Where is the Baby From,Why is it Here? Creative Ways of Working with Dissociated States in Private Practice

Through one clinical example involving complex post‐traumatic stress disorder, this paper explores the ways in which the psychoanalytic psychotherapist may need to find creative ways of working which incorporate findings from neuroscience whilst holding the basic frame and methods of the traditional psychoanalytic approach. This entails bringing knowledge of how the body (including the brain) works into the consulting room. In particular, the author describes ways of accompanying the patient during florid flashbacks to chronic and severe childhood abuse and of using grounding techniques afterwards, so that anxiety levels can be sufficiently contained for the necessary therapeutic work to take place. The role of supervision is also explored in terms of how the dynamic of rescuer/victim/persecutor may be played out in the supervisory relationship. Unusually, some of the patient's own reflections, written at the end of the therapy, have been incorporated into the paper. Consideration is given to whether departures from standard psychoanalytic technique constitute boundary violations or useful enactments, which can be seen as a form of creativity which enables the work to move on.     

中国核电厂操纵人员创造力与人际关系的初步研究

目的 探讨中国核电厂操纵人员的创造力与人际关系的规律，为中国核电厂操纵人员的选拔、岗位健康适应性评价、指导职业培训、心理干预以及用人单位规避人因风险提供依据。方法 采取整群随机抽样法从国内7座核电站抽取500名操纵人员，利用《中国核电厂操纵人员心理健康和神经行为测评系统2.0版》量表进行心理测试，获取创造能力强者的人格因素（Y2因子）与人际关系因素（Y3因子）的分值数据，并对数据结果进行相关性分析。结果 1.本研究中掩饰性因子（Li）均小于8分，提示测试结果可信；2.创造力强者（88分以上）占40%，其余均在88分以下；人际关系整体良好，人际关系较差者（得分不足18分）仅占2.8%；3.结果表明，人际关系越差，创造力越强，越不适合于操纵员岗位工作；创造力处于一般水平，人际关系稳定，越适合于操纵员岗位工作。创造力、人际关系与年龄、工龄均不存在显著相关性；4.核电站的工作环境对操纵员的创造力具有同化作用；处于中间年龄段的操纵员人际关系分化相对明显。结论 中国核电站操纵人员的创造力处于一般水平，人际关系也优秀，大多数适合于操纵员工作岗位。     

Creative cognition and dopaminergic modulation of fronto-striatal networks: Integrative review and research agenda

Creative cognition is key to human functioning yet the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are sparsely addressed and poorly understood. Here we address the possibility that creative cognition is a function of dopaminergic modulation in fronto-striatal brain circuitries. It is proposed that (i) creative cognition benefits from both flexible and persistent processing, (ii) striatal dopamine and the integrity of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway is associated with flexible processing, while (iii) prefrontal dopamine and the integrity of the mesocortical dopaminergic pathway is associated with persistent processing. We examine this possibility in light of studies linking creative ideation, divergent thinking, and creative problem-solving to polymorphisms in dopamine receptor genes, indirect markers and manipulations of the dopaminergic system, and clinical populations with dysregulated dopaminergic activity. Combined, studies suggest a functional differentiation between striatal and prefrontal dopamine: moderate (but not low or high) levels of striatal dopamine benefit creative cognition by facilitating flexible processes, and moderate (but not low or high) levels of prefrontal dopamine enable persistence-driven creativity.     

Les psychothérapies à médiation artistique

There are no obvious links between Freud's work on Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci or Jansen and the idea of using art for therapeutic purposes. Similarly, there is no direct relationship between the interest shown by some early twentieth-century psychiatrists in the spontaneous plastic productions of their patients and the setting up of the framework of artistic mediation therapies. One definition could be any use of an artistic practice for therapeutic purposes. The theoretical references on which this practice is based are: creativity, psychodynamic concepts, artistic references. A prior indication is essential before a patient can be oriented towards the different possible mediations: visual arts, music, theater, dance, writing. Emphasis is also placed on the problems of training the personnel able to lead these therapeutic courses.     

创造性案例教学模式在中医儿科学临床教学中的应用

目的 探讨创造性案例教学模式在中医儿科教学中的教学过程和应用优势.方法 以创造性案例教学模式对湖南邵阳医学高等专科学校学习中医儿科学课程的学生实施教学,课后和期末进行学生考核及问卷调查.结果 实验组中医儿科学综合成绩较往届学生明显提高,90％以上学生表示对创造性案例教学模式认同和肯定.结论 创造性案例教学模式能激发学习兴趣,促进学生主动学习,有助于提高学生学习能力、分析问题与解决问题能力、临床实践能力和创新思维能力.     

