Development of a therapists’ self-report measure of pluralistic thought and practice: the Therapy Pluralism Inventory

This study aimed to develop a self-report measure of pluralistic thought and practice. Following pilot development, a 23-item inventory was placed on an online survey site, and 474 participants satisfactorily completed the measure. Respondents were trainee or qualified therapists, predominantly female, based in the UK, and of a humanistic or integrative/eclectic orientation. A principal components analysis resulted in two scales, Pluralistic Philosophy and Pluralistic Practice, which had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α?=?.72 and .80, respectively). Confirmatory factor analysis showed good model fit for this two factor solution. The Therapy Pluralism Inventory (TPI) has potential for use in training and research, although additional validity and normative data are needed.     

儿童家庭读写活动、早期读写水平与小学一年级语文课成绩的关系

从读写萌发的观点出发,探讨6至7岁儿童的家庭读写活动、早期读写水平与其在校语文成绩的关系。研究结果显示:在控制儿童的非言语智力和父母的教育水平等变量后,(1)只有儿童的非正式家庭读写活动能够显著预测其口头词汇;(2)只有儿童的正式家庭读写活动能够显著预测其识字量;(3)只有儿童入学时的识字量能够显著预测他们一年级时的语文成绩和平时语文课表现;(4)儿童的口头词汇和家庭读写活动均无法预测其在校的语文课成绩。     

婴儿气质及母亲的养育态度与亲子日常活动的关系

本研究以430名母亲及其婴儿作为研究对象,应用婴儿气质行为评定量表(Infant Behavior Questionnaires,IBQ)、养育压力量表(ParentingStress Index,PSI)及母亲与婴儿的日常活动问卷对6个月婴儿气质、母亲的养育态度及母亲与婴儿的日常活动进行调查。结果表明婴儿气质中的积极情绪与母亲-婴儿日常活动有显著的正相关关系;母亲的养育态度,主要是母亲对养育困扰的评价,与亲子日常活动中的认知刺激活动呈显著的负相关性;多元回归分析表明母亲的受教育水平在婴儿气质、母亲的养育态度与亲子日常认知刺激活动之间的关系中具有调节作用。     

Counsellor conflict in managing the frame: Dilemmas and decisions

An essential feature of psychodynamic counselling is a secure frame for the work that holds boundaries as sacrosanct, both to ensure ethical practice and to provide a vehicle through which unconscious processes can be recognized and understood. Conscious or unconscious attacks on the frame are inevitable in any therapeutic relationship, and provide an opportunity for exploration and insight. However such incidents also have an impact on the therapist who must decide how to respond. In order to understand more about the therapist process when there is an attack on the frame, an investigation was carried out into ways in which psychodynamic counsellors manage the difficulties and dilemmas that arise as they try to hold a secure therapeutic frame. Ten counsellors were interviewed using a semi‐ structured interview format during which they were asked about an instance when the frame was challenged and the process by which it was resolved. The resulting dilemmas were categorized using grounded theory. Three categories of dilemmas emerged a) prior to making a decision about how to deal with it, b) after making a decision, and c), as a result of the outcome of the action taken. The nature of the dilemmas and the process of resolving them are reported and discussed.     

Your Own Personal Jesus? Doctrinal Beliefs Versus Personal Spirituality Among Inmates Involved in the Monastery Route in Swedish Prisons

Previous studies, mainly from the United States, have indicated that religious beliefs can help inmates to cope with imprisonment and to build hopes for the future. The purpose of this study was to examine if this is the case also in Sweden, which is usually considered to be one of the most secular countries in the world. The data consist of semistructured interviews with 14 prisoners participating in the so‐called Monastery Route activities within Swedish prisons. Although the activities are based on Christianity, the explicit aim is to invite individuals from all religions, as well as those with an open attitude toward spirituality. How do the inmates formulate their beliefs (if any) along the lines of doctrinal religiousness and personal spirituality, respectively? And, how does this orientation affect the ability to cope with imprisonment, as well as the views of the future? The results show that a small number of the participants defined themselves as Christian, but that the majority had instead developed a more personal form of spirituality. This provided them with a means of working with themselves and gave them a sense of inner calm. The study's findings are contrasted against conflicting results from the United States.     

Newcomer psychological contracts and employee socialization activities: Does perceived balance in obligations matter?

We sought to determine the extent to which one’s beliefs about the relationship between an employee and an organization at the start of employment influence subsequent socialization activities. The balance of employee exchange relationships, employee perceptions of both their own obligations and the employers’ obligations, were collected from 120 newcomers in a public sector organization on the first day of employment and again three months later. We found the relationship between employee obligations and two socialization activities (time with mentor and time spent in training) depended on the employee’s perceptions of what the employer owed the employee, such that employees in unbalanced relationships tended to engage in more socialization activities than employees in balanced relationships.     

Resourceful Dialogues: Eliciting and Mobilizing Client Competencies and Resources

Within the social constructionist (narrative, solution-focused and collaborative language systems) therapies, therapists have increasingly focused on identifying and mobilizing clients’ resources and competencies. How such client resources and competencies are identified and elaborated can be considered empirical matters for analysts of therapeutic discourse. The present paper examines resourceful sequences of dialogue in 12 single session lifestyle consultations for how counsellors conversationally engaged consultees, and for what transpired within these sequences of dialogue. These sequences were micro-analyzed using conversation analysis and retrospective comments from consultees and therapists involved in these sequences were solicited using a videotaped replay procedure known as comprehensive process analysis [Elliott (1989). In M. Packer & R. B. Addison (Eds.), Entering the circle: Hermeneutic investigation in psychology (pp. 165–184). Albany, NY: SUNY Press]. The combined conversation analyses and related comments for three of the 23 videotaped passages analyzed are reported with the aim of enhancing therapists’ conversational practices in hosting resourceful dialogues with clients.

Happiness in Everyday Life: The Uses of Experience Sampling

This paper uses the Experience Sampling Method data drawn from a national sample of American youth. It examines the proximal environmental factors as well as behaviors and habits that correlate to personal happiness. Momentary-level scores show that reported happiness varies significantly both by day of week and time of day. Furthermore, particular activities are associated with varying degrees of happiness. School activities rate below average scores in happiness, while social, active and passive leisure activities are above average. Particular companions also correlate to differing level of happiness. Being alone rates the lowest levels of happiness, while being with friend corresponds to the highest. Person-level averages of happiness suggest that both higher social class and age correlate with lower levels of happiness, while gender and race do not. Paradoxically, youth who spend more time in school and social activities are happier than those who spend less. Unexpectedly, students who spend more time pleasure reading report lower levels of happiness. Finally, feeling good about the self, excited, proud, sociable, active as well as being in the conditions for flow experience are the strongest predictors of trait happiness.