The relationship between personality type as measured by the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and marital satisfaction as measured by the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (MSI) was examined in this research. Subjects were 100 volunteer couples from a southwestern urban area who were given the MBTI and the MSI. These couples were divided into three groups: 40 were in marital therapy; 30 had satisfactory marriages and had been married seven years or less; 30 also had satisfactory marriages, but had been married more than seven years. The therapy group and the satisfactorily married groups were compared as to the number of MBTI preferences held in common, the strength of these preferences and the length of time married. The extraversion-introversion (E-I) scale and the sensing-judging (S-J) temperament of the MBTI were examined by comparing the spousal combinations in each of the groups. Chi square analysis and a Pearson correlation were used. A one-way analysis of variance was run between six of the scales of the MSI and each of the four MBTI dimensions. A MANOVA was attempted on the relationship between the spousal MBTI combinations and the six MSI scales, but the population was too small for this analysis to be conclusive. There were no significant differences between the groups as far as number of preferences held in common, length of time married, and the sensing-judging temperament. There were significantly more couples in the therapy group who had differences of 40 or more points on the four MBTI scales. The extent of the difference on the sensing-intuitive (S-N) scale was found to discriminate between satisfactory and unsatisfactory marriages. Differences on the E-I scale were found to effect couples' satisfaction in the MSI scales of Time Together and Affective Communication with the combination of introvert with introvert having the most difficulty in these areas.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 229-255.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of an adjunctive, community-based, Solution-focused therapy (SFT) group for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) in terms of change in clinical symptoms and the subjective experiences of participants. Methods: The study employed a mixed-methods, naturalistic, service-evaluation design in which 9 outpatients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) attended 16-session SFT groups, and were assessed on clinically-relevant outcomes at baseline, 8 sessions and following group completion. Participants provided qualitative information about pre-intervention hopes and were interviewed post-group about their experience of the groups. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to assess change in clinical symptoms during treatment, and a priori contrasts were conducted to explore significant results. Qualitative data was analysed inductively using semantic-level, thematic analysis as described by Braun and Clarke (2006). Results: Improvements were indicated across all clinical outcomes with the most robust evidence of significant effects for: phobic anxiety; paranoid ideation; psychoticism; interpersonal functioning; and symptom severity. Qualitative analyses indicated that the intervention successfully addressed the hopes of the participants and that they valued: normalisation; acceptance and safety; the opportunity to share and work together; mutual support; an informal and non-directive atmosphere; and assistance with the pursuit of personally meaningful goals. They reported noticing change, progress towards their goals, and a subjective sense that they were coping better and feeling better. Conclusions: The study provides some preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of the intervention and it may represent a more easily-accessible, resource-efficient, less intensive alternative to specialised services. More general implications in relation to approaches to treatment for BPD are discussed.

Public speaking anxiety (PSA), widespread amongst students and also the general population, is associated with substantial distress and interferes with a person’s ability to give a presentation or speech. This can lead to difficulties in social, occupational and academic areas of functioning. Despite its pervasiveness, very few individuals will seek help, most will tend to avoid the anxiety-provoking situations. This can be a serious issue if left untreated, leading to negative impacts on quality of life, for example dropping out of education early and subsequently having limited job opportunities. The literature review explored the existing body of work regarding PSA and presented the rationale for the current research, beginning with a conceptual framework and the manner in which PSA is related to Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). This was followed by a detailed investigation of existing influential models and treatment modalities for both PSA and SAD. It identified that CBT has been the most effective treatment and has been delivered via different formats; however some individuals with SAD/PSA did not respond to a mainstream CBT approach and continued presenting residual symptoms after therapy. Thus, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was introduced, with an examination of its model and potential to help PSA. Preliminary research employing acceptance-based strategies have provided promising results. The literature review indicated a need for investigation of (i) more readily disseminated, briefer formats of ACT and (ii) whether differences exist in efficacy and sustainability between non-guided self-help and group-led therapies format. Given the large number of individuals experience PSA/SAD and the limited availability of resources, there is a need to consider ways of improving access. Thus, development of ultra-brief interventions would potentially reduce delivery cost and enhance dissemination to a larger population. Keywords: public speaking anxiety, social anxiety, interventions, experiential avoidance, fear of negative evaluation, acceptance.

