Al-Ghazali’s Reflections on the Metaphysics of Metaphor in the Mishkāt al-Anwar

Mythological language is sometimes understood as a way of representing, by concrete imagery, more abstract notions. In this paper, we will pose some metaphysical questions about the possibility of such a representation. These questions will serve to motivate a brief tour of Mishkāt al-Anwār (Niche of Lights)—Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s commentary on the famous ayat al-nur (“verse of light”) of the Qur’an—wherein is discussed, among other things, how symbolic imagery is possible, and “the respect in which the spirits of the meanings are specified within the frames of the similitudes.”

Kopfschmerz: Pharmakotherapie? und/oder Psychotherapie? und/oder sonstige Therapie?

Zusammenfassung  Der Kopfschmerz ist ein h?ufiges Leiden, das sich vor allem auch beim praktischen Arzt, und nicht nur beim Facharzt, findet (5 % in der Allgemeinpopulation). Der Kopfschmerz hat mehrfache Ausformungen und Mitursachen-Faktoren. Es ist daher kontraproduktiv, hierbei nur auf eine Art der Behandlung oder eine Ursache abzuzielen. Nur in der multifaktoriellen Betrachtungsweise unter gezieltem Einsatz sinnvoller therapeutischer Kombinationen wird man mit dieser Crux der Patienten und der ?rzte bestm?glich weiterkommen. Es werden immer noch Problempatienten übrig bleiben. Diese müssen psychotherapeutisch begleitet werden. Man darf sie nicht in die Hoffnungslosigkeit und/oder den Abusus versinken lassen, sondern muss immer wieder versuchen, Weiteres zu probieren, und sie auf dem therapeutischen Pfad zu halten (Abb. 1a).      

The 1920 Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Proposal for a “League of Churches”

In January 1920, the Ecumenical Patriarchate issued an encyclical – “Unto all the Churches of Christ Wheresoever They Be” – which has played a key role in the history of the ecumenical movement and the engagement of the Orthodox Church in it. The document was prepared by a group of theologians of the Ecumenical Patriarchate headed by Metropolitan Germanos (Strenopoulos). At the time of its publication, it had an official English version; however, it is usually referenced according to its later revised translation, undertaken in 1959 by W. A. Visser ’t Hooft. A significant difference is that the 1920 translation did not include what has come to be seen as the central feature of the 1920 encyclical: that is, the proposal to create a “League of Churches.” The article explores whether the revision is a more accurate translation of the Greek original or rather an interpretation of the encyclical that enshrines in the text its key concept – which was, however, not contained in the original document.     

Difference – is it hated or desired? Reflections on the totalitarian state of mind

In an age of polarized political views and growing nationalism it is vital that the psychoanalytic profession offers its contribution. The author makes a link between early infant development and social and political behaviour. Psychoanalytic, Jungian and Relational ideas are explored. Starting from Freud and his theory of ‘minor differences’, a dichotomy between closeness and separateness is investigated. The writer argues that difference is at the centre of human identity and human development and explores why we struggle to accept it. The totalitarian political system is described as one that eliminates difference. A case study is offered as an illustration of a patient’s struggle to move from a symbiotic, undifferentiated state towards object relating and individuation .     

The My Emotions Questionnaire: A self-report of mothers’ emotional responses to infant crying

The purpose of this article was to examine the psychometrics of the My Emotions Questionnaire, a self-report designed to assess mothers’ emotional reactions when their infants cry. Participants were 240 first-time mothers. When infants were 6 months and 1 year old, mothers completed the new questionnaire and measures assessing beliefs and behavioral responses to infant crying, and interview-based measures of mothers’ emotional reactions and causal attributions about crying were administered. Maternal sensitivity and negative behaviors were observed when infants were 6 months and 1 and 2 years old. Mothers reported on their discipline practices when children were 2 years old. Five emotion factors emerged based on exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the 6-month data: Amusement, Anxiety, Frustration, Sympathy, and Protective. The five-factor structure was supported via a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the 1-year data. All scales demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability and significant stability from 6 months to 1 year. Amusement, Frustration, and Protectiveness demonstrated the best convergent validity with cry cognitions and predictive validity to parenting measures, followed by Anxiety, although effects tended to be small to moderate. Evidence for the validity of Sympathy was less compelling. The potential utility of the questionnaire for basic and applied research is discussed.     

