Tunable femtosecond near-IR source by pumping an OPA directly with a 90 MHz Yb:fiber source.

Up to 400 mW of near-IR (1370-1500 nm) femtosecond pulses are generated from an optical parametric amplifier directly driven by a Yb:fiber oscillator delivering 100 fs pulses at 1036 nm. The process is seeded by a stable supercontinuum obtained from a photonic crystal fiber. We use a single pass through a 3 mm, magnesium oxide-doped, periodically poled LiNbO3 downconversion crystal to produce a near-IR pulse train with a remarkable power stability of 1.4% (RMS) during one hour. Tuning is achieved by the temperature and the poling period of the nonlinear crystal.

Basic principles of psychotherapy. II. The patient model, interventions, and countertransference.

This paper (Part II) discusses the details of techniques used in achieving the goals of creating an individualized patient model, making effective interventions and monitoring countertransference. Models of patients' functioning can be created by using selection strategies regarding patients' characteristics and drawing on general models to explain these phenomena. Interventions are based on this model and should increase patients' understanding but are selected on the basis of goals and the individual's current state. Countertransference is a universal phenomena that can be managed in a variety of professional ways.

Basic principles of psychotherapy. I. Introduction, basic goals, and the therapeutic relationship.

This paper (Part I) outlines some fundamental principles of psychotherapy. The concept of "supportive" psychotherapy and the problems associated with those techniques are discussed, along with the advantage of learning basic principles of psychotherapy. The basic principles of psychotherapy are introduced in terms of basic goals. The techniques used in achieving the goal of an effective therapeutic relationship are discussed in detail. Other goals of creating an individualized patient model, making interventions, and monitoring countertransference are introduced but detailed discussion is left for Part II.

Separation experiences in childhood and adult marital quality.

A relational model of the influence of childhood relationships on adult marital quality is proposed and tested in a family medical centre and a psychiatric outpatient population by a questionnaire of separation experiences, the Parental Bonding Instrument and the Locke-Wallace Short Marital Adjustment Test. This paper presents results from a psychiatric outpatient population that correspond with previously reported results on the family medical centre patients. The paper also presents data from both populations on the association of childhood separation experiences with adult marital quality. The presence or absence of self-reported childhood separation experiences was not associated with variations of marital quality in either population. The variation in other aspects of separation experiences similarly was not associated with marital quality. The association between representations of childhood experience and adult marital quality, found in a previous study of the family medical centre patients, was not found in the psychiatric outpatient population. The possible reasons for these findings are discussed.

The relationship of childhood experience to the quality of marriage.

A model for the effect of child-parent relationships on later adult marital quality was tested by questionnaire in 124 general practice patients. Recollections of parental care and overprotection measured by the PBI correlated significantly with Locke-Wallace measures of marital quality primarily in females. Correlations were larger in a homogeneous group where previous marriages and emotional illness were eliminated, and in those who had experienced childhood separations from parents. The results are consistent with an interactive model where the quality of childhood experience determines the quality of adult marriages primarily when separation experiences have been present.

Early parental loss and suicidal ideation in university students.

This study examined the relationship of early parental loss to suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in a group of university students attending a university mental health clinic. Seventy-five subjects with a history of parental loss before the age of 16 were compared to a control group of 61 subjects from intact homes for the presence of suicidal ideation and overt suicidal behaviour. Subjects with a history of early loss demonstrated significantly more suicidal ideation and more had made suicide attempts than had subjects from intact homes, and this relationship was even more marked when the consequences of the loss in terms of the subsequent family environment were considered. Where the loss resulted in the long-term disruption of family life, suicidal trends were prominent; where the family life stabilized, they were minimal. Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts occurred significantly more often among female subjects than males, and the loss of father and both parents was in excess of loss of mother among those with significant suicidal ideation. The findings support the hypothesis that early parental loss, under certain conditions, is a significant variable in the predisposition to suicidal behaviour and suggest avenues for further research.