However, much of this research fails to pay attention to the unconscious dynamics that underlie the study of culture and culturally influenced human beings. Such dynamics may be especially significant when issues of marginalization and oppression are present. Therefore, this paper seeks to contribute a framework for understanding cultural dynamics, especially unconscious cultural dynamics, within depth psychological qualitative research influenced by Jungian and post‐Jungian scholarship. Inquiry that is approached with a commitment to making the unconscious conscious seeks to empower and liberate not only the subject/object studied but also the researchers themselves. Following a brief review of multiculturalism in the context of analytically informed psychology, this paper offers several case examples that focus on researchers' integration of awareness of the cultural unconscious in their study of cultural beings and topics.     

The lives of Mary Foote: painter and Jungian

Mary Foote (1872‐1968) was a successful early twentieth century American artist who suddenly closed her New York studio in 1926 to go to Zurich to study with Jung. There she joined his ‘Interpretation of Visions’ seminars (1930‐1934), which she recorded and edited. This work won Jung's praise and his friendship, but all too often Foote was seen merely as a secretary or background figure. Deirdre Bair's biography of Jung suggested that Foote's life and work deserved fuller study, if only to rebalance our view of Jung's early women followers. This paper takes up that work to ask how Foote's early life and career led to her important work in preserving and describing Jung's earliest attempts to apply his theories to clinical practice.     

Sorrow: A Therapist's Reflection on the Inevitable and the Unknowable

People who live with a painful gap between who they have been and who they are now, of who they dreamt themselves to be and who they still long to be, are living with chronic sorrow. Chronic sorrow is a normal, nonpathological state of pervasive, continuing, periodic, and resurgent sadness related to the ongoing losses associated with illness and disability, in this case not loss of an other, but loss of self (Roos, 2002). Focusing on the lives of four women, one of whom committed suicide, I explore the macroprocesses that invade the experience of even so personal an experience as self‐loss. The role of the therapist is made transparent through anecdotes and by discussing implications for clinical practice.     

A narrative evaluation of a psychoeducation and a therapeutic alliance intervention for parents of persons with a severe mental illness

Most attempts to study the impact of psychosocial interventions on parents of persons with severe mental illness (SMI) are quantitative. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the subjective experience of parents of persons with SMI who participated in either a psychoeducational intervention which emphasized providing information on the illness and support, or a therapeutic alliance focused intervention (TAFI) which emphasized the alliance between the group members and group leaders. Ninety-three parents, who participated in either one of these two interventions, were interviewed using the Narrative Evaluation of Intervention Interview. Results show that participants found both interventions to be beneficial with no statistical differences in the level of perceived change. Themes describing change in relating to illness were significantly more frequently mentioned by participants in the TAFI group, whereas significantly more participants in the family psychoeducation interventions reported that implementation and information provided contributed to positive change. Also participants in the TAFI reported significantly more often that group regulation contributed to change. As both interventions were perceived as contributing, the findings support the relationship orientation to psychosocial interventions, which stresses the quality of the social support and interpersonal interaction as the source of positive outcomes of intervention.     

Migrants' Integration in Western Europe: Bridging Social Psychology and Political Science

This article presents the possibilities and advantages of integrating social psychology and political science in the study of intergroup relations in diverse societies in Western Europe. Social psychology provides interesting insights in understanding the emotional and cognitive consequences of increased diversity. However, this literature tends to overlook the role of institutional discourses and correlated practices in stimulating or constraining positive intergroup relations. In order to fill these lacunae, the article suggests the integration of social psychology and a ‘political opportunity structure’ approach. This article maintains that the political opportunity structures operating in a context are not only important for understanding actors' mobilisation, as usually maintained in the literature, but also for studying the extent to which change at the micro‐level of social interaction can be stimulated or constrained. We illustrate the arguments of the article with an analysis of the narrative constructions and the correlated practices of integration as adopted by the city councils of Malmö and Bologna. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

胆囊收缩素对脂多糖诱发的病态行为及外周细胞因子的影响

细胞因子在病态行为的产生中有重要的作用。八肽胆囊收缩素在前人研究中表明能够拮抗脂多糖在大鼠体内引起的细胞因子的分泌。实验目的：利用八肽胆囊收缩素的抗炎作用研究细胞因子在病态行为中的作用。实验方法：共分两个实验进行, 将大鼠分为控制组、免疫激活剂脂多糖组(200 μg/kg剂量, 腹腔注射)以及注射不同剂量的八肽胆囊收缩素的实验组(分别为20 μg/kg 、40 μg/kg 、80 μg/kg 和120 μg/kg剂量), 各实验组在注射脂多糖前半小时注射相应剂量的八肽胆囊收缩素, 药物注射两小时后进行行为实验 (糖水摄取量测验、旷场测验和高架十字迷宫测验), 然后对大鼠前炎性细胞因子包括白细胞介素-1β(IL-1β)、白细胞介素-6 (IL-6)、肿瘤坏死因子-α (TNF-α)及抗炎性细胞因子白细胞介素-10(IL-10)的血清浓度进行分析。实验结果：脂多糖诱发大鼠产生病态行为, 与控制组相比, 脂多糖组糖水摄取量降低, 旷场测验中活动性降低, 高架闭臂进入次数减少; 脂多糖诱导炎性细胞因子分泌增加, 与控制组相比, 脂多糖组前炎性细胞因子IL-1β、IL-6、TNF-α的分泌增加。在脂多糖注射前注射八肽胆囊收缩素能够抑制前炎性细胞因子IL-1β、IL-6、TNF-α的分泌, 但八肽胆囊收缩素未能改善免疫诱导的病态行为。结论：本实验结果表明仅改变外周的细胞因子浓度并不能完全改变动物的病态行为, 病态行为的产生可能与脑区的细胞因子有更大的联系。