The strategies in past temporal discounting

对过去事件的加工涉及到对现在信息的加工,过去获得的价值能够为现在的生活带来的收益可能对过去事件的价值估计具有影响。本研究探讨了过去事件对现在生活的影响在过去时间贴现中的作用。采用延迟时间贴现范式任务,选取2周到50年共10个过去时间长度,要求被试在现在获得的奖金和过去获得的奖金之间进行偏好选择,并且完成对过去时间贴现决策策略的问题回答。采用曲线下的单位面积UAUr(t1,t1) 为过去时间贴现率,发现过去时间贴现率在过去2周和过去1个月之间[Z = 2.662,p = .008]、过去1年和过去3年之间[Z = 2.587, p = .010] 差异显著。对决策策略的回答进行内容分析(频次统计信度为0.875),发现过去事件能够为现在生活带来的收益影响了被试对过去事件的价值估计和偏好选择。从现在起到过去2周内,被试看重近的过去获得的奖金对现在的生活的帮助,偏好选择过去获得的奖金;在较远的过去,从过去2周起到过去1年内,奖金数量和获得奖金的时间之间的比例影响了被试的偏好选择;从过去1年起到过去50年内,远的过去获得的奖金对现在生活的影响微乎其微,被试偏好现在获得的奖金。本研究的结果支持了过去时间贴现和未来时间贴现具有不同的心理加工机制,并且有助于进一步了解过去时间的差别感受性的变化规律。     

Bridging the reductive and the synthetic: some reflections on the clinical implications of synchronicity

When Jung introduced the concepts of synchronicity and the psychoid unconscious, he expanded analytical psychology into decidedly uncanny territory. Despite the early interest shown by Freud, anomalous phenomena such as telepathy have become a taboo subject in psychoanalysis. Today, however, there is an increasing interest in thought transference and synchronicity, thus opening the way for a fruitful exchange between different psychoanalytical schools on their clinical implications. I propose to examine some of the ambiguities of Jung's thinking, to clarify how we define synchronicity, the relationship between synchronicities and parapsychological events, and their clinical significance. At the present moment, we are still unsure if such events should be considered as normal and a way of facilitating individuation, or as an indication of psychopathology in the patient or in the analyst, just as we are uncertain about the particular characteristics of the intersubjective field that can lead to synchronicities. Making use of the typology of mind‐matter correlations presented by Atmanspacher and Fach, and the distinction they draw between acategorial and non‐categorial states of mind, I will use two clinical vignettes to illustrate the different states of mind in analyst and analysand that can lead to synchronicities. In particular I will focus on the relationship between analytical reverie and synchronicity.     

The use of Skype in analysis and training: a research and literature review

Of recent years there has not only been an increasing use of Skype in analytic treatment, supervision and teaching, but also a number of writers have been endeavouring to assess its effectiveness. Whilst it is generally agreed that Skype can facilitate an analytic encounter where distance prohibits a face‐to‐face process, where continuity needs to be maintained and where analysands are in areas far from specialized centres, there is divergence in the literature as to whether analysis, as opposed to psychotherapy, can be successful using Skype. This paper reviews the literature and concludes that the essentials of a genuine analytic process are not necessarily precluded by Skype. One central reason is because there exists a cross‐modal communication channel between the human senses (underpinned by audiovisual mirror neurons) in addition to the recently discovered instinct for communication and interpersonal understanding, and these can override the need for physical proximity of the participants. The essentials of an analytic frame can thus be maintained, and the continuity that Skype enables means that containment is also facilitated and this counters the negative aspects of shuttle analysis. The critical issues for the profession then become the professional development for practitioners in the use of Skype and suggestions are listed.     

Who is my Jung? A personal and symbolic history

Identifying the reality of Jung in my life requires first of all a historical examination. How Jung first came into my life through my reading a book by P.W.Martin, Experiment in Depth, stands as a metaphor for the conscious unravelling of psychological development. His further appearance in a sequence of dreams demonstrated the significance of both the instinctual and the numinous in Jung's life and in my personal individuation. Finally, through a consideration of light and shadow, particularly in two photographs of Jung, a conclusion is reached that individuation requires an integration of shadow in the personality, in order to achieve wholeness, not perfection.