Animus and creativity in psychotherapy: a position statement

Calling attention to what the author calls the 'maternalization of our profession', a warning is sounded to psychotherapists, and women practitioners in particular, not to neglect their own creativity in the course of professional development undertaken to take better care of patients. Development of the animus, here reformulated as 'an archetype of the capacity for non-relationship', is seen as a balancing alternative to the usual training in the capacity to contain object relations. A literary parallel can be found in Ibsen's play, The Woman from the Sea. It is hoped, too, that through her own initiation into a creative life, the analyst will be better able to help the analysand find a connection with a 'creative centre'.     

THE SPIRITUAL LIMITS OF NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL LIFE

Abstract. How neuropsychology is necessary but insufficient for understanding spirituality is explored. Multileveled spiritual requisites are systematically examined in terms of their neuropsychological constituents and limitations. The central “problem of integrity” is articulated via the “modularity” of our neuropsychology, and evidence is presented for disunities of self and consciousness. It is argued that the integrity of self or spirit is a contingent achievement rather than a necessary given. Integrating possibilities include belief, emotion, and relationships. Understanding integrity, and the transformations of self-surrender and sacrifice, may require explicitly stepping beyond neuropsychology and including the self in a larger system.     

Hermeneutics and the Philosophy of Medicine: Hans-Georg Gadamer'sPlatonic Metaphor

Taking as our starting point Plato'smetaphor of the doctor as philosopher we reflect on some aspects of the epistemological status of medicine. The framework to this paper is the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer which shows the paradoxical nature of Western medicine in choosing the body-object as its investigative starting point, while in actual fact dealing with subjects. Gadamer proposes a model of medicine as the art of understanding and dialogue, which is capable of bringing together its various constituent parts, i.e. knowledge, knowing how to do and knowing how to be, in medical practice and in the physician'straining. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the dyadic figure of the physician as Platonic master of the living totality and wounded healer, capable of activating the patient'sself-healing capacity.     

On the analysis of studies of choice

In a review of 103 sets of data from 23 different studies of choice, Baum (1979) concluded that whereas undermatching was most commonly observed for responses, the time measure generally conformed to the matching relation. A reexamination of the evidence presented by Baum concludes that undermatching is the most commonly observed finding for both measures. Use of the coefficient of determination by both Baum (1979) and de Villiers (1977) for assessing when matching occurs is criticized on statistical grounds. An alternative to the loss-in-predictability criterion used by Baum (1979) is proposed. This alternative statistic has a simple operational meaning and is related to the usual F-ratio test. It can therefore be used as a formal test of the hypothesis that matching occurs. Baum (1979) also suggests that slope values of between .90 and 1.11 can be considered good approximations to matching. It is argued that the establishment of a fixed interval as a criterion for determining when matching occurs, is inappropriate. A confidence interval based on the data from any given experiment is suggested as a more useful method of assessment.     

CAN NEUROSCIENCE PROVIDE A COMPLETE ACCOUNT OF HUMAN NATURE?: A REPLY TO ROGER SPERRY

Abstract. In a recent Zygon article (June 1991), Roger Sperry argues for the unification of science and religion based on the principle of emergent causation within the central nervous system. After illustrating Sperry's position with some current experiments, I suggest that his conclusions exceed his argument and the findings of contemporary neuroscience and propose instead a pluralistic, rather than unified, approach to the relations between religion and science necessitated by the incompleteness inherent in any strictly neurological account of human nature.     

Challenges and opportunities of a transactional world view: Case study of contemporary Mormon polygynous families

Summarized an ongoing research program on contemporary Mormon polygynous families. Husband-wife and wife-wife relations in plural families are examined from dialectical and transactional world views. Key research issues center on (a) how husbands and wives achieve viable dyadic and communal relationships, and (b) how dyadic and communal issues are managed in social and physical contexts through the life cycle of plural family relationships. I wish to express my appreciation and respect for the individuals and families who welcomed us into their lives and homes during the course of this research. Their honesty, forthrightness, and commitment to religious and family life is deep and honorable. We were personally enriched by having the opportunity to learn about a unique life-style, and hope that our portrayal of aspects of participants' lives is objective, responsible, and understanding.     

同伴侵害与青少年抑郁:社会退缩的中介作用与师生关系的调节作用

研究表明同伴侵害是青少年抑郁的重要风险因素,然而其中介机制和调节机制仍有待进一步探究。本研究采用问卷法对834名青少年进行调查,考察了社会退缩在同伴侵害与青少年抑郁关系中的中介作用,以及师生关系在这一关系中的调节作用。结果发现：（1）社会退缩显著中介同伴侵害与青少年抑郁的关系;（2）师生关系显著调节中介路径“同伴侵害→社会退缩→青少年抑郁”,具体而言,相较于高水平师生关系的青少年群体而言,同伴侵害通过社会退缩影响抑郁的中介效应在低水平师生关系的青少年群体中更高。     

Competing Conceptions of Diagnostic Reasoning – Is There a Way Out?

Diagnostic errors are more frequently a result of the clinician's failure to combine medical knowledge adequately than of data inaccuracy. Diagnostic reasoning studies are valuable to understand and improve diagnostic reasoning. However, most diagnostic reasoning studies are characterized by some limitations which make these studies seem more simple than diagnostic reasoning in real life situations actually is. These limitations are connected both to the failure to acknowledge components of knowledge used in clinical practice as well as to acknowledge the physician-patient relationship's influence on clinical knowledge and on the reasoning process itself. In addition the modes of reasoning described in these studies frequently is oversimplified. In this paper three simplistic and competing models of diagnostic reasoning are analyzed and criticized, followed by an evaluation of two alternative models proposing a combined view.     

Whose Consent is it Anyway? A Poststructuralist framing of the Person in Medical Decision-Making

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics - This paper explores the value of a Poststructuralist psychoanalytic model of persons, or “Subjects,” as an expanded frame for the question...     

同胞冲突及其解决:家庭子系统的影响

同胞冲突是指在一个完整的家庭中, 具有相同生身父母的两个或多个人在行为、目标或活动上所表达出的不相容, 其通常表现为争吵和敌对情绪以及相互间的攻击行为。父母干预同胞冲突的方式分为孩子中心策略、控制策略和不干预策略。家庭系统理论指出, 家庭是一个有等级结构的、动态的系统, 这个系统中的子系统(包括父母婚姻关系、亲子关系和同胞关系)是相互联系、相互影响的。基于这一理论, 探讨家庭子系统对同胞冲突的影响, 整合建构同胞冲突的理论假设模型, 以便从多路径的角度去分析同胞冲突的产生机制。未来的研究需要对同胞冲突及其相关概念进行区分或整合, 关注父母干预同胞冲突的方式的影响因素, 并且以发展的眼光去看待同胞冲突。