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The current study examined the relationship between theoretical orientations and competencies in counseling women among professional counselors. Counselors currently meeting clients were recruited from professional counseling organizations, and the responses from 265 counselors were analyzed using structural equation models. Results indicated that a stronger psychoanalytic orientation predicted lesser competencies in counseling women, while stronger humanistic, feminist, and multicultural orientations predicted higher competencies in counseling women. The study highlights the need for counselors to integrate theoretical orientations with social justice perspectives to better serve women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the psycho-social dynamics of the INGOs (International Non-Governmental Organisations) focusing on 'salvation aid', a conscious and unconscious dynamic that underpins the way INGO humanitarian aid is delivered. It draws on insights from psychoanalytic theory, object relations and Lacanian-orientated approaches; alongside observations from the authors' experience of consulting to the humanitarian sector, and the views from experienced humanitarians in the field. Salvation aid gives the INGO humanitarian power-over a helpless other and also affords them psychological and emotional protection. This aspect of the libidinal economy of humanitarianism is often missed. Working with the imaginary idea that humanitarians are idealised good saviours becomes both a cultural power play and a social defence mechanism. Identifying with an idealised good self and taking up an unconscious collective identity of 'saviour', however, is depersonalising both for the aid recipient and the aid worker. Aid recipients are not seen as whole people, or communities, but are split off and become, in Kleinian terms, part-objects in the saviour's mind; victims without agency in need of our help (Klein, 1946). Likewise, the aid worker and their organisation also become depersonalised, as they also split off parts of themselves by projecting their own vulnerability, fear, helplessness, and anxiety onto the victim. The humanitarian sector faces many challenges, particularly funding reductions alongside rising levels of demand due to climate change and increased conflict due to protracted geopolitical challenges. How the humanitarian sector responds is currently problematic, with multiple reports that identify an urgent need for change. This paper makes a case that whilst the rational arguments for positive change are valid an unconscious attachment to 'salvation aid' in the humanitarian sector's global north is the sector's fundamental problem, creating unconscious and systemic resistance to the changes needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, through the lens of several theories of evil. It applies frameworks from Christopher Bollas, Ruth Stein, Sue Grand, Robert J. Lifton, and Aner Govrin to explore the psychological underpinnings of this act of terror. The study employs an interpretative approach to analyze the attacks, considering the perpetrators’ backgrounds and the sociopolitical context. Key concepts explored include Bollas’s ‘killed self’, Stein’s analysis of religious justification for violence, Grand’s ‘malignant dissociative contagion’, Lifton’s theory of totalism, and Govrin’s prototype of evil perception. The paper discusses how these theories illuminate the role of trauma, ideology, and psychological distortion in fostering extreme violence. It also considers the ethical implications of applying psychoanalytic theories to large-scale events and acknowledges the limitations of this approach. The analysis reveals common threads across theories, including the impact of psychological damage, disconnection from empathy, and the interplay of love and hate in acts of evil. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of recognizing suffering on all sides of the conflict while maintaining a clear moral stance against acts of terror. It calls for further interdisciplinary research to inform strategies for conflict resolution and prevention of future atrocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kristoffer Borgli’s, 2022 film ‘Sick of Myself (Syk Pike)’ has made quite an impact. Despite considered disturbing by viewers, this film has been widely watched and has received numerous awards. This situation raises the question of what makes this film so appealing. In this study, how psychoanalysis and Lacanian psychoanalytic theory began to be used in film analysis is discussed. Following this, ‘Sick of Myself’ is analyzed within the framework of Lacanian psychoanalytic theory by examining theories of narcissism, aggressivity, gaze, and phantasm in detail. Finally, in light of all this information, the reasons why this film is both disturbing and captivating at the same time are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs the psychoanalytic method of observation over 12 months to examine the development of an infant (Andrea) and her caregiving environment through weekly one-hour visits. Initially, the observations focused on interactions between Andrea and her mother, who was a single parent during pregnancy and Andrea’s early weeks. As the father became more involved, the focus broadened to include him, shifting the family dynamic from a dyadic to a triadic structure. This transition offers nuanced insights into the complexities of parental roles and the factors that enable ‘good enough’ parenting and healthy child development. The observations highlight that parenting, particularly caring for a newborn, is a challenging task requiring a collaborative family environment, with active parental involvement and broader support systems for both the caregiver and the child. This support helps ensure adequate parenting, which in turn fosters the infant’s emotional security and overall well-being. Drawing on psychoanalytic theories, these observations seem to show that while the primary caregiver-infant dyad is crucial, the effectiveness of caregiving and the child’s development are greatly enhanced by the larger support network. This underscores the need for stronger societal support systems to help caregivers and infants thrive, particularly in increasingly individualistic Western cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests were a stark reminder of the reality of problematic ‘race’ relations. This paper, originally conceived in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder with his final words ‘I can't breathe!’, examines the psychoanalysis of anti‐black racism as a contemporary problem to address. This raises important epistemological questions about the forms of knowledge that get produced given the complex relationship between psychoanalysis and coloniality. Frantz Fanon unpacked the impact of racial violence and the white gaze as one of alienation, nonbeing and Black Rage in White Skin, Black Masks. This paper makes use of Fanon's 1952 thesis and clinical vignettes