Spiritual emergency and counselling: An exploratory study

Growing up in a multicultural community in England brought me into close personal contact with the beliefs and perceptions about healing held by people of many different cultures. In many cases, no strong boundary was seen between physical, psychological and spiritual aspects of an illness, and experiences of hearing voices or seeing visions were accepted as normal everyday occurrences. During my training as a counsellor, I came into contact with the work of Stanislav Grof on the concept of spiritual emergency, which, together with the work of African and European authors who were exploring transpersonal aspects of psychology, provided a theoretical framework for researching how counsellors respond to clients wishing to explore experiences of spiritual crisis. This paper describes an exploratory study into the phenomenon of spiritual emergency within counselling. Questionnaires were distributed by post to people known to have been in counselling relationships, and interviews were conducted with three informants reporting different types of spiritual experience. All respondents who completed questionnaires reported having at least one of the ‘non‐ordinary’ experiences classified by Stanislav Grof as characteristics of a ‘spiritual emergency’. Several participants felt unable to explore this experience with their counsellors, some for fear of being labelled as mentally ill, while others found their counsellors helpful and sympathetic. Differences in dealing with spiritual phenomena were apparent between European and non‐European participants. These findings are discussed in relation to theory and practice.     

Evoking children's spirituality in the reciprocal relationships of a learning community

Findings from my doctoral research suggest that the reciprocal relationships within a learning community can evoke and nurture children's spirituality. The study investigated the development of a community of learners in four primary school classrooms in Aotearoa New Zealand. A key finding of this study showed that when teachers and children learned together, shared decisions, and respected and trusted one another, changes were observed in some children that could not be explained in intellectual, social or emotional terms. Further analyses of these data revealed qualities that pointed to a spiritual essence. This paper presents these spiritually themed results and explores the argument that the caring, responsive and reciprocal relationships of a community of learners can provide opportunities for spiritual development.     

催眠诱导下电击性厌恶试治同性恋3例

用催眠诱导情景下的电击厌恶试治同性恋３例均获成功。认为同性恋是情绪体验记忆的结果。单纯的认知治疗不可以消除情绪记,而单纯的行为治疗仅可消除对同性的性欲却无法重建对异性的性欲。认为要根治同性弯需用对异性的性欲代替对同性的性欲。催眠诱导情景下的电击厌恶既可消除对同性的性体验,又可建立对异性的性体验。     

Not just right experiences and obsessive-compulsive features: experimental and self-monitoring perspectives

Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often report compulsions aimed at reducing feelings of something not being just right or sensations of incompleteness. Research using self-report questionnaires has demonstrated a link between not just right experiences (NJREs) and OCD symptoms (Behav. Res. Therapy 41 (2003) 681; Anxiety, 1 (1995) 208). Extending previous work, this paper presents experimental and self-monitoring data on NJREs in an undergraduate sample. NJREs produced distress and urges to change something, but feared consequences were rare. Stronger responses were found for naturally occurring self-monitored NJREs compared to NJREs elicited in the laboratory. Several significant relationships were found between features of NJREs and OC symptoms and constructs theoretically related to OCD (e.g., responsibility, incompleteness), but no significant relationships were found between features of NJREs and non-OCD-related constructs (worry, depressive symptoms, social anxiety). Further consideration of NJREs will be useful in improving our understanding of the phenomenology, neurobiological substrates, and treatment, of OCD.     

Life and Death Matters: Losing a Sense of the Value of Human Beings

The essay combines a specific and a more general theme. In attacking ‘the doctrine of the sanctity of human life’ Singer takes himself thereby to be opposing the conviction that human life has special value. I argue that this conviction goes deep in our lives in many ways that do not depend on what Singer identifies as central to that ‘doctrine’, and that his attack therefore misses its main target. I argue more generally that Singer’s own moral philosophy affords only an impoverished and distorted sense of the value of human life and human beings. In purporting to dig below the supposedly illusion–ridden surface of our thinking about value, Singer in fact often leads us away from the robust terrain of our lived experience into rhetorical, and sometimes brutal, fantasy.     

