Experienced psychoanalytically oriented therapists' narrative acounts of their personal therapy: Impacts on professional and personal development.

Examined the impact of personal therapy on the professional and personal development of psychotherapists through in-depth interviews with 5 psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists (aged 40–50 yrs). An adaptation of the method of consensual qualitative coding was used to study the narrative accounts of therapy experiences leading to the identification 6 domains: (1) importance of personal therapy for therapists; (2) impacts on the professional self: identity; (3) impacts or one's being in the session: process; (4) experiences in previous and current therapy; (5) self in relation to the personal therapists; and (6) mutual and unique influences of didactic learning, supervision, and personal therapy. The authors found that personal therapy is perceived not only as an essential part of the training phase, but as playing an important role in the therapist's ongoing process of individuation and in the development of the ability to use the self, to achieve moment-to-moment authentic relatedness with one's clients. The domains and categories are appended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Update: microcomputer statistics packages. A personal view

1. There have been a number of recent commercial developments and new versions of microcomputer statistical software packages since the last review in December 1995. 2. New versions for Windows have been released: SPSS 7.0 (Windows 95), SYSTAT 6.0 (Windows 3.11, 95, NT) and MINITAB 11.0 (Windows 3.11, 95, NT). 3. The minimum requirements of microcomputer hardware to run the statistical packages under Windows now include 486 or Pentium processors and 16 Mb of RAM. 4. It is now clear to the reviewer that no package that operates under Windows can be recommended unless it is possible to execute analyses by commands as well as by menus. 5. The Internet is an important medium for disseminating information about forthcoming new versions of statistical software packages and about flaws in recently released versions of such packages.     

A personal view of some issues facing psychologists.

"First of all, I am concerned that the general climate of American psychology today does a great deal to discourage original and creative thinking, and little to foster it." "A second concern which I feel is in regard to the risk of becoming parochial. There appear to be strong forces at work in our field to narrow psychology." A third area "… which I feel troubled about is the trend in psychology. It seems to me that there is, in our profession, a real fear of thinking about the meaning of what we are doing." These issues are briefly discussed, questions are raised regarding the issues, and some suggestions are made for resolution of the problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The shaping of a profession: A personal view.

Describes key events in the author's 35-yr career in psychology that radicalized him and helped him to develop a stance as a strong advocate for professional psychology. Included are discussions of the encouragement of state associations to enact licensing and freedom-of-choice laws and of the creation of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University in New Jersey—none of which could have occurred without political activity. The author's strong conviction is that for psychology to be an important voice in the mental health world, the professional must be organizationally and politically sophisticated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapists' personal therapy and professional self-awareness.

Surveyed 185 doctoral-level psychologists, averaging 16 yrs of experience, who responded to questions about their personal therapy histories and provided their professional reactions to 25 hypothetical psychotherapy situations. Results suggest that awareness of countertransference issues was highly significantly and positively related to the amount of personal therapy a therapist had received. Data also suggest a relationship between countertransference and the therapist claiming a psychoanalytic orientation, receiving personal therapy from a psychoanalytically oriented therapist, and having attended a psychoanalytically oriented training program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious and Spiritual Experience Among Psychotherapists.

Psychology and its practitioners have historically been seen as part of the process of secularization of modern culture. However, recent research has challenged this stereotype. This article contributes to the literature on the religious and spiritual character of psychotherapists by using a version of the Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire (DPCCQ) to collect information on the religiosity and professional characteristics of 975 international psychotherapists from New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Two independent dimensions of therapists' religious and spiritual experiences were identified and replicated across multiple subsamples. A typology derived from these dimensions showed that 51% of therapists exhibited a pattern definable as Personal Spirituality, 27% a pattern of Religious Spirituality, and only 21% a pattern of Secular Morality. This work shows that the religiosity of psychotherapists is more complex than suggested by a simple distinction between secular and religious orientations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

African Americans' Perceptions of Psychotherapy and Psychotherapists.