from analysts of colour in relation to ‘race’ as well as secondary literature on psychoanalysis and postcoloniality inviting the reader to appreciate Black Rage as a legitimate and constructive affect. I submit two ‘anchors’ for psychoanalysis to consider in theory and in practice for the birth of a physical and psychic ‘room to breathe’, a place for the black individual to exist with more psychological sovereignty: (1) an extension of Melanie Klein's depressive position and (2) an extension of the concept of mourning, as crucial intrapsychic processes for black lives to matter. The argument advanced is that, due to the extraordinary historical, social and political circumstance placed on black people as a racially oppressed group, the trauma of racism is one of alienation to a zone of nonbeing, a ‘space’ which, incidentally, offers radical hope in the form of Black Rage. Psychoanalysis is adequately positioned to acknowledge Black Rage as a powerful affect and civic tool, and this may be thought about through intrapsychic processes originating in classical psychoanalytic theory as well as Kleinian object relations, principally the concepts of mourning and depressive awareness, which considered together liberate aspects of therapeutic work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmission is a concept that has a place in the English translation of Freud’s work, and hence, as predicted, it figures in different contexts of later generations of analysts. Still, as a theoretical concept, it is ambiguous and elusive. In my opinion, the concept of ‘transmission’ is underdeveloped. In this article, I present some clinical and conceptual issues on transference and transformation in light of when, how, and what is transmitted. The article also discusses several psychoanalytic theories that elucidate transmission, such as transference, projective identification, the analytic third, and transformation. Some philosophical and neuroscientific studies are also discussed. I will argue that work in and with transference – by transformation – there is something that gets transmitted. The clinical implication of this is that the analyst must be willing to be receptive to the transmitted part. Thus, we can conclude that we may delineate transference as being either subjective or intersubjective in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractIn the autumn of 2019 as the president elected of the Finnish Psychoanalytical Society I received an email from psychologist Gustav Molander who had been in psychoanalysis about fifty years ago. He remained deeply angry and upset about how he had been treated in his personal analysis. He demanded a public apology to be made by the whole Finnish psychoanalytic profession and referred to the apology APsaA had made to the LGBTQ+ Community in June 2019. This email exchange initiated a process of several stages and discussions which culminated on the 1st of July 2022 when the Finnish Psychoanalytical Society publicly apologized for pathologizing theories and the harm they have caused to sexual and gender minorities. This article is the author’s personal view of the process but the process itself was carried out in close teamwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is based on the assertion that Freud’s question about what people expect from life when analyzing the nature of the relationship between civilization and human beings nearly a century ago, and the answer he gave by emphasizing that people’s expectations from life are pleasure and happiness, are still up to date. The study is shaped around the main research question that emerged with neoliberalism’s rise about how people’s pursuit of pleasure and happiness is functionalized as a means of domination. The study’s theoretical basis is Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, and analyses are conducted within this framework. This is because, on the one hand, Freudian psychoanalysis contains an explanatory theoretical richness regarding the place of pleasure and happiness in the psychological functioning of human beings, and on the other hand, it can be evaluated within the scope of Freud’s warning that neoliberalism’s policies encouraging pleasure and happiness and a life motivation towards this would be dangerous for individual and social life. Based on this theoretical background, the study concludes that the promise of pleasure and happiness marketed by neoliberalism to individuals and societies is an illusion and that its demands on the individual and society in the name of providing them lead to further destruction, subordination, and self-exploitation in both individual and social psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this book review, I explore Sally Swartz's contribution to the Routledge Introductions to Contemporary Psychoanalysis series on the topic of psychoanalysis and colonialism. I outline my original interest in this topic and how encountering Swartz's book has been both an enlightening and surprising experience regarding the latent biases within psychoanalytic theory and practice. I review some of the main themes and strengths of the book while also outlining a gap that could have been addressed with a more lengthy engagement with this topic. Fundamentally, Swartz's book is both a historical enquiry into the background of psychoanalysis and a call to action within the contemporary perimeters of psychoanalytic practice. In this important contribution to balancing the hierarchies of inequality and unilateral expression within psychoanalytic spaces, I argue that Swartz's book is critically important reading but also must be set within the context of the broader Lacanian scholarly field of psychoanalysis and colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the idea of the nation has gained ascendance in modern times, it has also brought us to the brink of a deepening crisis. The nation as an 'imagined community' operates through multiple exclusions, not only of those who are outside it, but also of aspects of its members that cannot be readily encompassed by its own descriptions and ambitions of national selfhood. Most nations tolerate sub-identities, for example of tribes, clans or regions, only as long as their overall power is not challenged. Any internal voice likely to be perceived as a threat to the nation generally evokes a brutally suppressive reaction. This writing returns to the thoughts of Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, who is an engaged Buddhist practitioner. By delving into the exiled leader's dream of free Tibet, it recovers many possible and creative meanings of what a nation could be. Standing close to political visionaries—for instance M.K. Gandhi, Thich Nhat Hanh, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, B.R. Ambedkar amongst others—who have preceded him, the Dalai Lama too imagines the nation through a non-antagonistic vision that embraces otherness and strives for universal oneness. Drawing from Mahayana Buddhism, he provides ethical alternatives to the idea of the nation as an