Private psychotherapy training in Italy: A systematic analysis

This paper examines the results of a systematic analysis, organised by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, of private psychotherapy training in Italy. Since 1989, training in psychotherapy in Italy has been governed by a national law which recognises both public and private institutions. While the public system usually comprises approximately 150 students, the private system has grown significantly over time, registering thousands of students in hundreds of schools (for example, 19,123 students in 212 schools in 2011). Systematic analysis variables included geographical distribution, theoretical approaches, training methods, student and teacher characteristics, student’s personal psychotherapy, supervision and apprenticeships. Data were obtained from 92% of the schools. The primary issues discussed in this paper are as follows: the uneven geographical distribution of the schools; the disorderly amalgamation of traditional scientific paradigms; programmes which concentrate on theory and fail to meet international guidelines. One key issue is the excess supply with regard to demand, meaning that recently graduated psychotherapists (especially women) risk underemployment and financial hardship. Student enrolment is also increasingly problematic. This is the first paper to present an in-depth analysis of one European country’s situation in this field. The authors believe it will foster comparison and discussion internationally.     

The talking cure: Wittgenstein's therapeutic method for psychotherapy,by John M. Heaton

This paper offers an outline of the challenges particular to intersubjective approaches to psychoanalytic psychotherapy in South Africa. Past experiences of deeply entrenched and racialized divisions between communities continue to shape the negotiation of power in therapeutic spaces, and affect participants’ capacity to engage freely with the exploration of unconscious communication. Examples are given of the ways in which race, class and gender difference may complicate, hinder or enrich intersubjective psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Some suggestions are made about the kinds of reflective work that need to be undertaken by psychotherapists in order to assume fully the burdens of history and to appreciate fully the opportunities offered by a society in transformation.     

The development of therapeutic attitudes during and after psychotherapy training

The aim of this study was to explore changes in psychotherapeutic attitudes of students during training in psychodynamic psychotherapy and the first few years after it. Forty-six students were asked to answer a therapeutic identity questionnaire at three times during training and at one time after it. Twenty-one students completed the questionnaire on all four occasions. The questionnaire assessed attitudes on nine scales relating to beliefs about curative elements in psychotherapy, therapeutic style, and basic assumptions about psychotherapy and human nature. At the beginning of training, students had a clear psychoanalytical orientation, similar to that of their supervisors. From the last year of training, after supervision had ended, and continuing during the post-training period, students distanced themselves from the psychoanalytical orientation and their supervisors toward a more eclectic position. This development may reflect the formation of an autonomous therapeutic identity.     

The religious life and happiness of Protestants involved with the charismatic movement

This research compared the religious lives and happiness of American Protestants involved in the charismatic movement and those not involved in it. Data from the General Social Survey were used to answer the research questions. After controlling for basic demographic variables, the results of multivariate analysis indicated that Protestants involved in the charismatic movement attend religious services and pray more frequently; however, they are not significantly happier than those not involved in the movement. The results of this research suggest that happiness can be enhanced when people participate in religious services frequently; however, the ecstatic worship style and theological perspective of the charismatic movement do not make its participants happier than those who do not participate in the movement.     

Relationship between family religious behaviors and child well-being among third-grade children

While there is growing empirical evidence that religion can have a positive impact on the health and well-being of adults and adolescents, less is known about its influence on the welfare of children. The current paper examined the relative importance of family religiosity and religious behaviors on multiple measures of children's well-being (general health, academic achievement, social skills, and behavior problems) and sought to identify whether religious variables contribute above and beyond non-religious measures of family caregiving. Parent use of religious coping and family religious behaviors, the latter defined as attendance at religious or spiritual programs, predicted several aspects of child well-being above and beyond parenting styles. Parental religious coping significantly predicted child social skills and externalizing behaviors above and beyond parenting styles. Family religious service attendance significantly predicted child health and social skills, and inversely predicted internalizing behaviors, above and beyond both parenting styles and parent use of religious coping.     

An extraordinary ordinariness

Counselling psychology in the UK has evolved from the disciplines of psychology, sociology and philosophy, but more slowly than its counterpart in the USA. Counselling psychologists, it is argued, have the skills and training to integrate good practice with rigorous research. Expertise in rigorous research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, and skill in identifying new paradigms, make the interface between practice and research in counselling psychology an especially fruitful area for study.     

Therapeutic attitudes and practice patterns among psychotherapy trainees in Germany

Aim: This study aims to explore if and how values and attitudes from trainees of different psychotherapeutic schools vary during training. Another aim has been to evaluate the extent of their therapeutic self-confidence during training. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 171 trainees in German institutes with different theoretical orientations (Psychoanalysis – PA, Psychodynamic Therapy – PT and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – CBT) participated. Results are reported for two questionnaires: Therapeutic-Attitudes-Candidate-Version (ThAT-CV) and Work-Involvement-Scales (WIS). Results: Therapeutic attitudes showed significant differences between trainees with different theoretical orientations but no significant difference between different levels of training within the same school. Whereas the PA and CBT trainees endorsed contrasting attitude profiles, the PT group displayed less differentiated attitudes in between those contrasts. Most trainees experienced their psychotherapeutic practice as challenging, and Stressful Involvement in therapy sessions was lower with more years in training. Female trainees reported more Healing Involvement and felt more competent in general than their male colleagues. Self-reported competence was higher the more congruent the trainees’ attitudes with their school's theoretical orientation. Conclusions: The ThAT-CV discriminates significantly between trainees of different therapeutic schools. Our sample demonstrates high identification with attitudes belonging to their theoretical orientation. This may account for high ratings of self-reported therapeutic competence. Attitudes seem to be formed before training and change little thereafter. Less differentiated attitudes may explain PT-trainees’ higher levels of Stressful Involvement.     

What student psychotherapists want from an experiential group

A study of four thirty-week experiential groups, involving two group conductors and forty-one other group members showed that 90 per cent of students' expectations of change were exceeded, indicating increase in interpersonal learning and, over a longer period, emotional change. the culture of the groups was consistently positive and expressive. There was some evidence that conductors had a similar style which corresponded to that predicted by the group analytic method, and that both showed behaviours which were indicators of ‘good quality' therapy. There were substantial correlations between a positive culture and better than expectation outcome at the end of term one, and good psychodynamic practice by the conductors and outcome at the end of the course.     

European developments

The British National Health Service is 50 years old. The provision of many services has changed considerably through this time in ways that reflect shifts in organization and philosophy. The provision of psychotherapy has been particularly sensitive to these changes in ways that have made it more widely available but also shaped its content. As the pace of change continues to accelerate, some implications of the most recent shifts in philosophy for clinical practice are considered.