No one here gets out alive: the Bluebeard story in therapy and in the culture

In this paper, the Bluebeard story is used to highlight mechanisms underlying an individual analytic case and some cultural phenomena from a Jungian perspective. I describe a patient whose psyche was dissociated into a tormenting monstrous figure and a regressed childish self, which Kalsched explains as activation of the archetypal defence system. As her analyst, I had to survive attacks of the patient's persecuting inner object, which she related to Bluebeard as a representation of relentless murderousness. At the cultural level, Bluebeard pertains to the concept of the totalitarian object (Sebek 1996) and to the pole of grandiosity of the Russian cultural complex.     

Role of psychosocial risk factors in predicting maternal and paternal depressive symptomatology during pregnancy

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of several psychosocial risk factors in predicting depressive symptomatology during pregnancy in mothers and fathers, respectively. A total of 146 primiparous mothers and 105 primiparous fathers reporting a psychosocial risk condition were recruited independently from maternity and child health services, during the second trimester of pregnancy. All parents were evaluated for depressive symptomatology, anxiety, and perceived social support. Two hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to determine the role of psychosocial factors in predicting depressive symptomatology during pregnancy, in mothers and fathers. Marital dissatisfaction, personal history of depression, and personal trait anxiety were identified as significant predictors of depressive symptomatology during pregnancy, both in mothers and in fathers. Family history of substance abuse, conflictual relationship with the parents in the past year, and bereavement in the past year were identified as significant factors contributing to elevated depressive symptoms during pregnancy in mothers, but not fathers. In this study, several psychosocial risk factors were consistently related to an increase in maternal and paternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy; some of these factors seem to be specifically related to maternal depressive mood.     

The I Ching as a Potential Jungian Application: History and Practice

Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung had a lifelong interest in the I Ching after discovering it in 1919. Jung’s interest in the I Ching is arguably more practical than purely theoretical or intellectual, and references to I Ching divination appear frequently in his various publications, seminars, letters and clinical practice records. After a few observations on the history of the study of the I Ching in China, the author categorizes Jung’s three uses of the I Ching as physical use (to preview future potentials of outer reality), psychological use (to reveal one’s psychological state), and psychical approach (to engage with the divine through “神”[“shen”, spiritual agencies]). Finally, the author discusses the current Jungian engagement by demonstrating clinical cases in contemporary times. Some Jungian analysts practise I Ching divination to obtain insights into the physical and psychological state of therapeutic relationships and for personal development. This paper is a historical and critical engagement of the Jungian practice of I Ching divination.     

We‐Language and Sustained Reductions in Drinking in Couple‐Based Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorders

Couple‐based treatments for alcohol use disorders (AUDs) produce higher rates of abstinence than individual‐based treatments and posit that active involvement of both identified patients (IPs) and significant others (SOs) is partly responsible for these improvements. Separate research on couples’ communication has suggested that pronoun usage can indicate a communal approach to coping with health‐related problems. The present study tested whether communal coping, indicated by use of more first‐person plural pronouns (“we” language), fewer second‐person pronouns (“you” language), and fewer first‐person singular pronouns (“I” language), predicted improvements in abstinence in couple‐based AUD treatment. Pronoun use was measured in first‐ and mid‐treatment sessions for 188 heterosexual couples in four clinical trials of alcohol behavioral couple therapy (ABCT). Percentages of days abstinent were assessed during treatment and over a 6‐month follow‐up period. Greater IP and SO “we” language during both sessions was correlated with greater improvement in abstinent days during treatment. Greater SO “we” language during first‐ and mid‐treatment sessions was correlated with greater improvement in abstinence at follow‐up. Greater use of IP and SO “you” and “I” language had mixed correlations with abstinence, typically being unrelated to or predicting less improvement in abstinence. When all pronoun variables were entered into regression models, only greater IP “we” langue and lower IP “you” language predicted improvements in abstinence during treatment, and only SO “we” language predicted improvements during follow‐up. Most pronoun categories had little or no association with baseline relationship distress. Results suggest that communal coping predicts better abstinence outcomes in couple‐based AUD treatment.     