independent, exclusive and self-sufficient entity. In particular, this writing returns to his Nobel Lecture of 1989, in which he dreams of Tibet as a free country where all differences and forms of otherness are embraced and respected. His vision is premised on the belief that a Buddhist deconstructive analysis of 'self' would make it possible for self (non-self) and other to co-exist gracefully. Along with Buddhist thought, this article uses psychoanalytic theory and the perspective of the unconscious to think through ideas of the self, other and the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian classical is revered and celebrated throughout the world. However, the world of classical dance is selectively exclusionary. These practices seem insidious and deeply rooted in the history of Indian Classical dance. The dance world is haunted by the event of discarding the devdasi. Through this paper, we look at the impact on the psyche of the modern day dancer, whilst historically contextualising the caste based violence on devdasi practices. This paper demonstrates how classical dance in contemporary practices is rooted in a violent history of thievery and the obliteration of the devdasi. Using the psychoanalytic theory of abjection and disavowal, this work attempts to throw light on how these psychological processes maintain the power hierarchies in the world of Indian classical dance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popular conceptions notwithstanding, children are using the medium of writing in their different life spheres at present more than at any other time in human history. Therefore, examining this course of action will shed light on a central practice utilized by children in an attempt to better understand it. For this purpose, I analyzed the character of Momik, from the novel See Under: Love as a child who writes. In addition, I conducted critical readings of psychoanalytic, feminist, and literary theories. The results of this study indicate that children's writing is distinguished by two types of communication. The first, intrapersonal communication, centers on the individual's ability to talk to oneself and to analyze oneself through one's writing. The second type is interpersonal communication, which takes place between the individual and the environment; within this framework writing expresses subversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obsessive-compulsive and psychotic symptoms often occur concurrently or in succession. Various psychoanalytic theories attribute this joint occurrence to functional interrelations between compulsion and psychosis. This hypothesis was investigated by means of a systematic single case study. We analyzed qualitative and quantitative data from the inpatient treatment of a young woman with obsessive-compulsive and paranoid hallucinatory symptoms according to the hermeneutic single-case efficacy design (HSCED). The results indicate an interrelationship between the two symptom groups in the sense of a joint or alternating psychological triangulation function: compulsive and psychotic symptoms on their own or in combination can apparently temporarily introduce a third position, which is urgently needed by the patient, even at the cost of massive compromises to the patient's quality of life. Such functional relationships have implications for the assessment of treatment success. We discuss that in such complex dynamics in the therapy of psychosis there is a need to integrate psychodynamic concepts of therapeutic development into a model of personal recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author further explores and theorises themes from a recent autoethnographical essay 'Dangerous journey: memories of containment in Cuba' in which he detailed the immediate demanding period that followed the end of his own analysis – an event which occurred some time after the completion of his formal training. To study this very particular time-period in professional life, he draws on literature on endings in child psychotherapy and the progression of personal training analyses in the psychoanalytic professions, while also referencing discussions held with a range of child psychotherapy colleagues. The reader of this paper is invited to enquire why there are no child psychotherapy publications and a near-void in wider psychoanalytic publications on this important caesura, coupled with a lack of descriptions of the challenges of working in current NHS systems. The author also draws on his experiences to provide a brief, general commentary on such challenges. He hopes that the paper may encourage further writing in the profession on the place of personal analyses within (and often for a time after) the training – especially the possible meanings when ending them – and more broadly of their enduring place in the lives of child psychotherapists post-terminus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, several theoretical models have been proposed to explain how the expected and natural grief processes turns into psychiatric disorders. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of empirical research examining the basic assumption of psychoanalytic theory regarding pre-death conflict and bereavement related guilt. Accordingly, the current study aimed to investigate the mediator role of bereavement related guilt in the relationship between the pre-death conflict and maladaptive grief process. The sample consisted of 447 bereaved adults who lost a loved one due to death in the last 5 years. The Unfinished Business in Bereavement (UBBS), Bereavement Guilt Scale (BGS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale (PG-13) scales were administered. The results indicated that the UBBS scores were positively correlated with both BDI and PG-13 scores, and BGS scores mediated these relationships. Obtained findings were discussed in relation to psychoanalytic theory and existing studies in the grief literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Violence of diverse forms is often metaphorised in some African literature works as a semblance of culture and religion. Sefi Atta’s Swallow and Mariama Bâ’s So Long a Letter (SLaL) among other African writings experiment with themes of betrayal, conflict (violence), exploitation, hardship, death, and even friendship. These are epitomised in marriage, religio-cultural values, sexual harassment, transnational mobility, and divorce. Through the use of psychoanalytic theory in character and thematic depiction, the study revealed that both texts go beyond physical and psychological violence to the metaphorical and fictional discursive aspects of the female movement to self-actualisation. The representation of women’s experiences of violence in both texts had not only physical but also psychological dimensions portrayed in the narrative. Swallow, set in a stenchy-hustling Lagos, symbolises moral decadence and the insurrection of the unlikely female breadwinning. SLaL portrays the abandonment and vulnerability of brilliant and aspiring women. The estrangement of