Psychodynamic Context Research Articles

Analysis of the subjective experience of suffering in the psychodynamic work clinic

This study aims to investigate and deeply understand the subjective experience of suffering within the psychodynamic context of work, focusing particularly on the psychological and emotional aspects involved. Through qualitative analysis, this research delves into how individuals interpret and experience suffering in the workplace, considering the psychodynamic variables that influence their perceptions and reactions. This provides valuable insights into the internal dynamics of work-related suffering, as well as how these factors impact the psychological well-being of employees. Furthermore, the study explores how these findings can be applied in work intervention practices. By understanding the nuances of the subjective experience of suffering, practitioners can develop more effective and empathetic strategies to support employees facing psychological challenges in the workplace. This opens possibilities for interventions that are more tailored and responsive to the unique needs of individuals

Victimization in childhood as a suicide risk factor in adults

ObjectiveLittle is known about the predictive association between victimization among children and adolescents with depression and suicidal ideation in adults. The aim of our study was to examine whether victimization in childhood and early adolescence increases the likelihood of self-harming in adults.MethodThe sample consisted of 82 patients, 65 females and 17 males, aged 38.02 ± 11.05 years on average, hospitalized in Daily hospital. The juvenile victimization questionnaire (JVQ), defense style questionnaire (DSQ) and Beck depression inventory were applied in 48 patients following suicide attempt and in 34 patients who were on psychotherapeutic treatment due to various life crises not resulting in suicide attempt. According to indication, we excluded patients with psychosis, substances abuse and dementia. The examinees of both groups were matched by age, education, professional and marital status. Comparison of the patient groups was done by t-test.ResultsThe suicide attempters were depressed (Beck depression inventory 19.13 ± 10.20), using immature defense mechanisms (P < 0.005). The JVQ established statistically differences in two general areas: Peer and Sibling Victimization (P < 0.001) and sexual victimization (P < 0.05).ConclusionEven after controlling for lifetime factors known to increase the risk of suicidal behavior, adults who reported peer and sibling and sexual victimization in childhood were still more likely than other adults to attempt suicide later in life. Psychotherapists must understand that history of childhood victimization is important to put suicide attempt in a psychodynamic context which can help them in their work with patients’ psychotherapeutic crisis intervention following suicide attempt.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.

A young woman who killed 5 of her own babies: A case of multiple neonaticide

Neonaticide is a rare form of homicide. It is generally classed as manslaughter but differs from other forms of homicide in many respects. The factors favouring its occurrence and the legal position of neonaticide in Germany are discussed. The case is presented of a mother who committed five neonaticides within 8 years. While she was a caring mother for her two oldest children, she killed the five subsequent offspring immediately after giving birth. In the scarce literature on neonaticides, a case of multiple offending is particularly rare. Similarities to, and differences from, other cases of neonaticide in the literature are considered. The psychodynamic context of the offences is examined in order to identify contributing features which could be used to help prevent future occurrences.

Using decision trees to characterize verbal communication during change and stuck episodes in the therapeutic process

Methods are needed for creating models to characterize verbal communication between therapists and their patients that are suitable for teaching purposes without losing analytical potential. A technique meeting these twin requirements is proposed that uses decision trees to identify both change and stuck episodes in therapist-patient communication. Three decision tree algorithms (C4.5, NBTree, and REPTree) are applied to the problem of characterizing verbal responses into change and stuck episodes in the therapeutic process. The data for the problem is derived from a corpus of 8 successful individual therapy sessions with 1760 speaking turns in a psychodynamic context. The decision tree model that performed best was generated by the C4.5 algorithm. It delivered 15 rules characterizing the verbal communication in the two types of episodes. Decision trees are a promising technique for analyzing verbal communication during significant therapy events and have much potential for use in teaching practice on changes in therapeutic communication. The development of pedagogical methods using decision trees can support the transmission of academic knowledge to therapeutic practice.

FC16-03 - Psychodynamic approach of suicide

ObjectiveThere are three well-known theories of psychodynamic of suicide: Freud's (suicide as a result of displacement of murderous impulses from a love object that are directed toward an internalized object), Menninger's (wish to destroy the lives of the survivors) and Fenichel's (fulfillment of reunion whish with a lost loved figure).MethodsWe described results from an empirical study of psychodynamic concepts of suicidal behavior in the sample consists of 30 hospitalized persons following a suicide attempt by self poising treaded at Clinic for toxicology in Military Medical Academy Belgrade Serbia.ResultsIn the view of three well-known theories of psychodynamic of suicide we presented some vignettes that described each of the theory.ConclusionsTo put suicide attempt in a psychodynamic context, clinicians must understand psychodynamic of suicide behavior, which can help them in their work with patients’ crisis intervention

