The image schema and innate archetypes: theoretical and clinical implications

Based in contemporary neuroscience, Jean Knox's 2004 JAP paper ‘From archetypes to reflective function’ honed her position on image schemas, thereby introducing a model for archetypes which sees them as ‘reliably repeated early developmental achievements’ and not as genetically inherited, innate psychic structures. The image schema model is used to illustrate how the analyst worked with a patient who began life as an unwanted pregnancy, was adopted at birth and as an adult experienced profound synchronicities, paranormal/telepathic phenomena and visions. The classical approach to such phenomena would see the intense affectivity arising out of a ruptured symbiotic mother‐infant relationship constellating certain archetypes which set up the patient's visions. This view is contrasted with Knox's model which sees the archetype an sich as a developmentally produced image schema underpinning the emergence of later imagery. The patient's visions can then be understood to arise from his psychoid body memory related to his traumatic conception and birth. The contemporary neuroscience which supports this view is outlined and a subsequent image schema explanation is presented. Clinically, the case material suggests that a pre‐birth perspective needs to be explored in all analytic work. Other implications of Knox's image schema model are summarized.     

Team coaching: One more clue for fostering team effectiveness

Introduction and objectivesThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of team coaching (provided by the leader and by peers) on team performance and on the members’ satisfaction with the team. The mediated role of peer coaching in the relationship between leader coaching and individual and team results was also analyzed.MethodAdopting a multilevel approach and a cross-sectional design, 506 employees from 75 teams were surveyed. In the test of the hypotheses, multiple regression and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) were computed.ResultsThe results showed a direct positive effect of peer coaching on individual and team outcomes, and also a mediated effect of peer coaching in the relationship between leader coaching and both outcomes measured.ConclusionsOur findings put forward the importance of coaching in the achievement of team goals.     

Relational Resilience in Māori,Pacific, and European Sole Parent Families: From Theory and Research to Social Policy

This study reports findings and policy recommendations from a research project that applied a relational resilience framework to a study of 60 sole parent families in New Zealand, with approximately equal numbers of Māori, Pacific, and European (White) participants. The sole parent families involved were already known to be resilient and the study focused on identifying the relationships and strategies underlying the achievement and maintenance of their resilience. The study was carried out to provide an evidence base for the development and implementation of policies and interventions to both support sole parent families who have achieved resilience and assist those who struggle to do so. The three populations shared many similarities in their pathways to becoming sole parents and the challenges they faced as sole parents. The coping strategies underlying their demonstrated resilience were also broadly similar, but the ways in which they were carried out did vary in a manner that particularly reflected cultural practices in terms of their reliance upon extended family‐based support or support from outside the family. The commonalities support the appropriateness of the common conceptual framework used, whereas the differences underline the importance of developing nuanced policy responses that take into account cultural differences between the various populations to which policy initiatives are directed.     

The Art of Reflection: Turning the Strange into the Familiar

There are a great many useful articles on the dynamics and pragmatics of reflecting teams but few articles address what constitutes a good or inept reflection and why. I provide a conceptual model for thinking about what a good reflection does, distinguishing it from a nice reflection. With some further refinements in place, I then illustrate how reflections can be part of any relationship, not just clinical ones. We have opportunities to make them and to recognize when others make them to us. By using examples from my personal life—as a grandmother, daughter, radio listener, cancer survivor, and client—I attempt to ease the personal/professional binary, a project of mine for the last 35 years. In the second part of the article, I address how writing can serve reflection. Although best offered at the moment one is called for, it is never too late for a reflection. Writing allows people to offer reflections after the fact to those who have shared their stories. Sometimes, it is to ourselves we offer those reflections, when the reflector has long since dropped the thread of obligation or interest. I provide an example of working with iconic imagery to unpack meaning so that reflection can eventually take place, allowing integration to proceed, facilitating the strange becoming the familiar.     

Experiences of Families Transmitting Values in a Rapidly Changing Society: Implications for Family Therapists

Intergenerational value transmission affects parent–child relationships and necessitates constant negotiation in families. Families with adolescents from rapidly changing societies face unique challenges in balancing the traditional collectivistic family values that promote harmony with emerging values that promote autonomy. Using modern Turkey as an example of such a culture, the authors examine the transmission process in families that hold more traditional and collectivistic values than their adolescent children. Special consideration is given to generational and cultural differences in the autonomy and relatedness dimensions.     

Enhancing parental reflective functioning through early dyadic interventions: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) is an important predictor of infant attachment, and interventions that target parent–infant/toddler dyads who are experiencing significant problems have the potential to improve PRF. A range of dyadic interventions have been developed over the past two decades, some of which explicitly target PRF as part of their theory of change, and some that do not explicitly target PRF, but that have measured it as an outcome. However, no meta‐analytic review of the impact of these interventions has been carried out to date. The aim of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of dyadic interventions targeting parents of infant and toddlers, in improving PRF and a number of secondary outcomes. A systematic review and meta‐analysis was conducted in which key electronic databases were searched up to October 2018. Eligible studies were identified and data extracted. Data were synthesised using meta‐analysis and expressed as both effect sizes and risk ratios. Six studies were identified providing a total of 521 participants. The results of six meta‐analyses showed a nonsignificant moderate improvement in PRF in the intervention group (standardised mean difference [SMD]: –0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI] [–0.97, 0.04]) and a significant reduction in disorganised attachment (risk ratio: 0.50; 95% CI [0.27, 0.90]). There was no evidence for intervention effects on attachment security (odds ratio: 0.71; 95% CI [0.19, 2.64]), parent–infant interaction (SMD: –0.10; 95% CI [–0.46, 0.26]), parental depression (SMD: –1.55; 95% CI [–3.74, 0.64]) or parental global distress (SMD: –0.19, 95% CI [–3.04, 22.65]). There were insufficient data to conduct subgroup analysis (i.e. to compare the effectiveness of mentalisation‐based treatment with non‐mentalization‐based treatment interventions). Relational early interventions may have important benefits in improving PRF and reducing the prevalence of attachment disorganisation. The implications for future research are discussed.