Do you have a multicultural practice? Do you understand the attitudes and expectations African Americans hold about mental health services? The attitudes and beliefs of 201 African Americans regarding psychotherapists, psychotherapy, and barriers to treatment were explored by means of focus groups. Key banners to service utilization included stigma, lack of knowledge, lack of affordability, lack of trust, impersonal service, and lack of cultural understanding. Participants reported that race should not matter in therapy, but they often believed that psychologists were insensitive to the African American experience. The implications of participants' reports for meeting African American mental health and therapy needs are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selected theoretical and philosophical aspects of counseling psychology: A personal view.

Counseling Psychologists have often reflected upon the special perspectives and philosophical aspects of their specialty. From the variance of our roots to the diversity of our current activities through the conflicts of contemporary psychology there is a certain stability of purpose and unity of belief about the crucial aspects of our area. Our view of human action sees persons as agents capable of managing and enhancing their inner selves, important commitments, interpersonal relationships and their world of work. This view doesn't prevail because we are segregated from or unaware of the biological determinism of Freudian thought or the environmental determinism of Skinner and other behaviorists. We have not chosen to ignore these traditions which are so much a part of psychology's history; rather, we seek in science and practice to know more about the multiplicity of influences that enter into the origins of human actions so that the exercise of agency and the possibilities for choice are enhanced. Our scientist-professional model allows us to test our theories in actual everyday situations, and return to our laboratories and classrooms with practical wisdom. This model also permits us to put theory and science at the disposal of those we serve. Whatever our future holds, at the present time we enjoy the best of two worlds as careful science and expert practice continue to inform our views of human action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapists in independent practice: Some findings and issues.

Notes that although professional psychologists' involvement in private sector health care delivery has grown at an unparalleled rate in the past decade, little is known about professional psychologists' composition, practices, or their views. This article describes the professional characteristics, clinical activities, theoretical perspectives, and training and career satisfaction of 210 doctoral-level psychotherapists (mean age 47.2 yrs) employed full-time in independent practice. More than 30 personal and professional variables were used to compare these private practitioners with 72 psychotherapists employed in the public sector. Results indicate that independent practitioners were significantly more likely to be older and more experienced, work fewer hours, do more marital therapy, and be more satisfied with psychotherapy as a career than their colleagues in institutional clinical settings. Contrary to expectations, there were no differences between the 2 groups in theoretical orientations or percentage of women. Several issues surrounding private practice are explored, and the sociopolitical and training implications of increasing numbers of psychotherapists entering independent practice are discussed. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Doctoral students view their APA counseling psychology programs.

A survey studied counseling psychology programs and examined the characteristics of 1st- and 2nd-yr doctoral students. Results were based on questionnaires received from 203 students representing 20 programs. There were significant differences between several programs on the variables of sex, age, work experience, and academic level. Ss perceived their programs primarily as eclectic in theoretical and experiential orientation. There were differences between programs in the emphasis given research, practical applications, and personal growth. Ss expressed preferences for greater input in curricula, more contact with faculty, and more cooperation among their peers. They gave positive overall ratings for their doctoral programs. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapists in South Korea: Professional and Practice Characteristics.

Using data collected as part of a collaborative international study of the development of psychotherapists (D. E. Orlinsky et al., 1999), the authors of this study describe a sample of 538 Korean psychotherapists in various mental health professions and also provide information about the cultural and historical background of psychotherapy in South Korea. The study delineates the professional identifications, training, theoretical orientations, career status, personal therapy, and demographic characteristics of this little-known group of psychotherapists and describes their treatment settings, clients, and typical treatment modalities. The use of Western therapeutic approaches in a non-Western cultural context is discussed with respect to the potential conflicts for practitioners between imported methods that embody individualistic values and the traditionally collectivist orientations of their societies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's perceptions of the personal relationships in their social networks.

