The art of the tincture: analytical supervision

Using the alchemical metaphor, effective supervision can be seen as an excellent example of the tincture: a little goes a long way. This paper offers a model of the dynamics in analytical supervision: a mirroring of the professional-self of the supervisee, the opportunity to learn through empirical factual knowledge, and, most importantly, experiential, interactive and dynamic learning. The container of supervision will be amplified using an image of the triple vessel of alchemy. The materia of supervision is discussed as 'amalgams' of complex related material. The supervisory field is seen in a triadic intersubjective and interimaginal manner. Jung's diagram of all the possible conscious and unconscious connections between patient and therapist is expanded to include the supervisory situation. Moving beyond projective identification as explanatory process, the concept of the mundus imaginalis is used as the medium for this triadic structure. The 'analytic third' expands to include the 'supervisory fourth' while incorporating the supervisor's imaginings of the patient as the quintessential experience of the imaginal other. The supervisor's attitude and state of mind are seen through the paradigm of active imagination. This state of mind is called supervisory reverie.     

A Religious Interpretation of Emergence: Creativity as God

Thinking of God today as creativity (instead of as The Creator) enables us to bring theological values and meanings into significant connection with modern cosmological and evolutionary thinking. This conception connects our understanding of God with today's ideas of the Big Bang; cosmic and biological evolution; the evolutionary emergence of novel complex realities from simpler realities, and the irreducibility of these complex realities to their simpler origins; and so on. It eliminates anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism from the conception of God, thus overcoming one of the major reasons for the implausibility of God-talk in today's world—here viewed as a highly dynamic reality (not an essentially stable structure), with God regarded as the ongoing creativity in this world. This mystery of creativity—God—manifest throughout the universe is quite awe-inspiring, calling forth emotions of gratitude, love, peace, fear, and hope, and a sense of the profound meaningfulness of human existence in the world—issues with which faith in God usually has been associated. It is appropriate, therefore, to think of God today as precisely this magnificent panorama of creativity with which our universe and our lives confront us.     

Consciousness without Bodies: Rethinking the Power of the Visualised Brain

This article examines the possibility of the futuristic assumption that the human mind will converge with artificial intelligence technology to create an enhancement of consciousness. By studying how a correlation between consciousness and the brain is made through visual tools that are used in neuroscience, this article elaborates on how these findings affect research that is done in philosophy on the concept of consciousness. This article proposes a new approach on studying the brain, by examining it as a theoretical object, which gives every research field the possibility to argue over the truth in the images that are created of the brain.     

工作记忆表征精度加工需求对注意引导的影响

采用注意捕获范式, 通过行为和事件相关脑电位(ERP)实验, 探讨工作记忆表征精度加工需求对注意引导的影响, 行为结果发现, 在低精度加工需求条件下, 只有一个工作记忆表征引导注意, 且处于高激活状态的工作记忆表征产生的注意捕获大于低激活状态; 而在高精度加工需求条件下, 有两个工作记忆表征引导注意, 且处于高、低激活状态的工作记忆表征产生的注意捕获没有差异。ERP结果显示, 高精度加工需求条件下诱发的NSW和LPC大于低精度加工需求条件; 在高精度加工需求条件下, 干扰项与记忆项匹配比不匹配时, 诱发更大的N2和更小的N2pc, 而在低精度加工需求条件下, 干扰项与记忆项匹配和不匹配时诱发的N2、N2pc没有差异。研究表明, 工作记忆表征精度加工需求影响注意引导的机制可能是高精度加工需求下, 工作记忆表征消耗的认知资源增加, 搜索目标获得的资源减少, 干扰项捕获的注意增加。     

The ordinary

This paper discusses Peter Lomas's work in the context of the concepts of ‘ordinary people’ and ‘ordinary language’. Obsessions about whether a person is ordinary or not tend to occur in people who are disturbed. Psychoanalysts use the special language of mechanics to explain the phenomena they observe in the consulting room. In this paper it is argued that ordinary language, our mother tongue, is a better way of understanding people. In his work as a psychotherapist and writer, Peter Lomas found more insight in the ordinary language of literature than he did in theory.     

Some Remarks on For-me-ness and Empathy

Abstract

My discussion of Self and Other takes issue with two distinct theses defended by Zahavi. The first concerns Zahavi's argument for the first-personal character of experience and its related thought experiment. My second remark is about Zahavi’s restriction of empathy to direct perception.     

The adaptive effect of personal control when facing breast cancer: Cognitive and behavioural mediators

This prospective study examines the cognitive and behavioural mediators of the relation between personal control and the initial response to a breast cancer diagnosis as well as subsequent psychological adjustment. A total of 143 patients participated immediately after diagnosis (T1), after surgery (T2) and 2 months after the end of treatment (T3), of whom 92 also completed a questionnaire pre-diagnosis (T0). The buffering effect of personal control on psychological distress shortly after diagnosis was mediated by cancer-specific cognitions, i.e. threat appraisal and coping self-efficacy. Moreover, a strong sense of personal control predicted lower levels of anxiety 2 months after the end of treatment, but was unrelated to distress at T3. The adaptive effect on anxiety was mediated by threat appraisal and active engagement in social life after surgery, but not by active patient participation or coping self-efficacy. These results confirm and explain the adaptive effect of control. Apparently, women with a low sense of control appraise cancer and their personal coping skills more negatively, which makes them vulnerable to distress in response to diagnosis. Furthermore, women with a strong sense of control might regulate anxiety by remaining engaged in social life.     

中学生压力生活事件、人格特点对压力应对的影响

本研究对329名中学生进行了问卷调查,试图探讨压力生活事件,人格特点和压力应对三者之间的关系.研究发现(1)中学生的压力生活事件主要来自于学习、父母、老师和同伴、环境、自我发展和时间6个方面,其中学习压力是中学生的主要压力;(2)中学生的人格可以用五因素来描述,即外向性、宜人性、谨慎性、开放性和情绪性;(3)中学生的应对压力方式主要有主动型应对和回避型应对;(4)人格五因素中的谨慎性、开放性和宜人性对主动型应对具有正向预测作用.年级变量和人格五因素中的外向性和开放性对回避型应对既有直接影响,又通过影响压力强度对回避型应对起间接作用.     

Imaginative Faith: Apocalyptic,Science Fiction Theory,and Theology

Abstract : Both pastors and academic theologians have struggled with the place of apocalyptic language and imagery within the modern worldview. Many have dismissed apocalyptic as escapist and have alleged that it is divorced from the political and social concerns at the heart of contemporary theology and practice. Yet, contemporary critical theorists have overcome similar suspicions about science‐fiction and now embrace it as a unique vehicle for thinking about the ills and the promise of contemporary culture. This essay suggests that within contemporary critical theory one finds useful tools for reading and using apocalyptic language and imagery as a means for engaging a world threatened by sin and violence.