Ramatoulaye from her husband, despite her love and loyalty, and her subsequent subjugation to the Islamic mourning obligations after her husband’s death speaks volumes about the subtle violence women endure. Friendship becomes a coping strategy for violence in both texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The inclusion of family therapy in residential treatment centers (RTCs) has increased over time. However, there is little data on whether empirically-supported family therapies (ESFTs) are being adopted and if they contribute to treatment effectiveness. This study aimed to test whether Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT), an ESFT integrated into a large residential psychiatric system, would improve perceived attachment insecurity (anxiety and avoidance) and contribute to decreases in depression for adolescents. Method: ABFT was integrated into the clinical program of a large, residential psychiatric system. All family therapists were trained to a level of certification. Improvement was measured by changes in adolescent's perceived attachment to caregivers and reduction in depressive symptoms. The sample included 4786 patients. Attachment insecurity and depressive symptoms were measured at intake, week 3, and week 5. A random-intercept, cross-lagged panel model was used to examine the relationships between attachment and depression over time. Results: The results generally supported hypotheses. Attachment insecurity and depressive symptoms improved over the five weeks of treatment. Improvements in attachment avoidance preceded improvements in depressive symptoms within subjects, over time. Simultaneously, improvements in depressive symptoms preceded those in both dimensions of attachment. Thus, improvement in perceived attachment was associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms. Conclusion: RTCs that can generate improvements in attachment insecurity and depressive symptoms, via ABFT or other ESFTs, might improve treatment outcomes, and ideally, adolescents' successful transition back home to families. More research is needed to disentangle the contribution of ABFT and other treatment elements in a multimodal, residential treatment program. The study supports the call for increased incorporation of families into the RTC treatment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to identify the key elements of transitional care for families with pre-term infants in South Korea. We used an integrative review methodology proposed by Whittemore and Knafle. During the problem identification step, the review question was constructed via the population, intervention, outcome, and timeframe (PIOT) format. During the literature search step, integrative reviews of the published literature from nine electronic databases were undertaken and a total of 14 studies were reviewed that met our inclusion criteria. During the data evaluation step, the quality of the literature was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) developed by Hong et al. We identified three domains and 10 key attributes of transitional care for families of pre-term infants. The parenting empowerment domain included growth and development, developmental promotion, nutrition, safe environment, general parenting, and parent–infant interaction. The emotional support domain included counseling, advocacy, and community network. The social support domain included professional collaboration. Efforts should continue to further develop programs and policies to enhance transitional care for families of pre-term infants that reflect South Korean nursing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1926, Freud famously conjectured that the human ego defense of repression against an internal instinctual threat evolved from the animal motor defense of flight from an external predatory threat. Studies over the past 50 years mainly in rodents have investigated the neurobiology of the fight-or-flight reflex to external threats, which activates the emergency alarm system in the dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG), the malfunction of which appears likely in panic and post-traumatic stress disorders, but perhaps also in some "non-emergent" conditions like social anxiety and "hysterical" conversion disorder. Computational neuroscience studies in mice by Reis and colleagues have revealed unprecedented insights into the dPAG-related neural mechanisms underlying these evolutionarily honed emergency vertebrate defensive functions (e.g., explore, risk assessment, escape, freeze). A psychoanalytic interpretation of the Reis studies demonstrates that Freud's 1926 conjecture is confirmed, and that internal instinctual threats alone can also set off the dPAG emergency alarm system, which is regulated by 5-HT1A and CRF-1 receptors. Consistent with current psychoanalytic and neurobiologic theories of panic, several other of the primitive components of the dPAG alarm system may also have relevance for understanding of the unconscious determinants of impaired object relationships (e.g., avoidance distance). These dPAG findings reveal (1) a process of "evolution in situ ," whereby a more sophisticated dPAG ego defense is seen evolving out of a more primitive dPAG motor defense, (2) a dPAG location for the phylogenetically ancient kernel of Freud's Ego and Id, and (3) a Conscious Id theory that has been conclusively invalidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dream functions dynamically to organize data, to reinforce memory, to resolve conflict, and to perform many of the cognitive functions of what we refer to as waking thinking during REM and NREM brain periods that occur at night. Our understanding is informed by an understanding of sleep physiology and cognitive psychology, which introduce powerful changes in contemporary psychoanalytic theory, especially the research-based conceptualization of the implicit and explicit domains of learning, memory and knowledge, and by developments in the psychophysiology of sleep and dreaming, dream-content research and neuroscience. Rather than "lost on the royal road," perhaps paradoxically during these constructivist times, we know more about dreaming and its functions than ever before. Dreams can no longer be viewed as a royal road to the unconscious, but as a royal road to unconscious thinking. I have named this model as the organizational model of dreams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this monograph, we expand and alter our psychoanalytic theory of motivation. Our original contribution of five motivational systems was extended to seven motivational systems which are referred to frequently. They are physiological regulation, attachment, affiliation, caregiving, exploration and preferences, sensuality and sexuality, and aversiveness/withdrawal/antagonism. These seven systems are meant to provide an experiential view of human intentions, feelings, and goals. Seeking, rather than instinctual drive, is the spark that triggers motivational activity; and a person's interest is what directs and sustains