The Study of Clinical Psychology and Unusual Mental States in France

2018 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Denny Borsboom ◽

Angélique O. J. Cramer ◽

Annemarie Kalis

Keyword(s):

Mental Disorders ◽

Clinical Psychology ◽

Network Models ◽

Mental States ◽

Modern Medicine ◽

Research Strategy ◽

Network Structures ◽

Common Cause ◽

Biological Basis ◽

Holistic Research

AbstractIn the past decades, reductionism has dominated both research directions and funding policies in clinical psychology and psychiatry. The intense search for the biological basis of mental disorders, however, has not resulted in conclusive reductionist explanations of psychopathology. Recently, network models have been proposed as an alternative framework for the analysis of mental disorders, in which mental disorders arise from the causal interplay between symptoms. In this target article, we show that this conceptualization can help explain why reductionist approaches in psychiatry and clinical psychology are on the wrong track. First, symptom networks preclude the identification of a common cause of symptomatology with a neurobiological condition; in symptom networks, there is no such common cause. Second, symptom network relations depend on the content of mental states and, as such, feature intentionality. Third, the strength of network relations is highly likely to depend partially on cultural and historical contexts as well as external mechanisms in the environment. Taken together, these properties suggest that, if mental disorders are indeed networks of causally related symptoms, reductionist accounts cannot achieve the level of success associated with reductionist disease models in modern medicine. As an alternative strategy, we propose to interpret network structures in terms of D. C. Dennett's (1987) notion ofreal patterns, and suggest that, instead of being reducible to a biological basis, mental disorders feature biological and psychological factors that are deeply intertwined in feedback loops. This suggests that neither psychological nor biological levels can claim causal or explanatory priority, and that a holistic research strategy is necessary for progress in the study of mental disorders.

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Features of the Use of Virtual Reality Technologies in the Rehabilitation and Treatment of Depression in Clinical Psychology

Clinical Psychology and Special Education ◽

10.17759/cpse.2021100312 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 231-255

Author(s):

V.V. Selivanov ◽

L. Meitner ◽

Yu.A. Griber

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Social Networking ◽

Clinical Psychology ◽

Mental States ◽

Field Independence ◽

Secondary Importance ◽

Treatment Of Depression ◽

Cognitive Motivation ◽

Symptom Awareness ◽

Awareness Tool

The work focused on the examining the use of virtual reality (VR) technologies in the reduction of depression in Europe. More than 70 issues of the journals “Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking”, “European Psychologist” were analyzed. We used the bibliometric analysis, the "keyword method" to analyze the text, which is understood as a search for typical terms, content analysis of the content of articles that used VR and depression. In the journal "European Psychologist" the term VR has not been mentioned for the last 2 years, which indicates the secondary importance of this issue for general psychology. In cyberpsychology, on the contrary, since 2019 in Europe, the interest of researchers in the use of VR technologies in clinical psychology has increased. By the content of the journal articles. "Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking" VR technologies are used primarily for the correction of anxiety disorders, and secondly, for the correction of depression. These technologies are used in various ways. The first option is to create VR programs with a direct impact on depression reduction. Here, VR is used as a symptom awareness tool, to create an avatar environment for client dialogue in a non- judgmental environment. Research has shown that such VR programs are rated by users as a useful tool for informing and emotionally responding to depressive states. The second option is an indirect effect on reducing the level of depression through the reduction of fears, phobias; increased activation, tone, euphoria in mental states; the development of a positive mood, cognitive motivation; an increase in indicators of field independence (cognitive style). A study based on the methods of psychosemantics is presented, which has demonstrated the effect of a specially created VR program with an avatar on changing the unconscious attitudes of the personality, reducing phobia of darkness. The effectiveness of using of VR technologies in reducing depression is determined by modeling of mental experiences and actions in VR, creating a virtual ontology, the influence of VR on conscious and unconscious attitudes, the possibility of responding to unconscious experiences through the user's identification with an avatar.

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Reductionism – simplified and scientific

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18001127 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Leonid Perlovsky

Keyword(s):

Clinical Psychology ◽

Mental States ◽

Hard Science ◽

Target Article ◽

Brain States ◽

Methodology Of Science

AbstractIn this commentary on Borsboom et al.’s target article, I address an inadequate, simplified use of the idea of “reductionism” in clinical psychology and psychiatry. This is important because reductionism is a fundamental methodology of science. Explaining mental states and processes in terms of biological and brain states and processes is fundamental for the science of psychology. I also briefly address a fundamental methodology of the goal of psychology as a hard science.

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Group psychodynamic counselling as a clinical training device to enhance metacognitive skills and agency in future clinical psychologists

Europe’s Journal of Psychology ◽

10.5964/ejop.v14i2.1528 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 444-463 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Cristiano Scandurra ◽

Simona Picariello ◽

Daniela Scafaro ◽

Vincenzo Bochicchio ◽

Paolo Valerio ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Psychology ◽

Clinical Training ◽

Mental States ◽

Clinical Psychologists ◽

Clinical Psychologist ◽

Emotional States ◽

Metacognitive Skills ◽

Training Device ◽

Psychodynamic Counselling

Metacognitive skills and agency are among the main psychological abilities a clinical psychologist should have. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of group psychodynamic counselling as a clinical training device able to enhance metacognitive skills and agency in final-year undergraduates in clinical psychology within an educational context. Thirty-three final-year students of clinical psychology participated in an experiential laboratory lasting two months. Participants completed measures regarding metacognitive skills and agency at pre-, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up assessment. The results suggested that group psychodynamic counselling made students feel more capable of recognizing emotional states, understanding causal relationships, inferring mental states of others in terms of beliefs, desires, intentions, and expectations, and thinking critically. Furthermore, the group psychodynamic counselling helped students to feel more able to derive pathways to desired goals and to motivate themselves via agency thinking to use those pathways. Thus, the study confirmed the efficacy of group psychodynamic counselling as a clinical training device able to enhance metacognitive skills and agency in future clinical psychologists.

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Self-sacrifice for in-group's history: A diachronic perspective

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18001796 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Maria Babińska ◽

Michal Bilewicz

Keyword(s):

Clinical Psychology ◽

Historical Events ◽

Emotional Events ◽

Reciprocal Process ◽

The Way

AbstractThe problem of extended fusion and identification can be approached from a diachronic perspective. Based on our own research, as well as findings from the fields of social, political, and clinical psychology, we argue that the way contemporary emotional events shape local fusion is similar to the way in which historical experiences shape extended fusion. We propose a reciprocal process in which historical events shape contemporary identities, whereas contemporary identities shape interpretations of past traumas.

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