Using a Developmental Ecology Framework to Align Fear Neurobiology Across Species

Children's development is largely dependent on caregiving; when caregiving is disrupted, children are at increased risk for numerous poor outcomes, in particular psychopathology. Therefore, determining how caregivers regulate children's affective neurobiology is essential for understanding psychopathology etiology and prevention. Much of the research on affective functioning uses fear learning to map maturation trajectories, with both rodent and human studies contributing knowledge. Nonetheless, as no standard framework exists through which to interpret developmental effects across species, research often remains siloed, thus contributing to the current therapeutic impasse. Here, we propose a developmental ecology framework that attempts to understand fear in the ecological context of the child: their relationship with their parent. By referring to developmental goals that are shared across species (to attach to, then, ultimately, separate from the parent), this framework provides a common grounding from which fear systems and their dysfunction can be understood, thus advancing research on psychopathologies and their treatment.

Family Therapy Supervision in Action

There is a growing body of research, as the psychodrama community has understood for some time, that supports the idea that our bodies have their own intelligence and that insight can come from action. By working nonverbally using sculpting and other psychodramatic methods in family therapy supervision, we as family therapy supervisors, have found that clinicians are able to overcome therapeutic impasse with clients when they work through difficulties using insights that come from the body and action. This article describes our method and provides clinical examples of its effectiveness working with couples and families.

Fatal Cardiothyreosis Revealed Through A Status Epilepticus And Resulting In A Therapeutic Impasse - A Case Report

Cardiothyreosis is a rare and serious complication of thyroid disease. We report a case that is unique in its inaugural clinical picture (status epilepticus) due to late diagnosis and iatrogenic drug which precipitated the patient in an array of congestive heart failure where therapeutic management was limited by insufficient technical facilities leading to death.