The Third Time Was the Charm

Abstract

A therapist's three experiences as a recipient of psychotherapy have led her to appreciate the ways in which one therapy informs another. She examines what may be learned from a less than successful therapy. She reflects on several lessons she has learned from her own therapieslessons that have shaped her as a clinician. In particular, she notes that when the therapist and patient are remarkably similar in their values and strengths, the therapist needs to take great care that key issues are not glossed over or mishandled.     

Abstracts of theses,July 1955: Smith College School for Social Work

Abstract

This commentary amplifies the dynamic strategies in Message in a Bottleto consider in working with clients who seek to augment psychotherapy with psychopharmacologic treatment. This commentary also addresses how to evaluate and enhance psychotherapy outcome independent of medications and reviews some of the factors which contribute to positive treatment outcome. In order for clinicians to resist the pervasive colonizing effects of the medical model, this commentary reevaluates some of the claims that medications seem to promise and reinforces data which demonstrate that psychotherapy remains a safe and effective first-line treatment.     

Skills for Recovery: A Recovery-Oriented Dual Diagnosis Group for Veterans with Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse

Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) are at a high risk for abusing alcohol and illicit substances relative to the general population. This use, even in small quantities, can negatively affect mental and physical health. Group therapy is an evidence-based treatment for individuals dually diagnosed with SMI and a substance abuse disorder. The Skills for Recovery group used a recovery-oriented therapy manual for dual diagnoses and was informed by the International Association for Social Work with Groups' Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups throughout the development and implementation of the group.     

Not in the Same Mental Drawer: Internalized Sexual Stigma,Dissociation, and the Role of Religion in a Sample of Italian Gay Men

ABSTRACT

Several studies have highlighted the relationship between internalized sexual stigma (ISS) and dissociation. The aim of the present study was to empirically investigate this relationship through a quantitative study. The Measure of Internalized Sexual Stigma for Lesbians and Gay Men (MISS-LG) and the Dissociation Scale (DIS) of the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) were administered to 120 Caucasian participants who self-identified as gay men. Findings suggested that dissociative symptomatology, as measured by DIS—an estimation of the use of dissociation as a defense mechanism—was positively associated with MISS general index and all dimensions of MISS, especially the sexuality dimension (ISS-S). Moreover, the effect of the ISS-S on DIS was amplified in Catholic participants, suggesting a moderating role of religiosity. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.     

Auspicious Experience in Social Work

Abstract

This personal narrative recounts the experiences of one psychodynamic practitioner as she grew over the course of her social work career. It follows the development of her therapeutic awareness as she first worked with adolescents in a wilderness therapy program, and later with low-income clients in several large urban areas. While discussing the role of her Masters and Doctoral education, it explores particularly the role supervision played in developing her therapeutic awareness and skills. Overall, it is directed toward explaining her professional growth as a psychodynamic practitioner and the components involved in that growth.     

A Mandate for Honesty: Jeff Young's No Bullshit Therapy

Jeff Young talks about having been trained to be formal with clients, and his gradual realisation that he could return to the more direct ways of speech he learned as a child, and combine that with warmth. He found that clients and fellow professionals welcomed a therapist who did not ‘beat around the bush’. Together, Jeff and Ron talk about when directness is appropriate, and how directness needs to be modified for particular clients.     

The Status of Psychiatric Inpatient Group Therapy: Past,Present, and Future

This article examines the history, current conditions, and future possibilities of psychiatric inpatient group psychotherapy. Attention is directed toward exploring the purpose, structure, theoretical perspectives, and empirical research of inpatient group therapy. Trends in inpatient care are contextualized within a historical perspective and current politics of care. Future challenges to the viability of inpatient groups, including fiscal pressures, high patient acuity, shorter stays, and pressures for evidence-based practices, are considered.     

Growing up with a parent who has a chronic mental illness: one child's perspective

This paper describes a growing understanding of one adolescent boy's experience of living with a parent with a chronic mental illness. The way in which services were organized and delivered to address the needs of either adults or children made it difficult to comprehend the impact of parental psychiatric disorder on the family as a whole. The case study illustrates the problems for the 'not-noticed child', the process of internalization and enmeshment that affected his internal world, his relationships with others, and his development in adolescence. The need for all professionals to focus on interactive processes both within the family and in the professional network is emphasized, as is the importance of collaborative work.     

心路治疗:一种另类心理治疗方法

提出了心路治疗的基本出发点,并分析了人的三种不同性格,即理性、情感、意志三种类型的特征和表现。心路治疗就是根据这三种类型的不同特征进行综合性的治疗,采取"自我—反馈"的方法,使受助者正确认识自我,正确认识周围事物,从而以达到心理治疗的目的。