Group Of Psychotherapists Research Articles

Psycho-oncological care in private practices: a survey among psychotherapists with and without licence for reimbursement with public health insurance

Psycho-oncological care in private practices: a survey among psychotherapists with and without licence for reimbursement with public health insurance Objective: This study examined how certified psychotherapist working in an outpatient setting organise their practice to be able to treat cancer patients and what specific problems they encounter. We differentiated between therapists with and without licence. Methods: Out of the list of psychotherapists held by the German Cancer Information Service, a random sample of practices was selected. They received a mailed questionnaire. Per practice, only one therapist was selected. The questionnaire was developed by a group of psychotherapists from two psycho-oncological associations in Germany. Practices with and without licence were compared using chi-square, ranksum tests and multivariate regression analyses (adjusting for professional qualification and school of therapy). Results: Of 257 contacted practices, 160 therapists participated, and 144 were certified and could be included (62 without and 82 with licence). Waiting times for a first consultation for cancer patients were on average 10 days in practices of therapists without licence and 18 days with licence (p < 0.01). Crisis intervention within 3 days was possible for 62 % of the therapists without and for 44 % with licence (p = 0.08). There was no evidence for differences in what treatment options both types of therapists offered. Both groups reported that more than half of the cancer patients (60 % without and 58 % with licence) had to cancel their appointments at least once every 3 months, and 64 % of the therapists did not ask a fee for that. Financing of the treatment happened most frequently via compensation from health insurance companies via their licence in therapists with licence and via private payment or so called "Kostenerstattung" in therapists without licence. Discussion: In psycho-oncological practices, waiting times for a first consultation for cancer patients are on average 4 weeks shorter than in general, especially short in practices without licence. Cancellation of appointments by patients are relatively frequent in both groups of therapists, which bears financial risks for them. Special methods of compensation for services such as selective contracts are infrequently used..

Applying matrix factorization techniques to compare experts’ categorization process during case formulation task performed by concept maps

The aim of this paper was to present a method to enable the analysis of the process of categorization of patients’ testimonials and the comparison of individual categories created by professionals. A complex diagnostic task (case conceptualization) was employed to study the categorization function in professional thinking. Two groups of psychotherapists (30 people in each group) served as subjects of the research. The main objective of the study was to find an appropriate representation of concept maps enabling a comparison of both the categories and the structures between experts. In the comparison process, only the information about the premises justifying each given category was taken into account and represented by a concept-testimonials matrix. Three different elements weighting schemes and matrix factorization-based unsupervised clustering methods were analyzed in the context of consistency and ability to establish main semantic groups of concepts common to the majority of experts. Moreover, special attention was paid to determining the number of main semantic classes. The study showed that even the used representation was similar to the task of documents indexing there was some discrepancy. The highest accuracy in generating main semantic groups was achieved using the PCA and K-Means (nKM) (the average false positive rate in clusters was 32%). This method outperformed Tempered PLSA (the average false positive rate per cluster was 52%). It was demonstrated that in analyzed task the nKM method allowed comparing the similarity of concepts even when they were created by various experts using different conceptual apparatus.

Reflections on Gerda Geddes

I was recently reading a particular book (Woods, 2008), one of only two about the work of Gerda ‘Pytt’ Geddes, which is essentially not just a very well-researched biography, but is also – in itsel...

Holocaust victims and perpetrators

The author presents here the results of 12 years of work with a group of psychotherapists in Germany on the subject of the after-effects of the Nazi period on people in psychotherapeutic treatment today. She identifies several typical complexes concerned with issues of identity, loyalty, relationship, authority and aggression. Case examples and references to texts from the Nazi period illustrate the phenomena. The author's concern is that psychotherapists be aware of their own collective (family, ethnic, national) past so that they can fully engage in their work without having to repress painful collective complexes. In training analysis this aspect of the work is especially important so that the following generations of analysts can experience the importance of this level of the collective unconscious.

