Some Thoughts about the Origins of ``Greek Ethics'

In this paper, I argue that several of the main issues that became a focus for classical Greek philosophy were initially framed by Homer. In particular, Homer identifies a tension between justice and individual excellence, and problematizes the connection between the heroic conception of excellence and ``eudaimonia' (happiness). The later philosophers address the problems raised in Homer by profoundly transforming the way each of these terms was to be conceived.     

Decisionarium ‐ aiding decisions,negotiating and collecting opinions on the web

Decisionarium ( www.decisionarium.hut.fi ) is the first public site for interactive multicriteria decision support with tools for individual decision‐making as well as for group collaboration and negotiation. Web‐HIPRE ( www.hipre.hut.fi ) supports value tree and AHP analysis including group models. The RICH methodology ( www.rich.hut.fi ) allows the decision maker to provide incomplete ordinal preference statements when considering the relative importance of attributes in a value tree. Opinions‐Online ( www.opinion.huf.fi ) is a platform for surveys voting and group collaboration. There are different ways for voting, multiattribute scoring, surveys as well as interactive viewing of the results. Joint Gains ( www.jointgains.hut.fi ) applies the method of improving directions to support multiparty negotiations in a multicriteria setting. Smart Swaps offers an implementation of the even swaps procedure ( www.smart‐swaps.hut.fi ). All of the tools above are web‐based, so global interaction is natural and links can be utilized for multimedia information support. Decisionarium also offers access to complete e‐learning modules ( www.dm.hut.fi ) based on the use of the software. There are also illustrative powerpoint presentations and additional Windows software WINPRE and PRIME‐Decisions for value tree analysis under incomplete information. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motivation autodéterminée, perceptions de conflit et d'instrumentalité et assiduité envers la pratique d'une activité physique : une étude prospective sur six mois

Exercising regularly represents a challenging public health issue. The purpose of this study was to extend prior research based on self-determination theory by considering perceptions of conflict-instrumentality with regard to physical activity. A 6-month prospective study was conducted among 62 adults. In January, their self-determined motivation toward exercise and work was assessed by questionnaire, as well as their perceptions associated to the role of exerciser. Their presence was then controlled until the end of the season. The analyses revealed a negative relationship between self-determined motivation and role conflicts, and between this variable and observed assiduity. Those results are discussed with regard to their practical implications for exercise adherence.     

Evaluating Outcome Domains Assessing Caregivers of Individuals with Mental Illness: A Review

In this article, we describe the properties and consider the outcome dimensions of a collection of self‐administered questionnaires that assess caregivers of offspring with mental illness. To this end, we searched the MEDLINE, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases, as well as reference lists of studies published between 1980 and 2012. We reviewed 43 instruments, and found multiple outcome domains, associated with either objective burden or subjective burden, or both. A number of tools captured additional negative aspects of caregiving (e.g., strain, stress, and worrying) as well as positive aspects (e.g., personal growth, strength, support, rewards, and satisfaction), supplemented by measures assessing caregivers' perceptions and attitudes toward their offspring with SMI (e.g., insight, stigma, and efficacy). This current review of existing measures and their specific domains contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the caregiving experience and allows both clinicians and researchers to select the most appropriate measurement tools for their purposes.     

Thinking and Working Relationally: Interviewing and Constructing Hypotheses to Create Compassionate Understanding

In the initial interviews of family therapy sessions, the therapist faces the challenge of obtaining and organizing the information that is most relevant toward understanding the essential concerns that families and couples bring to therapy. This article describes the process of clinical interviewing and case conceptualization used in training family therapists at the Ackerman Institute for the Family. This approach helps the therapist bring forward, and organize, specific information into relational hypotheses, or systemic‐relational conceptualizations, that allow both family members and the therapist to understand presenting problems within their relational contexts. While always provisional, relational hypotheses help anchor the therapist in a systemic‐relational frame and provide a conceptual through‐line to guide the ongoing work of the therapy. The process of interviewing and the construction of clear and complex conceptualizations of presenting problems are illustrated through case examples.     

Intersubjectivity and the creation of meaning in the analytic process

By means of a clinical illustration, the author describes how the intersubjective exchanges involved in an analytic process facilitate the representation of affects and memories which have been buried in the unconscious or indeed have never been available to consciousness. As a result of projective identificatory processes in the analytic relationship, in this example the analyst falls into a situation of helplessness which connects with his own traumatic experiences. Then he gets into a formal regression of the ego and responds with a so‐to‐speak hallucinatory reaction—an internal image which enables him to keep the analytic process on track and, later on, to construct an early traumatic experience of the analysand.     

Diagnoses,Relational Processes and Resourceful Dialogs: Tensions for Families and Family Therapy

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM‐5), given its psychiatric focus on mental disorders in individuals, presents families and family therapists with challenges. Despite considerable controversies over its adoption, the DSM‐5 extends a process of standardizing a language for human and relational concerns. No longer a diagnostic language of professionals alone, its use is medicalizing how mental health funders and administrators, as well as clients, respond to human concerns. For family therapists who practice systemically, particularly from poststructuralist and strengths‐based orientations, many tensions can follow when use of the DSM‐5 is expected by mental health administrators and funders, or by clients who present concerns about themselves or a diagnosed family member. In this paper, I explore how such DSM‐5 related tensions might be recognized, navigated, and negotiated in the practice of family therapy with clients, and with administrators and funders.