seeking. In this monograph, we add to these proposals a still more radical revision of psychoanalytic theory. This revision, if followed, offers a different perspective on what is sought in an analytic therapy. We propose that a common theme that animates all motivational activity is the sense of power. Power refers to the experience of can-do, of being a doer doing. Maintaining a sense of power, when conceptualized as the primary motivational goal of daily life, moves psychoanalytic theory from the abstract to the personal. The main focus in therapy, thus, is moved from past experiences to the greater significance of the present moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book review discusses the second edition of "Time in Practice" by Mary Lynne Ellis, focusing on temporality, intersubjectivity, and listening differently in psychoanalytic practice. Ellis critiques major theorists like Freud, Jung, Klein, Lacan, and Winnicott, highlighting the limitations of their approaches and proposing a more nuanced and relational perspective. The review emphasizes the importance of acknowledging individual experiences, cultural influences, and the complexities of time in therapeutic relationships, urging therapists to listen attentively and consider diverse perspectives. [Extracted from the article]

Why do some perceive a partner's response as heartening while others interpret the same response as demoralizing? This study examined how attachment anxiety and avoidance influence perceived partner responses toward capitalization attempts (PRCA) and perceived mattering (PM) among married couples (N = 103 dyads). Dyadic analyses delineating the actor and partner effects revealed that wives' attachment avoidance predicted own PRCA, PM, and their husbands' PRCA. Whereas husbands' attachment avoidance predicted own PM and their wives' PRCA and PM, husbands' attachment anxiety predicted only their PRCA and PM. The interaction between wife and husband attachment anxiety also predicted the husbands' PRCA and PM. Husbands, but not wives, perceived the lowest level of PRCA and PM when both couples had high attachment anxiety. The results were discussed in the context of the interplay between attachment orientations and partner responsiveness in Turkish culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychodynamic psychotherapy does not feature in current treatment guidelines for attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the United Kingdom. However, there is some psychoanalytic understanding of the disorder, which is corroborated in current neuroscientific theory, and supports clinicians in thinking beyond the behaviourally biased diagnosis and treatment models. One of the core features of ADHD is distortions in chronoception. This clinical paper therefore explores the psychoanalytic and neuroscientific theories of time perception as a way of exploring a discrete element of the complex idea of executive functioning more generally. It supports therapists approaching such executive dysfunction and to reconsider the treatment guidelines. A case example is used to explore how a transference‐, affect‐ and relationally‐focussed therapy can effect lasting change for people with ADHD in a way that behavioural and medication approaches do not. It is argued that such an intervention can improve oscillatory attention between subjective‐ and objective‐time and increase the capacity to self‐contain emotions. This brings patients into alignment with reality and restarts their psychic development towards themselves, others, the parental couple and grieving, which stalled in infancy. The internalised schema of the 50‐minute therapy session also provides a frame of reference for future tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This narrative review evaluates the validity of 9 diagnostic approaches in characterizing psychiatric symptoms. Importance: Psychiatry mainly deals with conditions that are mediated by brain function but are not directly attributable to specific brain abnormalities. Given the lack of concrete biological markers, such as laboratory tests or imaging results, the development of diagnostic systems is difficult. Observations: This narrative review evaluated 9 diagnostic approaches. The validity of the DSM and the International Classification of Disorders (ICD) is limited. The Research Domain Criteria is a research framework, not a diagnostic system. The clinical utility of the quantitatively derived, dimensional Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology is questionable. The Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual Version 2 follows psychoanalytic theory and focuses on personality. Unlike the personality assessments in ICD-11 or DSM-5's alternative model, based on pathological extremes of the big 5 traits (extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism), it lacks foundation in empirical evidence. Network analytic approaches are intriguing, but their complexity makes them difficult to implement. Staging would be easier if individually predictive biological markers were available. The problem with all these new approaches is that they abstract patient experiences into higher-order constructs, potentially obscuring individual symptoms so much that they no longer reflect patients' actual problems. Conclusions and Relevance: ICD and DSM diagnoses can be questioned, but the reality of psychopathological symptoms, such as hallucinations, depression, anxiety, compulsions, and the suffering stemming from them, cannot. Therefore, it may be advisable to primarily describe patients according to the psychopathological symptoms they present, and any resulting personal syndromes, embedded in a framework of contextual clinical characterization including personality assessment and staging. The DSM and ICD are necessary for reimbursement, but they should be simplified and merged. A primarily psychopathological symptoms–based, clinical characterization approach would be multidimensional and clinically useful, because it would lead to problem-oriented treatment and support transdiagnostic research. It should be based on a universally used instrument to assess psychopathology and structured clinical characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious education, religion and philosophy, and spirituality in individuals and families are current and pertinent to Sri Lanka today. The topic will discuss the religious faith of the Dutch Burgher community in Sri Lanka. It will investigate whether Dutch Burghers' have been impacted by Christianity. The objective of the study is to ascertain whether moral, Christian, and social values, crucial for the development of an individual's spiritual life or personality, are derived from religious faith and spirituality, which are associated with personality formation. Carl Muller's trilogy- The Jam Fruit Tree, Yakada Yaka and Once Upon A Tender Time a rigorous account of the Burgher community, will be used to analyze this in light of Sri Lankan fiction. The trilogy will be textually evaluated as part