Helpful Aspects of Bereavement Support for Adults Following an Expected Death: Volunteers’ and Bereaved People's Perspectives

Helpful and unhelpful aspects of bereavement support were investigated from the perspectives of 24 bereaved adults and their volunteer bereavement support workers. Most commonly reported themes were the provision of hope and reassurance, and the opportunity for continued sharing and support. Significantly more clients than volunteers reported provision of information, and talking to someone outside their social network as helpful, and both groups scored higher on helpfulness ratings than comparative groups of psychotherapists and clients. Clients’ grieving styles and the quality of the helping relationship were also related to what was seen as helpful.

Modulating effect of experience and theoretical-technical orientation on the personal style of the therapist

Abstract This work studies relations between personal style of the therapist (PST), years of professional experience, therapist's theoretical-technical orientation (psychoanalytical, cognitive, integrative), and length of treatment. The purpose is to establish the extent to which these variables act as modulators of the functions that make up PST. The self-descriptive Personal Style of the Therapist Questionnaire (Fernandez-Alvarez, Garcia, Lo Bianco, & Corbella, 2003) was administered to 206 Argentinian psychotherapists subdivided according to 3 orientations: psychoanalytical (n=46), cognitive (n=44), and integrative (n=116). Corresponding intra- and intergroup analyses were also conducted. The authors found significant statistical differences in the PST composition of each group of psychotherapists. In addition, years of experience had a partial modulating effect on the evolution of PST functions in each specific orientation. There were also significant statistical differences between therapists in 2 of...

英国における自然葬地運動とその制度的枠組の発生および発展プロセス

There has been an ongoing increase in the number of the burial in the U.K. since 1993, where burial and nature reserve are both regarded as main objectives. The movement towards this type of burial has multiple origins, which includes each independent effort by citizens and a naturalist social worker for Do-It-Yourself burials, and by a cemetery officer for an eco-friendlier and more cost-effective burial style. These efforts were integrated into a single movement by a group of psychotherapists as part of its search for an un-institutional style of death, under the consideration for environmental issues. The rapid progress of the movement was possible partly because of the absence of the general laws that regulate the burial activities by private parties. The government has started to consider the potential of a nationwide standard for burials and cemeteries, which may legalize the natural burial grounds and improve the currently unregulated management of them in future. In such governmental efforts the accumulation of expertise and the codes of practice developed by the private institutions have been playing considerable roles. To establish sustainable management strategies to maintain the sites healthy as both burial grounds and woodland is considered to be the case in point.

Religion in Mental Health Care: Psychotherapists’ Views

This paper presents the results of an empirical study among two groups of psychotherapists in the Netherlands. One group works in a mental health institution based on religious principles (the Gliagg), and the other group in a general mental health institution (the Riagg). The investigation starts with an overview of the religious background and religious practices of the therapists. Some equations with the average Dutch citizen are made. The next part of the study deals with the perception by psychotherapists of religious issues connected with psycho-social problems. How often in their opinion is there a relation and what kind of relation is at issue? The third part of the study considers the way in which psychotherapists treat these religious issues. Do they attend to them and what kind of (religious) interventions are used? Special attention is given to the question of whether there are contacts with the clergy. We conclude that religion should be given a more pronounced place in general mental health care and that Riagg psychotherapists, in particular, should become better equipped to deal with religious issues.

Development of Psychotherapists: Concepts, Questions, and Methods of a Collaborative International Study

