Psychotherapy and Schizophrenia: The Mirror of Countertransference

The relationship between psychotherapy and schizophrenia has undergone pronounced changes over the last several decades. The advent of psychiatric medication led to remarkable breakthroughs that obscured the existential issues inseparably tied to the lived experience of illness and overshadowed the role of psychotherapy in the treatment of schizophrenia. Recent years have brought renewed scrutiny of the place of psychotherapy in the treatment of persons with major mental illness but much less attention has been shown to matters of countertransference. The complex legacy of loss and grief assumes a special dimension in the therapeutic relationship and touches the lives of client and clinician alike. Both travel a common path and share privileged moments. It is the intersection of these life experiences, and how their confluence shapes the course of therapy that is the focus of this essay.     

Identity Concerns in Intercountry Adoption-Immigrants as Adoptive Parents

The psycho-social sense of identity, which is an important component of the sense of self, emerges during childhood and adolescence but is a lifelong process. In intercountry adopted children, additional layers are added to the initial difference of being adopted—in outward appearance and in cultural heritage—that do not match those of the adoptive parents. These may interfere with empathic bonding and with the integration of facets of identity into a meaningful narrative. The article addresses a particular subgroup of adoptive parents—those who have immigrated to Israel in their recent or remote past. Using the framework of self psychology, it suggests ways of helping immigrant adoptive parents to create an empathic affect-bridge with their children, who immigrate to a new family as well as to a new country, by tapping their own experiences as immigrants.     

跨文化交际中的移情问题

一般认为发展移情是提高跨文化交际有效性的重要手段,然而移情也并不是毫无问题的,有时甚至会成为跨文化交际的障碍。因此,本文着重探讨跨文化交际中由于交际者实施移情而出现的问题,并在此基础上提出语境顺应论对移情实施的规约作用。     

广告的文化传播效应

现代商业广告是社会文化不可忽视的组成部分。广告通过其自呈特色的认知、移情和审美等文化功能,影响人们的价值观念、生活方式和审美情趣,既可产生正面效应,也可以产生负面效应．为了保证广告文化传播的正确方向,一要树立评价标准,明确广告的文化追求目标,力求达到真、善、美的统一;二要提高自觉意识,明确广告的社会文化责任,为营造良好社会文化氛围、把握正确舆论导向和建设现代社会文化作出应有的贡献。     

Intergenerational solidarity: the paradox of reciprocity imbalance in ageing welfare states

In this article a new theoretical framework is applied to a research field that is somewhat fragmented, namely that of intergenerational solidarity in ageing welfare states. Inspired by utilitarian considerations many scholars tend to problematize the lack of reciprocity characterizing intergenerational exchanges. As some generations are longer old and more numerous they may receive excessive state‐administered support of the younger generations, especially in a democratic setting. However, in reality there is limited empirical evidence of intergenerational conflict and theoretical explanations of this paradox are rare. An integrated and dynamical approach that incorporates Durkheim's solidarity theory, Honneth's intersubjective recognition theory, and the current work on reciprocal exchange is necessary in order to understand the survival of intergenerational solidarity in ageing welfare states. According to this model reciprocal recognition leading to the empathization of exchanges is the driving force of intergenerational solidarity in a prefigurative and democratized culture where the status of the young has risen dramatically. Hence, we come to the paradoxical conclusion that attempts to preserve intergenerational solidarity by openly denouncing excessive transfers and trying to bypass them institutionally sometimes might be counterproductive because they may erode their empathic underpinnings.     

A Different Take on the Big Bang Theory: Examining the Influence of Asperger Traits on the Perception and Attributional Confidence of a Fictional TV Character Portraying Characteristics of Asperger Syndrome

Research shows that media figures can influence the construction of one’s personal and social identity. However, there are few studies that examine representations of stigmatized groups with developmental disorders, such as those with autism spectrum disorders. This research examines the effect of a viewer’s scores on the autism quotient (AQ) and their relationship with homophily and attributional confidence towards Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, who is suspected of having Asperger’s syndrome (AS). Guided by uncertainty reduction theory the results indicated a positive relationship between the dimensions of the AQ and homophily with Sheldon, and a positive relationship between higher scores on the AQ and attributional confidence towards Sheldon. The implications of identification with fictional television characters for individuals with AS, and the application of the AQ in future research are discussed relative to the current findings.     

