Bridging the contradictions of social constructionism and psychoanalysis in a study of workplace emotions in India

This paper makes a contribution to the study of emotions in organizations by offering a systematic juxtaposition and cross-fertilization of psychoanalytic and social constructionist approaches. These two traditions have found it hard to communicate in the past when addressing organizational emotions. Points of similarity and tension between them are discussed in connection with two critical case studies of female Indian managers discussing their emotions at the workplace. These were obtained during field work in which emotions were studied through narratives generated by a free-association interview approach. Both the emotions described in the narratives themselves and the emotions of the interview encounter were analysed, as resources for a rapprochement of contrasting perspectives on emotion. This rapprochement acknowledges the psychoanalytic emphasis on unconscious dynamics shaping the emotional lives of individuals and groups, while also honouring the social constructionist emphasis on how emotions are influenced by social, cultural and discursive practices.     

Memory and meaning in the psychotherapy of the long-term mentally ill

After a long period when the treatment of major mental illness was under the decisive influence of the biological revolution in psychiatry, there are now growing signs of a revival of the role of psychotherapy in understanding the lived experience of psychotic disorders. Despite increased attention to the subjective world of persons afflicted with severe mental illness, considerably less has been written about the devastating effects of a loss of reality on memory and meaning and about the especially complex ordeals facing therapists who enter into long-term relationships with clients cut off from the past and the future. The ensuing quest for meaning amid the breakdown of memory is the focus of this paper.     

What Does Being an “American” Look Like in the Therapy Room?

ABSTRACT

A clinical experience of an Asian Indian therapist working with a client of a similar ethnic background is analyzed. The relational dynamics in the therapy and the impact of a perceived shared identity are examined. Transference and countertransference processes are emphasized. A shared perceived ethnic identity created complexities in the therapeutic relationship and affected the therapy in surprising ways. Assumptions related to a shared ethnic identity affected the ability to form a therapeutic alliance.     

From pathology to postmodernism: a debate on ‘race’ and mental health

This article suggests that ‘race’ and psychiatry are inextricably linked and as such ‘mental illness’ constitutes a precondition of black people's psyche. Postmodernist and poststructuralist analysis are used to question the way in which mental health problems have been socially constructed in western psychiatry. In order for health and social care workers to effectively respond to racism within psychiatry and community care provision it is necessary for them to understand the relationship that exists between and informs ‘race’ and psychiatry.     

The Value of Hate in the Countertransference

The author looks at the experience of hate in the countertransference and develops the idea that hate can be of particular value to the treatment process. He begins with an exploration of the therapist’s needs and discusses how unmet self-regulatory needs sometimes lead to feelings of frustration and rage toward the patient. The author explores these ideas as they are connected to Winnicott’s (1949, 1971) work on aggression and Jessica Benjamin’s (1992) work on recognition and destruction. The author espouses a difference between rage and hate, where rage is seen as indicative of unmet needs, and hate is seen as a force that can emancipate the therapist from the encumbrance of unmet needs. Case examples are provided to show the utility of this perspective. Laurence Green, M.S.W., Psy.D. is on the faculty and a member of the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis. He is Co-chair of the History Committee of the International Federation of Psychoanalytic Education. He is in private practice in Los Angeles, California working with children, adolescents and adults.     

Resisting Amnesia in the Countertransference: A Clinical Strategy for Working with Lesbian Patients

Seldom emphasized in clinical writings are the ways in which lesbians construct and revise multiple narratives to create and navigate their lesbian identity within the clinical relationship. Case material is presented to show how the examination of the psychic meaning of the move from lesbian child to lesbian woman can be explored retrospectively through the collaborative therapeutic relationship set forth in the constructivist approach. To address the potential countertransference problems for clinicians working with this population, the concept of countertransference amnesia is introduced to describe a particular type of forgetting that reproduces within the clinical relationship the subtle forms of discrimination that restrict lesbian expression within the culture at large. This work also seeks to liberate lesbian identity formation from previous explanations and to demonstrate the construction of a lesbian identity as a psychically organizing process, which integrates inner and outer experience and allows the girl or woman to adapt to the social world.     

So,Doctor, How's Your Sex Life? A Cross-Examiner's View of Countertransference

ABSTRACT

Bias can taint the forensic work product to a far greater degree than many lawyers and judges, as relatively unsophisticated consumers of psychological expertise, are aware. Daniel Pickar's article, “Countertransference Bias in the Child Custody Evaluator” (this issue) describes the deep roots and potential impact on evaluations that can emerge from countertransference thoughts and feelings forming in the shadows of the evaluator's psyche. This article examines countertransference bias primarily from the perspective of the cross-examining attorney charged with the obligation of revealing possible sources of invalidity underlying the expert's conclusions. It addresses also the legitimate concerns raised by David A. Martindale and Jonathan W. Gould that the wholesale importation of a highly nuanced and potentially confusing lexicon from psychoanalytic theory may yield more confusion than clarity. Finally, this article cautions as to the potentially fatal implications to evidentiary admissibility which may be encountered if an evaluator should, as suggested by Pickar, premise his or her conclusions, in part, on the subjective interpretation of counter-transference thoughts and feelings.     

Countertransference Bias in the Child Custody Evaluator

ABSTRACT

Concerns about bias which may arise in the child custody evaluation process have recently attracted critical attention. The types of biases addressed are those that primarily stem from cognitive psychology, as well as social and cultural sources of bias. Rarely discussed, however, is bias which can stem from evaluator countertransference, which if unrecognized can potentially lead to biased and non-objective recommendations. While one must strive to be objective and impartial, child custody evaluators are frequently working with highly charged emotional issues which may interact with their own personal issues or past experiences. This article examines the types of counter-transference phenomenon which may arise in the child custody evaluation, and presents tips for identifying and managing such reactions.     

Five cases illustrating the possibilities and limitations of indirect treatment of problem children 1

Most of the published literature on disability determination focuses on prevalence, applying for benefits, or sociodemographics. There is a paucity of literature that addresses the impact on treatment when a clinician is asked to contribute to a disability determination in the midst of an ongoing psychotherapy. In addition, the clinical literature is primarily written by and for psychiatrists. Yet a disability determination during psychotherapy is at the heart of clinical social work practice when it attends to the patient’s environment by offering help with material needs, while simultaneously providing relationally based treatment.     

Therapeutic Intimacy

Abstract

This essay describes therapeutic intimacy as a deeply personal and evolving definition of what each therapist finds uniquely curative. The author arrived at her definition following the events of September 11, 2001, and notes that constructs such as vicarious traumatization do not adequately convey the profound impact that such a catastrophic event can have on the clinician's personal and professional life. She introduces the term “shared trauma” to describe the lasting, transformative changes in one's self-concept taking place when the clinician and client are exposed to a collective trauma. The arbitrariness of professional boundaries is captured through discussion of client narratives.