Non-violent resistance group therapy is an innovative way of working with parents whose children are violent and out of control. The programme brings about change on a number of levels, some of which were beyond our expectations. This research aims to both look into the clinical practice and to develop a research method which can do it justice. My aim was to research into those areas which are ‘felt’: beyond the known and the written about. In order to do this I take aspects of the research method portraiture (Lawrence-Lightfoot and Hoffmann Davis, 1997) and bring them together with rich description, rich pictures and arts research practices, so as to create a new qualitative inquiry method which I call ‘rich portraiture’. I describe the development of rich portraiture as a research method and show how I applied it to my practice. At the heart of my dissertation is a complex and layered rich portrait which inquires into the particular experiences of the facilitators of and participants in this groupwork programme (Day and Heismann, 2010). Rich portraiture draws on the performative abilities of clinicians: music, poetry, film, quilt making, painting, dance, sculpture, writing. Detailed narrative portraits of participants and facilitators are located in their social and political context and combined with a juxtapositioning of performance and text which moves into that tacit dimension in which we know more than we can tell (Polanyi, 1966). This is ‘performance in use’ (Cho and Trent, 2009, p 1). My preferred performance method is painting. I made artworks which resonated with the lived experiences of the facilitators and parents who participated in the non-violent resistance therapy programme. As additional layers of performance the paintings were shown in venues where they were viewed by audiences at events during which I spoke and showed films of me working. In this thesis I show how participants and facilitators embody the principles of non-violent resistance and how they perform them in the group. This ‘living’ of non-violent resistance creates change in people’s lives on a number of levels, some of them profound. I argue that there is a gap in the research methods which we use to look at our systemic practice. We constantly seek to creatively enhance our clinical practice so we should also be exploring emerging embodied and performative research practices. This would reflect the shift, in our therapeutic work with clients, towards embodiment (Shotter, 2010), the corporeal (Sheets-Johnstone, 2009) affective or performance turn (Denzin, 2003, 2006). My thesis both describes clinical practice in detail and sets out a new research method.

Darbe remiamasi metodiniais teoriniais G.Allport, B.G.Ananjev‘o, E.Aronson‘o, M.Betensky, L.I.Božovič, U.Džeims‘o, A.Maslow, D.G.Myers, V.V.Stolin‘o savęs vertinimo ir Dž.Allan‘o, R.Buckland, S.Ignatjev‘o, K.G.Jung‘o, M.Kiseliov‘os, A.Kopytin‘o, L.Lebedev‘os, A.Piličiausko, N.O.Sučkov‘os ir A.Vaitkevičienės dailės terapijos pagrindais. Savęs vertinimo mokslinės literatūros analizė parodė, jog dėl paauglystę lydinčių fizinių ir emocinių organizmo pasikeitimų kyla įvairių psichologinių problemų, tarp jų - savęs vertinimo sutrikimų. Savęs vertinimas tuo metu yra ne iki galo suvoktas ir labai prieštaringas. Jį sąlygoja savo, kaip mokinio, veiklos ir rezultatų suvokimas bei aplinkinių vertinimas. Kadangi didžiąją laiko dalį paaugliai praleidžia grupėje, savęs vertinimui daug reikšmės turi ir socialinis statusas klasėje. Dėl šių priežasčių specialiųjų ugdymo(si) poreikių turintys mokiniai, kurie nuolat patiria mokymosi problemų ir socialinę atskirtį klasėje, dažnai vertina save neadekvačiai ar turi žemą savęs vertinimą. Tiriant, kaip dailės terapija veikia 5-6 klasių mokinių, turinčių specialiųjų ugdymo(si) poreikių, savęs vertinimą, buvo atlikti kiekybinis ir kokybinis tyrimai. Kiekybinio tyrimo metu nustatytas 5-6 klasių mokinių globalaus, diferencijuoto bei konkrečių veiksmų lygių požiūrio į save ir savęs vertinimo laipsnių vidurkiai. Po to jie palyginti su atitinkamais dailės terapijos grupės narių požiūrio į save bei savęs vertinimo parametrais. Taikant įvairius... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The work is based on methodical theoretical ideas of self-appraisal by G.Allporty, B.G.Ananjev, E.Aronson, M.Betensky, L.I.Božovič, U.Džeims, A.Maslow, D.G.Myers, V.V.Stolin and on the art therapy‘s background by Dž.Allan, R.Buckland, S.Ignatjev, K,G.Jung, M.Kiseliov, A.Kopytin, L.Lebedev, A.Piličiausko, N.O.Sučkov, A.Vaitkevičienės. The analysis of the scientific literature of the self-esteem elicited a fact that physical and emotional changes at the age of adolescence cause the variety of psycological problems including the self-appraisal‘s disbalance. The sense of the self-appraisal at that period of life is not completely recognised and is quite controversial. It is conditioned by the self-evaluating his/her success being a student and the evaluation of their results and abilities by their associates.( the assessment made by adults and by children of his/her own age ) Seeing that teenagers spend most time in a group, the social status in the class plays the major role in the self-assesment. For these reasons the students with special needs, that permanently experience learning problems and feel socially isolated, often evaluate themselves unequal or have the low sense of self-esteem. To find how the art therapy affects the self-esteem of the students with special needs in year 5-6 there was carried out the qualitative and quantitative research. During the quantitative research fulfilled with the students in year 5-6 there were measured the averages of a global and... [to full text]

