Report from a traveler: “A new silk road”

Dr. Peter Cannon currently serves as Managing Partner of VRE Company, an entrepreneurial and financial consultancy, and Advisory Director of Intec, Inc. Dr. Cannon is co-founder of Conductus, Inc., served 15 years as Rockwell International’s Vice President and Chief Scientist, was an executive with General Electric’s electronic businesses, and began his career at Proctor and Gamble. He began his career after graduating from the University of London with a Ph.D. in Physical Sciences. Dr. Cannon’s academic teaching experience includes the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia, the Graduate School of the Polytechnic University of New York and New Mexico State University. Along with publishing over 120 papers and patents on research, business, and policy matters, Dr. Cannon has served on several advisory panels, including the College of Engineering at Cornell University, the Division of Physical Sciences at the University of Chicago, and is a long-term visitor to North Carolina A&T University. His governmental service includes Chairmanship of the White House Initiative on the Historically Black Research Universities, various selection panels of NSF, Vice Chairman of the National Research Council’s Board on Engineering Education, and Advisory Director of the Defense Reinvestment Program, which trains aerospace workers as classroom teachers in Los Angeles.     

Report from a traveler: “A new silk road”

Dr. Peter Cannon currently serves as Managing Partner of VRE Company, an entrepreneurial and financial consultancy, and Advisory Director of Intec, Inc. Dr. Cannon is co-founder of Conductus, Inc., served 15 years as Rockwell International’s Vice President and Chief Scientist, was an executive with General Electric’s electronic businesses, and began his career at Proctor and Gamble. He began his career after graduating from the University of London with a Ph.D. in Physical Sciences. Dr. Cannon’s academic teaching experience includes the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia, the Graduate School of the Polytechnic University of New York and New Mexico State University. Along with publishing over 120 papers and patents on research, business, and policy matters, Dr. Cannon has served on several advisory panels, including the College of Engineering at Cornell University, the Division of Physical Sciences at the University of Chicago, and is a long-term visitor to North Carolina A&T University. His governmental service includes Chairmanship of the White House Initiative on the Historically Black Research Universities, various selection panels of NSF, Vice Chairman of the National Research Council’s Board on Engineering Education, and Advisory Director of the Defense Reinvestment Program, which trains aerospace workers as classroom teachers in Los Angeles.     

"Review of Brain injury casebook: Methods for reintegration to home, school and community": Comment.

Comments on the review of the current author's book, Brain Injury Casebook: Methods for Reintegration to Home, School and Community (see record 2009-09834-001). In his review of the book, M. J. Diorio remarked, "…the only criticism is that it does not delve into vocational issues which, by far, comprise a large portion of reintegration problems…". In this comment, D. Rapp explains that the omission of this topic in her book was quite intentional and purposeful. As the title indicates, the emphasis was on reintegration to home, school and community, as she felt prior literature had relatively omitted these areas of reintegration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nicholas Hobbs: Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Public Service 1980.

Presents a citation and biography on Nicholas Hobbs on the occasion of his receiving the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Public Service in 1980 from the American Psychological Association. Dr. Hobbs is recognized for his contributions to the residential treatment of emotionally disturbed children, his work with the Peace Corps, his service to Vanderbilt University and the government in many capacities as well as president of the American Psychological Association. A bibliography of his research is also provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The teaching and learning of psychoanalysis: Selected papers of Joan Fleming, M.D.

Reviews the book, The teaching and learning of psychoanalysis: Selected papers of Joan Fleming, M.D. edited by Stanley S. Weiss (see record 1987-97020-000). Here we have a monumental book about a very significant person, especially to those of us in Chicago. Dr. Weiss has done a remarkable job in selecting some of the most significant articles by Joan Fleming on the issue that also is the title of the book. In addition he has included an excellent forward by Robert Wallerstein, who knew Dr. Fleming's work and ideas very well, and a fine epilogue of his own based on his experiences with Fleming in this area. The articles include one by Fleming and Benedek and four which the editor wrote with Fleming. There are also four articles written exclusively by Fleming. The articles in this book serve to trace the full educational process of the candidate, from selection through matriculation through the coursework and through the steps in supervision. There is no question that every psychoanalyst interested in the educational process should be acquainted with these articles and with Fleming's thinking. This volume represents a brilliantly conceived and constructed statement which encompasses the main body of Dr. Fleming's thinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Helene Deutsch: A psychoanalyst's life.