of the methodology by applying post-colonial and psychoanalytic theories. It will also offer a sociological examination of the Dutch Burgher community in Sri Lanka. The study aims to explore whether religion has influenced the development of the faith of the Dutch Burgher population in Sri Lanka and whether the Catholic environment Dutch families, the Catholic environment, and the clergy have contributed to the creation of responsible, socially acceptable individuals. According to the study, citizens engage in religious activities on various days, months, and seasons as part of their routine. Consequently, religion has devolved into something shallow. It will look into whether Dutch Burghers are spiritually and religiously hybrid, as Bhabha claims, or if they are victims of modernism and are not actual Christians. The study concludes with a specific reference to Carl Muller's trilogy Christianity had no bearing on the lives of Sri Lanka's Dutch Burgher community or the formation or development of any faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "A Comparative Evaluation of the Narrative Thoughts in Chinese and Western Classical Literature" by Chen explores the narrative techniques and philosophies in Chinese and Western classical literature. It delves into the differences in narrative structures, emphasizing the importance of time and space in constructing engaging narratives. The article highlights the influence of Confucian and Daoist ideals on Chinese literature, contrasting with Western literary traditions rooted in Aristotelian concepts. By employing diverse theoretical frameworks and examining specific literary works, the article aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the intricate interaction between Chinese and Western narrative traditions. [Extracted from the article]

In recent years, a lot of interest has been devoted to the study of sexual coercion. Although the definition varies across studies, sexual coercion is generally defined as the employment of tactics to obtain sexual activity against freely given consent. Several measures of sexual coercion exist, however those measures present some methodological limitations. The purpose of this study was to create and validate a scale of sexual coercion using items from the Multidimensional Inventory of Development, Sex, and Aggression and assess its validity. The sample included 529 adult males who were incarcerated for a sexual offence. Results revealed that a 5-item version of the sexual coercion scale had the best psychometric properties, with good internal consistency, convergent and concurrent validity. Furthermore, the item response theory analysis shows that most items were considered difficult and that all items discriminate between individuals at different levels along the continuum. PRACTICE IMPACT STATEMENT: The construction and validation of a sexual coercion scale would also allow for more appropriate programmes and interventions. A better understanding of the continuum (i.e. to understand the continuum as a continuum of tactics) would help educate individuals about inappropriate sexual behaviours and the concept of consent. To do so, professionals require appropriate instruments to accurately measure this complex problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pilot study aims to explore the experiences of grief and mourning practices of bereaved adults during the pandemic. Eleven adults who have lost a loved one since March 2020 participated in a semi-structured interview exploring the experiences of grief and mourning. Data were analyzed through Thematic Analysis. Participants experienced contrasting psycho-emotional reactions to loss, and they highlighted the restriction of being physically present to the dying loved one as the hardest aspect of losing someone during COVID-19. Moreover, they identified challenging factors during the funeral practices: the small number of mourners during ceremonies, abstinence from hugging and touching each other as a form of consolation, and wearing masks, which further made the ceremony impersonal. Finally, the alteration of the paying respects process has contributed to the mourners' experienced stress and sorrow. Findings are discussed per the current literature and recommendations based on cultural diversities are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this conversation, Anne Anlin Cheng and Shivani Radhakrishnan address questions of writing across genre, the burdens of representation for Asian Americans, and the ties between intimate experiences of loss and larger social histories of racialized gender. This discussion draws from lived experience, psychoanalytic theory, histories of art and architecture, and scholarship on race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this conversation David L. Eng and Shinhee Han sit down with the guest editor of this issue, Mary Kim Brewster, to speak informally about their 25-year collaboration, how they came to write together about the psychic lives of Asian Americans, their observations regarding the mental health and well-being of Asian Americans from their individual perspectives of the clinic and the classroom, and their recent work exploring the racial rage and racial guilt that Asian Americans are socialized to hold for others. Reflecting on the arc of their writing and clinical work Eng and Han speak to how centering the experience of the unthought Asian American subject, in the context of an untaught Asian American history, illuminates the disturbing thought of race at the heart of psychoanalytic theory and practice. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author reflects on how her work in attachment theory and research and its implications for psychoanalysis grew out of listening to Joseph Lichtenberg as he listened to and engaged with attachment concepts as a clinician and researcher. This paper explores Lichtenberg's multiple contributions to exploring and understanding how clinical psychoanalysis might be revised by attachment theory and research, while also providing new directions for psychoanalytic theory and practice. The paper focuses on three areas of Lichtenberg's contributions including 1) the theory of motivational systems which involved the recognition that humans have an innate proclivity to seek comfort and care from significant attachment figures which placed attachment squarely at the heart of the seven motivational systems; 2) the concept of how motivational systems are linked to representations that become their intrapsychic legacy; and finally 3) the concept of embodied simulation, or the idea that all representational structures are rooted in sensory, emotional, and enacted experience with objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution explains how the book, Psychoanalytic Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice: Reading Joseph D. Lichtenberg, was conceptualized and orchestrated by the two co-editors, Linda Gunsberg and Sandra Hershberg, as an oral history project. Gunsberg and Hershberg comment on the experiential origins of Lichtenberg's psychoanalytic psychotherapy/psychoanalysis – a Psychoanalytic Inquiry – which includes the emergence of an intermediary space created by the patient and therapist/analyst together, and empathic listening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the formation of a Disability Caucus within the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) to advance disability recognition in academia and scholarship. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing disabled people on-screen, behind the scenes, and in the academy. The caucus aims to provide a forum for solidarity among SCMS members with disabilities and advocate for representation and access within the organization. The authors highlight the intersection of disability in cinema and media studies and the need for inclusive dialogue and support for disabled scholars. [Extracted from the article]

