Working in the borderland: early relational trauma and Fordham's analysis of ‘K’

This paper outlines a view of early relational trauma as underlying borderline states of mind, and argues that Knox's 1999 paper on internal working models and the complex provides a basis for understanding such states of mind. The author argues that in addition to internal working models, the complex also embodies and contains primitive defences of the core self. He outlines how these apply on the objective, subjective, transference and archetypal levels, and in direct and reversed forms and applies this to the account of Fordham's analysis of his patient ‘K’, which ended in impasse. The paper explores the dynamic that emerged in that analysis and suggests that it could be helpfully accounted for in terms of the co‐construction and re‐construction of early relational trauma in the analytic relationship.     

Beware of friends: The cultural psychology of relational mobility and cautious intimacy

Previous research has contrasted patterns of cautious or prevention‐oriented relationality in various West African settings with patterns of growth or promotion‐oriented relationality in many North American settings. The present research draws upon the concept of relational mobility to test the hypothesis that different patterns of relationality have their source in respective affordances for embedded interdependence or abstracted independence. Study 1 investigated the relationship between cautious intimacy and perception of relational mobility among a sample of Hong Kong students. Study 2 compared students in Hong Kong and North American settings to test whether differences in perception of relational mobility mediated the hypothesized differences in caution about friends. Study 3 used an experimental manipulation among a sample of Hong Kong students to test the hypothesis that increased perception of relational mobility reduces caution about friends. Results reveal broad support for the hypotheses. Whether as a measured variable or as an experimental treatment, the perception of relational mobility was negatively related to caution about friends. Moreover, this relationship mediated hypothesized cross‐national differences in caution about friendship. A discussion of the results considers intersections of cultural and ecological approaches to psychology and implications for theoretical conceptions of interdependence.     

How Norms (Might) Guide Belief

Abstract

Belief normativism is roughly the view that judgments about beliefs are normative judgments. Kathrin Glüer and Åsa Wikforss (G&W) suggest that there are two ways one could defend this view: by appeal to what might be called ‘truth-norms’, or by appeal to what might be called ‘norms of rationality’ or ‘epistemic norms’. According to G&W, whichever way the normativist takes, she ends up being unable to account for the idea that the norms in question would guide belief formation. Plausibly, if belief normativism were true, the relevant norms would have to offer such guidance. I argue that G&W’s case against belief normativism is not successful. In section 1, I defend the idea that truth-norms can guide belief formation indirectly via epistemic norms. In section 2, I outline an account of how the epistemic norms might guide belief. Interestingly, this account may involve a commitment to a certain kind of expressivist view concerning judgments about epistemic norms.     

关系精神分析的心身障碍治疗观

关系精神分析的临床治疗范围已涉及心身障碍患者。不同于古典精神分析的心身二元论, 关系精神分析的心身观认为心理与身体是一个统一体, 两者相互作用并紧密联系。关系精神分析师阿隆认为, 心身障碍患者的主要特征是分离现象, 分离现象有三种层次。关系精神分析以关系性的视角看待心身障碍, 认为其病因在于创伤性事件与养育失败, 其病理表现为身心不协调, 情感淡漠及躯体症状等。分析治疗的目标在于通过在共同参与的分析情境中, 建立分析师与患者安全与信任的关系, 提高患者自我反思能力、情感调节能力, 从而修复心身关系。     

Reflective team in caring for people living with dementia: a base for care improvement

A reflective team (RT) is a team of professional carers who reflect on a specific caring issue under the direction of an RT leader. The goal for the reflective process is to accomplish care improvement based on research and proven experience, and the first step is to reflect upon the competence that already exists in the context in which RT takes place. This study aims to bring previous unarticulated competence in caring for people living with dementia to the surface after it has been reflected during RT sessions. Ten assistant nurses who work closely with patients who have dementia and attend RT sessions on a regular basis were interviewed about their competence for caring for people living with dementia. Using a phenomenographic analysis, two qualitatively separate categories emerged: general caring skills and dementia-specific caring skills. It was concluded that specific skills in caring for people living with dementia build in caring skills and that tacit knowledge can be explicit and be expressed when it has been reflected in RT.     

Becoming Transdisciplinary: The Emergence of the Transdisciplinary Individual

This article develops the idea of becoming a transdisciplinary individual, and begins by tracing the origins and contemporary currents of transdisciplinarity (from 1972 to present day). Using Nicolescu's earlier concept of a transdisciplinary attitude as an intellectual springboard, this article explores the traits of individuals involved in transdisciplinary projects. Emergent from the literature are four overarching dimensions of understanding what is entailed in becoming and being a transdisciplinary individual: (a) an appreciation of an array of skills, characteristics, and personality traits aligned with a transdisciplinary attitude; (b) acceptance of the idea that transdisciplinary individuals are intellectual risk takers and institutional transgressors; (c) insights into the nuances of transdisciplinary practice and attendant virtues; (d) a respect for the role of creative inquiry, cultural diversity, and cultural relativism. More research is needed on the subjective and embodied experiences of transdisciplinary participants; that is, how they become transdisciplinary individuals.     

Mosques,Churches, and Civic Skill Opportunities in Indonesia

This article examines the role of houses of worship as institutions where individuals acquire civic skills that can be deployed for political participation in the world's largest Muslim‐majority democracy: Indonesia. Drawing on participant observation and interviews in Muslim, Protestant, and Catholic religious communities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, this article investigates three questions: (1) What opportunities exist for individuals worshipping in Indonesian churches and mosques to develop and practice civic skills as part of their religious engagement? (2) Does civic skill opportunity vary across religious denominations? and (3) What factors might explain variation across different religious settings? The study shows that mosques offer fewer prospects for their worshippers to develop civic skills than do churches. These denominational differences can be explained by a house of worship's management practices, which are shaped by its degree of autonomy, style of worship, and the relative size of the religious denomination.     

Lover and learner: Exploring relational schema change following relationship dissolution

Romantic relationships are known to be very influential, but less is known about how these relationships, and particularly the breakup of these relationships, may affect individuals’ relational schemas, or their expectations for relationships. Undergraduate students reported on how their views of themselves, romantic partners, and relationships changed after breaking up with a past partner. Results suggest that relational schemas change following relationship dissolution and that there are both positive and negative aspects to this change. There was also some evidence that aspects of the past relationship predicted change and the valence of change, and that change and the valence of change were related to aspects of current relationship quality. These results are an important first step in understanding how past romantic relationships influence people’s expectations about relationships and, by extension, their health and wellbeing.     

Examining the effects of group‐based instruction on emergent second‐language skills in young children

The present study evaluated the emergence of second‐language intraverbals in typically developing young children following a small‐group teaching intervention. Choral responding was employed with a group of 6 primary school children (5‐6 years old) to teach first‐language tacts (e.g., “What is this in English?” [“Hospital”]) and related second‐language tacts (e.g., “What is this in Welsh?” [“Ysbyty”]). A multiple‐probe design across stimulus sets was used to evaluate subsequent emergence of untrained first‐to‐second‐language derived intraverbals (e.g., “What is hospital in Welsh?” [“Ysbyty”]) and untrained second‐to‐first‐language intraverbals (e.g.,”What is ysbyty in English?” [“Hospital”]). Data indicated that the choral responding intervention produced robust increases in derived intraverbal relations for 3 of the 6 participants.