Abstract In this article, the writer notes that the clinician/client relationship, created through the use of psychotherapy, is highly important when it comes to bringing about a radical transformation within the client. The writer points out that with reflective listening, the client is made to understand his/her problems from the bottom up and thus be convinced that the clinician truly cares about his or her mental predicament. In addition, the writer shows that reflective listening also creates a kind of symbiotic balance in which both client and clinician exist and function as one entity. With motivational interviewing, the process is relatively identical except for the direct focus upon creating motivation for positive change within the client. Thus, the writer demonstrates that psychotherapy, especially when based on the client-centered techniques of reflective listening and motivational interviewing, can bring about dramatic change in a person and result in a much better lifestyle for the client, yet only when the clinician is highly-skilled in the art of human relationships.
Outline:
General Definition
Psychotherapy--The Clinician Viewpoint
The Client Viewpoint
Client-Centered Psychotherapy
Reflective Listening
Motivational Interviewing
Conclusion
References
From the Paper "For the clinician, whether a psychotherapist or a psychiatrist, there are three main goals to be accomplished during a session or a series of sessions with a client. First, the clinician must do everything within his/her ability to alleviate psychological pain which often comes in the form of distressing feelings or emotions, such as anxiety or depression, or in the form of symptoms like phobia, obsessions, compulsions, inhibitions, panic attacks, psychologically-based physical problems, sexual problems and types of mental derangement which prevent the clinician from accomplishing any or all of these traits. Also, the clinician must be able to set the client at ease, either through emotional comfort or by creating a new sense of happiness in the areas which are disturbing to the client."
Abstract The psychoanalytic approach to aesthetics enables us to understand the artists' aesthetic experiences as he or she conjures up his perception and response thereof, interpretation and meaning and his or her thoughts and feelings. The paper explains that, primarily divided into applied psychoanalysis and clinical psychoanalysis, the discipline of psychoanalytic aesthetics has been studied and commented upon by many famous psychoanalysts and clinicians over the years. This paper focuses on the comments of clinician Hanna Segal's psychoanalytic approach to aesthetics in general and particularly her quotes on creation and recreation. It examines her comment: ?The essence of the aesthetic creation is a resolution of the central depressive situation and that the main factor in the aesthetic experience is the identification with this process." (H. Segal, 1981).
From the Paper "According to Segal, one of the main aims of the artists is to create a world of his own, as Winnicott (1971) also held that the need to create something out of nothing is the main impulse. Segal says that though the artist believes that he is engaged in reproducing the external world, the fact is that the artist is using the external world to rebuild his own inner self. One of the themes used by Segal is of recovering the past and the defragmentation of the pieces."
Tags: Adrian, Strokes, Sigmund, Freud, symptom, building
This in-depth paper details the results of both focus groups and clinical studies which provide a framework for clinicians to better understand and treat pain, based on the race and ethnicity of the patient.
Abstract This well-researched, two-part paper examines the cause, effect and treatment of self-reported pain in patients of varying ethnicities and cultures. When healthcare providers are faced with patients who are experiencing pain, there may be a number of confounding factors that serve to constrain developing an effective treatment modality, including the clinician's own cultural bias, prejudice or ignorance. This in-depth research paper identifies the cultural factors that play a role in influencing healthcare providers' decisions to medicate patients based on their ethnicity. The writer of this paper also details which, if any, cultural influences within the patients themselves may serve to constrain their ability to adequately communicate their respective levels of pain in self-reports. This paper details the various focus groups and clinical studies and their results which provide a framework for clinicians to better understand the treatment of pain based on the race and ethnicity of the patient.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Part One: Development of a Pain Assessment Tool Relevant to Clinical Background.
Epidemiology of Pain
Ecological Perspective
Developmental/Temporal Perspective
Epidemiology Measures
General Pain Assessment Tool Considerations
Part Two: Application of Assessment Tool
Conclusion
Bibliography
From the Paper "Although pain is a virtually universal phenomenon, it is also a highly subjective experience that is characterized by a wide range of epidemiological considerations that will vary according to the individual, of course, but the cultural setting within which the pain management experience takes place as well. In the increasingly multicultural society that characterizes the United Kingdom today, clinicians are hard-pressed to understand the complex relationship of how organic processes interrelate with cultural factors that may be unapparent or unknown to them. Furthermore, compounding the problem of developing an effective pain assessment tool that can be used across-the-board is the fact that occupational, socioeconomic, psychosocial, and possibly geographic, cultural, and cohort differences, as well as differences in lifestyle risk factors such as smoking may be so powerful for pain management purposes that the influences of other factors such as age and gender are difficult to identify."
