scholarly journals Pseudomentalization as a Challenge for Therapists of Group Psychotherapy With Drug Addicted Patients

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanna Esposito ◽  
Silvia Formentin ◽  
Cristina Marogna ◽  
Vito Sava ◽  
Raffaella Passeggia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Group Therapy ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Emotional Life ◽  
External Reality ◽  
Group Boundaries ◽  
Wilfred Bion ◽  
Quality Scale ◽  
Outpatient Group ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Collective Phenomenon

One of the main challenges in group therapy with drug-addicted patients is collective pseudomentalization, i.e., a group discourse consisting of words and clichés that are decoupled from any inner emotional life and are poorly related to external reality. In this study, we aimed to explore the phenomenology of pseudomentalization and how it was addressed by the therapist in an outpatient group for drug-addicted patients. The group was composed of seven members, and the transcripts of eight audio-recorded sessions (one per month) were rated and studied. The interventions of the therapist were measured with the mentalization-based group therapy (MBT-G) adherence and quality scale by independent raters. Two sessions, one with the highest and one with the lowest adherence, were selected, and the clinical sequences of pseudomentalization were analyzed in a comparative way. The findings revealed that pseudomentalization does occur as a collective phenomenon, akin to “basic assumptions” of Wilfred Bion, which we reconceptualized in this study. Any pseudomentalization seemed to be reinforced by the therapist when she was presenting frequent and long interventions, when abstaining from the management of group boundaries, when providing questions focused more on content than on the mental states of the group members, and when not focusing on emotions. However, the ultimate source of collective pseudomentalization seemed to be the fear of the group members of being overwhelmed by painful emotions, mental confusion, and a loss of identity. The findings also indicated that the principles of MBT-G may be a good antidote to pseudomentalization.

A high-quality mentalization-based group therapy session

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigmund Karterud
Keyword(s):  
Group Therapy ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Therapy Session ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Therapy Adherence ◽  
Quality Scale ◽  
High Adherence

A previous study of a MBT group displayed that the therapists failed to establish the group as a training ground for mentalizing. In this study we present a detailed and long transcript of a sequence in a successful MBT group. The therapists’ interventions were rated according to the mentalization-based group therapy adherence and quality scale, performed by the Norwegian MBT Quality Laboratory. The therapists displayed a high adherence to the MBT-G manual and the patients became collectively engaged in exploring and reflecting upon crucial borderline dynamics. The interventions that seemed most important for unfolding of the sequence are carefully spelled out. They have a metacognitive flavour, but are elsewise simple and straight forward. There seems to be nothing essentially new in this MBT-G approach, if one asks for specific ingredients. However, the therapeutic stance is consequently geared towards exploration of mental states, guided by a certain theory. One might say that it represents a more modern mixture of ingredients that are well known in different research and group therapy camps.

Facing Loss of Vision: The Response of Adults to Visual Impairment

1981 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna L. Emerson
Keyword(s):  
Group Therapy ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Psychosocial Problems ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Reactive Depression ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Social Group Work ◽  
Group Experience

Short-term group therapy, using social group work, was utilized to treat the psychosocial problems of two groups of elderly low-vision clients and one group of young adult clients with low vision (N = 24). Group members showed psychosocial movement in three phases: shock, reactive depression, and readjustment. Evaluations measured the change in attitudes before and after group therapy. At the end of therapy, 17 persons, compared to none before the therapy, were at the point of self-acceptance and readjustment. Clinical examples illustrate the interplay of intrapsychic and group-experience factors leading to readjustment.

scholarly journals Preference for hierarchy is associated with reduced empathy and increased counter-empathy towards others, especially out-group targets

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sa-kiera Tiarra Jolynn Hudson ◽  
Mina Cikara ◽  
Jim Sidanius
Keyword(s):  
Social Dominance ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Group Setting ◽  
Group Boundaries ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Prejudicial Attitudes ◽  
Status Differences