Changes in the individual's attachment orientation toward greater security are considered an important clinical goal. One promising underlying process of change in attachment orientation is shifting the emotion regulation tendency, in which the individual progresses from overreliance on the self or on the other to regulate emotional arousal. The present study utilized a computational approach to study shifts in the emotion regulation tendency as these manifest in the patient's and therapist's vocally encoded emotional arousal. The study examined whether shifts in the regulation tendency are associated with decreases in the level of insecure attachment and in strengthening of the therapeutic alliance. Shifts in the regulation tendency were examined throughout the early stages of treatment (Sessions 1–4) using 11,710 talk turns within 52 patient–therapist dyads. Findings suggest that shifts in the emotion regulation tendency are associated with greater strengthening of the therapeutic alliance and a decrease in the level of attachment avoidance. Public Significance Statement: This is the first study that examined the therapeutic importance of shifting the individual's emotion regulation tendency. The study used a computational approach to calculate shifts in the regulation tendency, as it manifests in vocally encoded emotional arousal. Findings suggest that progressing from overreliance on the self or on the other to regulate emotional arousal is associated with strengthening of the therapeutic alliance and with further decreases in attachment avoidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shame-proneness refers to one's dispositional tendency to experience shame across a variety of situations. Shame-proneness is significantly related to a wide range of mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, substance abuse, and more. Attachment theory and interpersonal neurobiology suggest that secure attachment protects against shame-proneness, whereas insecure attachment contributes to shame-proneness. However, there is scant empirical research exploring this relationship. This study explored childhood attachment with primary caregivers as a predictor of shame-proneness in adulthood. A sample of 340 adults, U.S. residents aged 18 and over, was recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online crowdsourcing platform. Multiple regression analyses revealed that certain insecure attachment styles, specifically anxiety and disorganization, significantly related to shame-proneness, whereas avoidance did not. Secure attachment was negatively related to shame-proneness, but the relationship was statistically insignificant. Social workers and other mental health professionals can benefit from an increased understanding of the relationship between childhood attachment and shame-proneness that this study provides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Humanities Journal of University of Zakho (HJUOZ) is the property of Humanities Journal of University of Zakho and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Folklor / Edebiyat is the property of Cyprus International University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

How do women reject the feminine in postfeminist working life, and to what effects? Organisational scholars have long argued that the feminine is discouraged or reconfigured in neoliberal, postfeminist organisations that value masculine-oriented traits. But what the feminine encompasses, how it is rejected and to what effects is less clear. In this article, we draw on feminist post-Jungian theory, which understands the feminine as archetypal, emerging over thousands of years of human history and characterised by paradox, circularity, being and descent. Feminist Jungian thinkers agree that the archetypal feminine is neglected, if not denigrated, in neoliberal, capitalist cultures, much to our detriment. Reflecting on data from a qualitative, longitudinal study on early career formation and work experiences with 15 young women, we reflexively discuss how in postfeminist working life, disavowing the archetypal feminine manifests by: adhering to ascensionist ideals to the detriment of slowness and inactivity; engaging linear thinking to the detriment of cyclical, paradoxical being; and avowing rational objectivity to the detriment of embodied instinct. This engenders both collusion with postfeminist power structures and psychic effects such as dis-ease and anxiety, which we argue can be ameliorated by recognising and embracing the archetypal feminine within. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aim: The main purpose of the present study was to validate the Slovenian version of the 41-item Capacity to Love Inventory (CTL-I). Based on psychoanalytic theory, limitations to capacity to love are expected to be associated with personality dysfunction and disintegration as well as fundamental mental capacities such as self-reflection and self-awareness. Method: To examine these assumptions, a sample of 552 Slovenian non-clinical individuals were recruited through academic networks. The construct validity of the CTL-I was assessed using a confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity of the CTL-I and its subscales was established against IPO-16, PID-5 BF, MAAS. Results: Our findings show that the Slovenian version of the CTL-I replicated the six-factor structure, exhibiting good model fit as well as satisfactory internal consistency of all subscales. In line with expectations, capacity to love was found to be inversely associated with dysfunctional personality traits and structural personality disturbances. Accordingly, higher dispositional mindfulness was coherently associated with all domains of CTL-I. Conclusion: The results add to the growing evidence for the cross-cultural validity and sound psychometric properties of CTL-I, presented here in the Slovenian version. Our findings also point to the significance of dispositional mindfulness both in relation to capacity to love as well as mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the development of narcissistic vulnerability and manifestations of toxic