Abstract This paper explains that, despite considerable efforts placed by leaders in the field of clinical psychology to keep diagnoses objective, clinicians' theoretical beliefs still exert a major influence on their diagnoses. The paper then discusses and describes the two most common and widely accepted personal theories used by clinicians, Adler's theory and the existential theory, and takes a look at the differences between these two theories.
Table of Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Personal Theories - Adler and Existentialism
Conclusion
From the Paper "Adler. - Adler was born in Vienna, Austria on February 7, 1870 (Boeree 1997). He could not walk until he was four years old because of rickets and also nearly died of pneumonia at five. His physical condition impelled him to acquire a medical degree from the University of Vienna in 1895. He began working as an ophthalmologist and then switched to general practice in the lower-class part of Vienna.. Most of his patients were circus performers who suffered from organ inferiorities and this led to an interest in organ deformities and compensation, clearly also because of his own experience of deformity and disability as a child. He later shifted to psychiatry and joined the discussion group led by Sigmund Freud. Adler wrote papers on organic inferiority, an aggression instinct and children's feeling of inferiority."
Abstract Although psychology and psychotherapeutic intervention remains a relatively new profession, assisting people with mental health disorders is an important part of health wellness. No matter the psychotherapeutic regimen a therapist chooses to follow and implement, all have a core element, namely, establishing and sustaining a strong clinician-patient relationship. The focus of this essay is to present the reader a compendium of relationship characteristics needed in establishing a workable clinician-patient therapeutic relationship.
A review of the article by Jeanette T. Crenshaw and Elizabeth H. Winslow in 2002, ?Preoperative Fasting: Old Habits Die Hard: Research and Published Guidelines no Longer Support the Routine Use of ?NPO After Midnight,? but the Practice Persists.?
Abstract This paper discusses how, in their article, ?Preoperative Fasting: Old Habits Die Hard" ,Crenshaw and Winslow examine the role nursing staff can play in effecting changes in the preoperative fasting regulations in individual hospitals. It shows how they argue that, though there is often a lag before regulations become implemented, members of the nursing staff need to be more assertive in their collaborations with clinicians. It also looks at how this assertiveness will ensure more scientifically sound preoperative fasting policies.
From the Paper "Crenshaw and Winslow (2002) admit to several limitations in this study design. First, the interviews were conducted after the operation rather than before. The authors note, however, that this timing was necessary because many of the patients would be more anxious and less likely to cooperate with the lengthy questions before the operation. Also, most patients were outpatients, who only arrived and were admitted to the hospital a few hours prior to surgery, making them too busy to bother with any pre-operation interviews."
Abstract Lucid dreaming is a paradoxical mental state in which dreamers become aware that they are dreaming and, in some cases, deliberately take control of the dream action. This paper provides an overview of why humans sleep and dream, an examination of what lucid dreams are, and their relevance to psychologists and other clinicians today. A discussion of the potential adverse consequences identified by some critics is followed by a summary of the research in the conclusion.
Outline
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Why Do Humans Sleep and Dream Anyway?
What Are Lucid Dreams? Cheap Thrills or Divine Insight?
Learning How to Dream Lucidly
Relevance of Lucid Dreaming to Psychology
"Completely Risk-Free" or Not?
Improving Accessibility to Lucid Dreaming
Conclusion
From the Paper "Because everyone dreams, it would seem easy enough to classify the experience as being "ordinary," and yet the dream experience itself can seem to be anything but "ordinary." Researchers have been investigating why animals sleep and have attempted to determine the biological role of dreams. Lucid dreaming means dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming. This consciousness allows people to guide their dreams and explore a potentially infinite number of possibilities. A staunch lucid dream advocate and researcher, Dr. Stephen LaBerge, even maintains that lucid dreaming may help people heal faster and enjoy other benefits, including aiding personal-development, enhancing self-confidence, overcoming nightmares, improving mental (and perhaps, physical) health, facilitating creative problem solving as well as providing "thrilling entertainment." In all fairness, it should be pointed out that LaBerge is also hawking DreamLights and other devices designed to help people learn how to dream lucidly at as much as $1,000 a pop -- and he has sold a lot of them."
Abstract The paper discusses how role-playing appears to be a natural part of development that is instrumental for learning and identity development. The paper further looks at how role-playing has been incorporated into various behavioral therapies as well as learning initiatives for children. In addition, the paper examines the contexts in which role-playing or drama therapies have been utilized with children and how effective these interventions have proven to be. The paper explores why a clinician would choose drama-based therapies instead of alternate interventions.