Reviews the book, Helene Deutsch: A psychoanalyst's life by Paul Roazen (see record 1992-97543-000). In this biography of over 391 pages, Paul Roazen describes the life of Helene Deutsch, seen by many historians of psychology as one of Freud's best-known and favourite students and a major contributor to psychoanalysis in her own right. Each of the three sections in the book concentrates on a major episode and station in her life: Poland, Vienna, and finally Massachusetts. Roazen carefully describes Helene's family background, her circle of friends, her romance with Felix Deutsch, and of course her relationship with Freud. The book reads much like a shortened psychoanalysis of Helene Deutsch herself. A good biography should not only describe an individual's contribution to a profession, but also this contribution should become understandable as an outgrowth of the cultural heritage, the Zeitgeist, and the unique life history of the individual. Roazen has clearly succeeded in doing that. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Encounters with great psychologists: Twelve dramatic portraits.

Reviews the book, Encounters with great psychologists: Twelve dramatic portraits by John H. Kunkel (see record 1989-97254-000). John Kunkel has given us a new form of fiction, one which is also intended to lure the lay reader toward an appreciation of that scientific enterprise which is Psychology, and, toward an appreciation of the men who have made it what it is today. The book recounts twelve separate fictional discussions, each of which is between an historical figure in Psychology and some largely imaginary others. These others feed each protagonist not only considerable quantities of good food and drink, but they feed convenient questions as well, questions which allow each great man to show us his wisdom, his gentleness, and his love of humanity. Kunkel's book is not all fiction. It is in part a history of psychology in biography. Each narration is preceded by an abbreviated history of the man and his ideas, setting the scene. Each narration is followed by a debriefing, in which some of the fiction is separated from fact and the references that Kunkel used to spawn his romance are shared with the reader in the form of recommended further reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Techniques and issues in abuse-focused therapy with children and adolescents": Correction.

Reports an error in "Review of Techniques and issues in abuse-focused therapy with children and adolescents" by Francine Lavoie (Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 2001[Nov], Vol 42[4], 330-331). In the biographical note following the review of Sandra Wieland's Techniques and issues in abuse-focused therapy with children and adolescents (Canadian Psychology, 2001, 42(4), p. 330), the author was identified as Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa. In fact, Dr. Wieland's appointment at the University of Ottawa ended in 1997. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-17043-001.) Reviews the book, Techniques and issues in abuse-focused therapy with children and adolescents by Sandra Wieland (1998). Sandra Wieland's second book deals with difficulties faced by all kinds of therapists when dealing (in therapy) with young victims of sexual abuse. This book is unusual in that it emphasizes intervention over theory. It is based on clinical experience and includes a large number of excerpts from interviews. Another unusual aspect is the importance Wieland gives to adolescent experience. Basically, the book has four parts. The first part is a reiteration of the theoretical trauma model; the second deals with techniques; the third involves individual challenges corresponding to dissociation, sexuality, and resistance. In the fourth part, 15 adolescents and young adults present their point of view on what hindered and what helped their therapy. The techniques described have rarely been written about before, which makes this book highly interesting. This book stands out for its great sensitivity and understanding of children. It offers solid and imaginative approaches for caseworkers, as well as a wealth of information on methods seldom discussed elsewhere. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Three men: An experiment in the biography of emotion.

