Narratives and the Therapist's Allegiance

Trainee therapists are attracted to particular treatment philosophies through the influence of complex factors which are embedded in the narratives of the origins and successes of a particular model of treatment. The relevance of these stories to the development of a professional identity is discussed with specific attention to family therapy.     

Engla Lond: the Making of an Allegiance

Abstract Taking as its starting-point, Philip Abrams' celebrated perception (1988) that the state is an 'ideological artefact … historically constructed', this essay seeks an explanation of the unrivalled longevity and durability of the English state in the fact that it was the first European political organism to exploit with complete success the model of obligatory coherence supplied by the Old Testament in the history of Israel and its relations with its Maker. This model had been applied to the early history of Anglo-Saxon Christianity by the Venerable Bede (731) in a work of unexampled literary power. The Anglo-Saxons' subsequent experience of the near-obliteration of their Christian polity by pagan Vikings lent the Biblical and Bedan messages a particular point. King Alfred and his dynasty were thus provided with an ideological blueprint which meant that their otherwise by no means unusual early medieval hegemony could command the allegiance of potential dissidents in a way that none of its counterparts were ultimately able to do.     

How Billionaires Explain Their Philanthropy: A Mixed-Method Analysis of the Giving Pledge Letters

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This study investigates a discourse about billionaire philanthropy established in letters submitted by 187 of 209...     

《海上传奇》

After having examined China＇s historic changes, through his films, in the past decade, Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke developed a growing interest in history. As a result, he visited Shanghai with his movie camera and traced the footsteps of Shanghai and its people who had stories about the city. The experience gave birth to his latest movie, I Wish I Knew.     

I Feel Therefore I Am:

Feminist theorists often reject "reason" as the basis for a feminist epistemology on the grounds that it is "male." this criticism of reason has sometimes been axiomatic and unconvincing. In place of "male reason," many feminist theorists have advanced the epistemological proposition that women know what they know via their "experiences." Using "experience" as the basis for a feminist epistemology hsa conceptual and practical problems: it invites and perpetuates the use of a stereotypical Female thus fostering essentialist theories which romanticize women and feminine attributes. Moreover, it is difficult to operationalize as the experiences of women vary dramatically across time and cultures, classes, races, etc. Problems with the feminist critique of reason and the use of experience as a substitute for rationalist epistemologies indicates that serious reevaluations for the maleness of "reason" and the femaleness of "experience" and intuition are in order.     

Ambivalence; Will I? Should I? Can I? Do I want to?†

In all intimate relationships where difficulties are being experienced, one or both parties can feel ambivalent. Some individuals and couples resolve their ambivalence, discover lost aspects of themselves and new ways of relating, while others either remain together regardless of a satisfactory resolution, or decide to separate. In this paper I will address the nature of ambivalence and its influence and effect on individuals and couples. Understanding and working with ambivalence requires us as therapists to consider both the emotional patterns in relationships and the influence of early childhood experiences. Methods of assessing and working with ambivalence will be outlined and contra-indications for individual and joint sessions discussed.     

PART I:

No abstract available for this article.     

I AM IMMORTAL

I suggest a model to forecast life expectancy based on the electrocardiogram signal. I show how the heart electrical activity can be decomposed in the state‐space and that the suggested model has superior out‐of‐sample properties compared to a set of alternatives. When the model is used to forecast my own electrocardiogram, a striking result arises: the n‐step ahead forecast remains bounded and positive even after one googol period. Therefore, my life expectancy tends to infinity implying that I am immortal. (JEL I10, I19)