Culture and attitudes toward psychological help-seeking influence clients’ self-disclosure

Cultural factors are known to influence aspects of psychotherapy. The influence of cultural values on self-disclosure was explored through surveys of Greek migrants to Australia (n?=?106), native Greek Cypriots (n?=?189), and Australians (n?=?35) on individualism–collectivism, attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, and measures of self-disclosure. It was hypothesized that more collectivist participants would have less positive attitudes regarding self-disclosure. Against our predictions, all three groups showed highly similar attitudes toward seeking help and self-disclosure that were not related to the predicted links with individualism–collectivism.     

Examining the role and functions of self-development in healthcare therapy trainings: A review of the literature with a modest proposal for the use of learning agreements

Many healthcare trainings with a psychodynamic orientation encourage or require students to commit to a process of personal development, such as provided through attending individual psychotherapy and/or an experiential ‘as if therapy’ group. This paper reviews recent literature about training in psychodynamically oriented practices within counselling psychotherapy, psychiatry, the creative arts therapies and clinical psychology. The results indicate that the mandatory personal development dimension of therapy training needs urgent reassessment. Results of studies consistently call for further research about the direct benefits of personal development on students’ development of skills for therapy practice. There is minimal evidence to indicate what self-development through individual psychotherapy can specifically deliver in terms of eventual professional competence. To address some aspects of the current lacuna, this paper summarises the recommendations for training programmes available from the current research, and makes a modest proposal for the use of learning agreements, rather than only mandated hurdle requirements, to ensure that the incremental steps by which the student attains expected requirements is negotiated and agreed within regularised, and widely accepted university course procedures.     

Dissimilar effects of task‐relevant and interpersonal threat on independent–interdependent self‐construal in individuals with high self‐esteem

Previous research has indicated that individuals with high trait self‐esteem (HSEs) become more independent and less interdependent after experiencing a task‐relevant threat. However, these studies have not investigated other sources of ego threats, such as interpersonal threats. Therefore, the moderating effects of the degree of trait self‐esteem on task‐relevant and interpersonal ego threats were investigated in relation to independent, or interdependent self‐construal. It was predicted that in HSEs, the level of task‐relevant stress would be positively–negatively related to their independence–interdependence, whereas the level of interpersonal stress would be negatively–positively related to their independence–interdependence. In individuals with low trait self‐esteem (LSEs), the two types of stresses and independent–interdependent self‐construal may not have a significant relationship. We conducted a questionnaire survey with undergraduates. Correlational analysis of the results indicated that in HSEs, greater task‐relevant stress was related to heightened independence, whereas greater interpersonal stress had the opposite effect, indicating lower independence and heightened interdependence. However, these stresses were not related to the self‐construal of LSEs. These findings suggest that task‐relevant and interpersonal threat could have differential effects on independent and interdependent self‐construal for HSEs, but not in LSEs.     

How does higher in‐group social value lead to positive mental health? An integrated model of in‐group identification and support

Previous research has indicated that the effects of in‐group social value on mental health are mediated by the extent to which individuals identify with their in‐group. Other research has shown that in‐group identification leads to positive mental health because it provides in‐group members with a psychological basis for social support. We examine how the individual's perception of the social value of the in‐group leads to positive mental health, integrating the effects of identification with and support from the in‐group. As predicted, the relationship between higher social value and decreased mental health (e.g. depression, perceived stressful events) is mediated by higher in‐group identification, which in turn leads the members to expect support from the in‐group but not the out‐group. An integrated model of the effects of perceived in‐group social value, identification, and support on mental health is proposed, and the implications are discussed.     

The importance of social and ideal social dimensions in self‐congruity research

Chronic or situational self‐construal moderates the effects of four self‐congruity (SC) dimensions (i.e., actual, ideal, social, and ideal social) on brand evaluations. Past research has mainly focused on the actual and ideal SC effects; these effects have been found to be stronger than the social and ideal social SC effects. However, the findings of past research are based on samples from individualistic cultures. Individualists have a dominant independent self‐construal. We conduct two experiments to show that the social and ideal social SC effects are stronger than the actual and ideal SC effects for individuals with a dominant interdependent self‐construal. In Study 1, using samples from collectivistic cultures, four SC effects are compared. In Study 2, we examine how primed self‐construal, whether independent or interdependent, impacts the four SC effects. This research documents the importance of the social and ideal social dimensions in SC research.     

