Activación de Recursos durante la primera sesión de psicoterapia y su relación con el cambio terapéutico temprano / Resource Activation during the first psychotherapy session and its relation with early therapeutic change

Resumen Objetivo: determinar diferencias en el grado en que los terapeutas enfocan sus intervenciones en activar recursos de los consultantes durante la primera sesión en procesos de psicoterapia con y sin resultados terapéuticos tempranos (RT), y caracterizar dichas intervenciones. Método: se utilizó una muestra de 32 procesos de psicoterapia con pacientes ambulatorios, realizados en contextos de prestación rutinaria de servicios y conducidos por terapeutas de distintas orientaciones teóricas. Estos procesos se agruparon según la presencia o ausencia de RT, evaluada a partir de la diferencia de puntajes en el reporte de bienestar de los consultantes entre la primera y la cuarta sesión, a través del Cuestionario de Autoreporte de Resultados (Outcome Questionnaire -OQ-45.2.-). Y el grado en que la actividad de los terapeutas se enfocó en la Activación de Recursos (AR) se evaluó mediante el Wirkfaktoren-K (WIFA-K. Factores de Efectividad de Klaus Grawe) para jueces independientes. Posteriormente, se realizó una prueba t de varianzas desiguales de Welch, a partir de los promedios de puntajes de la AR en ambos grupos. Resultados: se encontraron diferencias significativas entre ambos grupos; específicamente, los terapeutas del grupo Con RT dedicaron tres veces más tiempo de la sesión a trabajar en la AR que los del grupo Sin RT. Adicionalmente, se ofrece evidencia detallada respecto de la variación del foco en la AR a lo largo de la sesión y la proporción en que distintos contenidos relacionados con la AR son abordados en ambos grupos.

Abstract Objective: the objective of this paper is to determine the differences in the degree to which therapists focus their interventions on activating clients' resources during the first session of psychotherapy processes with and without Early Therapeutic Outcomes (ETO), and to characterize these interventions. Method: a sample of 32 outpatient psychotherapy processes was collected, carried out in routine service delivery contexts and conducted by therapists with different theoretical orientations. The therapies were grouped according to the presence or absence of ETO, evaluated from the difference in well-being reported by clients between the first and fourth session, through the Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45.2; Lambert et al.,1996). To assess the extent to which the therapists' activity focused on RA in both groups, the Wirkfaktoren-K (Klaus Grawe Effectiveness Factors; von Consbruch et al., 2013) instrument was used by independent judges. Subsequently, a Welch's t-test of unequal variances was performed, based on the averages of AR scores, between both groups. Results: significant differences were found between both groups. Specifically, therapists in the "With ETO" group spent 3 times more minutes working on RA than those in the "Without ETO" group. In addition, detailed evidence is provided on the variation of the focus on RA throughout the session and the proportion in which different RA-related content is addressed in both groups.

Expectativas de niños y padres consultantes frente a la psicoterapia infantil / Children and Parents´ Expectation regarding Child Psychotherapy

Resumen El objetivo de la presente investigación fue analizar cualitativamente las expectativas de niños y sus padres frente a la psicoterapia infantil desde la perspectiva de cada uno de ellos, y relacionar los elementos que intervienen en el proceso de construcción de dichas expectativas. Los participantes de este estudio fueron 10 díadas compuestas por niños entre 7 a 10 años y sus padres. La información se recolectó a través de un total de 20 entrevistas semiestructuradas, realizadas en forma independiente a cada participante antes de la sesión de ingreso a la terapia. Se realizó un análisis cualitativo de la información basándose en procedimientos de codificación abierta y axial propuestos por la Teoría Fundamentada. Los resultados muestran que los niños desarrollan expectativas sobre el proceso y los resultados, a partir de las experiencias previas con psicólogos y de la información entregada por los padres acerca de la función del psicólogo como "alguien que ayuda". Los resultados esperados por los niños son "sentirse mejor" y relacionarse mejor con los pares. En el caso de los padres sus expectativas se construyen con base en experiencias psicológicas previas y la información obtenida del contexto sociocultural. Estas experiencias influyen en su visión psicológica del problema de su hijo y en una percepción de la función del psicólogo como un profesional que ayuda, no sólo a su hijo, sino también a ellos en el desarrollo de habilidades parentales. Además, a partir de estas experiencias los padres esperan tener un rol más participativo en el proceso de sus hijos.