Brief mindfulness training in the social work practice classroom

Social Work educators are increasingly concerned with discerning how to help students develop the affective, relational, and meta-cognitive skills needed for effective, resilient, and sustainable social work practice. A small but growing literature supports mindfulness training as a path to those ends. However, most mindfulness intervention studies, even those mentioning ‘brief intervention,’ have typically used fairly lengthy training programs, often 2–3 h per week for 6–8 weeks. It is unlikely that already over-committed social work practice classes would devote this amount of class time to these strategies. This concurrent mixed methods study examined whether very brief mindfulness training in undergraduate social work practice classes (100 min over the course of a 3.0 semester credit hour course) would influence outcomes on measures of mindfulness, emotional regulation, and empathy, as well as student perceptions of helpfulness in managing stress and meeting course goals. No significant differences were found on quantitative measures at post-test. However, results of the qualitative analysis suggest that even brief mindfulness exercises in social work practice classes are perceived by students as helpful for managing anxiety, staying present-focused with clients, reducing premature judgment, and feeling safe and connected in the classroom. Implications for social work education are discussed.     

Transforming habit: revolution,routine and social change

Compelling recent scholarly work has explored the crucial role affect, emotion and feeling might play in activating radical social and political change. I argue, however, that some narratives of ‘affective revolution’ may actually do more to obscure than to enrich our understanding of the material relations and routines though which ‘progressive’ change might occur and endure in a given context – while side-stepping the challenge of how to evaluate progress itself in the current socio-political and economic landscape. Drawing on the work of Eve Sedgwick, John Dewey, Felix Ravaisson and others, this article asks whether critical work on habit can provide different, and potentially generative, analytical tools for understanding the contemporary ethical and material complexities of social transformation. I suggest that it habit’s double nature – its enabling of both compulsive repetition and creative becoming – that makes it a rich concept for addressing the propensity of harmful socio-political patterns to persist in the face of efforts to generate greater awareness of their damaging effects, as well as the material forms of automation and coordination on which meaningful societal transformation may depend. I also explore how bringing affect and habit together might productively refigure our understandings of ‘the present’ and ‘social progress’, as well as the available modes of sensing, instigating and responding to change. In turning to habit, then, the primary aim of this article is to examine how social and cultural theory might critically re-approach social change and progressive politics today.     

汉英移就的形成机制与认知阐释

移就是一种超乎常规的语言变异现象,是对词语搭配的创造性运用。这种搭配表面上违反常规、悖于情理,但在具体的语言环境中却有恰到好处、新颖别致的作用。本文探讨了汉英移就的形成理据,并从概念合成理论的视角,对汉英移就中的三种跨空间映射进行了分析,进一步深化对移就意义建构的认识。     

共情疲劳研究综论——兼论对社会工作的理论启示

共情促进着人与人之间的亲社会行为,人类社会因共情而温暖。社会工作者长期面对弱势群体、越轨群体和患病群体,需要以共情为前提提供社会服务。共情是把双刃剑,长期投入共情容易产生共情疲劳,主要表现为情绪障碍、身体倦怠、认知错误和行为异常。当下,共情疲劳相关研究在中国处于初期阶段,且较少关注社会工作者这一职业群体。通过回顾国内外共情疲劳相关研究,梳理共情疲劳的概念界定、测量工具、影响因素和干预措施,提出了社会工作者共情疲劳的操作化概念,指出了社会工作研究的未来指向。今后,理论研究和干预措施应该更加关怀社会工作者这一高劳动强度、高认知技能、高情感投入的职业人群,从而推动社会工作事业不断发展壮大。