Tested the hypothesis that children would report that different social-network members provide different social provisions, using 199 5th–6th grade White children. Ss completed network of relationships inventories, which assessed 10 qualities of their relationships with mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents, friends, and teachers. Consistent with R. S. Weiss's (1974) theory (i.e., that individuals seek specific social provisions or types of social support in their relationships with others), Ss reported seeking different provisions from different individuals. Mothers and fathers were turned to most often for affection, enhancement of worth, a sense of reliable aid, and instrumental aid. Next to parents, grandparents were turned to most often for affection and enhancement of worth, and teachers were turned to most often for instrumental aid. Friends were the greatest source of companionship, and friends and mothers received the highest ratings of intimacy. Ss also reported having more power in their relationships with other children than in those with adults. Conflict was perceived as occurring most often in sibling relationships. Ss were most satisfied with their relationships with mothers, and they thought their relationships with mothers and fathers were the most important. Bases for children's differentiations of their relationships and implications for understanding social networks are discussed. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A practical approach to suspicious death in infancy--a personal view

Five commercially available liquid glutaraldehyde preparations (Glutaron II, Cidex 28, Glutalabor, Banicide, and Anti-G-Plus) were compared for effectiveness in sterilizing gutta-percha cones artificially contaminated with Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 spores. Sporicidal activity differed for the various brands of cones, but after 15 min all glutaraldehyde solutions were effective in eliminating the spores. However, three solutions (Cidex 28, Banicide, and Anti-G-Plus) showed sporicidal activity within a shorter time (10 min). All glutaraldehyde solutions tested may be used in endodontic practice for rapid decontamination of gutta-percha cones, thus contributing to the maintenance of the aseptic chain, an essential factor for successful root canal treatment.     

Future development of psychology and its role in Canadian life: A personal view.

This is not a report; it does not arise from statistical analysis of data, or systematic survey of opinion, or discussions of a committee. There are no findings. This is a statement based on personal impressions gained during my two decades of close association with psychology in Canada. My focus is on consideration of the ways in which psychology, while continuing to flourish as a basic and applied science, may best play its role in promoting public welfare and the attainment of national goals. There are no recommendations. Where appropriate, I have made suggestions, some of which may be useful as starting points of discussions among those concerned with planning the future development of psychology in Canada. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Principles of combination therapy for hypertension: what we learn from the HOT and other studies--a personal point of view

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if endoscopic techniques could be used to repair an epithelialized lip cleft with accuracy and with an outcome comparable to fetuses treated through an open hysterotomy. INTERVENTIONS AND RESULTS: In contrast to previous open fetal cleft lip repairs in the same model, none of the five fetuses reported here had a good aesthetic result. Although there was no evidence of scar histologically, the edges of the lip were poorly approximated. The epithelial lining and underlying dermis of the wound margins were notably inverted. The orbicularis oris muscle, which had been reapproximated, appeared thin and hypoplastic. Most of the vermilion elements were poorly aligned, and in one animal, there was a complete dehiscence of the repair. CONCLUSIONS: In a more representative model of cleft lip that is not an acute lip wound, in utero endoscopic suture repair of the ovine lip gave a poor result using current technology. Only a meticulously performed, multilayered, open repair of a cleft appears to give a good cosmetic and functional outcome. Further studies to improve the endoscopic repair as our technology advances are therefore warranted.     

Shattered worlds/psychotic states: A post-Cartesian view of the experience of personal annihilation.

Adopting a post-Cartesian, intersubjective viewpoint that focuses on the interplay of worlds of experience leads to an opening up of the most severe ranges of psychopathology-- the so-called psychoses-- to psychoanalytic understanding and treatment. A Cartesian theory, inevitably preoccupied with the individual mind and its contact with a stable external reality, cannot encompass experiences of extreme self-loss and of the disintegration of the world. A sketch is offered of varieties of the experience of personal annihilation within an intersubjective, phenomenological framework of understanding. Features of the intersubjective fields typically associated with delusional states, manic episodes, and extreme trauma are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical Psychologists as Psychotherapists: History, Future, and Alternatives.

As managed care and other cost-containment strategies become centralfeatures of the American health care system, doctoral-level clinical psychologists will be increasingly supplanted in the role of psychotherapist by lower cost providers such as social workers, marriage and family counselors, and masters-level psychologists. To provide one basis for clinical psychologists to make judgments about their role in psychotherapy, this article describes what the field was like before psychotherapy became a core activity and then compares the present transition with its historical counterpart: the opening up of the psychotherapy profession to doctoral-level clinical psychologists after World War II. History suggests that efforts to resist the current changes will be unsuccessful and that the most adaptive coping strategy for clinical psychologists is to take advantage of the transition by re-envisioning training and practice of clinical psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)