masculinity in some Chinese males, examining the interplay of cultural, historical, and psychological factors. Drawing on psychoanalytic theories and clinical case studies, the author argues that certain aspects of Chinese culture—such as authoritarian social structures, rigid gender roles, transgenerational trauma, and dysfunctional family dynamics—can contribute to these phenomena. The deprivation of crucial selfobject experiences, vital for a cohesive sense of self, may lead to compensatory performances of stoicism, achievement obsession, and domination that align with toxic masculine ideals. Two clinical vignettes illustrate how these dynamics manifest across different generations, despite China’s socioeconomic progress. The essay conceptualizes toxic masculinity as potentially stemming from developmentally-impeded narcissistic health in some cases, calling for approaches that address core ruptures to guide affected individuals towards greater self-acceptance and healthier relationships. However, the author cautions against overgeneralization, emphasizing that these dynamics may only reflect the experiences of a subset of Chinese males rather than being universally applicable across Chinese culture and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The father image exerts a profound influence on the identity formation of fictional characters within their narrative worlds. The interaction between paternal authority and individual identity has been a pivotal theme in literature, art, and science since the time of Sophocles. This interaction, especially from the 19th century onward -an era where the effects of modernity became markedly pronounced-has been intricately and often negatively portrayed in the works of towering modernist figures such as Fyodor M. Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, D.H. Lawrence, and James Joyce. Based on this context, this study meticulously examines the negative father image in Oğuz Atay's novels, situating this phenomenon within an expansive socio-psychological framework. Employing Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theories as a foundation, the analysis delves into how these adverse paternal images resonate with the fragmented and atomized reality of modern or 'late-modern' periods. This scholarly analysis is further enriched by incorporating Ihab Hassan's perspectives, which are fundamental in the discourse of modernist and postmodernist literature. In this regard, the study comprehensively analyses the primary characters in Atay's novels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptualisations of grief have transformed significantly in recent decades, from an experience accepted and expressed in community spaces to a diagnosable clinical phenomenon. Narratives of this transformation tend to focus on grief's relationship to major depression, or on recent nosological changes. This paper examines the possibility of a new narrative for medicalisation by grounding in the networks of language and power created around 'grief' through a critical discourse analysis of psy‐discipline articles (n = 70) published between 1975 and 1995. Focusing on shifts in definitions of, methods used to approach, and rationales motivating study of the experience, it posits that the psy‐disciplines exerted exclusive expertise over grief decades before its creation as a diagnosis. By reconceptualising grief in the terms of psy‐specific symptoms and functional performance and by approaching it with the decontextualising and interventionist methods of an increasingly scientific psy‐discipline, the psy‐community medicalised grief between 1975 and 1995. Identifying neoliberal and other cultural influences shaping this process of medical construction and reconsidering narratives of grief's history mindful of the powers exerted in medicalisation, this paper establishes that these moments played a critical role in the development of the present's grief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This longitudinal study involved youths in residential care due to previous adverse experiences and their educators, aiming to investigate the role of youths and educators' attachment, educators' psychopathology, and the quality of youth–educator relationship on change scores of youths' symptoms and youth–educator relationship security over 6 months. Method: Participants were 36 institutionalized youths (Mage = 16.50 ± 2.13) and their 25 main educators (Mage = 38.48 ± 5.75), assessed at baseline (T1) and 6 months later (T2). Youths were assessed in total, internalizing and externalizing problems via a multi‐informant approach, and educators in psychopathology levels. Attachment representations of youths and educators were assessed through validated attachment interviews (Friends and Family Interview and Adult Attachment Interview), and both separately rated the youth–educator relationship. Results: (1) Most cases remain stable over 6 months. (2) Educator narrative coherence and the quality of youth–educator relationship at baseline were correlated but not predictive of change in youths' symptoms. (3) Youths' higher attachment disorganization at baseline was the unique predictor of 14% variance of positive change in the youth–educator relationship security perceived by the youth. (4) Youth attachment avoidance uniquely predicted 37% of positive change variance in the youth–educator relationship security perceived by educators. Conclusion: In conclusion, attachment‐based assessment of youths and educators can inform intervention to foster youth improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "Sociality and Psychoanalysis: Conversational Flows" explores the relationship between sociality and psychoanalysis, examining the libidinal ties that bind humans and the factors that affect them. It discusses the role of societal constraints and phylogenetic inheritances in the development of psychopathologies. The article also explores the ethical dimension of psychoanalysis influenced by continental philosophy and critical theory. It includes a bibliography of texts covering various aspects of sociality and psychoanalysis, including group work, queer theory, and critical race studies. The sources listed can be valuable for library patrons researching specific topics in sociality and psychoanalysis, such as capitalism, feminist theory, racism in algorithmic thought, and queer theories. [Extracted from the article]

This report on the proceedings of the "Rank Horror" symposium, convened in May 2024 to reconsider Otto Rank's life, work, and enduring contributions to psychoanalytic theory and practice, includes a brief historical survey of Rank's relationship to Sigmund Freud and other original members of the International Psychoanalytic Association's Central Committee, and an account of the symposium's wider intellectual and political context. It outlines the reasons for returning to Rank now, and a summary of the papers presented. Particular focus is afforded to Rank's 1924 book, The Trauma of Birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]