The capacity to empathize with others facilitates prosocial behavior. People’s willingness and capacity to empathize, however, is often contingent upon the target’s group membership – people are less empathic towards those they categorize as out-group members. In competitive or threatening intergroup contexts, people may even feel pleasure (counter-empathy) in response to out-group members’ misfortunes. Social dominance orientation (SDO), or the extent to which people prefer and promote group-based inequalities, is an ideological variable that is associated with a competitive view of the world, increased prejudicial attitudes, and decreased empathy. Thus, higher levels of SDO should be associated with reduced empathy and increased counter-empathy in general, but especially towards those whose subjugation maintains group inequalities. Across three studies we show that among White individuals, higher SDO levels are associated with less empathy, and more counter-empathy in response to others’ good and bad fortunes. More importantly, these reductions in empathy and increases in schadenfreude as a function of SDO were significantly stronger for Asian and Black targets than for in-group White targets when group boundaries were made salient prior to the empathy ratings. Finally, in a fourth study we show that this phenomenon is not dependent upon a history of status differences: higher SDO scores were associated with decreased empathy and increased counter-empathy for competitive out-group (relative to in-group) targets in a novel group setting. We discuss implications of these effects for hierarchy maintenance.

Providing Effective Speech-Language Pathology Group Treatment in the Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Setting

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (01) ◽  
pp. 053-065
Author(s):  
Molly Holcombe ◽  
Candace van der Stelt ◽  
Christine Baron
Keyword(s):  
Group Therapy ◽  
Group Treatment ◽  
Inpatient Rehabilitation ◽  
Individual Treatment ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
Unique Type ◽  
Group Context ◽  
Patient Goals ◽  
Language Pathology ◽  
Group Members

AbstractGroup treatment is an integral part of speech-language pathology (SLP) practice. The majority of SLP literature concerns group treatment provided in outpatient settings. This article describes the goals, procedures, and benefits of providing quality SLP group therapy in the comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation (CIR) setting. Effective CIR groups must be designed with attention to type and severity of communication impairment, as well physical stamina of group members. Group leaders need to target individualized patient goals while creating a challenging, complex, and dynamic group context that supports participation by all group members. Direct patient-to-patient interaction is fostered as much as possible. Peer feedback supports goal acquisition by fellow group members. The rich, complex group context fosters improved insight, initiation, social connectedness, and generalization of communication skills. Group treatment provides a unique type of treatment not easily replicated with individual treatment. SLP group treatment in a CIR is an essential component of an intensive, high-quality program. Continued advocacy for group therapy provision and research into its efficacy and effectiveness are warranted.

scholarly journals Ruptures and repairs of group therapy alliance. An untold story in psychotherapy research

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluca Lo Coco ◽  
Giorgio A. Tasca ◽  
Paul L. Hewitt ◽  
Samuel F. Mikail ◽  
Dennis M. Kivlighan, Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Group Therapy ◽  
Therapeutic Alliance ◽  
Group Intervention ◽  
Psychotherapy Research ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Clinical Vignettes ◽  
Group Treatments ◽  
Alliance Ruptures ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Suitable Framework

Although previous studies investigated the characteristics of therapeutic alliance in group treatments, there is still a dearth of research on group alliance ruptures and repairs. The model by Safran and Muran was originally developed to address therapeutic alliance in individual therapies, and the usefulness of this approach to group intervention needs to be demonstrated. Alliance ruptures are possible at member to therapist, member to member, member to group levels. Moreover, repairs of ruptures in group are quite complex, i.e., because other group members have to process the rupture even if not directly involved. The aim of the current study is to review the empirical research on group alliance, and to examine whether the rupture repair model can be a suitable framework for clinical understanding and research of the complexity of therapeutic alliance in group treatments. We provide clinical vignettes and commentary to illustrate theoretical and research aspects of therapeutic alliance rupture and repair in groups. Our colleague Jeremy Safran made a substantial contribution to research on therapeutic alliance, and the current paper illustrates the enduring legacy of this work and its potential application to the group therapy context.

scholarly journals The Effects of Minimal Group Membership on Young Preschoolers’ Social Preferences, Estimates of Similarity, and Behavioral Attribution