Abstract This research aims to analyze qualitatively children and their parents' expectation regarding child psychotherapy, and the relationship between the different variables involved in the process of building these expectations. 10 dyads, consisted of children aged between 7 and 10 and their parents, were the participants. The study included a total of 20 semi-structured interviews, applied to each participant separately. Afterwards, a qualitative analysis of the information was conducted, based on Grounded Theory procedures of open and axial coding. The results show that children develop expectations about the process and outcomes from previous experiences with psychologists and from information provided by parents about the role of the psychologist as "someone who helps". In the parents´ case, their expectations are constructed based on prior psychological experiences and information obtained from the sociocultural context. These experiences influence the parents' psychological view about their child's problem and a perception of the psychologist's role as a professional who helps not only their child, but also them in the development of parenting skills. Additionally, from these experiences, parents expect to adopt a more participatory role in their children's process.

Fusion-Based Hypoxia Estimates: Combining Geostatistical and Mechanistic Models of Dissolved Oxygen Variability.

The need to characterize and track coastal hypoxia has led to the development of geostatistical models based on in situ observations of dissolved oxygen (DO) and mechanistic models based on a representation of biophysical processes. To integrate the benefits of these two distinct modeling approaches, we develop a space-time geostatistical framework for synthesizing DO observations with hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model simulations and meteorological time series (as covariates). This fusion-based approach is used to estimate hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico across summers from 1985 to 2017. Deterministic trends with dynamic covariates explain over 35% of the variability in DO. Moreover, cross-validation results indicate that 58% of DO variability is explained when combining these trends with spatiotemporal interpolation, which is substantially better than mechanistic or conventional geostatistical hypoxia modeling alone. The fusion-based approach also reduces hypoxic area uncertainties by 11% on average and up to 40% in months with sparse sampling. Moreover, our new estimates of mean summer hypoxic area changed by >10% in a majority of years, relative to previous geostatistical estimates. These fusion-based estimates can be a valuable resource when assessing the influence of hypoxia on the coastal ecosystem.

Using the otolith sulcus to aid in prey identification and improve estimates of prey size in diet studies of a piscivorous predator.

Diet studies are fundamental for understanding trophic connections in marine ecosystems. In the southeastern US, the common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus is the predominant marine mammal in coastal waters, but its role as a top predator has received little attention. Diet studies of piscivorous predators, like bottlenose dolphins, start with assessing prey otoliths recovered from stomachs or feces, but digestive erosion hampers species identification and underestimates fish weight (FW). To compensate, FW is often estimated from the least affected otoliths and scaled to other otoliths, which also introduces bias. The sulcus, an otolith surface feature, has a species-specific shape of its ostium and caudal extents, which is within the otolith edge for some species. We explored whether the sulcus could improve species identification and estimation of prey size using a case study of four sciaenid species targeted by fisheries and bottlenose dolphins in North Carolina. Methods were assessed first on otoliths from a reference collection (n = 421) and applied to prey otoliths (n = 5,308) recovered from 120 stomachs of dead stranded dolphins. We demonstrated in reference-collection otoliths that cauda to sulcus length (CL:SL) could discriminate between spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) and weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) (classification accuracy = 0.98). This method confirmed for the first time predation of spotted seatrout by bottlenose dolphins in North Carolina. Using predictive models developed from reference-collection otoliths, we provided evidence that digestion affects otolith length more than sulcus or cauda length, making the latter better predictors. Lastly, we explored scenarios of calculating total consumed biomass across degrees of digestion. A suggested approach was for the least digested otoliths to be scaled to other otoliths iteratively from within the same stomach, month, or season as samples allow. Using the otolith sulcus helped overcome challenges of species identification and fish size estimation, indicating their potential use in other diet studies.

Impacts of a Rural Subdivision on Groundwater Quality: Results of Long-Term Monitoring.

