Understanding and addressing pseudoscientific practices in the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders: Considerations for applied behavior analysis practitioners

Pseudoscientific practices are commonly used and promoted in the field of developmental disabilities. Behavior analysts should anticipate encountering such treatments in practice and understand their ethical obligations with regard to these practices. Thoughts on why pseudoscientific practices are frequently sought are presented for context in understanding this complex issue. This discussion will serve to prepare behavior analysts for how to address situations in which clients may ask behavior analysts to use pseudoscientific practices. Additionally, this discussion covers arguments for the dangers of using pseudoscientific practices, a guide to resources for information on evidence‐based practice and ethics, and ideas on how to handle a situation in which a parent or caregiver asks the behavior analyst to integrate a pseudoscientific approach into the treatment of a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder.     

The practice of humanitarian work psychology

Humanitarian work psychology (HWP) seeks to improve the welfare of workers who provide a broad range of support to survivors of calamities both natural and man-made. It is an emerging interdisciplinary field of practice spanning expertise from many psychological fields to promote decent work and safe work conditions for those at the forefront of acute disasters of any kind. Personnel functions and health and safety issues are critical to humanitarian service roles. Research is needed to best inform the practice of humanitarian work in a globalised world culture, including strategies to support the well-being of individuals that are involved in humanitarian work.     

The case of Peter: reflections on applied ethics in a neonatal intensive care unit

The case of Peter is reflected upon in order to highlight some of the moral theorising that could be brought to bear in the process of providing palliative care for sick neonates. The situation will be discussed using the theoretical lenses of deontological and virtue ethics. Nursing practice is considered as engaged moral reasoning where the nurse brings his/her beliefs, knowledge and experience into the situation and engages in reflexivity to provide appropriate ongoing patient care. The care should be provided in culturally sensitive manner and tailored to the needs of the newborn and their family. Nurses should initiate early consultations with colleagues, medical staff and families to address concerns about patient well-being in order to enhance the well-being of patients and families and to improve the work environment making it more conducive to care.     

Teaching and learning the esoteric: an insight into how reflection may be internalised with reference to the occupational therapy profession

This paper is concerned with the ways in which reflective practice is learnt, taught and assessed within the profession of occupational therapy. It utilises individual experiences of reflection of both students and staff members in university and practice placement settings. The discussion places reflection within learning a profession’s way of being and individual learner’s relation to this ‘sense of being’. It concludes that the ‘rote’ way in which reflection is currently used to demonstrate evidence of reflective practice is detrimental to the development of a reflective professional, in this instance, an occupational therapist.     

Developing a reflective practice model for engineering leadership

This paper advances discourse pertaining to the development of a reflective practice model in engineering leadership. It is based on reflective experiences over a four-year period that were developed as part of a Doctoral in Business Administration module. It is contextualised within an engineering consultancy and the narrative is described from an Engineering Leadership perspective; the narrative is also woven with theory and there is the inclusion of a DBA Practitioner lens on the findings. The paper identifies the model developed for reflective practice and presents evidence of personal learning and thinking styles as its outcome. The paper concludes that reflective practice is a personal journey of learning and that model development is a choice of what suits the individual.     

The Greek Referendum Vote of 2015 as a Paradoxical Communicative Practice: A Narrative,Future‐Making Approach

This article adopts a pragmatic‐communicative approach, derived from Gregory Bateson's cybernetic theory, to the Greek Referendum Vote of 2015. Applying this approach, we interpret the Referendum as a double‐bind situation. Our research question is twofold: (1) How do potential Greek voters discursively construct the Referendum? (2) How do they respond to the communicative situation posed? A total of 124 written narratives, “Letters from the Future,” written by 99 participants, were collected during the days prior to the vote. Their letters focused on a desired future situation after a YES or a NO vote outcome. Qualitative analysis showed how the letters were used to appropriate the Referendum query in a unique and deeply personalized manner. Moreover, we identified four types of responses to the ambivalent query: confirmation, rejection, disconfirmation, and meta‐communication. These responses are indicative of the psychological and emotional burden posed by the query and of ways people responded to the query. In conclusion, we reflect on the importance of recognizing the psychological dimension of the vote, the role of narratives from the future for personal and social transformation, and the wider relevance of the proposed future‐making, pragmatic approach to other Referendum situations.