Thesis--University of Tennessee. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--University of Tennessee. / Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract Powerful and diverse countertransference reactions in psychotherapy group work with HIV positive children can be understood to indicate a site of mourning in the life of the group. Data from six interviews with five individuals conducting broadly psychodynamic group work with HIV positive children was analysed according to Thematic Content Analysis. The countertransference responses of the participants are understood as communications of the group unconscious, as well as expressions of the participants’ own unresolved unconscious difficulties. Working with HIV positive children confronts the participants with mortality and activates their earliest losses. A sense of strangeness and displacement, denial, idealisation, feelings of persecution, fantasies of rescue, rage, despair and hopelessness emerge in the countertransference and can be considered indicative of defences against mourning. These defences alternate with an engagement with the work of mourning and are represented in the countertransference as the relinquishment of omnipotence, awareness of fusion, containment, the recognition of the child’s resilience and uniqueness and the promotion of the child’s autonomy and expression. These findings may facilitate containment for therapists working with HIV positive children by offering an explanation of powerful and diverse countertransference responses as indicating a site of mourning, thereby promoting increased receptivity to unexpressed grief in therapy with these children.

Thesis (MSc.(Clinical Psychology))University of Limpopo, 2010. / The aim of the study is to analyse the film One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, from a clinical psychology perspective in order to evaluate the possible use of the film and significant concepts depicted therein in a training context. The objectives of the study are to describe the interactional dynamics of the psychiatric system as depicted in the film, to identify and describe the impact of the systems and/or subsystems on the psychotherapeutic growth of “patients” and to provide suggestions for the training of psychotherapists on the basis of the film and the present research. A qualitative, descriptive research design was used to achieve these aims. This allowed for systematic clinical descriptions by four clinical psychologists to be obtained. The study involved an exploration of relevant literature as well as an indepth study of a specific therapeutic group in interaction as depicted in the film. The film was shown to four clinical psychologists. Their findings were analysed, and common themes in their analyses identified. The researcher came to certain conclusions on the basis of the above-mentioned analyses. The findings of this study seem to indicate that the interactional style of the psychiatric staff, as portrayed in the film, contributed to the deterioration of the psychological well-being of the “patients”, thus inhibiting their psychological growth and promoting psychopathology. In spite of the findings, the researcher wishes to recommend the utilisation of this film as a training medium, on condition that a paradigm shift is made away from the traditional medical/psychiatric approach to a ii systems-based epistemology. This could result in viewing the psychiatric system as a hierarchy of interrelated subsystems-in-interaction, and open up possibilities for a redefinition of the various roles of those involved within the larger system. Further research in this direction is strongly indicated and recommended.

