ABSTRACT
The Interview Schedule for Social Interactions (ISSI) was used to assess the social environment of 65 British inner-city patients suffering from severe neurotic disorder; all patients were offered a 12-week course of intensive day treatment with an educational and psychodynamic basis. Compared with a general population in Canberra, the neurosis sufferers had lower (morbid) scores on the ISSI for the extent and quality of their social relationships. Of the 34 subjects who completed treatment and attended for the post-treatment investigation, 21 attained a PSE score below the level for 'caseness'. Twenty-five subjects who attended for follow-up at 18-24 months had improved significantly on all four of the standard ISSI measures, although they had not done so immediately after treatment. This suggests that although symptoms may improve at the time of treatment, social relationships improve only over several months.
Subject(s)
Day Care, Medical , Interpersonal Relations , Neurotic Disorders/therapy , Social Environment , Adult , Cohort Studies , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Neurotic Disorders/diagnosis , Neurotic Disorders/psychology , Object Attachment , Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care , Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data , Psychometrics , Social SupportABSTRACT
Everyone has heard about family therapy, but few outside the movement know what family therapists think or do. Is it a current vogue or a valid form of intervention? On what ideas is it based? Are there many forms or only one, and above all does it work? This article attempts to answer these questions.
Subject(s)
Family Therapy/methods , Family/psychology , Double Bind Interaction , Family Therapy/standards , Family Therapy/trends , Humans , Marriage/psychology , Parent-Child RelationsABSTRACT
A case is presented for regarding the Attachment Dynamic as a theoretical model for hypotheses on the aetiology and management of neuroses and personality disorders. It is proposed that man has a number of natural propensities, including: attaining 'companionable interactions' with peers, in which competence is affirmed, self-esteem enhanced, and a state of well-being ('assuagement') is promoted. when hindered in the pursuit of interests and companionable interaction, an urge to seek support through proximity to, and often 'supportive interaction' with support-givers. severe psychological distress ('disassuagement') when support-givers cannot be induced to act effectively, with a propensity to devise defensive strategies, supplemented by psychological defence mechanisms; when maladaptive, these strategies are the source of neurotic symptoms and antisocial traits. Through these propensities, movement between companionable interaction and effective support sustains the urge to develop skills and explore interests creatively. However, this movement is hindered by the experience of repeated disassuagement and the need to maintain maladaptive defensive strategies.
Subject(s)
Neurotic Disorders/psychology , Object Attachment , Personality Disorders/psychology , Adult , Defense Mechanisms , Female , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , Male , Models, Psychological , Neurotic Disorders/etiology , Peer Group , Personality Disorders/etiology , Psychological Distance , Social Behavior , Social SupportSubject(s)
Mental Disorders/psychology , Object Attachment , Psychology, Child , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Models, Psychological , Parent-Child Relations , Personality Development , ResearchABSTRACT
This paper describes the essence of object relations theory as developed by Winnicott through his concepts of transtional object, the good enough mother holding a situation for her child and play both solitary and mutual. These concepts are compared and contrasted with the essential features of attachment theory as put forward by Bowlby. It is suggested that Winnicotts object relations concepts and attachment theory each provide a framework to explain similar psychological and interpersonal phenomena. Reasons are put forward for the choice of attachment theory as a basis for family therapy and to suggest hypotheses to investigate the quality and quantity of intrafamilial social interaction and concomitant emotional states. The family in family therapy is described in terms of the interpersonal dynamic suggested by attachment theory. The family is seen as a homoeostatic system of relationships between individuals at different stages of development who share set goals aimed at terminating a specific form of proximity-seeking attachment behaviour and promoting exploratory behaviour.