The realization of absolute beauty: an interpretation of the fairytale Snow White

This paper interprets the fairytale Snow White (Bruder Grimm 1857) in terms of the realization of absolute beauty. Jung's understanding that ‘in myths and fairytales, as in dreams, the soul speaks about itself’ (Jung 1945, para. 400), underpins such an approach. From this perspective a fantasy image is not about us, not about our unconsciousness, but is essentially about itself. The idea of absolute beauty first arises in the Queen's mind as a wish. Despite the Queen's strong desire to be named as the most beautiful person in the world, her mirror reflects that it is actually her daughter Snow White who is the fairest. Snow White might be regarded in the language of Giegerich as her internal other. Effectively they are separated into the Real that conceives the idea of absolute beauty and the Ideal that embodies it. The exchange that takes place between the two – mediated by mirror and window – generates the corpse of surpassing beauty that never decays but lies inaccessible behind the glass coffin. However the loving and penetrating gaze of the Prince, representing masculinity, succeeds in reanimating Snow White. Thus the Prince as the Other that is completely external and unknown to both the Queen and Snow White, specifically to their femininity, facilitates the realization of absolute beauty as the Ideal in the Real.     

Clinical experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

Most of the clinical experiences discussed in this article arose from monthly Zoom meetings at Rome’s Italian Centre of Analytical Psychology (CIPA). We set up a discussion group in April 2020, one month after lockdown began in Italy, and these monthly online meetings continue to this day. All senior analysts and analysts-in-training at Rome’s CIPA, whose backgrounds range from child and adolescent psychotherapy to adult psychotherapy and analysis, to sandplay therapy and medicine and psychiatry, have been participating in these meetings. The group discussions focus on the present time and its impact on us, as well as on our relationships with patients. By further developing these reflections during the lockdown in Italy (9 March - 3 May 2020), it is fair to ask whether a sense of unreality, depersonalization, or derealization has occurred, either in the therapist or patient, and if so, whether it is possible that therapists miss the human contact more than clients. We will mainly refer to clinical and personal experiences as our most precious guidelines.     

The future of Jungian analysis: strengths,weaknesses, opportunities,threats (‘SWOT’)

Using a methodology derived from management and organizational studies, the author reviews the future of Jungian analysis. The methodology is termed SWOT – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. A selected list in each of these categories is presented. The author is transparent in allowing for the fact that the paper not only derives from a public lecture on the topic, but also retains the immediacy and the contrarian and opinionated style of such a lecture.     

Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing Attachment-based Family Therapy into a Child Welfare Setting: A Qualitative Process Evaluation

Child welfare systems (CWSs) worldwide show increased interest in adopting empirically informed clinical strategies to increase treatment effectiveness. Many empirically supported treatments (ESTs) exist, but little is known about EST implementation barriers and facilitators in CWS. This study explored CWS providers’ experiences of implementing attachment-based family therapy (ABFT) in home-based services of the Flemish CWS (in Belgium). Sixteen CWS providers (twelve counselors and four supervisors) involved in three home-based services were interviewed. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used to guide collection, coding, and analysis of interview data. Findings revealed that implementation success was related to ABFT's fit with the CWS's mission, philosophy, and existing practices. CWS providers’ belief in the compatibility between ABFT and CWS increased investment in implementation efforts and persistence to overcome challenges and setbacks. Some barriers pertained to the learning of ABFT and some barriers pertained to systems level challenges such as lack of leadership and support, poor coordination with referral sources and other youth care partners, and lack of policy support. For successful expansion of ESTs into CWS settings, various barriers at multiple systemic levels need to be addressed.     

Sitting In: The Experience of Learning and Practicing Family Therapy through Being a Co-Therapist in Hong Kong

This article explores family therapy trainees’ subjective experiences of working as cotherapists with a supervisory-level therapist in a Chinese context, regarding their perceptions of and positioning in it and also their opinions on the benefits and/or pitfalls of cotherapy. Individual interviews with a total of six cotherapists revealed three themes: (1) Cotherapy was perceived as an experiential learning journey that evolved from anxiety and excitement to empowerment and nurturing; (2) a collaborative master–apprentice relationship of openness, trust, and mutual respect was developed with both sides’ interactive effort, which included common commitment and concern for the client, the supervisor’s awareness and explicit address of the role hierarchy, principle setting prior to the cooperation, and honest pre- and-postsession sharing and discussion; (3) the dual-purpose supervisor–trainee cotherapy brought direct benefits for all involved parties and for others. The findings have useful implications for integrating treatment and training for optimal training/learning outcomes and for advancing knowledge transfer from senior to junior and from academia to the field, with reference to local cultural characteristics.