Engineering creativity: Prior experience modulates electrophysiological responses to novel metaphors

Novel metaphorical language use exemplifies human creativity through production and comprehension of meaningful linguistic expressions that may have never been heard before. Available electrophysiological research demonstrates, however, that novel metaphor comprehension is cognitively costly, as it requires integrating information from distantly related concepts. Herein, we investigate if such cognitive cost may be reduced as a factor of prior domain knowledge. To this end, we asked engineering and nonengineering students to read for comprehension literal, novel metaphorical, and anomalous sentences related to engineering or general knowledge, while undergoing EEG recording. Upon reading each sentence, participants were asked to judge whether or not the sentence was original in meaning (novelty judgment) and whether or not it made sense (sensicality judgment). When collapsed across groups, our findings demonstrate a gradual N400 modulation with N400 being maximal in response to anomalous, followed by metaphorical, and literal sentences. Between-group comparisons revealed a mirror effect on the N400 to novel metaphorical sentences, with attenuated N400 in engineers and enhanced N400 in non-engineers. Critically, planned comparisons demonstrated reduced N400 amplitudes to engineering novel metaphors in engineers relative to non-engineers, pointing to an effect of prior knowledge on metaphor processing. This reduction, however, was observed in the absence of a sentence type × knowledge × group interaction. Altogether, our study provides novel evidence suggesting that prior domain knowledge may have a direct impact on creative language comprehension.     

Revisiting Morenian psychodramatic encounter in light of contemporary neuroscience: Relationship between empathy and creativity

Polarization of the biological and psychosocial aspects of the human condition has long created aloofness between psychotherapists and neuroscientists, and prevented an open dialogue regarding a possible integrative approach. While we know that mind and brain are inseparable, the complexity of one's unique subjectivity, moreover intersubjectivity, is not easily translatable to the complexity of the brain's chemistry and physiology. This overview incorporates current biological thinking about the relationship of mind to brain into the philosophy and techniques of psychodrama. J.L. Moreno's concepts of encounter and role reversal are considered in light of the recent advances in cognitive neuroscience regarding creativity and empathy. These two faculties seem to be associated with opposite functioning in the prefrontal cortex, empathy with activation and creativity with inhibition. Although the neural circuitry involved in the two phenomena would be more complex, evaluating these two mental processes within a neuroscientific framework offers a renewed outlook on psychodrama, including more sophisticated hypotheses of how psychodrama may affect brain functioning and vice-versa.     

Application of alpha/theta neurofeedback and heart rate variability training to young contemporary dancers: State anxiety and creativity

As one in a series on the impact of EEG-neurofeedback in the performing arts, we set out to replicate a previous dance study in which alpha/theta (A/T) neurofeedback and heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback enhanced performance in competitive ballroom dancers compared with controls. First year contemporary dance conservatoire students were randomised to the same two psychophysiological interventions or a choreology instruction comparison group or a no-training control group. While there was demonstrable neurofeedback learning, there was no impact of the three interventions on dance performance as assessed by four experts. However, HRV training reduced anxiety and the reduction correlated with improved technique and artistry in performance; the anxiety scale items focussed on autonomic functions, especially cardiovascular activity. In line with the putative impact of hypnogogic training on creativity A/T training increased cognitive creativity with the test of unusual uses, but not insight problems. Methodological and theoretical implications are considered.     

Creativity and dissociation. Dance/movement therapy interventions for the treatment of compartmentalized dissociation

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between creativity and compartmentalized dissociation (CD) and explore clinical implications for treatment. After examining the distinction between detachment and CD, the paper presents the main developmental pathways that lead to pathological presentations of CD, highlighting the role of creativity and fantasy proneness. The paper defines the potential benefits of using creative approaches specifically focusing on dance/movement therapy (DMT) in the treatment of CD. These dance/movement interventions address some of the therapeutic tasks required for people with CD, such as the identification and mapping of alters and the improvement of communication, collaboration and coordination among them. The paper finally applies choreographic and performance lenses to the integration and mastery of therapeutic transitions, specifically pertaining to the transformation and fusion of alters. In this process, the paper both examines the benefits of the use of body and movement and also stresses potential caveats in working with this population.     

A Qualitative Study on the Effects of Psychoactive Substance use upon Artistic Creativity

Background: Psychoactive substance use has often been claimed to help generate and facilitate the artistic creative process. Aims: This study explored the role of artists' substance use in their creative processes and their efforts to balance between enhancement and relaxation. Methods: Semistructured interviews concerning the artistic creative process and the role of psychoactive substance use were recorded with 72 artists and analyzed using content analysis. The participants were classified according to their substance use in three groups (Cannabis Group, Alcohol Group, and Control Group). Results: Results show that both alcohol and cannabis were used to facilitate creativity and the emotional states that are necessary for the artistic creative process. Participants in the Control group reported that listening to music might function as a mind-altering tool. It was also found that for some artists, substance use is not only characteristic to creation, but it is also part of their everyday lives. Conclusion: Artists are aware of the balancing phenomenon during the artistic creative process. Whether psychoactive substance(s) or other environmental stimuli (such as music) are used to reach the required effect appears to depend upon the individual.