Showing posts with label clinical psychology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clinical psychology. Show all posts

Psychotherapy as a Developmental Process Review

Psychotherapy as a Developmental Process
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Psychotherapy as a Developmental Process ReviewI heavily utilized this book during my dissertation and found it both theoretically and practically helpful in my clinical work. The following is an excerpt from my discussion section:
It has become apparent to me as a novice clinician that a developmental constructivist view of psychotherapy is extremely beneficial for both conceptualization and treatment. As a result of this research, I have learned how to conceptualize progression in therapy as a developmental process and become more attuned to clients' needs, in that I am better able to identify when they are "stuck" versus when they are moving forward. I have learned that this type of approach transcends theoretical orientation or intervention, and is applicable to clinical work from inpatient correctional populations to outpatient couples therapy, and that although clients may present with different types of needs, they are all seeking to resolve conflict. Inability to construct a resolution leads to distress, whereas new awareness leads to a developmental synthesis thus bringing relief. Having a developmental constructivist perspective enables me to take a meta-level approach to conducting therapy. As a result of this research and learning the DAPP process, I am better able to reflect on when and how therapy is working, and more importantly, when it isn't. This knowledge is invaluable and informs my direction in therapy, thus contributing to more individualized and thus more beneficial treatment.Psychotherapy as a Developmental Process OverviewFor all those engaged in psychotherapy practice, regardless of modality or approach, the goal of this book is to provide a framework and method for thinking about their work that allows for critical reflection on their own successes and disappointments, and on the similarities and differences among their own and other practitioners' work with different clients. The authors use a novel "common factors" approach, based on the idea that some form of development is the outcome of all effective psychotherapy, despite other differences that may exist. While most existing psychotherapy research focuses on treatment outcomes, primarily in terms of symptom reduction, this book offers an alternative research approach that systematically tracks the psychotherapy process itself, and describes each case's unique developmental outcome. In particular, Basseches & Mascolo focus on the questions of what kinds of therapeutic resources therapists are offering to their clients and whether and how clients are able to make use of these resources in the service of their own development. The goal is to provide a descriptive framework that can be used to appreciate the highly varied ways in which particular therapists tailor their work to unique clients' developmental needs, while at the same time offering a prescription of a more rigorous method for recognizing and correcting the problem when a particular therapist's way of working is not serving the client well. Ideally, this type of process-focused research will complement existing outcome research, and be more likely than further symptom-reduction studies to result in the improvement of overall psychotherapy success rates.

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Handbook of Cultural Developmental Science Review

Handbook of Cultural Developmental Science
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Handbook of Cultural Developmental Science ReviewTHE BOOK:
"HANDBOOK OF CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE"
Edited by Marc H. Bornstein
Psychology Press, Taylor and Francis Group; New York and Hove, East Sussex, 2010.
This book appeared to be excellent at first glance, but there are a number of factual errors on pages 77 and 78 concerning human quadrupedalism.
Human quadrupedalism was discovered and described by me, Uner Tan, in 2005 (1), and was later given the name of Unertan syndrome (UTS), which is associated with quadrupedality, primitive language, and severe mental retardation. Yet chapter 4, which describes human quadrupedalism, does not even mention Unertan syndrome, even though it is described, and the references on page 77 do not include my original or later papers on the subject. Instead the references cite a 2005 paper by Humphrey, Skoyles, and Keynes, published by the School of Economics in London.
I had invited Humphrey and Skoyles to Turkey with a view to collaboration, but they arrived with a cameraman from a film company, and later presented and published an article about the Turkish quadrupeds in the School of Economics, without informing me of this. Later still they made a film, which they sold to the BBC, and it appears in hindsight they had envisaged making a film all along, since they arrived in Turkey with a cameraman. The film caused widespread reaction, and I found it upsetting the way the family was exposed to the world. I would have preferred the cases had remained in the scientific realm and not made the subject of western "marketing".
On page 77, I. 14, the text states: "They displayed both diagonal (near-trot) and ipsilateral gaits (limbs on the same side of body move together)." In my years of studying the quadrupedal cases I have only seen diagonal gait, and not ipsilateral. The authors do not cite any references about their walking style and do not state how they know they displayed both walking gaits. Since my first publication on UTS (1), I have discovered 20 more quadrupedal patients in Turkey, and all of them exhibited diagonal-sequence quadrupedal locomotion. The diagonal-sequence gait is clear from the many videos now available of these patients. It is the same pattern of locomotion seen in crawling babies and in many animals, including our closest relatives, the chimpanzees.
There is another serious error on page 78, where it states the "children's parents never encouraged them to walk or provided supports to walk." First of all, I do not believe that neglecting to provide supports to walk would cause them to walk habitually on all fours, any more than neglecting to provide spectacles causes near-sightedness. (See Ozcelik et al. (2008) (2), for example.) Secondly, some UTS patients from a small village in southern Turkey (see Tan, Pence, Yilmaz, et al. (2008) (3)) were from a relatively well-off family, and had a relative who was a physician, and who attempted to treat the affected children, but with no success. The children were given walking aids such as crutches, but continued to prefer quadrupedal locomotion.
These results suggest socioeconomic factors are not primary in the origins of walking on all four extremities, and there were no environmental factors that forced the affected individuals with UTS to walk on all fours.
The statement on page 78 that: "A television documentary team provided the siblings with support rails, mechanical walkers, and a physiotherapist who encouraged them to walk. The five adult crawlers, for the first time in their lives, stood up and began learning to walk." also does not reflect the truth. The affected individuals had always been able to stand up and walk upright, but only with severe ataxia, and this was shown in the TV documentary in 2005. It is true the team supplied the siblings with support rails, but the patients have been using this device since 2005 with no success. They can stand and remain upright, and they can walk -- with severe ataxia -- but they still prefer quadrupedal locomotion. I visit them from time to time and I know their locomotion has not shown even the slightest improvement.
In summary, this book has a great deal of good information, but is marred by the factual errors and omissions as noted above.
(1)Tan, U. 2005. Unertan syndrome: quadrupedality, primitive language and severe mental retardation; A new theory on the evolution of human mind. NeuroQuantology, 4: 250-255.
(2)Ozcelik, T., Akarsu, N., Uz, E., Caglayan, S., Gulsuner, S., Onat, O.E., Tan, M., Tan, U. (2008). Reply to Herz et al. and Humphrey et al.: Genetic heretogeneity of cerebellar hypoplsia with quadrupedal locomotion. PNAS, USA, 105: E32-E33.
(3)Tan, U., Pence, S., Yilmaz, M. et al. (2008). "Unertan syndrome" in two Turkish families in relation to devolution and emergence of homo erectus: neurological examination, MRI, and PET scans. Int. J. Neurosci., 118: 313-336.
Handbook of Cultural Developmental Science OverviewResearchers and theoreticians commonly acknowledge the profound impact of culture on all aspects of development. However, many in the field are often unaware of the latest cultural literatures or how development proceeds in places other than their home locations. This comprehensive handbook covers all domains of developmental science from a cultural point of view and in all regions of the globe. Part 1 covers domains of development across cultures, and Part 2 focuses on development in different places around the world. The Handbook documents child and caregiver characteristics associated with cultural variation, and it charts relations between cultural and developmental variations in physical, mental, emotional, and social development in children, parents, and cultural groups. This contemporary and scholarly resource of culture in development covers theoretical, methodological, substantive, and ethnic issues as well as geographic approaches. Each chapter includes an introduction, historical and demographic considerations, theory, an overview of the most important classical and modern research studies, recommended future directions in theory and research, and a conclusion. The chapters focus on children from the prenatal stage through adolescence. Interdisciplinary in nature, the Handbook will appeal to human development theoreticians, researchers, and students in psychology, education, and pediatrics. Ideal for those new to the field, readers will appreciate the plethora of cultural examples from all fields of child and human development and developmental examples from all fields of cultural study.