Reviews the book, Three men: An experiment in the biography of emotion by Jean Evans (1954). The unusual quality of Evans' writing lies in the happy blend she has achieved of the good qualities of both artist and scientist. The first two "portraits" in this book are of men at least a significant portion of whose lives was lived under conditions of real poverty. In the case of the third man, however, this was not the case. "Martin Beardson's" father was a prosperous business man, his mother an "upper class" woman of "genteel tradition." "Except for brief periods, and then only in recent years, Martin has never known deprivation in terms of food, clothing, and comfortable shelter. By realistic standards he also enjoyed many luxuries . . . . Yet Martin has always had a sense of poverty no less poignant than if he had been a slum child, and a sense of grievance no less biting than if he had lived all his life on the periphery of want" (p. 195). This is a book that will be read with pleasure and pondered with profit by many scientists and professionals in clinical, social, and dynamic psychology, in sociology, psychotherapy, social work, and a number of other related fields. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Deprived Children.

Reviews the book Deprived children by Hilda Lewis (1954). This compact and carefully written book is a report of a social-clinical study of 500 children entering the Mersham Reception Centre in Kent, England, between October, 1947 and July, 1950. Three concerns are evident: (a) an evaluation of the work of the Centre; (b) an evaluation of the effects of earlier maternal separation on the child's adjustment at the time of admission and on his adjustment two years later; and (c) an evaluation of the factors leading to the child's placement at the Centre and the importance of these factors for his subsequent adjustment. The writer has with care considered the family backgrounds, socioeconomic influences, and personal experiences of these children prior to their admission, and she has related these variables to the personality and behavior patterns of the children. The large number of variables which she considers in these areas and the skill with which she has interrelated these factors, sets this research report in marked contrast to the speculation characterizing most of the reports on deprived children. The author found in her investigation that the degree of disturbance of the child entering the Centre is related to his mother's emotional instability, her intellectual level, her tendency for overindulgence, her tendency to neglect and/or to reject him, etc. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Working it out: Using exercise in psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Working it out: Using exercise in psychotherapy by Kate F. Hays (see record 1999-02984-000). In this book, Hays presents a thoughtful, albeit at times controversial, advocacy for integration of physical exercise into the practice of psychotherapy in an explicit way. Although many mental health practitioners recognize the healing value of physical exercise and even encourage their patients to pursue physical activity, as part of their treatment, Dr. Hays takes this approach to an entirely different level. She argues persuasively that physical exercise, promoted by the therapist in the context of a cognitive-behavioral treatment model, represents for many who seek the services of a psychotherapist a treatment of first choice. She supports her views on this matter by skillfully weaving throughout the book a comprehensive and scholarly review of relevant clinical empirical literature, along with case studies from her own clinical practice. The case studies are a particularly appealing part of this book because they clearly and instructively give the reader an impression of what transpires between Dr. Hays and her clients or patients. One senses that above all she is a warm, empathic, and sensitive clinician who skillfully applies a blend of cognitive-behavioral interventions, enhanced by individually tailored regimens of physical exercise. As stated in the introduction, the author intends "…to inspire mental health professionals to bring to their work a clearer understanding of, interest in, and enthusiasm for exercise in the process of recovery from mental and emotional problems." Dr. Hays identifies practicing psychotherapists as the primary intended audience for her book, but it seems more likely to appeal to students in training for this craft. The more seasoned veterans among us are less likely to be inspired by Dr. Hays's enthusiasm for jogging with our patients, and her proposals for doing this certainly raises many serious concerns and potentially hazardous issues regarding the nature of the relationship between therapist and client. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The complex secret of brief psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, The complex secret of brief psychotherapy by James Paul Gustafson (1986). This book attempts to synthesize the major findings of the last century in the field of psychotherapy, and to make these findings available to the clinician who is doing brief psychotherapy. Gustafson uses the major portion of the book to review briefly the work of nineteen individuals and groups who have contributed to his thinking about the effective doing of and the effective teaching of brief psychotherapy. Most theorists or schools are presented through the prism of one case study, followed by a brief discussion of the method employed, and then the presentation of a case in which this particular approach was utilized. This book has a number of things to recommend it. The author is engaged in psychotherapy research, and the appendix contains extensive material on his formulations of cases, work with patients, and follow-up interviews. All of the case material in the book, including the author's own cases and those he chooses to present from the work of others, is very valuable. For the advanced clinician, this material forms a solid resource. For the beginning clinician, case material of this kind can be very intriguing and very helpful. The book might be somewhat difficult conceptually for the beginning clinician, though, or for the clinician beginning to do brief psychotherapy. In addition, the writing style is problematic. Gustafson's ideas are generally sound and worthy of consideration, but are at times presented poorly. His conceptualizations can be difficult to follow, and his writing style does not adequately convey such difficult material. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Female homosexuality: Choice without volition--A psychoanalytic study.

