Tom Thumb in hospital: The fairy tale workshop in a paediatric oncology and haematology ward

Abstract

Definitions of and attitudes towards countertransference have changed throughout the twentieth century. From being seen as a contaminant in the analytical process, countertransference has come to be seen by many therapists as a potentially useful source of information about a client and his or her problems. There are dangers as well as benefits associated with analysis and utilization of countertransference. This article reviews these issues and proposes some guidelines that therapists may find useful when contemplating their countertransference reactions to clients, and when considering how best to utilize these.     

Dependency and perfectionism: Short-term dynamic group psychotherapy for university students

Abstract

This paper is based on the authors' experiences of conducting short-term psychodynamic group therapy with university students. The therapy groups focus on common problems among the members, i.e. perfectionism, procrastination, and fear of graduation. Working on their dependency and on their inadequate separation from parental figures typically helps the students cope more creatively with their academic problems. The paper explores technical questions and possible advantages in working within a short time frame using a group analytic approach.     

Couple Therapy and Addictions

Abstract

Therapies for alcoholism, substance abuse, and other addictions traditionally focus on characteristics of individuals such as behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. These kinds of programs tend to target problems inside the abusing person rather than a relational system. Treatments that are more recent locate the problems within systems of people. Regardless of the locus or cause of the abuse or addiction, seen as arising from disease processes, systemic dynamics, or other mechanisms that lead to unfortunate habits and behaviors, utilizing the individual's partner or family in therapy has become an important part of successful treatment. This article reviews models of couple treatment for alcoholics and substance abusers in terms of initiation into treatment, primary treatment, and relapse prevention.     

The Invisible Griever

Many people are equipped, through crisis intervention strategies and plans, to handle the immediate ramifications of a death within a particular school or community system. However, after the crisis has passed the question generally surfaces as to how one can help the children who have been greatly impacted by the death and are in the midst of the grieving process. The grieving child has often been invisible to adult caregivers like counselors, teachers, and school psychologist. The means of helping a child who has experienced a death in his family can be greatly enhanced by the developmcnt of grief support groups. Through the use of support groups children can learn to share their feelings, discover that they are not alone, and move through the grieve process.     

Coding Counsellor Behaviour in Motivational Interviewing Sessions: Inter‐Rater Reliability for the Swedish Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity Code (MITI)

The aim of this study was to evaluate inter‐rater reliability when using the Swedish version of the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Code (MITI) as an adjunct to MI training, clinical practice and research. Coders were trained to use the MITI for scoring taped sessions. The 4‐month basic training had a duration of 39 hours. Following training, 60 audio‐taped live interviews were randomly assigned for MITI coding. Mean intra‐class correlation (ICC) coefficients were calculated for 7 coders across all pairs of coders. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to estimate the covariance between each pair across their common interviews. Six months later, a second inter‐rater reliability test was performed, when 5 coders coded the same 15 randomly selected tapes. At the second reliability testing the mean ICC was 0.81 and the mean Cronbach's alpha was 0.96. However, the ICC varied for different sub‐variables of the MITI, ranging from 0.42 empathy to 0.79 for number of Closed questions. In conclusion, MITI shows promising potential to be a reliable tool to confirm and enhance MI training as well as practice in clinical settings and in evaluating MI integrity in clinical MI research. However, coder assessment of empathy and MI‐spirit, “global” variables, requires further refinement.     

Protective effect of supportive family relationships and the influence of stressful life events on adolescent adjustment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between the occurrence of stressful life events and internalizing and externalizing problems, and to analyze longitudinally buffering effects of supportive family relationships. To this end, 100 Spanish adolescents were studied twice, when they were in mid-adolescence (15–16 years) and two years later. They completed questionnaires regarding stressful life events, family relationships, and adolescent adjustment. Results showed that high quality parent-adolescent relationships protected boys and girls against the negative consequences of stressful life events on externalizing, but not internalizing, symptoms. The adolescents who enjoyed good relationships with their parents in mid-adolescence did not increase their externalizing problems in late adolescence as consequence of the occurrence of stressful events. However, these stressors did lead to an increase in the number of externalizing problems when the family relationships were of a middle or low quality. These results highlight the important role that supportive family relationships play in the behavioral adjustment of adolescents, protecting them against some negative consequences of stressful life events, and suggest the relevance of supporting parents through resources such as parent education in order to help them to improve their relationships with their adolescents.     

Women Court-Ordered for Domestic Violence: Improvements in Depression

A quasi-experimental design was employed to compare depression at intake and completion of a sample of primarily Latina women court-ordered to a batterer intervention program. Data were derived from the intake assessments of 112 women over 24 months. Overwhelmingly, women reported being abused by their current and former partners. Approximately 58% of the women in this sample were depressed at intake. When culturally competent, gender-appropriate treatment is given to court-ordered women, depression symptomatology may decrease to levels of normal functioning. Further research is needed to understand court-ordered women as well as how to meet their unique needs.     

Parental Hostility and Depression as Predictors of Young Children's Aggression and Conduct Problems

Parental hostility and parental depression are associated with childhood behavior problems, but these have been studied independently in the literature. This study examined the relationships between parental hostility and depression and childhood aggression and conduct problems. Parental hostility was hypothesized to predict children's current and future (two months later) aggression and conduct problems. Participants were primary caregivers of children 0 to 10 years of age. Results indicate that hostility is a better predictor of present and future childhood aggression and conduct problems than depression. Implications of this finding for preventing and treating childhood aggression and conduct problems are discussed.     

Child Homicide in the City of Los Angeles

SUMMARY

Homicide is the only leading cause of child death which has increased in rank in the past 30 years. This investigation describes the deaths of 0-14 year olds which were classified as homicides by the Los Angeles Police Department from 1980 to 1989. Special focus is given to suspect-to-victim relationship and victim race/ethnicity because of their relevance to prevention and program planning. Family members were suspects in 49.8% of the cases (mother, 14.5%; father, 13.6%; mother's paramour, 8.5%; male and female caretaker, 11.1%; other family members, 2.1%). Few differences emerged among the Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White child victims. Non-Hispanic White victims had the highest proportion (67.7%) and Hispanic victims had the lowest proportion (42.7%) of within-family suspects. Prevention implications include the need to focus on the actions of male caregivers and the observation that the substance and content of prevention programs (e.g., an emphasis on reducing blunt force trauma to young children) can be consistent across race/ethnic groups.