Body and spirit in psychodynamic therapy: Eastern contributions to non-verbal psychotherapeutic paradigms

This paper looks at dilemmas concerning psychodynamic therapy with patients practicing Eastern psycho-spiritual disciplines that involve physical regimens. Psychoanalytic approaches to questions of body–mind interactions are reviewed. Taoist and Buddhist therapeutic traditions are used to contextualize contemporary psychodynamic practice relating to bodily perceptions and to pre-verbal reality and communication. Case studies from the author's work as a psychodynamic therapist and body-psychotherapist are presented to illustrate the use of an integrative body-based approach, with the patients in point, within a psychodynamic context. Theory and practice with patients whose modes of relating and frames of reference are linked with psychosomatic experiences, that challenge accepted nomenclature, are discussed.

Dante's Cure: A Journey Out of Madness

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book ReviewFull AccessDante's Cure: A Journey Out of MadnessSara Goldman M.D.Sara Goldman M.D.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 May 2007https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2007.58.5.721aAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail I must admit that when I read the premise of this book from the jacket, I was immediately skeptical. The author describes a patient's complete recovery from schizophrenia through psychotherapy alone, which refutes my five-year experience working in a community setting. However, because Dr. Dorman has had many more years of experience in psychiatry, I resolved to find out more about the treatment options available at the time of this patient's treatment and to keep an open mind. The following comments about this book are therefore a combination of my own thoughts—three years after completing a psychiatry residency that was strong in teaching both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology—and of discussions with colleagues about what psychiatric thought had been 34 years ago, when Dorman began a four-year treatment with the patient whose story he relates in this book.We meet Catherine at age 17, and we follow her through a brief account of the two-year course of her illness until she is hospitalized. She begins treatment with Dorman at age 19 when she is hospitalized for the first time, and we then learn more details about her family life from Dorman's interviews with her mother, stepfather, and sister. We are told enough in these initial pages to know that Catherine's early years were very traumatic in a number of ways, including deaths, separations, and much emotional abuse. She became depressed and anorexic at about the same time and was treated only for the anorexia. Her depression worsened, and she began hearing voices five months later.The bulk of the book details Catherine's lengthy hospitalizations and her psychotherapy treatments, which lasted about four years. It describes how Catherine became profoundly withdrawn, even catatonic at times, and extremely psychotic, with constant terrifying hallucinations degrading her and ordering her to kill herself and her mother. I had great difficulty with this part of the book, because I am not convinced that Catherine suffered from schizophrenia but perhaps from a severe depression with psychosis. I was left wondering why the antidepressants that might have curtailed her profound suffering were not tried at all, because there were some antidepressants available at that time that would not have produced intolerable side effects, unlike the thorazine that Catherine dreaded. This alternative diagnosis would also partly explain for me how Catherine could completely recover without medication and suffer no further relapse. Perhaps the most interesting and useful part of this book is the thought-provoking last chapter. Here, Dorman discusses his personal views of the utility of medication versus psychotherapy in the context of questioning our definition of illness and the DSM model. Although I disagree with many points in this chapter, I applaud his method of thinking about pathology and therefore treatment in a psychodynamic context. His thoughts, although skewed mainly toward the psychoanalytic model, seem very timely in an era when we are beginning to question the current DSM structure and way of thinking. I think we have, at best, an uneasy alliance between prescribing medication and doing therapy, the polarity of which is reflected in our current DSM and in many psychiatry residency programs across the country. Perhaps our patients will be better served once we are able to take the best from both models and learn enough about the workings of the brain to persuade us that this is important enough to warrant doing battle with insurance companies and to help our patients in the best way we know how. Any psychiatrist who is willing to overlook this book's clear bias against medications will enjoy the psychodynamic discussions, and we all should be interested in the somewhat flawed but very stimulating last chapter in this era of politics and change. Dr. Goldman is affiliated with the Center for Families and Children, Cleveland, Ohio, and with University Hospitals of Cleveland. FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 58Issue 5 May, 2007Pages 721-722PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES May 2007 Volume 58 Number 5 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 May 2007 Published in print 1 May 2007

