Psychotherapy research: an interplay between inner and outer and a succession of meanings

Psychotherapy research is a rapidly developing area of study that aims to explore the integration of inner and outer conditions of an individual’s experience, the interplay between subjective and objective, as well as between individual and collective. Questions regarding a more integrative view and qualitative research in psychotherapy are discussed in the paper. The author introduces some ideas from the studies on psychotherapy effectiveness that were done at Vilnius University by a group of researchers who work in the ‘Centre for research on the psychodynamics of personality’. Clinical psychologists who hold a doctorate degree or who are in doctoral studies in the Department of Psychology at Vilnius University are members of this research group. The subjective understanding about healing episodes and the development of depth premises were the main tasks of these studies. Among other methods, the researchers used the drawing a picture of a healing moment and telling a psychotherapy story recalled by the client to collect data. Two examples of drawing a picture of a healing moment and one example of telling a therapy story are analyzed in the paper. The themes of subjective experience of renewal in psychotherapy as well as the multiplicity of experience and results in psychotherapy are discussed in the paper with case illustrations. This study showed that drawing a picture opens one more dimension of reflection and that it can be an appropriate tool for developing individual narratives as well. Authoring and re‐authoring one’s life narrative is accepted as part of a productive therapy as well as discovering one’s inner authorship. The ability to follow a succession of meanings, as well as a connection to nature and culture could be one of the ways of actualizing an integrative view in psychotherapy research.     

A follow‐up study of the long‐term effects of counselling in a primary care counselling psychology service

Despite much recent work examining the short‐term effect of counselling in primary healthcare settings, to date relatively little research has examined the effectiveness of such treatment programmes over the longer term. In this study, 58 participants underwent brief, time‐limited integrative counselling sessions, with symptoms being measured using the CORE‐OM immediately before, immediately after, and 30 months after counselling. It was found that in addition to participants reporting significantly lower levels of psychological distress immediately post‐counselling, a further significant improvement at 30‐month follow‐up was also apparent, indicating that the benefit from counselling was maintained. In addition to this reduction in symptoms post‐counselling, a significant reduction in GP visits was also detected in the 12 months following counselling when compared with the 12 months prior to counselling, indicating a lower reliance on the primary healthcare team after counselling.     

特质愤怒与反应性攻击的综合认知模型述评

综合认知模型(Integrative Cognitive Model, ICM)整合多个相关理论, 探讨在敌意情境下不同特质愤怒水平的个体反应性攻击行为出现差异的内部认知机制, 构建了敌意解释、反思注意和努力控制三个核心认知加工过程之间的关系模型。该模型具有结构清晰、易于操控等特点, 对该领域的实证研究与理论探索具有启发意义, 并有巨大的应用价值。该理论仍缺乏囊括更多因素的综合实证研究支持, 以及有关的神经生理研究和心理干预探索, 这将是未来研究的重要方向。     

Program for advanced studies in integrative psychotherapy: Family,couple, and individual therapy (an interdisciplinary program)

This article describes briefly an advanced program in integrative marital and family therapy and individual psychotherapy established at the Hebrew University of Jersusalem in 1993–94 and its first two years of successful operation.     

Restorying family therapy

This article describes a multi-systemic model of therapy developed by the author over the past decade and summarizes the main products of this project: Explication of key family systems notions, strategic family play therapy, multi-systemic therapy, and culturally-competent family therapy. The model incorporates beyond the family system, culture, wider ecosystems, psychodynamics, and the individual's neuropsychological, cognitive, and socio-emotional development. The model enables the therapist to design flexible multimodal interventions.     

Development of sense of coherence during two group interventions

Kähönen, K., Näätänen, P., Tolvanen, A. & Salmela‐Aro, K. (2012). Development of sense of coherence during two group interventions. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 523–527. Burnout is a serious occupational hazard. This study investigated the possibility to develop an effective salutogenic group intervention among employees suffering from severe burnout symptoms. Participants consisted of employees aged 31 to 59 years working in different public service occupations, such as police officers, tax officers, (and other public service officers), and assigned to three different groups: analytic (N = 25), psychodramatic (N = 24) and controls (N = 28). The intervention comprised 16 separate days over a nine‐month period. Changes in sense of coherence (SOC) were measured four times with the 13‐item Orientation to Life Questionnaire during the intervention and at six‐month follow‐up, and analyzed by general linear model (GLM) and using Cohen’s d to estimate effect sizes. Change in SOC between the three groups was statistically significant (F(4,148) = 2.65, p = 0.036). The psychodrama group showed a higher increase in SOC than the analytic group during the intervention, while the improvement in the analytic group was significant during the six‐month follow‐up. Total effect size from baseline to follow‐up was in the analytic group 0.71, in the psychodrama group 0.47, and in the control group from baseline to end of intervention 0.09. The results show that it is possible to improve SOC by group intervention in the occupational healthcare context. The dialogue‐based analytic method and action‐based psychodramatic method differ in their specific effects.     

Beyond commitment: entrenchment in the buyer–seller exchange

A specific empirical finding in the buyer–seller literature – initially discovered by Moorman, Zaltman, and Deshpande and subsequently replicated by Grayson and Ambler – still suffers from incomplete explanation. In business-to-business marketing, why do some long-term buyers appear to trust their providers a great deal but not use the service provided? This research endeavours to more fully explain this ‘dark side’ of relationship selling by integrating work on the economic theory of entrenchment with Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh's seminal buyer–seller framework. The result is a modified conceptual model of the buyer–seller exchange in which potential seller entrenchment follows Dwyer et al.'s courting and commitment stages. Motivated by Dwyer et al.'s urging to examine their model using a negotiation lens, this research then borrows two contrasting orientations from the negotiation literature and offers propositions regarding how buyers and sellers interact at each stage of the exchange. In addition to enriching understanding of how buyers and sellers negotiate in the courting and commitment stages, this research is the first to offer insight into how both sides might negotiate when faced with seller entrenchment.     

也谈慢性心衰中西医结合治疗的临床策略

着眼于目前中西医结合治疗慢性心力衰竭（CHF）的困惑所在,提出了几点临床策略：（1）抓预防,做好慢性心衰一级预防;（2）开展大规模流调,规范证候辨识标准;（3）挖掘和整理地区验方;（4）发挥行业协会作用,探索多方力量参与验方筛选与评价;并提出充分发挥中西医结合的诊疗特色,重点优化CHF的中西医结合诊疗方案和评价方法符合我国基本国情.     

“Working with Couples: Satir and the Tao,”

SUMMARY

One of Virginia Satir's greatest gifts to the world was the use of herself as an instrument of healing. By daring to use all of her-self-body, mind and spirit-the connections Virginia made with others were warm and real. Besides being authentically caring, Satir worked out of a pluralistic and comprehensive theoretical base to individualize each intervention. By co-creating strong, trusting relationships she inspirited others with her own life-force energy, and enabled them to become more fully human. Able to put her own ego needs aside, Virginia modeled how to join common sense with a sense of high purpose.     

Science and the Art of Healing: A Contribution to the History of Life Science

In conventional medicine, healing is effected mainly by treating the symptoms of the physical body disease, while in mind–body medicine the cure is performed by the mind itself (thoughts and emotions). In fact, the holographic mind theory claims that the mind could be either the healer or the slayer. Thus, this article is a contribution toward a more in-depth study of this theme of conventional medicine versus mind–body medicine, particularly to understand the gifts of quantum physics to life science and the art of healing, so that we might find an integrative medicine model (a holistic approach to health) that could explain some “incurable” diseases.