The Left and Far Left in American Psychoanalysis: Psychoanalysis as a Subversive Discipline

This article explores the political commitments of the European-born émigré psychoanalysts and a group of American-born psychoanalysts who had a far left (Communist or fellow traveler) past. It describes the national and local struggle for power and ascendency in these two groups. Also, the article explores the impact that Marxism had on the theory and practice of what I call “American Communist Psychoanalytic Thought Collective,” in particular on pragmatic optimistic and dialectical theory. The downside was rigidity, a sense of certainty, and lack of tolerance of dissent and organizational authoritarian structures. The article ends with a plea to restore the balance between control and risk in order to restore the vitality of psychoanalysis and assure its growth. After years of repression, exclusion, and schism, we need to subvert entrenched power and advance the thesis of roles and the antithesis of insurgency.     

Short-term groups with children: The yellow brick road to healthy development

This article will examine the diagnostic and treatment contributions of short-term groups with children and adolescents. The content will be based on a twelve week model, meeting weekly for one and a half hours. The creation of such groups will be explored, focusing on the importance of careful preparation in order to insure a successful group experience for both the children and the leader. A theory of development for short-term groups with children will be proposed. This theory is derived from the existing literature on long and short-term adult group development, as well as the developmental theory on long-term children's groups. A chart will focus on group dynamics, observable behaviors and the leader's role in the four stages of short-term group development.The Wizard of Oz is used to illustrate the theory supporting these stages of short-term group development. This paper was presented at the Children's Group Therapy Conference (Boston, MA) on May 1, 1993.     

Is psychoanalytic theory relevant to the psychology of women?

This article reviews the literature addressing the relevance of psychoanalytic theory to the psychology of women and offers a possible rapprochement between these divergent perspectives. This rapprochement is accomplished first by defining "psychoanalytic theory" and "the psychology of women" in line with current scholarship, then by comparing and contrasting these definitions in an item-by-item analysis. The basic tenets of modern psychoanalytic theory emerge as highly relevant to the understanding of the psychology of women, despite the fact that particular "brands" of psychoanalytic theory may not demonstrate this same compatibility.     

The protective role of brain size in Alzheimer's disease

The brain reserve hypothesis suggests that larger brain size is associated with a greater ability to tolerate pathological damage before showing any cognitive decline. This theory has been used to explain why many patients with Alzheimer's disease pathology are cognitively normal before death. However, the literature concerning the brain reserve hypothesis is mixed with evidence both for and against this theory. Perneczky and colleagues tested the theory by assessing whether premorbid brain size, measured using head circumference, alters the relationship between brain atrophy and cognitive decline in 270 Alzheimer's disease patients. They found that head circumference was associated with a reduced impact of atrophy on cognitive performance. Hence, for a given degree of atrophy, cognitive performance was better in patients with a larger head circumference. Therefore, these findings support the brain reserve hypothesis. This article will discuss the brain reserve concept and potential limitations and significance of this study.     

Prosper Lucas (1808–1885), l’aliéniste inspirateur de Charles Darwin

Prosper Lucas (1808–1885) was an alienist who in 1847 proposed an in-depth theory of heredity. This theory became, for more than half a century, the reference used by physicians and biologists in their work and research, but also by writers in their novels. Following a brief account of Lucas's life, this article will not only explore the ideas he developed on heredity but also the content of his interesting thesis on the imitation of behavior and the role of imitation in the origin of mental pathologies.     

Computational and noncomputational systems in brain and cognition: can one mask the other?

A theory is developed based on the premise that nonneural processes occur in the brain exemplified as spatial working memory, and is the seat of consciousness. Additionally, wave storage of spatial information, a Bose condensate to support the waves, and the location of wave storage are provided as illustrative, "existence proofs" that a coherent theory can be built along these lines in agreement with the data. The theory can be built argues on functional grounds that a nonneural spatial memory may serve a vital biological function. This article demonstrate how this same non-neural memory can bridge the explanatory gap to consciousness, in agreement with the facts. The article proposes a possible mechanism and location for the nonneural component.     

A relationship-based model for psychiatric nursing practice

PURPOSE: This article synthesizes research and theory in information processing, infant development, attachment theory, and trauma, and proposes a treatment framework for psychiatric nursing practice. CONCLUSIONS: The primacy of the nurse–patient relationship is central to healing, and elements of the psychotherapeutic relationship are delineated. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This model has the potential to serve as a practice framework for psychiatric nursing, for all levels of psychiatric nursing practice.     

Psychoeducational Psychotherapy (PEP) for Children With Bipolar Disorder: Two Case Studies

There is a significant gap in the research literature surrounding couples that demonstrate relational resilience to a member’s prior experience with intimate partner violence. This article focuses on relational resilience of intimate partner violence survivors who are in new relationships with non-violent partners. Interviews were conducted with 11 participants and analyzed using Grounded Theory. The goal of the research was to explore the process of moving from violent to non-violent relationships, and how survivors of violent relationships experienced their own relational resilience. The resulting data and theory are reviewed in this article.     

