Self-disclosure, transference, and countertransference.

Flexibility in Treatment: A Trial of Walking Psychotherapy

Psychodynamic Psychiatry ◽

10.1521/pdps.2020.48.3.295 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 295-313

Author(s):

Cathy R. Schen

Keyword(s):

The Body ◽

Video Conference ◽

Self Disclosure ◽

Social Distancing ◽

Transference And Countertransference ◽

The World ◽

Patient Responses ◽

Many Sources ◽

Spread Of Infection

Flexibility in the psychotherapeutic frame of treatment arises from many sources, from the general to the personal, and can take several forms. This article looks at walking while conducting psychotherapy with patients and explores the ways in which flexibility in treatment can enhance the alliance, how walking side by side brings the body into focus with its implications for transference and countertransference, and how associations to landscape evoke past memories and access emotions. Issues relating to self-disclosure and boundaries, as well as patient responses to the psychotherapist's personally driven request to consider walking during psychotherapy are addressed. Since writing this article, the coronavirus pandemic has swept across the world and required psychotherapists everywhere to bend the frame of treatment and meet with patients virtually—by phone or video conference—to maintain social distancing and prevent the spread of infection. The hardships posed by this shift in treatment frame combine with benefits not dissimilar to those found with psychotherapy while walking.

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Spotlight on the Clinician in the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia: Balancing Relationship-Centered Care and Professionalism

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2019_persp-19-00025 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 414-424

Author(s):

Rochelle Cohen-Schneider ◽

Melodie T. Chan ◽

Denise M. McCall ◽

Allison M. Tedesco ◽

Ann P. Abramson

Keyword(s):

Social Workers ◽

Therapeutic Relationship ◽

Interprofessional Collaboration ◽

Opportunity To Learn ◽

Subjective Experiences ◽

Speech Language Pathologists ◽

Self Disclosure ◽

Centered Care ◽

High Standards ◽

Therapeutic Encounter

Background Speech-language pathologists make clinical decisions informed by evidence-based theory and “beliefs, values and emotional experiences” ( Hinckley, 2005 , p. 265). These subjective processes, while not extensively studied, underlie the workings of the therapeutic relationship and contribute to treatment outcomes. While speech-language pathologists do not routinely pay attention to subjective experiences of the therapeutic encounter, social workers do. Thus, the field of social work makes an invaluable contribution to the knowledge and skills of speech-language pathologists. Purpose This clinical focus article focuses on the clinician's contribution to the therapeutic relationship by surfacing elements of the underlying subjective processes. Method Vignettes were gathered from clinicians in two community aphasia programs informed by the principles of the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia. Results and Discussion By reflecting on and sharing aspects of clinical encounters, clinicians reveal subjective processing occurring beneath the surface. The vignettes shed light on the following clinical behaviors: listening to the client's “whole self,” having considerations around self-disclosure, dealing with biases, recognizing and surfacing clients' identities, and fostering hope. Speech-language pathologists are given little instruction on the importance of the therapeutic relationship, how to conceptualize this relationship, and how to balance this relationship with professionalism. Interprofessional collaboration with social workers provides a rich opportunity to learn ways to form and utilize the benefits of a strong therapeutic relationship while maintaining high standards of ethical behavior. Conclusion This clinical focus article provides speech-language pathologists with the “nuts and bolts” for considering elements of the therapeutic relationship. This is an area that is gaining traction in the field of speech-language pathology and warrants further investigation.

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Appropriate Targets for Search Advertising as Part of Online Gatekeeping for Suicide Prevention

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000486 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (3) ◽

pp. 197-204 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hajime Sueki ◽

Jiro Ito

Keyword(s):

Suicide Prevention ◽

Daily Life ◽

Web Pages ◽

Service Users ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Consultation Service ◽

Self Disclosure ◽

Search Advertising ◽

Consultation Services ◽

Age Range

Abstract. Background: Gatekeeper training is an effective suicide prevention strategy. However, the appropriate targets of online gatekeeping have not yet been clarified. Aim: We examined the association between the outcomes of online gatekeeping using the Internet and the characteristics of consultation service users. Method: An advertisement to encourage the use of e-mail-based psychological consultation services among viewers was placed on web pages that showed the results of searches using suicide-related keywords. All e-mails received between October 2014 and December 2015 were replied to as part of gatekeeping, and the obtained data (responses to an online questionnaire and the content of the received e-mails) were analyzed. Results: A total of 154 consultation service users were analyzed, 35.7% of whom were male. The median age range was 20–29 years. Online gatekeeping was significantly more likely to be successful when such users faced financial/daily life or workplace problems, or revealed their names (including online names). By contrast, the activity was more likely to be unsuccessful when it was impossible to assess the problems faced by consultation service users. Conclusion: It may be possible to increase the success rate of online gatekeeping by targeting individuals facing financial/daily life or workplace problems with marked tendencies for self-disclosure.

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Coming Together Through Falling Apart

Rorschachiana Journal of the International Society for the Rorschach ◽

10.1027/1192-5604/a000115 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 151-168

Author(s):

Heather Churchill ◽

Jeremy M. Ridenour

Keyword(s):

Data Analysis ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Structural Changes ◽

Systematic Approach ◽

Qualitative Approach ◽

Psychological Assessments ◽

Transference And Countertransference ◽

Testing Data ◽

Psychoanalytically Oriented Psychotherapy

Abstract. Assessing change during long-term psychotherapy can be a challenging and uncertain task. Psychological assessments can be a valuable tool and can offer a perspective from outside the therapy dyad, independent of the powerful and distorting influences of transference and countertransference. Subtle structural changes that may not yet have manifested behaviorally can also be assessed. However, it can be difficult to find a balance between a rigorous, systematic approach to data, while also allowing for the richness of the patient’s internal world to emerge. In this article, the authors discuss a primarily qualitative approach to the data and demonstrate the ways in which this kind of approach can deepen the understanding of the more subtle or complex changes a particular patient is undergoing while in treatment, as well as provide more detail about the nature of an individual’s internal world. The authors also outline several developmental frameworks that focus on the ways a patient constructs their reality and can guide the interpretation of qualitative data. The authors then analyze testing data from a patient in long-term psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy in order to demonstrate an approach to data analysis and to show an example of how change can unfold over long-term treatments.

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Initiating, Maintaining, or Breaking Up?

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000200 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 45 (5) ◽

pp. 408-420 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Michela Menegatti ◽

Monica Rubini

Keyword(s):

Romantic Relationships ◽

Romantic Relationship ◽

Self Disclosure ◽

Level Of Abstraction ◽

Problematic Relationship ◽

Abstract Language ◽

Language Abstraction

Two studies examined whether individuals vary the level of abstraction of messages composed to achieve the relational goals of initiating, maintaining, and ending a romantic relationships when the goal of communication was self-disclosure or persuading one’s partner. Study 1 showed that abstract language was preferred to disclose thoughts and feelings about initiating a romantic relationship or to persuade the partner to consolidate a long-term one. Study 2 revealed that participants used abstract terms to persuade the partner to continue a problematic relationship and to disclose their thoughts on ending it. These results show that language abstraction is a flexible means to handle individuals’ goals and influence the course of romantic relationships.

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