Interdisciplinary Insights on Nonverbal Responses within Attachment Relationships

As an extension of the thinking of Schachner, Shaver, and Mikulincer [2005, Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29], it is suggested that other disciplines (e.g., evolutionary psychology, social neuroscience) provide guidance with respect to factors that may influence nonverbal behavior within attachment relationships. An integration of biological and cognitive approaches provides a more complete understanding of the routes through which, and the extent to which, there is continuity between attachment processes in parent–child and adult relationships. As a specific illustration drawn from parent–child relationships, consideration is given to the cognitive biases more common among depressed or abusive mothers, and the resultant consequences for insecure attachment—as mediated by physiological stress responses and the ineffective communication processes that follow from those responses.     

Giving Memory a Hand: Instructing Children to Gesture Enhances their Event Recall

To investigate the influence of different kinds of gesture on children’s memory, 60 6- to 7-year-old children participated in an event conducted by the experimenters (“visiting the pirate”) and were interviewed to assess memory for the event approximately 2 weeks later. Children were assigned to 1 of 4 conditions; in 3 conditions, gesture was possible (gesture-instructed, gesture-modelled, gesture-allowed) whereas in the fourth condition (gesture-not allowed), children’s hands were constrained. The amount of gesture engaged in was limited but was greatest in the gesture-instructed condition. Children in the gesture-instructed condition, who were asked to gesture during the interview, recalled more than did those in the other conditions. Further, relative to children in the gesture-modelled and gesture-allowed conditions, children in the gesture-instructed condition conveyed significantly more information in gesture that had not also been reported verbally. Although further research is necessary to understand the underlying mechanism, the findings suggest that instructing children to gesture as well as verbally recall an experience has cognitive and communicative benefits. Elizabeth Stevanoni and Karen Salmon are affiliated with the School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. We thank the children, parents, teachers and principals at the participating schools, St Michaels and Villa Maria Primary Schools, and acknowledge Kay Pegg for help with data collection.     

Correlates of Clients’ emotional and Behavioral Responses to Treatment Termination

This study investigates the associations between clients’ emotional and behavioral responses to treatment termination and eight sets of indepentent variables, covering the source of termination (client, therapist, external source); the termination process (speed, centrality, control, choice, and desire), and the perceived outcome (failure, goal achievement) of the therapy. Subjects were 92 student therapists and 40 professional therapists, who reported on their clients’ perceptions, experiences, and responses. All the variables examined were associated with one or another client response. The findings support the view of treatment termination not only as a loss experience but also as a transition. They highlight the need for therapists to pay careful attention to both the source and the process of treatment termination.     

The Guijin Therapist and the Nature of Therapeutic Truth: A Relational Perspective

The professional literature is replete with examples of the benefits of the client–clinician dyad being of the same ethnic group. Noted advantages include a perceived implicit understanding of the clients subjective experience and a furthering of the therapists personal and professional growth as a result of the therapeutic interaction. This paper suggests that there are also benefits to the clinician being considered a guijin or outsider to the clients culture of origin. Utilizing a relational perspective with an emphasis on multiple self-state theory, this paper will discuss the advantages of being perceived as an outsider when working with an Asian bicultural client.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual International Conference for the Advancement of Private Practice in Clinical Social Work in Lisbon, Portugal on June 8, 2002.     

The Use Of Shame and Dread in the Countertransference

Much has been written about paranoid anxieties as these occur in the patient. Less, however, has been written about primitive experiences as these occur in the therapist during the session. This paper recounts a patient's correct articulation of the therapist's self-perception, which, because of its accuracy, initially flooded the therapist with shame and dread. Nonetheless, the patient's perception was able to be used in a way that clarified, in the countertransferance, a piece of the patient's early experience in relation to her mother and strengthened the therapeutic relationship.     

The Selfobject in the Age of Technology

The author considers self-psychology concepts including the selfobject and influences on self-esteem in the observation and exploration of the significance patients assigned to their cellular telephones, computers, and other electronic communication devices. The intrusion of these devices in sessions and their presence in the patients lives is explored.     

Clinical Challenges Following An Adolescent’s Death By Suicide: Bereavement Issues Faced By Family,Friends, Schools,And Clinicians

Given the increasing prevalence of adolescent deaths by suicide, social workers are increasingly likely to be called upon to respond to traumatically bereaved families, peers, and possibly professional colleagues following an adolescents death by suicide. The authors discuss current trends in adolescent suicide. A stress diathesis model is applied to considering risk factors and their clinical implications following an adolescents death by suicide. Using a case scenario, the authors discuss clinical issues of complex bereavement following suicide, along with some suggestions for effective clinical follow-up with surviving families, peers, and professionals.     

Therapeutic Forgiveness: Developing a Model for Empowering Victims of Sexual Abuse

Forgiveness is increasingly popular in therapy as a way to facilitate healing, but there are definitional discrepancies and confusion regarding the degree to which it is conceptualized as either an interpersonal/relational or an independent/self-enhancing process. In this article forgiveness is conceptualized as an interpersonal process linked to apology or contrition on the part of the offender. Yet it is also independent. A model is described that was developed for the benefit of abuse victims whose offenders will not or cannot apologize. Using the model, victims can accomplish for themselves what would be accomplished for them through an apology.