Search

Introduction: Working with dreams in groups allows understanding of unconscious phenomena that characterize it as unity and totality. The dreamer becomes the vehicle of emotions, fantasies,and anxieties that dominate the group at a given moment, allowing them to be understood and processed (Friedman et al., 2002). Recognizing a projected theme in the group generates a change of perspective for the group, which becomes a specific psychic space (Kaës, 2001), a shared psychic field. The analysis of the shared dreams helps the understanding of the emotional concerns related to the Covid 19 and its psychological repercussions. Methods: Six matrices of social dreaming of different groups for analytical purposes were conducted during the Covid pandemic period. The sessions were transcribed and the texts were analyzed by performing a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) with the support of Atlas.ti software. Results: From the analysis of the results, three main themes were identified: a) “Lately I have more nightmares when I am awake than when I am asleep": Nightmares during the Covid-19 pandemic; b) “Losing one’s senses and losing the sense”: Helplessness and environmental mastery across time and space; c) Do play like a child: Recalling the child-past in the uncertain present. Discussion and conclusions: Through dreams and dream narratives we witness the evolution of group thinking through a progressive growth of the links between individuals and the common and shared field. The members of the group are thus able to identify within dreams the meanings that are useful for the entire group to process the painful experience that unites them.

The emerging field of interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) is drawing attention to forms of emotion regulation which involve communication and social interaction as part of the regulation process. The availability of instruments to measure IER in different languages represents significant promise for future work in this field. The goal of the present study was to validate an Italian adaptation of a self-report instrument for the assessment of IER, the Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (IERQ; Hofmann et al., 2016). In an Italian sample (N=448), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the original structure comprising four factors (Enhancing Positive Affect, Perspective Taking, Soothing and Social Modelling). Correlations with other measures of emotion regulation showed good convergent validity of the questionnaire.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a state of health emergency affecting the entire world population. Given the serious practical and psychological difficulties and complications that have been experienced during this period, many scholars have created hypothesis, as a consequence, an increased possibility of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within the general population with significant implications for one’s dream activity. Participants in the study were recruited via the instant messaging application ‘WhatsApp’ for a period of 14 days. The study consisted of three phases: the first phase provided information on the purpose of the research and how to carry it out; in the second phase, each participant, using the Bionian model of dream experience as a focus, was asked to write down dreams, emotions and free connections/associations related to the dream. At the end of the collection, the texts obtained were analysed by means of a qualitative analysis performed with the aid of the MAXQDA software. The study confirms the computational and exploratory analysis of the text carried out in the research of Pesonen et al. (2020), finding also in our sample the presence of the hypothesized clusters going to explain the manifestation of imagery related to COVID-19 also within the dream activity. To confirm this, the nightmare of participant number 6 of the study is reported. The following qualitative research has offered an insight into the traumatic nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, showing how many unmetabolized ‘daytime elements’ have been reproposed in the dream scenario, recalling the symptomatology of PTSD through the presence of distressing content that affect the quality of sleep and the daily life of the individual.

Cardiac rehabilitation is the sum of psychological, physical and social treatments that are offered to cardiac patients to maintain or regain an active position in society. This study wants to evaluate changes in the perception of the illness and in the self-efficacy of the management of positive and negative emotions in patients who went through cardiac rehabilitation. Sixty-seven patients (20 females, 47 males) were selected within the cardiac rehabilitation unit in the Hospital of Cittadella (Italy). Illness Perception Questionnaire - revised version and the Scale for the self-efficacy of the management of positive and negative emotions were submitted at the beginning and at the end of the rehabilitation program. One-way analyses-of-variance were performed to evaluate different answers in questionnaires between pre- and post-evaluation, and to explore gender differences. A significant change was found in the perception of duration of illness, perceived as permanent and longer after the cardiac rehabilitation program. Furthermore, at the end of the cardiac rehabilitation program men perceived the illness more chronic than women, even if they are less worried and anxious. Intensive cardiac rehabilitation has a great emotional impact on cardiac patients, influencing their perception and management of the illness. Working on emotions, through psychological groups, helps patients change their beliefs by offering them a different perspective to approach the illness.

This research considers the observation of certain parameters within groups formed by patients affected by multiple sclerosis. A music/art therapist and a psychologist/psychotherapist at a neuro-rehabilitation structure in Venice led the groups. Our goal is to assess how the perception of the history of disease can change in patients by using myth and expressive-narrative workshops as a means of trans-formation. The following instruments were administered at the beginning, during, and at the end of the treatment: SCL–90–R, TAS–20, FAT.A.S.–G, and CGQ. Re-sults show a change in patients? perceptions of themselves, both with respect to their disease and to other people. Therefore, myths and their narration appear to be a possible resource that can promote mental transformation processes in an institu-tional neuro-rehabilitative context.

In all group therapeutic processes, there are interacting and interdependent mechanisms and changing conditions: the therapeutic factors (Corsini & Rosenberg, 1955; Yalom, 1995). These factors are intrinsic to the therapeutic process and unrelated to the type of group (Rorhbaugh & Bartels, 1975). The present study examines the factor structure of the questionnaire Factors Aspecific and Specific in the Group Therapy (FAT.A.S.-G.; Marogna, 2009), designed to investigate specific and non-specific therapeutic factors. The questionnaire was administered to 167 patients involved in a short-term psychotherapy group. The factor analysis identified two main dimensions: interdependence and the group as Object-Self. The Cronbach Alpha coefficients range from .88 to .93, showing high internal consistency between items.

This paper evaluates process and outcome in a 2 years supportive psychotherapy psychodynamic-oriented of a young adult self-referred for concerns about University choice. The diagnosis was Panic Attack Disorder (DSM-IV) with features of obsessive-compulsive and narcissistic personality disorder (PDM). Twenty-eight verbatim transcripts of the sessions were coded with the Psychodynamic Intervention Rating Scales, the Collaborative Interactions Scale and Defense Mechanism Rating Scale. A log linear analysis model showed the trends of process variables during the treatment. A hierarchical regression analysis evaluated the importance of tailoring the clinician interventions in respect to the average level of defenses. Outcome results showed how patient's diagnosis changed and symptoms decreased.

Il moltiplicarsi di proposte di intervento psicologico e la crescente richiesta da parte degli utenti e delle istituzioni di cura di misurare efficacy ed effectiveness delle psicoterapie, rende necessaria una valutazione empirica dei modelli di intervento applicati, attraverso lo studio di ciò che avviene in psicoterapia e dei relativi meccanismi di cambiamento e azione. Scopo del presente lavoro è introdurre il lettore ai diversi disegni di ricerca per la valutazione empirica della psicoterapia nel complesso contesto di alcuni servizi Universitari dell’Ateneo Patavino. L'interesse sarà posto sui diversi progetti e strumenti per la valutazione dell’esito, dei macro e dei micro processi di cambiamento di terapie ad indirizzo psicodinamico, caso singolo e di gruppo, anche in relazione alle neuroscienze.