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Handbook of Assessment and Treatment Planning for Psychological Disorders, 2/e Review

Handbook of Assessment and Treatment Planning for Psychological Disorders, 2/e
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Handbook of Assessment and Treatment Planning for Psychological Disorders, 2/e ReviewI found this book much better for assessment of clients rather than treatment planning. This book is very detailed on what assessment measures you should use for the various disorders but is light on treatment planning. For treatment planning, I have found Barlow's Clinical Handbook of Psychological Disorders: A Step by Step Treatment Manual much much better.Handbook of Assessment and Treatment Planning for Psychological Disorders, 2/e Overview
Widely regarded as a premier clinical reference, this book provides state-of-the-science tools for conducting effective assessments and using the results to plan and monitor evidence-based interventions. Leading authorities present proven approaches to screening and assessment for specific psychological problems. They offer practical guidance and case examples to help clinicians select the best measures for different populations and assessment purposes. Recommended instruments and procedures are described, including applications for managed care and primary care settings. Many of the chapters feature detailed tables that compare and contrast relevant measures.New to This Edition*Thoroughly updated with new instruments and research findings.*Chapter on the role of assessment in evidence-based treatment.*Additional disorder-specific chapter: impulse control disorders.*Chapter explaining how to evaluate the reliability and validity of a measure.

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Personality Theories Review

Personality Theories
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Personality Theories ReviewI really enjoyed this book, that I bought as a text book for my Theories of Personality Master Degree course. It is a University level text that explores many of the psychological theories and the lives of the men and women that created them, with a focus on the twentieth century and american psychology.
Starting with the obvious Freud and Jung, the fathers of psychoanalysis, Engler moves into exploring many of the later development of modern psychology and its personality theories. We find the theories of Fromm, Erikson, Klein as offshoots of psychoanalytic theory as well as very condesed and clear explanations of behaviorism, the cognitive approach, the existential approach and more.
What i loved about this book (one of the few books that i have decided to keep rather than resell after class) is that all approaches are so well explained, with a neutral stance, not biased towards one approach or the other. Engler presents all theories with great respect and you can really tell that she honors and loves all of these very wonderful great thinkers of our time....and as a result, you end up loving them too! Studying this text was a real pleasure...I would recommend this book to any University thinking about adopting it as well as to people that just want to learn more about western psychology of the twentieth century. A really pleasant text!Personality Theories OverviewThe new Eighth Edition of Personality Theories continues to provide sound and thorough coverage enhanced with solid pedagogy, a critical-thinking focus, and integration of multicultural and gender-related issues throughout the text. Each chapter focuses on one theory or group of theories and includes brief biographies that shed light on how the theories were formed. Engler also provides criteria for evaluating each theory and cites current relevant research. A final chapter on Zen Buddhism covers a major non-Western theory of personality and serves to distinguish this program in the field.

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