Countertransference Reactions toward Specific Client Populations: A Review of Empirical Literature

2003 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 651-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Schwartz ◽  
Heather M. Wendling

Countertransference reactions can either benefit or hinder mental health professionals during the therapeutic process. An awareness of countertransference reactions can aid clinicians in understanding and anticipating their own specific emotional responses toward certain client populations. Recent empirical research suggests that common countertransference reactions may occur in mental health professionals when relating to certain client types. Since a literature review indicated that more numerous and reliable tests have been developed to measure countertransference during the past decade, as well as better research designs, this article reviews and summarizes all empirical research studies on countertransference reactions toward specific client populations during the past 10 years, from 1990 to 2001.

Author(s):  
Beatriz Gómez ◽  
Shigeru Iwakabe ◽  
Alexandre Vaz

Interest in psychotherapy integration has steadily expanded over the past decades, reaching most continents of the world and more mental health professionals than ever. Nevertheless, a country’s cultural and historical background significantly influences the nurturance or hindrance of integrative endeavors. This chapter seeks to explicate the current climate of psychotherapy integration in different continents and specific countries. With the aid of local integrative scholars, brief descriptions are presented on integrative practice, training, and research, as well as on cultural and sociopolitical issues that have shaped this movement’s impact around the world.


1999 ◽  
Vol 175 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael King ◽  
Annie Bartlett

BackgroundOpposition to homosexuality in Europe reached a crescendo in the 19th century. What had earlier been regarded as a vice evolved as a perversion or psychological illness. Official reviews of homosexuality as both an illness and (for men) a crime led to discrimination, inhumane treatments and shame, guilt and fear for gay men and lesbians. Only recently has homosexuality been removed from all international diagnostic glossaries.AimsTo review how British psychiatry has regarded homosexuality over the past century.MethodReview of key publications on homosexuality in British psychiatry.ResultsThe literature on homosexuality reflects evolving theories on sexuality over the past century. The assumptions in psychoanalysis and the behavioural sciences that sexuality could be altered led to unscientific theory and practice.ConclusionsMental health professionals in Britain should be aware of the mistakes of the past. Only in that way can we prevent future excesses and heal the gulf between gay and lesbian patients and their psychiatrists.


2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison O'Connor ◽  
Patricia Casey

AbstractObjectives: There have been concerns in the international literature that the manner in which psychiatry and psychiatric patients is portrayed in the print media is negative and sensational. If correct this has serious implications for the stigma and prejudice that our patients will suffer. This study was designed to evaluate the content and tone of articles relating to psychiatry. It was compared with a broadly similar study published in 1995 and will form the base from which to measure changes in psychiatric coverage over time.Method: All the daily broadsheets, one daily tabloid and three Sunday broadsheets were examined for a six month period in 1999 and all articles, letters or headlines incorporating psychiatry-related material were examined. Using specific definitions, articles and headlines were examined for tone and content as well as for the contribution of mental health professionals.Results: Overall 0.65 articles per newspaper per day were found. News items and feature predominated, with forensic issues receiving the greatest attention. The tone of the articles was either neutral or positive and the improvement in the tone of articles in the tabloids was particularly noticeable when compared with an earlier study. This is very different from the findings of international studies. However, the headlines were more sensational in tone than the contents of the articles themselves. Increasingly the opinion of health professionals was sought but contributions from psychiatrists remained low, writing just two articles and constituting 15% of health professionals whose opinions were sought. Nine per cent of items constituted misuse of terms.Conclusions: The Irish print media are not hostile to psychiatry and there has been an improvement in tone and type of article in the past five years. Greater involvement of psychiatrists in the media and particularly more direct engagement with editors is required if there is to be a shift from coverage of forensic matters in favour of informative articles as well as improvement in the headline tone.


2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-102
Author(s):  
J. P. Tobin

We are painfully aware: Psychiatry in some states of the international community is often used to subvert the political and legal guarantees of the freedom of the individual and to violate seriously his human and legal rights (Daes,1986).ObjectiveIt can be politically convenient to incarcerate political opponents in a psychiatric hospital. It saves any potential political embarrassment that a judicial trial may present. It also undermines the credibility of opponents by labelling them with the stigma of being mentally insane. For this to occur, there has to be the acquiescence of mental health professionals and a subservient legal system.MethodThis article examines the abuse of psychiatry in two authoritarian systems, Russia and China.ResultNew diagnostic categories such as sluggish schizophrenia were created to facilitate the silencing of dissenters and were a source of self-deception for psychiatrist to placate their consciences as they operated as a tool of oppression on behalf of a political system.ConclusionIf we do not know the past, we will be condemned to repeat it.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (33) ◽  
pp. 327-332
Author(s):  
Viviane Venturi ◽  
Luiz Faustino dos Santos Maia ◽  
Ana Maria Sanches ◽  
Cidia Vasconcellos