Stressors and well‐being in low socio‐economic status Malaysian adolescents: The role of resilience resources

The present study examined the relationship between stressors, resilience resources, and well‐being in adolescents with low socio‐economic status in Malaysia. The specific aims were: (i) to differentiate between resilient and non‐resilient adolescents in terms of their resilience resources; and (ii) to examine the role of resilience resources on the relationship between stressors and well‐being. In a sample of 197 adolescents aged 12–16 years (mean = 13.77, sd = 1.49), results of the k‐mean clustering technique identified 37.5% of the adolescents as resilient (high stressor, high well‐being), 31.0% as maladjusted (high stressor, low well‐being), and the rest, adapted (low stressor, high well‐being). Resilient adolescents were found to have significantly higher scores on all the identified resilience resources (personality, mother–child communication, social support, school coherence, and teacher support) compared to the non‐resilient maladjusted group. Results of structural equation modelling also showed that these resilience resources acted both as mediator and moderator in the relationship between stressors and well‐being. These findings are discussed with respect to the current literature on resilience and well‐being.     

Using Twitter to Teach Reader‐Oriented Biblical Interpretation: “Tweading” the Gospel of Mark

Twitter offers an engaging way to introduce students to reader‐oriented interpretation of the Bible. The exercise described here introduces students to the idea that the reader has a role in the production of a text's meaning, which thus varies from reader to reader. Twitter enables us to capture the real‐time thoughts of a variety of respondents to the text of Mark as it is read aloud. Students can concretely observe the effects of particular textual moments on individual respondents as well as analyze their general interpretive stances with regard to the text as a whole. Students come to grasp that the meaning of the text varies depending on the reader, setting the stage for more complex theoretical discussion of reader‐response theory, the reader's role in the production of meaning, the adjudication of “allowed” and “disallowed” interpretations, and the appropriateness of “reader‐response” criticisms for texts that were composed to be encountered orally.     

Delusion,Dissociation and Identity

Abstract

Envy and resentment are generally thought to be unpleasant and unethical emotions which ought to be condemned. I argue that both envy and resentment, in some important forms, are moral emotions connected with concern for justice, understood in terms of desert and entitlement. They enable us to recognise injustice, work as a spur to acting against it and connect us to others. Thus, we should accept these emotions as part of the ethical life.     

Combining Ericksonian and Sandplay Approaches to Therapy with Children who Manifest Depression as a Developmental Barrier

This study reports on the use of the Ericksonian approach combined with sandplay therapy to assist children who present with depression, a troublesome developmental barrier. Participants were six children and/or adolescents with depression (two males and four females; age range 7 to 18; ethnicity: five white and one black). The intervention occurred once a week over a two-month period (eight 60-minute sessions in total). Outcome data were collected using qualitative interview and thematically analyzed. The Ericksonian approach to sandplay therapy had an overall positive effect on children who experienced depression as a developmental barrier.     

Development and validation of the solution-focused inventory

Solution-focused coaching and solution-focused therapy are strengths-based approaches which emphasize people's resources and resilience and how these can be used in the pursuit of purposeful, positive change. The Solution-focused Inventory (SFI) is a 12-item scale with three subscales: Problem Disengagement, Goal Orientation and Resource Activation. Three studies in this article provide support for the validity of the SFI as a measure of solution-focused thinking. The SFI negatively correlated with psychopathology and positively correlated with measures of well-being, resilience and perspective taking. Test–retest reliability over 16 weeks was 0.84. Cronbach's α for the 12-item scale was 0.84. It also demonstrates sensitivity to purposeful change in that participation in a leadership development coaching intervention was associated with significantly increased scores on the SFI, whilst scores for the control group did not change.