Thesis (M.A. ( Clinical Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2014 / A number of studies have indicated that psychological management of chronic diseases is important in order to assist a patient to cope with and manage their condition. The disease and the phenomenon around it can be explained as reasons why individuals move from one treatment facility to the other. This study explored the psychological strategies used by people in Ga-Dikgale community to manage chronic diseases. A qualitative approach was followed and participants were selected through purposive sampling. Ten participants (five males and five females) who are receiving health care services for their chronic diseases were requested to participate in the study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The results of the study are presented in terms of the following themes: participants‟ own explanations of chronic diseases; participants‟ subjective notions of the events or factors that could have led to their chronic diseases; what participants believe is the main causes of their disease(external or internal factors); pathways followed by the participants to manage their chronic disease; experiences of living with chronic disease; psychological coping strategies; the role of educational agencies; and implications for theory. The study revealed that chronic diseases are ambiguous in nature, with every individual explaining them in ways that relate to their personal experiences. For this reason there are different ways of managing or coping with them. Some people take on more active means of coping, while others are more passive. / VLIR project

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / Over the past decade, clinical psychologists have begun to play an increasingly important role in the community and in the mental health team. A good understanding of the role of the clinical psychologist is of extreme importance for the general practitioner in order -to make effective referals to the clinical psychologist when necessary and also for the maintenance of the mental health team. Van Den Berg (1980) states that the large number of incorrect referals between members of the mental health team are due to a lack of knowledge as to the services available. It is thus essential that research be conducted in order to clarify any misunderstandings that may exist between the general practitioner and the clinical psychologist who are both members of the mental health team. This research was conducted with two broad hypotheses in mind, namely that incongruence exists between the clinical psychologist's perception and the general practitioner's perception of the role of the clinical psychologist; and that general practitioners do not have a clear perception or understanding of the professional role of the clinical psychologist. In order to test these hypotheses, a questionnaire was designed and given to a sample of clinical psychologists and a sample of general practitioners. The questionnaire was based on the literature study of the role of the clinical psychologist and on interviews that were conducted with the teaching staff at the psychology department at the universities and mental institutions in the Witwatersrand area.

Includes bibliography. / Over the past decade clinical psychologists have increasingly begun to work in general hospital settings, but little published research has dealt in depth with the adjustments and negotiations that need to occur at the interface of clinical psychology and medicine. In this dissertation, the relationship of the psychosocial to medicine and the professional relationships of psychologists and doctors are discussed. Consultation- liaison psychiatry and multidisciplinary treatment teams are presented as two ways in which medicine has attempted to deal with the psychosocial, and which provide potentially useful models of practice for psychologists. Four cases that were referred to the author while working as an intern clinical psychologist in a Neurosurgery unit are discussed in terms of the insight they provide in understanding implicit assumptions about and expectations of psychology. In addition, the head of this Department of Neurosurgery and the two clinical psychologists working in this department were interviewed, and these interviews, together with the cases, provide the material for a discussion of various issues which face clinical psychologists in this unit. These include: the power structures and relationships in the unit; the use of consultation-liaison psychiatry and multidisciplinary treatment team models of practice; the inability of psychologists to fulfil present demands for their services; and the issue of reactive or proactive definition of psychological functions. Finally, some suggestions for enhancing the psychological contribution to patient care in Neurosurgery are made, based on the principles that arise out of the discussion.

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2007 / The study explored transitional object attachment at Eisleben Village, Limpopo –South Africa. The participants of the study were mothers of children who were between six months and two years of age. The instrument t used to explore transitional object attachment was obtained from a related study, while the instrument used to study the participants personality were the Adult Attachment Questionnaire and the Relationship Questionnaire. There was low prevalence of transitional object attachment at Eisleben Village. Several factors had an impact on whether or not the child becomes attached to an object, i.e. the socio economic status of the participants as well as the child rearing practices.

As a point of departure in this inherently interdisciplinary endeavour, the concept "Holistic Multidisciplinary Management" ("HMM") is introduced a.s a macrocosmic adaption of principles of project management. In line with HMM, a number of submissions regarding terminology and definitions in the interdisciplinary context of medicine (and particularly clinical psychiatry) and law, are made, and the foundations of medical malpractice are examined. Building on the various foundations laid, specific types of conduct that can constitute clinical-psychiatric malpractice, are addressed. A common theme that emerges in the various contexts covered, is that the psychiatrist must negotiate various proverbial tightropes, involving inter alia tensions between restraint and freedom, excessive and insufficient medication, becoming too involved and not being involved enough with clients, as well as client confidentiality and the duty to warn third parties. It is concluded that law and medicine. must work harmoniously together to establish appropriate balance. This can be achieved only if mutual understanding and integrated functioning are promoted and translated into practice. / Law / LL.M.

As a point of departure in this inherently interdisciplinary endeavour, the concept "Holistic Multidisciplinary Management" ("HMM") is introduced a.s a macrocosmic adaption of principles of project management. In line with HMM, a number of submissions regarding terminology and definitions in the interdisciplinary context of medicine (and particularly clinical psychiatry) and law, are made, and the foundations of medical malpractice are examined. Building on the various foundations laid, specific types of conduct that can constitute clinical-psychiatric malpractice, are addressed. A common theme that emerges in the various contexts covered, is that the psychiatrist must negotiate various proverbial tightropes, involving inter alia tensions between restraint and freedom, excessive and insufficient medication, becoming too involved and not being involved enough with clients, as well as client confidentiality and the duty to warn third parties. It is concluded that law and medicine. must work harmoniously together to establish appropriate balance. This can be achieved only if mutual understanding and integrated functioning are promoted and translated into practice. / Law / LL.M.