Savo unikalumo išgyvenimas psichoterapinėje grupėje Šiame magistro darbe buvo tiriamas savo unikalumo išgyvenimo psichoterapinėje grupėje fenomenas. Įvadinėje dalyje į unikalumo fenomeną buvo pažvelgta iš filosofinių (S.Kierkegaardo, M.Heideggerio, M.Buberio, P.Tilicho) ir psichologinių (G.W.Allporto, C.R.Rogerso, S.M.Jourardo, J.Bugentalio, V.Franklio, A.R.Beisserio) idėjų perspektyvos. Buvo siekiama išsiaiškinti, kaip savo unikalumas patiriamas konkrečioje psichoterapinėje grupėje ir apibrėžti unikalumo fenomeną konkrečiai tiriamųjų grupei. Tyrime buvo naudojamas fokusinių grupių metodas. Fokusinė grupės buvo organizuojamos trumpalaikių psichoterapinių grupių kontekste. fokusinėse grupėse dalyvavo 13 žmonių: 11 moterų ir 2 vyrai. Buvo surengtos 2 fokusinės grupės, kurias pagal iš anksto paruoštą planą vedė moderatorius – šio darbo autorė. Gauti duomenys buvo apdoroti A.Giorgi fenomenologinės analizės metodo pagalba. Sudaryti 10 specifinių situacinių savo unikalumo fenomeno apibrėžimų, kuriais remiantis buvo suformuluoti 2 bendri galutiniai fenomeno apibrėžimai. Šio tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad: 1)savo unikalumo išgyvenimas psichoterapinėje grupėje yra sudėtingas fenomenas, pasižymintis didele pasireiškimų įvairove; 2)savo unikalumo patyrimas psichoterapinėje grupėje glaudžiai susijęs su universalumo patyrimu: savo unikalumas išgyvenamas kartu su universalumu su grupės dalyviais arba tuoj po jo; 3)savo unikalumo patyrimas trumpalaikėje psichoterapinėje grupėje yra... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The Phenomenon of Uniqueness in a Psychotherapy Group The phenomenon of uniqueness in a psychotherapy group was studied in his master‘s degree work. Introduction was dedicated to review the human relationship phenomenon from the philosophical (S.Kierkegaard, M.Heidegger, M.Buber, P.Tilich) and psychological (G.W.Allport, C.R.Rogers, S.M.Jourard, J.Bugental, V.Frankl, A.R.Beisser) perspective. The aim of this work was to explore in what way the phenomenon of uniqueness is experienced in a certain psychotherapy group and define the phenomenon of uniqueness for the certain research group. The method of focus group was used in this research. Focus groups were organized in the context of short-term psychotherapy groups. 13 persons were participating in the focus groups: 11 women and 2 men. 2 focus groups were created, which were managed by the author of this study based on provided plan. The results were processed using A.Giorgi phenomenal method. 10 specific situational definitions of the phenomenon of uniqueness were created, which were used to formulate two ultimate definitions of the phenomenon. Results of the study revealed, that: 1) the phenomenon of uniqueness in a psychotherapy group is complex phenomenon, characterised by large diversity of manifestations; 2) the phenomenon of uniqueness in a psychotherapy group is closely related to universality experience: the uniqueness is experienced together with the universality of the group‘s participants or immediately after it... [to full text]

The study aimed to identify and understand the phenomenon of group processes comparing two Personal Development (PD) group modalities. One group mainly used verbalisation and the other mainly used movement for interaction and self-expression. Group processes were expressed through the analysis of the participant's non-verbal movements and the verbal expressions of their experience in the group. The thesis of this study was that group processes can be expressed and identified through movement and verbal expressions. This study built on previous studies that have explored group processes in both Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) and in Verbal Group Psychotherapy fields in relation to PD groups. Two theoretical frameworks that underpinned this study were: DMP as group work and Group Psychotherapy with the primary focus on group processes in PD groups. These theories were selected for their pertinence to the understanding of group processes and PD groups. The comparison between the groups intended to answer the study's question: which group processes as expressed verbally and non-verbally in movement can be identified in a dance movement PD group compared with a verbal PD group? Qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology methodology was employed in this study in order to answer the above question using two collection and analysis methods: movement observation using Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) and a thematic analysis of participants' verbal reflections in semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study have shown which group process developed in each of the PD groups identified through the two collections methods. For instance, they were conflict, rivalry, trust, intimacy and cohesion. The analysis of the DM PD group has shown differences in findings between that which the movement observation identified and that which participants described in the interviews. The study aimed to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding group processes in DMP and group psychotherapy theory and research. Exploring group processes through the use of movement and verbalisation adds to the professional development and training in both fields. The study outcome offers an original contribution to practice, through the development of a group work guide for facilitators, derived from the group processes conceptual model. It represents a new way of understanding group processes and dynamics through the observation of a group's movements and verbal reflections by participants. This guide is aimed at supporting facilitators of PD groups when considering interventions both when leading groups and when reflecting on the groups' processes.

Originally presented as the author's thesis, Nancy. / Bibliography: p. [365]-385.

Originally presented as the author's thesis, Nancy. / Bibliography: p. [365]-385.

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-51).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duquesne University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p.135-149) and index.