A rural subdivision in south central Wisconsin was instrumented with monitoring wells and lysimeters before, during, and after its construction to examine the impacts of the unsewered subdivision on groundwater quality and quantity. Prior to construction, the 78-acre (32 ha) site was farmland. Sixteen homes were constructed beginning in 2003. Initial monitoring from 2002 to 2005 showed that groundwater beneath the site had been impacted by previous agricultural use, with nitrate-N values as high as 30 mg/L and some detections of the herbicide atrazine. Our 12-year study shows that the transition from agricultural to residential land use has changed groundwater quality in both negative and positive ways. Although groundwater elevations showed typical seasonal fluctuations each year, there were no measurable changes in groundwater levels or general flow directions during the 12-year study period. Chloride values increased in many wells, possibly as a result of road salting or water softener discharge. Nitrate concentrations varied spatially and temporally over the study period, with some initial concentrations substantially above the drinking water standard. In some wells, nitrate and atrazine levels have declined substantially since agriculture ceased. However, atrazine was still present at trace concentrations throughout the site in 2014. Wastewater tracers show there are small but detectable impacts from septic effluent on groundwater quality. Particle traces based on a groundwater flow model are consistent with the hypothesis that septic leachate has impacted groundwater quality.

Revisión teórica y metodológica de las dificultades en psicoterapia: propuesta de un modelo ordenador / Theoretical and methodological review of therapeutic difficulties: a systematizing model

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo presentar el resultado de una revisión teórica de los conceptos asociados a dificultades en psicoterapia desde distintas perspectivas y niveles de análisis, para luego proponer una estructura que permita sintetizar, diferenciar y comparar los distintos conceptos y hallazgos relevantes que tienen que ver con el amplio espectro de las dificultades en psicoterapia. Los conceptos relativos a las dificultades en psicoterapia fueron organizados como variables de input, proceso y output, dentro del proceso terapéutico, para finalmente realizar una discusión acerca de las implicancias teóricas, clínicas y especialmente metodológicas en el estudio de las dificultades en psicoterapia.

This article presents a theoretical systematization of concepts regarding psychotherapeutic difficulties, from different perspectives and leVELs of analysis. It proposes a theoretical structure that allows comparing, differentiating and synthesizing the multiple concepts and empirical findings regarding psychotherapeutic difficulties. Concepts were organized as input, process and output variables along the therapeutic process, finally discussing theoretical, clinical and methodological implications in the study of therapeutic difficulties.

Una experiencia en Chile de trabajo grupal con dirigentes de organizaciones sociales / A group work experience in Chile with leaders of social organizations

Ante la necesidad de apoyo expresada por vecinos de la comunidad chilena de La Victoriaa los organismos gubernamentales, por situaciones de inseguridad ligadas al microtráfico,surge la intervención psicológico-comunitaria que enmarca el trabajo grupal presentadoen el artículo. Esta intervención grupal tuvo lugar durante los años 2003 y 2004 yse realizó con representantes de distintas organizaciones sociales de La Victoria, con elobjetivo de formar un equipo de trabajo, denominado Coordinadora de organizacionessociales, capaz de llevar a cabo de manera eficiente los proyectos comunitarios que seplanteara. El proceso grupal fue facilitado por dos psicólogas y se utilizó como metodología,principalmente, técnicas participativas de educación popular, las cuales se dirigieron apotenciar las habilidades socio-emocionales y de tarea de los participantes del grupo. Enúltimo lugar se presentan los resultados, que dicen relación con los objetivos específicospropuestos para la intervención grupal, así como los logros y algunas reflexiones en tornoa la experiencia. Al respecto, se destaca el anclaje de la realidad cultural-histórica de LaVictoria en algunos comportamientos grupales, la importancia del proceso de inserción enla comunidad y la reflexión sobre el quehacer profesional del equipo de trabajo

The psychological-communitarian intervention which has framed the group-work presentedin this article, emerged from the need of support expressed by the neighbours ofthe Chilean community of La Victoria to the governmental bodies, due to insecurity situationsbound to micro traffic. This group-intervention took place during 2003 and 2004 withrepresentatives of different social organizations of La Victoria. The aim of the interventionwas to form a work team called “Coordinator of social organizations” that was able todevelop communitarian projects to maximize the social participation of the population. Thisprocess was conducted by two psychologists who mainly used popular education participationtechniques as the work methodology. These techniques were addressed to strengthenthe socio-emotional abilities and the task abilities of the members of the group. In the endthe results show relation with the specific aims proposed for the group-intervention, theachievements, and various reflections around the experience. Especially mentioned are theanchorage of the cultural and historical reality of the community La Victoria in some groupbehaviours,the importance of the process of insertion in the community, and the reflection about the tasks of the professional team (AU)