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-40).

Objectives: The World Health Organisation has predicted that by 2020, brain injury will be one of the leading causes of disability in the world (Hyder et al, 2007). Psychological difficulties are common in this population, with up to 60% of individuals experiencing mental health difficulties (Acquired Bain injury Outreach Service, 2012). Therefore, with the rapid rise in referrals, services are under increasing pressure to provide innovative ways of offering effective and cost-efficient care. This research aimed to evaluate a novel transdiagnostic Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group approach for supporting individuals adjusting to life following the diagnosis of a neurological condition. Methods: A mixed-methods waiting-list control design was used and carried out across two sites of Hertfordshire Neurological Outpatients Service. The outcomes of the group were assessed using four outcome measures evaluating acceptance, self-identified difficulties, low mood and anxiety, as well as a semi-structured interview to identify mediators of change. Results: Ten participants from the intervention group completed, equating to a 76.9% completion rate. The results indicated that those in the intervention group made significant improvements across all measures of acceptance, self-identified difficulties and psychological distress. Those in the waiting list groups did not experience any change in these domains. The qualitative feedback from participants was also highly positive. Participants reported the usefulness of the ACT strategies, in addition to valuing being in a group with others with a range of difficulties. Participants reported greater awareness and acceptance, as well as increased activity and improved mood. Conclusions: The ACT group is a potentially effective and cost-efficient method of supporting individuals with adjustment following diagnosis of a neurological condition. Despite these promising findings it is important to acknowledge the limitations, such as the small sample size and research design. Further research would be beneficial in order to evaluate the intervention using more rigorous methods.

Aquired brain injury (ABI) of various etiology is one of the major causes of health impairment, disability and death in adult population. It has a wide scale of physical, psychological and social consequences impacting the lives of patients and their relatives. Neuropsychological rehabilitation (individual and group) has become an integrated part of the complex rehabilitation of ABI supported by evidence-based research and practice. Theory and research suggest new perspective on psychotherapy and its role in this process, though its use in the Czech republic may be limited. The goal of the theoretical part of this thesis was to explore the status of the knowledge and practice of neuropsychological rehabilitation of ABI with focus on group work and psychotherapy and their effectiveness. The empirical part aimed to analyze effectiveness of short-term group dynamic psychotherapy in sample of patients with ABI. The intervention was applied in a realistic setting of two selected rehabilitation centers. The patients completed European Brain Injury Questionnaire for Patients (EBIQ-P) and Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale pre-, after 6 weeks and post- intervention covering researched symptoms. The results suggest that there was a significant change in perception of various categories of problems...