Pessoas que vivem em situação de rua foram caracterizadas como pessoas que não dispunham de uma moradia fixa. A partir deste contexto observamos que cada vez mais pessoas vivem excluídas de seus direitos básicos. Este trabalho visa compreender a saúde mental de pessoas que vivem em situação de rua. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo de revisão da literatura, através de artigos encontrados nas bases de dados SCIELO, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde e sites governamentais, onde foram encontrados 45 artigos, dos quais foram selecionados 13 artigos para o desenvolvimento do presente trabalho. Observou-se a importância dos consultórios de rua como porta de entrada das pessoas que vivem em situação de rua no acesso aos serviços de saúde e consequentemente contribuindo para a sua reinserção na sociedade. As pessoas que vivem em situação de rua vivem de forma vulnerável, suscetíveis a vários fatores que podem comprometer a sua saúde física e mental, os profissionais que trabalham com essa população através dos consultórios na rua, devem estar preparados para atender essa demanda e toda a singularidade.Descritores: Consultório na rua, Pessoas em situação de rua, Assistência à saúde. Chemical dependency: mental health of homeless peopleAbstract: People living on the streets were characterized as people who did not have a fixed home. From this context, we observe that more and more people are excluded from their basic rights. This work aims to understand the mental health of people living on the streets. It is a descriptive study of literature review, through articles found in the SCIELO databases, Virtual Health Library and government websites, where 45 articles were found, of which 13 articles were selected for the development of this work. It was observed the importance of street clinics as a gateway for people living on the streets in accessing health services and consequently contributing to their reintegration into society. People living on the streets live in a vulnerable way, susceptible to various factors that can compromise their physical and mental health, professionals who work with this population through street offices must be prepared to meet this demand and the entire community. singularity.Descriptors: Street Clinic, Homeless Persons, Health care. Dependencia química: salud mental de las personas sin hogarResumen: Las personas que vivían en la calle se caracterizaron como personas que no tenían un hogar permanente. Desde este contexto, observamos que cada vez son más las personas excluidas de sus derechos básicos. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo comprender la salud mental de las personas que viven en la calle. Se trata de un estudio descriptivo de revisión de la literatura, a través de artículos encontrados en las bases de datos SCIELO, Biblioteca Virtual en Salud y sitios web gubernamentales, donde se encontraron 45 artículos, de los cuales 13 artículos fueron seleccionados para el desarrollo del presente trabajo. Se observó la importancia de las clínicas de calle como puerta de entrada para que las personas que viven en la calle accedan a los servicios de salud y, en consecuencia, contribuyan a su reintegración a la sociedad. Las personas que viven en la calle viven de manera vulnerable, susceptibles a diversos factores que pueden comprometer su salud física y mental, los profesionales que trabajan con esta población a través de oficinas de calle deben estar preparados para atender esta demanda y la singularidad de toda la comunidad.Descriptores: Práctica de Calle, Personas sin Hogar, Atención de la Salud.


2002 ◽  
Vol 181 (02) ◽  
pp. 170-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Higgitt ◽  
Peter Fonagy

A number of themes have run through health policy initiatives of the two Labour Governments of the past 5 years: modernisation; stigma; inequalities and social exclusion; partnerships; involvement of users and carers. But perhaps the most important from the point of view of mental health professionals is the initiative to alter the culture within which health care is offered from one based on expert knowledge and authority to one founded on the principle of evidence-based practice.


2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 503-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Rodav ◽  
S. Levy ◽  
S. Hamdan

AbstractPurposeLittle is known about the clinical characteristics and motivations for engaging in non-suicide self-injury (NSSI) behaviors in adolescence. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence, characteristics and functions of NSSI among adolescents in community settings, and to explore risk factors related to this behavior.Subjects and methodsTwo hundred and seventy-five adolescents aged 12 to 17 were recruited randomly from different High Schools in Israel. They completed self-report questionnaires assessing NSSI (Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory), depression (Children's Depression Inventory – CDI) and impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale – BIS-II).ResultsIn the past year, 20.7% of the participants reported engaging NSSI at least once. Among them, 42.1% declared they are still engaging in NSSI at the present. Motives for NSSI were internal emotion regulation reasons, external emotion regulation reasons for social influences. In addition, the NSSI group reported significantly higher levels of depressive, impulsivity and suicidal ideations. Depressive symptoms were found as significant predictors of NSSI in the future.Discussion and conclusionsHigh rates of NSSI among community adolescents were found. Depression, impulsivity and suicidal ideation were found significantly related to NSSI. Mental health professionals in schools and in primary care should routinely assess NSSI among adolescents.


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