Deprivation versus importation: a model explaining the increase of suicide rates in custody

High suicide rates in jail, lock-up or prison settings have given rise to a debate about whether suicides result chiefly from the type of people confined, or from the types of places they are confined in, the types of confinement. This is summarily framed by the terms of an associated debate in criminology, between importation and deprivation theory. This paper describes the importation versus deprivation theory, concerning the circumstances in Austrian prisons and jails. The article reports on all completed suicides over the period from 1947 to 1999 (n = 410). The increase of suicide rates in Austrian jails and prisons is significant over the last fifty years. While the rate was stable between 1947 and 1975, we have a significantly increasing rate since 1975. In 1975 there was an important legislational reform of the criminal law in Austria. The implications of this reform are discussed in the light of the importation/deprivation theory.     

Learning theory and gestalt therapy.

This article discusses the theory and operations of Gestalt Therapy from the viewpoint of learning theory. General comparative issues are elaborated as well as the concepts of introjection, retroflextion, confluence, and projection. Principles and techniques of Gestalt Therapy are discussed in terms of learning theory paradigm. Practical implications of the various Gestalt techniques are presented.     

From school of community: transition services and career education for individuals with developmental disabilities

This article examines the theory and practice relating to transition services and career education for individuals with developmental disabilities in Japan. The article is also intended to guide future enactment and social services that affect life-cycle transitions.     

Vom Blick aus dem Muster zum Blick auf das Muster

This article expounds and compares basic principles of psychodrama as humanistic therapy and grounded theory as qualitative research method. Grounded theory is particularly appropriated to the analysis of psychodramatic work since the nature of process and a number of similar procedures are common to both. In the second part of this paper an example demonstrates the application of grounded theory to a psychodramatic understanding of dissociation and its therapy. Taking an outside perspective proved to be the core category with the highest level of integrative power in all three areas. This outside perspective enables the integration of hitherto disconnected parts, opens up a meta-level and empowers self direction.     

The role of personal contact with HIV-infected people in explaining urban,African American preadolescents' attitudes toward peers with HIV/AIDS

This article presents the results of a study aimed at describing African American youths' attitudes toward peers with HIV/AIDS and identifying correlates of these attitudes based on the contact theory. Baseline data from a sample of African American, urban mothers and their youth (n = 197) participating in a family-based HIV prevention program were analyzed. In support of contact theory, preadolescents' close relationship to persons infected with HIV/AIDS was highly related to their attitudes. However, no relationship was found between maternal attitudes or communication variables and youth attitudes. The implications of youths' experience with persons with HIV/AIDS as part of prevention programming are discussed.     

Cognitive-behavioral theories of eating disorders

This article presents an integrated cognitive-behavioral theory of eating disorders that is based on hypotheses developed over the past 30 years. The theory is evaluated using a selected review of the eating disorder literature pertaining to cognitive biases, negative emotional reactions, binge eating, compensatory behaviors, and risk factors for eating disorders. In general, hypotheses derived from cognitive-behavioral theories have been supported by a variety of research studies. The implications of these findings for treatment and prevention of eating disorders are discussed. This review of the literature serves as a conceptual base for some of the other articles that are included in this special issue of Behavior Modification. The article concludes with an introduction to six articles that discuss issues related to psychiatric classification, assessment, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders.     

Attachment and developmental psychopathology

This article describes the case of an 8-year-old boy who was first brought to clinical attention at age 2 1/2. He was followed by several clinicians over a 6-year period and was assigned a wide variety of diagnoses. From the first assessment to hospitalization at age 8, a pattern of mother-child relationship disturbance is evident. The use of principles and recent research derived from attachment theory provides a useful basis for formulation in this complex case. This report focuses on the relationship between the patient's mother's internal working models of attachment and his behavior in infancy and early childhood.     

Personal power and the cultural unconscious: implications for psychoanalytic theories of sex and gender

The changes in the way psychoanalysts theorize female psychology was in large part the result of changes that occurred in the context of the sex and gender movements of the last half of the 20th century. This article addresses the covert ways in which women sought to express power prior to women's liberation. It draws on psychoanalytic theory, emphasizing the study of power in conjunction with discourse theory in order to illustrate the complex ways change draws on both inner psychic impulses and changes in the cultural milieu.     

The psychometric foundations of goal attainment scaling

Critics contend that goal attainment scaling lacks an adequate theoretical framework; this lack has created conceptual and methodological difficulties. This article develops a mathematical model that defines the psychometric properties of the goal attainment scale and that links it both to the theory of normative measurement and to the theory of generalizability. Special calculations for measuring the predictive and concurrent validity of the goal attainment scale are proposed; prognostic indicators play a significant role in these formulations. The link to generalizability theory results from delineating the appropriate universe of referents.This article is a product of the Family GAS Project at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, 555 Middlefield Road, California 94301. The Project is funded in part by the Don D. Jackson Memorial Award. The authors want to acknowledge the help, support, and guidance given to them by James C. Coyne, Ph.D., Research Associate, and other staff members of the Mental Research Institute. They also wish to thank the referees for their valuable comments.     

Cognitive vulnerability to depression: exploring risk and resilience

Scientific progress in risk research does not always translate to progress in resilience research. One explanation for the disconnect between risk and resilience research is inadequate theory construction in psychopathology. In this article, the authors argue that improved theory construction can help bridge the gap between risk and resilience. An example from the field of depression is used to illustrate how well constructed theories of risk can be used to develop and test preventions and interventions that bolster resilience. This article concludes with a discussion about the need for cross-cultural research on risk and resilience, which exemplifies a variety of environmental and genetic risk and resilience factors encountered by different populations and cultures.