A functional analysis of personal autonomy: How restricting ‘what’, ‘when’ and ‘how’ affects experienced agency and goal motivation

Personal autonomy is central to people's experiences of agency and abilities to actively take part in society. To address the challenges of supporting autonomy, we propose a functional model of autonomy, according to which the experience of agency is a function of the opportunity to determine what to do, when to act and how to act in goal-pursuit. We tested the model in three experiments where the three goal-pursuit components could be constrained by another person or an artificial intelligence (AI) agent. Results showed that removing any of the three components from one's own decisions reduced experienced agency (Study 1a and 1b) and lowered motivation to pursue goals in organisational contexts (Study 2). In comparison to the strong and robust main effects, interactions between the components and the effects of the source of restriction (human vs. AI) were negligible. Implications for personal autonomy, algorithmic decision-making and behaviour change interventions are discussed.     

The dynamic self

The paper describes various aspects of the dynamic energy of the self, as experienced personally and in clinical work. It discusses the inherent and archetypal force there is in the self, expressed in several ways, for example in some poetry, and in spirituality. The dynamic power of the self is shown at work in the process of individuation, including its vicissitudes of pain and working through doubts, envies and other shadow factors.     

The role of work experience and individual beliefs in police officers' perceptions of date rape: An integration of quantitative and qualitative methods

Surveyed police officers from two police departments in the Midwest on their perceptions of date rape (N=91). The aim of this research was to examine the influence of officers' work experiences and general beliefs about women on their perceptions of date rape. Two approaches were utilized. First, using quantitative structural-equation modeling, a model that integrated work experiences and individual beliefs was evaluated using LISREL VII. Results suggest a direct path from the work experience variables to perceptions of date rape: Officers with more experience with rape cases held more sympathetic beliefs about data rape and date rape victims. Officers who found their training on rape to be very helpful, and those who reported that their work environment was sexualized and sexual harassment was a problem, were also less victim blaming. An indirect influence of these variables was also supported. Officers with more experience, those who perceived their training as helpful, and those with heightened awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace also held more favorable attitudes toward women, which, in turn, predicted less victim-blaming perceptions of date rape. Second, qualitative methods were used to have the police define and describe in their own words what has shaped their beliefs about date rape. These narratives were content analyzed by two raters. The qualitative results validated the quantitative findings as the officers were most likely to mention professional experience with rape cases and departmental trainings as important factors that changed their opinions. Work climate and personal experiences were also cited as influential. Implications for integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in research, and training interventions with police are discussed. The author thanks the Editor, Bill Davidson, Holly Angelique, Susan Englund, Doug Luke, Melody Scofield, and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this paper. I also acknowledge Camille Johnson and Jody Venable for their assistance collecting and coding the data. This research was supported by a grant from the George W. Fairweather Fund.     

Developmental and mental health characteristics of children exposed to psychosocial adversity and stressors at the age of 18-months: Findings from a population-based cohort study

BackgroundPrior research on adverse experiences in early childhood has mainly focused on at-risk populations while studies of unselected populations are scarce. This topic therefore remains to be elucidated in broader child populations. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine if and to what extent children from a general population sample are exposed to psychosocial adversity and stressors in early childhood and whether the development and mental health of children with and without such exposure differ at the age of 18-months.MethodsA random sample of the Copenhagen Child Cohort (CCC2000) comprising 210 children and their parents participated in the study when the children were approximately 18-months. Information on exposures was obtained from a semi-structured interview including the Mannheim Parent Interview (MPI) and classified in agreement with the Multiaxial Classification of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Disorders (ICD-10), and the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (DC: 0-3). Child development was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development – Second Edition (BSID-II), while mental health was measured using the Child Behavior Check List (CBCL 1½-5).ResultsAmong the 210 children, 91 (43%) had been exposed to psychosocial adversity and persistent stressors. The exposed children differed from the non-exposed children by poorer cognitive development and behavioral regulation, as well as more attention problems and anxious/depressed symptoms. The children exposed to adverse caregiving environments were specifically more likely to have delayed cognitive development than the rest of the sample.ConclusionsIn a general population sample of children aged 18-months, exposure to psychosocial adversity and stressors was associated with poorer development and mental health in cognitive and affective domains. These findings highlight an avenue for further research with potential implications for early preventative practices.