Collabra ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Richter ◽  
Harriet Over ◽  
Yarrow Dunham
Keyword(s):  
Social Preferences ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Social Judgments ◽  
Group Boundaries ◽  
Minimal Group ◽  
Group Members ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Explicit Measures ◽  
Social Assortment

We investigate young children’s sensitivity to minimal group membership. Previous research has suggested that children do not show sensitivity to minimal cues to group membership until the age of five to six, contributing to claims that this is an important transition in the development of intergroup cognition and behavior. In this study, we investigated whether even younger children are sensitive to minimal cues to group membership. Random assignment to one of either of two color groups created a temporary, visually salient minimal group membership in 3 and 4-year-old study participants. Using explicit measures, we tested whether children preferred minimal group members when making social judgments. We find that, in the absence of any knowledge regarding the two groups, children expressed greater liking for ingroup than outgroup targets. Moreover, children estimated that ingroup members would share their preferences. Our findings demonstrate that from early in development, humans assess unknown others on the basis of minimal cues to social similarity and that the perception of group boundaries potentially underlies social assortment in strangers.

The Role of Emotional Mimicry in Intergroup Relations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula Hess ◽  
Agneta Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Group Boundaries ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Actual Interaction ◽  
Underlying Processes

What is the role of emotional mimicry in intergroup relations? There are different theoretical accounts of the function and underlying processes of emotional mimicry. A review of research on emotional mimicry suggests that, in general, emotional mimicry reinforces existing group boundaries, rather than breaking or dissolving them. Specifically, there is consistent evidence that people tend to mimic similar others more than dissimilar others. Given that ingroup members are by definition more similar to each other than to outgroup members, this implies that the former are more likely to be mimicked than the latter. In turn, mimicry improves social bonds with others, which then facilitates ingroup relations. The most primitive and implicit pathway for mimicry is via embodiment, and it can only take place when there is an actual interaction between group members. To the degree that such processes are presumed to be automatic, it is likely that they tend to reinforce social exclusion of outgroup members. By contrast, the most explicit pathway to mimicry is via perspective taking, in which one deliberately tries to take the other’s perspective. This process does not require the actual presence of members of other groups, but some form of empathy when judging or expecting to meet other group members. This process is more amenable to top-down influences. The research on mimicry also converges on the notion that when mimicry (or in fact other forms of behavior matching) is present, interactions can be expected to be more affiliative. Thus, with effort, mimicry can also be a tool for improving intergroup relations. As always, however, it requires more effort to cross group boundaries than to stay within them.

Hope as a Critical Resource for Small Scale Farmers in Mpumalanga

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Goldin
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Rural Women ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Emotional Life ◽  
The Capability Approach

I contrast formal institutional structures that are part of water resources management policy and practice with more fluid ‘outside’ spaces that I claim are more apt for participatory engagement around food production. I link these ideas to a discussion on hope. I make three distinct contributions. First the paper expands on the theoretical concerns of the Capability Approach by bringing to the fore the linkages between subjective well-being and emotions. The paper thus connects the Capability Approach and discourses of affect and emotions explicit. The Capability Approach (CA) is a helpful entry point into the idea of hope in particular and emotions in general. Second, I claim that emotions are of public concern and that they are embedded structurally. In these spaces the dimension of power is crucial in determining the nature of the emotions that are experienced, and there is a connection between hope and power. I argue that emotions mediate and inform social action and are a function of social processes. Third, I affirm that in the essentially technical and masculinised world of water, rural women farmers are more likely to experience positive feelings, such as self-esteem, hope, pride and dignity, in informal ‘outside’ spaces. Within the context of an ethics of care, the idea of ‘particularism’ places value on concrete circumstances and individual experience and the incorporation of emotions and compassion into a social justice discourse. I propose that hope be considered amongst a range of mental states contributing to valuable and complex social functionings that are relevant for assessing poverty and human development. Looking at emotional life might help answer the question: what makes people do what they do – and whether and in what ways they take on (or do not take on) board opportunities that present themselves? The article concludes that hope is a mental state that helps command commodities and helps achieve functionings. As such hope is an input as important as seeds and fertilizer for small-scale farming.

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