A psychodynamic understanding of parental stress among parents of children with learning and developmental disability and behaviours that challenge

A significant minority of parents of children with learning and developmental disability experience elevated levels of parental stress, particularly when their children present with behaviours that challenge. A small but influential number of psychoanalytic authors have made significant contributions to the learning disability field of research, however, the psychological distress of parents whose children have behaviours that challenge has received scant attention. This paper posits that distressed parents of children with learning and developmental disability and behaviours that challenge often make use of primary defences, which are linked with their children’s behaviour, albeit in a reciprocal rather than causal manner.     

Body Psychotherapy with Couples

SUMMARY

Bodynamic Analysis combines depth cognitive psychotherapy and an emphasis on relationship with an understanding of the body based on an empirical study of the psychological function of each muscle. The resulting developmental understanding has been elaborated in the form of Seven Developmental Stages, each having specific themes and issues. These themes and issues are often found to be at the core of the conflictual dynamics presented by couples who are seeking therapy. Thus, while addressing the issues of one person, we can simultaneously be eliciting and working with the interpersonal dynamics of the couple.     

School-Linked Services in Context

Summary

This paper describes a formative evaluation of a school-linked service delivery system for immigrant and low income families in a large suburban county in Maryland. Initially we discuss local needs that prompted the development of the program and we place problems with services for children and families with multiple needs in a broad context. Next we discuss the methods and results of the evaluation. Findings indicate the program provides a range of appropriate services to intended beneficiaries but that lack of infrastructure and articulated understandings among participating organizations present potential problems.     

The Pragmatic Press of Political Reality: Use of P.L. 94-142 Discretionary and Set-Aside Funds

Two major reports regarding the financing of special education and the use of P.L. 94-142 discretionary and set-aside funds are analyzed and interpreted with respect to the impact of these funds on state and local education agencies. The need for flexibility as required by the law, as well as the pragmatic press of political reality in the identification of needs and the distribution of resources, are recognized as key factors in the utilization of these monies. The impact of a change in the amount and/or allocation of these funds are discussed in the context of probable consequences at the state and local levels.     

The Attachment and Clinical Issues Questionnaire (ACIQ): Scale Development

In line with dynamic systems and dialectical theories of development, it was theorized that a psychopathology such as an addiction could have several causes (equifinality) and that more specific diagnoses and treatments of the most salient clinical issues for individuals coming from different developmental paths could increase the success rates of most therapies. Further, the issues from a developmental dynamic systems perspective should include not only individual clinical issues, but also relational, familial, peer, and organizational functioning. The Attachment and Clinical Issues Questionnaire (ACIQ) was developed as a research and clinical instrument relevant to these concerns. The 29 scales were based on naturalistic observations of patients in treatment and 12-step groups, attachment theory, and the clinical literature dealing with the addictions. The attachment scales were taken from classic attachment theory but, in line with more recent formulations, included relations to mother, father, and partner. Study 1 found the ACIQ to have good coefficient alphas (.79), and factor analyses revealed that the eight factors loaded on different attachment figures and sets of clinical issues rather than attachment styles per se. Study 2 found test–retest reliability to be, on average, .79. The results were in line with the developmental hypothesis that partner and father attachments are different than attachments to mother, and that family and peer relations as well as clinical issues need to be considered separately.     

Grief in two guises: ‘Mourning and melancholia’ revisited

¹ 1. A version of this paper was given at the Institute of Psychoanalysis Conference: ‘Mourning and Melancholia through the Life Cycle’, London, 1998. This paper is a re-reading of Freud’s classic paper. The themes of mourning and melancholia are viewed in relation to children and adolescents with illustrations from case histories. Mourning is interpreted in a broader sense: not only as grief (both expectable and traumatic) but as a response to the developmental process itself as phases of childhood are shed and an emerging newer identity is assumed. The author argues that Freud’s paper left the way open to make a number of further distinctions of the processes involved within melancholia.     

Great expectations for Ara Norenzayan's Big Gods

In Big Gods (2013), Ara Norenzayan argues that the rise of large-scale societies was made possible by an extension of small-scale religious prosociality, presided over (and enforced) by Big moralizing watchful Gods. While religious prosociality is, of course, a redundant characterization of any small-scale religious group, it is doubtful that its extension can account for the historical emergence of large-scale societies, nor can cooperation be explained as an effect of surveillance. Rather, the archaeological and historical record indicates that such large-scale expansions of human societies are better explained by economic factors, political power, and/or military force. Difficulties with Norenzayan's theory are explored and several alternative theories to his ‘neglect of history’ are suggested.     

Anna Freud's contribution to the psychoanalytic theory of development

This paper elaborates key areas of Anna Freud's theory of development, setting these in the context of Freud's structural model and its influence on her early work. The centrality of the role of the ego and the beginnings of one of her major achievements, the elaboration of a psychoanalytic developmental psychology, are shown in evidence in 1936, in The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence. The author develops this theme in an exploration of the 1965 work Normality and Pathology in Childhood, looking from the base of normal development, via defence and conflict, to regression and significant developmental factors.     

Developmental Trauma Disorder: A Provisional Diagnosis

Developmental trauma disorder is a provisional disorder that characterizes multiple trauma exposure that impairs certain domains of human development. These domains are attachment, cognition, behavior regulation, affect regulation, self-concept, dissociation, and biological functioning and maturation. This article reviews the literature and discusses the present understanding of these 7 domains. It discusses the effects of developmental trauma exposure on each domain and alludes to the importance of clinicians understanding the complexity and diversity of development trauma outcomes.     

Educational Psychology Theory and the Promotion of Dental Care for Children Aged Five to Six

The aim of this article is to illustrate the value of educational psychology theory in developing an age-appropriate programme to prevent tooth decay. A theory-based approach was adopted for the programme development, and a questionnaire was used to ascertain the knowledge gaps in 52 children aged five to six years in two preschools in an urban town. The results showed that most of the children had no awareness and only a moderate knowledge of proper dental care. Piaget's cognitive development theory was applied in the planning and implementation of the activities in the programme. The developed programme was presented to educational psychologists and dentists, and their feedback was used to refine the programme. The importance of educational psychology theory was illustrated in the development of an age-appropriate preventative programme as well as in using an accessible pedagogical approach. The value of multidisciplinary colloboration was also illustrated.