The aim of this international study is to examine the nature, correlates, and perceived determinants of development among professional psychotherapists from different countries and cultures at all career levels, trained in different professions and theoretical orientations. Psychotherapeutic development was conceptualized and assessed from several perspectives, including concurrent and retrospective reports by therapists and cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of therapists' practices and experiences. This paper presents the main questions guiding the study, defines its core concepts, introduces the survey instrument, describes data collection procedures, and reports descriptive and scale development data from a multinational data base of nearly 3800 therapists. Analyses provide evidence for the reliability and validity of direct and indirect measures of retrospected career development and currently experienced development, and their applicability to diverse groups of psychotherapists. Diese inernationale Studie hat zum Ziel, die Inhalte, Korrelate und wahrgenommenen Determinanaten der Entwicklung von professionellen Psychotherapeut(inn)e in unterschiedlichem Berufsstadium zu analysieren. Die Psychotherapeut(inn)en kommen aus verschiedenen Ländern und Kulturen, gehören unterschiedlichen Berufen an und sind unterschiedlichen theoretischen Orientierungen verpfichtet. Psychotherapeutische Entwicklung wird aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven konzeptualisiert und erfaßt: durch aktuelle und retrospektive Berichte der Therapeuten, Querschnitts-und Längschnittanalysen der therapeutischen Prazxis und therapeutische Erfahrungen. In diesem Beitrag werden die wesentlichen Fragen der Studie präsentiert, Kernkonzepte definiert und das Erhebungsinstrument vorgestellt. Außerdem werden die Datenerhebung beschrieben und deskriptive bzw. auf die Skalenentwicklung bezogene Ergebnisse vorgestellt, die sich auf eine multinationale Datenbasis von ungefähr 3800 Therapeut(inn)en bezieht. Die Analysen deuten auf die Reliabilitität and Validität direkter Messungen der rückblickend berichteten und aktuellen Kariereentwicklung hin und zeigen deren Eignung für unterschiedliche Gruppen von Psychotherapeut(inn)en. Cette étude internationale veut examiner la nature, les correspondances, et les défterminants perçus du développement des psychothérapeutes professionnels à tous les niveaux de carrière, provenant de pays et de cultures variées, et formés dans des orientations théoriques et professionnelles différentes. Le développement psychothérapeutique est conceptualisé et évalué à partir de plusieurs perspectives, y compris des rapports parallèles et rétrospectifs par les thérapeutes, et des analyses transversales et longitudinales des pratiques et expériences des thérapeutes. Cet article présente les questions essentielles sous-jacentes à l'étude, il définit ses concepts de base, introduit l'instrument de l'enquete, décrit le procédé de récolte des données, et rapporte les données descriptives et concernant le développement de l'échelle pour une base de données multinationale de presque 3800 thérapeutes. Les analyses confirment la fidélité et la validité des mesures diretes et indirectes du développement de la carrière du point de vue rétrospectif et actuel, ainsi que leur validitté d'application pour des groupes de psychothérapeutes divers. Este estudio intenta examinar la percepción que de la naturaleza, los correlatos y los determinantes de su formación tuvo un grupo de sicoterapeutas profesionales de todos los niveles de formación, de diferentes países y culturas, y entrenados en diferentes profesiones y orientaciones teóricas. El desarrollo del psicoterapeuta se conceptualiza y evalúa desde varias perspectivas, las que incluyen informes actuales y retrospectivos elaborados por los mismos terapeutas, así también como análisis cruzados y longitudinales de sus experiencias y prácticas. Este trabajo presenta los principales interrogantes que guiaron el estudio; define su núcleo conceptual; introduce el instrumento utilizado para el relevamiento; describe los procedimientos de recolección de información; e informa sobre los datos descriptivos y los correspondientes al desarrollo de escala de una base multinacional de datos de casi 3800 terapeutas. Los análisis dan evidencia de la confiabilidad y la validez de las medidas directas e indirectas tanto del desarrollo retrospectivo de sus carreras como de lo experienciado actualmente por ellos, así también como de su aplicabilidad a diversos grupos de psicoterapeutas.