Reviews the book, Female homosexuality: Choice without volition--A psychoanalytic study by Elaine V. Siegel (see record 1988-97461-000). In Female Homosexuality: Choice Without Volition, Elaine Siegel makes her theoretical lineage and clinical goals explicit from the outset; she dedicates the book to Charles Socarides, MD, and credits her "immersal in and application of" his work with the fact that "some of [her] patients were able to become heterosexual." Socarides is best known for his theories about developmental deficits in male homosexuals and for his ardent work in the 1970s to persuade the American Psychiatric Association to maintain homosexuality as a psychiatric diagnosis. Siegel applies his schematization of male homosexuality to female homosexuals, with a twist. She argues that whereas male homosexuals tend to overvalue their genitals, female homosexuals have failed to "take full possession of their vaginas", a failure that both she and Theodore L. Dorpat in his introduction refer to as a "calamity." The bulk of the book consists of elaborate case presentations of eight of Siegel's analysands, preceded and followed by several theoretical chapters, one of which describes Siegel's "psychoanalytic armamentarium." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Identity's architect: A biography of Erik H. Erikson.

Reviews the book, Identity's architect: A biography of Erik H. Erikson by Lawrence J. Friedman (see record 1999-02567-000). The historian Lawrence Friedman's biography of Erik Erikson is useful in understanding some puzzling aspects of Eriksonian psychology. To begin, let us note an important biographical detail revealed by Friedman. As Coles' biography of Erikson had noted, and as many of us had known, Erik and Joan Erikson had three children: Kai, a sociologist; Jon, an artist; and Sue, a psychologist (Coles, 1970, p. 404). Friedman reveals that they also had a fourth child named Neil, who suffered from Down's syndrome, and was given away to institutional care right from his birth. This son, who died at the age of 21, was effectively abandoned by the Eriksons. That a great psychoanalyst who had become famous for effectively treating problem children had failed to give even the minimum parental care to his own mentally challenged son comes as a shock. For boldly revealing even the most negative aspects of his hero, Friedman may be recognized as an honest biographer and careful historian. But he deserves even more credit than that, for, in addition to providing factual details, he provides interpretive analysis showing how these facts helped shape some critical aspects of Erikson's theory of human development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinguished Scientific Awards for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology.

Discusses the contributions made by P. J. Bauer, T. E. Moffit, S. T. Tiffany, L. Cosmides, and R. M. Nosofsky, the 1993 recipients of the Distinguished Scientific Awards for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology presented by the American Psychological Association. Bauer is awarded for her research on the development of memory in preverbal and newly verbal children. Moffit is recognized for her research on the psychopathology and natural history of human antisocial behavior. Tiffany is awarded for his research on cognitive, behavioral, and physiological mechanisms that influence psychopharmacological phenomena. Cosmides is awarded for her leadership in defining the field of evolutionary psychology. Nosofsky is recognized for his theoretical and empirical work on the nature of perceptual classification. A biography of each recipient is provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Countertransference in psychotherapy with children and adolescents.