Dante's Cure: A Journey Out of Madness

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book ReviewFull AccessDante's Cure: A Journey Out of MadnessSara Goldman M.D.Sara Goldman M.D.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 May 2007https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2007.58.5.721aAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail I must admit that when I read the premise of this book from the jacket, I was immediately skeptical. The author describes a patient's complete recovery from schizophrenia through psychotherapy alone, which refutes my five-year experience working in a community setting. However, because Dr. Dorman has had many more years of experience in psychiatry, I resolved to find out more about the treatment options available at the time of this patient's treatment and to keep an open mind. The following comments about this book are therefore a combination of my own thoughts—three years after completing a psychiatry residency that was strong in teaching both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology—and of discussions with colleagues about what psychiatric thought had been 34 years ago, when Dorman began a four-year treatment with the patient whose story he relates in this book.We meet Catherine at age 17, and we follow her through a brief account of the two-year course of her illness until she is hospitalized. She begins treatment with Dorman at age 19 when she is hospitalized for the first time, and we then learn more details about her family life from Dorman's interviews with her mother, stepfather, and sister. We are told enough in these initial pages to know that Catherine's early years were very traumatic in a number of ways, including deaths, separations, and much emotional abuse. She became depressed and anorexic at about the same time and was treated only for the anorexia. Her depression worsened, and she began hearing voices five months later.The bulk of the book details Catherine's lengthy hospitalizations and her psychotherapy treatments, which lasted about four years. It describes how Catherine became profoundly withdrawn, even catatonic at times, and extremely psychotic, with constant terrifying hallucinations degrading her and ordering her to kill herself and her mother. I had great difficulty with this part of the book, because I am not convinced that Catherine suffered from schizophrenia but perhaps from a severe depression with psychosis. I was left wondering why the antidepressants that might have curtailed her profound suffering were not tried at all, because there were some antidepressants available at that time that would not have produced intolerable side effects, unlike the thorazine that Catherine dreaded. This alternative diagnosis would also partly explain for me how Catherine could completely recover without medication and suffer no further relapse. Perhaps the most interesting and useful part of this book is the thought-provoking last chapter. Here, Dorman discusses his personal views of the utility of medication versus psychotherapy in the context of questioning our definition of illness and the DSM model. Although I disagree with many points in this chapter, I applaud his method of thinking about pathology and therefore treatment in a psychodynamic context. His thoughts, although skewed mainly toward the psychoanalytic model, seem very timely in an era when we are beginning to question the current DSM structure and way of thinking. I think we have, at best, an uneasy alliance between prescribing medication and doing therapy, the polarity of which is reflected in our current DSM and in many psychiatry residency programs across the country. Perhaps our patients will be better served once we are able to take the best from both models and learn enough about the workings of the brain to persuade us that this is important enough to warrant doing battle with insurance companies and to help our patients in the best way we know how. Any psychiatrist who is willing to overlook this book's clear bias against medications will enjoy the psychodynamic discussions, and we all should be interested in the somewhat flawed but very stimulating last chapter in this era of politics and change. Dr. Goldman is affiliated with the Center for Families and Children, Cleveland, Ohio, and with University Hospitals of Cleveland. FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 58Issue 5 May, 2007Pages 721-722PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES May 2007 Volume 58 Number 5 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 May 2007 Published in print 1 May 2007

Treatment of traumatized refugee children with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in a psychodynamic context

This study examines the effects of a psychodynamic approach of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in treatment of traumatized refugee children. Among a child psychiatric outpatient refugee team, 13 children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), were treated by EMDR incorporated in a traditional psychodynamic therapeutic approach. The Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Scale for Children (PTSS-C) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) were administered before and after the treatment, to measure the effects. After treatment, a significant improvement was noticed in the functioning level and all PTSS-C scales, mostly in re-experiencing and least in the avoidance symptoms. The improvement in the functioning level was significantly correlated with the reduction of the PTSD-non-related and the depression, but not with that of the PTSD-related symptoms. Used in a psychodynamic context, EMDR is suggested to be effective treatment for traumatized refugee children. Our findings support the hypothesis of child-specific criteria for PTSD.

Psychodynamics and the holy spirit

The concept of unconscious motivation has had wide acceptance in recent decades, making its appearance in drama, art, literature, law, and education as well as in psychology and psychiatry. The idea has also had wide currency in theology, especially through the literature of the pastoral counseling movement, which has been strongly influenced by psychoanalysis. Many voices within theology have urged that the insights of depth psychology be mobilized to illuminate and perhaps to revise traditional theological concepts. Reinhold Niebuhr, for example, wrote: "We cannot scorn insights in which truth has been distilled from the half-truths of both Freudianism and Neo-Freudianism."1 Samuel Miller, noting that "psychody namics has introduced a new dimension of great power and diversity," urgently advocates exploration of relationships between psychology and theology: "Nothing is more critically needed at the present moment than a definitive study of the relationship of psychodynamic structures to the transcendental realities of theological affirmation."2 Miller recognizes the naturalistic context of psychodynamics, its lack of scientific credentials, and its brash assumption of authority over other criteria of truth, but insists that it be heard: "Psychodynamics is a new dimension of human reality but it is