Supervision: Terminable and Interminable

Freud long ago noted the difficulty some psychotherapists have in terminating their patients, much in the same way parents have difficulty in letting their children go. The same problem can arise in supervision too, as the following case description illustrates. The psychologist supervised graduate student interns at a psychiatric hospital, typically for just one of their patients. Subsequently, when these interns eventually set up private practices, many of them joined this psychologist's group in which concern focused on problems that arose with patients and general problems arising from setting up a clinical practice. Almost al l of those who joined these groups also joined an institute that was set up by the psychologist and another colleague for the purpose of advancing professional skills by organizing meetings and workshops. The membea of the supervision groups and the institute occasionally referred patients to one another, and occasionally potential patients contacted the institute and were referred to members of the institute. Several of the members worked together occasionally as cotherapists with clients, families or groups. In addition, many of the members of the supervisory groups and the institute eventually started psychotherapy with the psychologist or the colleague. Some were in individual psychotherapy, some in group psychotherapy and some in psychotherapy for couples. A few were in nvo or all three of these treatment modalities. (The psychotherapy provided was long-term and in depth.) In this way, this psychologist (and the colleague), who had supervised the former interns for one patient each, later ran a supervisory group for them, a professional institute with them as members and had them in individual, group, and/or couples therapy. The multiplicity of roles this psychologist had with former students raises the issue of boundary violations. Did the many roles conflict, and could a psychologist function in all of these roles with his students/ clients/colleagues? A legal action based in part on whether these multiple roles constituted a clear breach of ethical rules was settled out of court before a decision could be handed down. In some respects, the multiplicity of roles included many that Sigmund Freud had with his first disciples. But Freud functioned many years ago before ethics for those conducting psychotherapy had been discussed. Furthermore, the present psychologist involved was barely known outside of this group. Such a tightly-knit group of psychotherapists is rare. Even if a psychotherapist feels the need for these experiences, typically each experience is sought from a different source. In the present case, all experiences were bound up in the same small group with the same leader. Such a practice probably contravenes the ethical rules of the profession, and it appears to be an unhealthy arrangement.

The Third AUTP Conference on ‘Teaching Psychodynamic Psychotherapy’

As is often the case, Oxford was damp and cold, but this did not deter the more athletic of us from trotting round lovely Christchurch meadows, or the more aesthetic from visiting an exhibition of Impressionist drawings in the Bodleian. The unpretentious, even homely, character of University College helped to draw a quite disparate group of psychotherapists together. This in turn was reinforced by the personal quality of all the formal presentations, and by the repeated experiences of small groups whose composition is stable. They allow the development of some degree of relationship both personal and intellectual in the course of two days.

Theory and Practice in Psychotherapy

Anecdotal reports from psychotherapists frequently suggest that theoretical guidelines are not readily adhered to in actual practice. Previous studies have found marked differences in viewpoint on many aspects of technique and practice among even relatively homogeneous groups of psychotherapists. In order to explore further the discrepancies between specific theoretical issues in psychotherapy and their practical clinical applications, the authors surveyed a large group of experienced, practicing psychodynamic psychotherapists. A comprehensive questionnaire addressing theoretical issues such as transference, countertransference, and goals of therapy was constructed. In all there were 70 items and respondents were requested to rate each item in terms of psychotherapy “as you practice it.” Numerous discrepancies between theoretical belief and clinical practice were found. Almost all of the 81 respondents agreed that the therapist should not impose his value system on the patient, yet half of the group viewed the therapist's encouragement of the enrichment of the patient's social life and encouragement of educational and vocational pursuits as an important aspect of the therapy. A significant number agreed that giving suggestions and advice to the patient may be harmful, but an equal number felt that the therapist should encourage more adaptive modes of behavior including sexual intimacy in the patient's outside life. Marked disagreements were found over issues of dependency, controlling the patient's outside behavior, and the development of countertransference feelings. Analysis of the data by age revealed that older therapists allowed themselves to be more liberal in their attitudes to such issues as the development of dependency by the patient, the promotion of the enrichment of the patient's social life and the development of countertransference than younger therapists. This study confirmed the presence of striking discrepancies between theoretical belief and clinical practice in dynamic psychotherapy. In particular, the incongruities in the data indicate that therapists may prefer a value-free therapy as an ideal, but invariably bring their personal values into the treatment situation.