Reviews the book, Countertransference in psychotherapy with children and adolescents edited by Jerrold R. Brandell (see record 1992-97833-000). Books on child analytic work are rare, and books on countertransference in child treatment are basically nonexistent, despite the proliferation of writing on countertransference in work with adults. Thus, Jerrold Brandell's edited volume is a welcome and long-overdue addition to the literature. Although the book is not strictly about analysis, it is analytically informed. Brandell's stated goal is to advance the principle that "countertransference is a ubiquitous factor in child and adolescent treatment, and that its recognition, understanding, and management are essential to effective psychotherapy." This is indeed a worthy if not essential undertaking, and the collection of articles in Brandell's book advances this goal. Brandell prefaced the chapters with his own thorough historical literature review of countertransference in both adult and child work. He then subdivided the book into two sections, with the first containing two classic articles an countertransference and the bulk of the book devoted to the following "scientific situations" in child psychotherapy: racial and cultural issues, depressed and suicidal children and adolescents, infant-family treatment, severely disturbed adolescents, eating disorders, abused children and adolescents, parent loss and divorce, borderline children and adolescents, life-threatening illness, and substance-abusing adolescents. This book is a very good resource for child analysts and therapists, especially those who espouse a more relational or intersubjective point of view. It is suitable both for inexperienced analysts and as a reminder to more seasoned ones of the importance and pervasiveness of countertransference issues in our work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Speak of me as I am: The life and work of Masud Khan.

Reviews the book, Speak of me as I am: The life and work of Masud Khan by Judy Cooper (1993). Controversy surrounding M. Masud R. Khan the person usually crowds out serious consideration of his psychoanalytic writings. In Speak of me as I am, Judy Cooper, a psychotherapist in London, convincingly demonstrates that, despite his life, Khan's work has enduring value and would amply reward anyone who studies it. She has a difficult task, to give the reader a familiarity--and even sympathy--with Khan while not minimizing his always off-putting and frequently repulsive behavior. One would think that the task would be all the more daunting because she herself had an analysis with Khan from 1967 to 1973. Far from providing an idealized portrait of her former analyst, however, Cooper openly discusses Khan's shortcomings. The book is so successful in part because her years of closeness with him enable her to convey an insider's sense of what Khan was like. In a compact space--only 122 pages of text--Cooper achieves her main purposes: familiarizing the reader with Khan's life and work while also evaluating his contributions to psychoanalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Head injury rehabilitation: Children and adolescents.

Reviews the book, Head injury rehabilitation: Children and adolescents by Mark Yivisaker. This book is intended to be a practical guide for professionals seeking concrete guidance in the difficult and frustrating search for effective treatment strategies for head injured patients. While maintaining a commitment to scholarship, the authors of the treatment chapters of this textbook have taken as their primary responsibility the clear presentation of a treatment philosophy as well as specific principles and techniques of remediation" (p. xvii). It is clear that the contributors of this volume, most of whom work together at the Rehabilitation Institute of Pittsburgh, labored long and hard to accomplish this goal and, as a result, they have produced a lucid and thorough volume. This book provides a very helpful and coherent account of pediatric head injury rehabilitation. No important topics are overlooked and, although some crucial areas are given fairly short shrift, the coverage is quite within the stated purpose of the work and the task that the authors set for themselves. I think that this book will prove to be a useful manual for neophytes to the head injury rehabilitation field, and to many parents of head injured children. It certainly should be required reading for all who choose to prepare themselves for professional work with head injured children. One final point: although not explicitly stated, the enormous investment of time and effort required by the head injured child and his or her family reflects a capacity that arises more from the heart than from the mind. This commitment can only come from a well-integrated and devoted team of professionals such as the group who authored this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Understanding depression: Feminist social constructionist approaches.

Reviews the book, Understanding depression: Feminist social constructionist approaches by Janet M. Stoppard (see record 1999-04422-000). Dr. Stoppard has written an excellent overview that brings together mainstream psychological and feminist research and writing about women and depression. The author, a feminist psychologist, brings a balanced view to this area, which has typically seen feminists and mainstream psychologists either avoiding or dismissing each other's work. Thus this book presents a unique and important integration that both feminists and psychologists should find useful. This is an excellent book that will be of interest to a wide range of readers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)