From the Paper "Role playing has been used in both skills training and therapy contexts with children for various purposes. Skills training programs focused on the prevention of childhood abduction have proven useful and effective (Johnson, Miltenberger, Knudson, Egemo-Helm, Kelso, Jostad, Langley, (2006). Based on studies that assessed these types of skills training programs, it was determined that children have the ability to learn safety skills and demonstrate the use of these skills in simulated abduction situations where the children are presented with a typical abduction lure (Johnson et al., 2006). In these simulated situations, children were taught self-protective behaviors in order to prevent abduction."
This paper is a research proposal to determine the current and potential clinical applications for positron emission tomography and to develop a "best practices" approach to developing a partnership between cognitive scientists and neuroscientists.
Abstract This paper explains that Positron Emission Tomography (PET), an
imaging technique, allows clinicians to localize safely and monitor accurately the activity of areas in the normal human brain during specific mental tasks. The author points out that the traditional methods of research, such as experiments in memorizing and observation of individuals who had suffered localized brain damage, have been facilitated by innovative methodologies, such as positron emission tomography, that connect human behavior to specific brain structures and functions. The paper relates that the research methodology will be a critical review of the scholarly and relevant literature, followed by a qualitative and quantitative analysis of how partnership between cognitive scientists and neuroscientists can be created and improved based on the technique's demonstrated efficacy in various clinical settings. Color illustrations.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of Study
Importance of Study
Review of Related Literature
Background and Overview
How Positron Emission Tomography Works.
Figure 1. Typical Positron Emission Tomography Device, Clinician and Patient
Radionuclides Used in PET
Figure 2. PET Scan of Damaged Human Brain
Methodology
Data-gathering Method and Database of Study
From the Paper "PET provides clinicians with a functional brain-imaging technique to identify brain regions activated in motor, sensory, cognitive, and emotional processes. ?PET is based on a simple principle: a radioactive isotope that emits [[Beta].sup.+] particles (i.e., positrons, with a mass equal to an electron but with a positive electrical charge) is artificially integrated into a biological molecule and then injected intravenously.? In the various PET applications, a chemical compound that is "labeled" with a short-lived, positron-emitting radionuclide (either carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, or fluorine) is injected into the body. The activity of such a radiopharmaceutical is then measured quantitatively throughout the target organs through the use of photomultiplier-scintillator detectors."
Abstract This paper discusses the ethics of the clinicians and the ethics of the participants. Additionally, the paper also discusses patient consent with regard to lower income, low literacy, and non-English speaking individuals. The paper concludes that study candidates should be honest and forthcoming when agreeing to participate, physicians should not be involved for their own glory and the clinical workers should remember that people are not just guinea pigs.
Outline:
Clinicians and Paid Participants
Informed Consent
Benefits of Clinical and Drug Trials
Conclusion
From the Paper "Every year, hundreds and even thousands of people loan their bodies and their health to be part of paid clinical trials. Some are desperate to help find the cures for cancer, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and some are looking for a way to make a few extra dollars. Unfortunately, some people are willing to become professional lab rats, travelling from study to study. The results of these clinical trials can then become skewed because the participants do not disclose that they are participating in a different study somewhere else."
A comprehensive look at a four year old boy's performance using the Denver II Developmental screening test which assesses personal-social, fine-motor- adaptive, language, and gross motor development.
1,500 words (approx. 6 pages), 4 sources, 2000, $ 49.95
Abstract A comprehensive look at a four year old boy's performance using the Denver II Developmental screening test which assesses personal-social, fine-motor- adaptive, language, and gross motor development. Primarily used to compare children to other children, the test it to alert clinician's of possible difficulties in certain areas. Includes child history, testing observations, performance, assessment, and evaluation.
Abstract Summarizes possible causes of depression and teenage suicide. Risk factors identified by psychologists and clinicians. External contributors (gender, birth order, substance abuse, social pressure, unstable families, conduct disorder). Internal contributors (hopelessness, coping skill deficits). Negative outcomes.; academic problems. Need to develop prevention tools. Paper contains many quotations.
From the Paper "INTRODUCTION
Depression has become a multi-million dollar industry. Mainstream daily life offers many stressful life events that are compounded by external stimuli such as the media. Too often, adolescents have received blame for acting out rather than receiving focus for reacting within. "The self is a multi-faceted dynamic entity that is involved in the construction of meaning, mediating and regulating emotions and motivating actions" (Orbach, Mikulincer, Stein, & Cohen, 1998, p. 435). With teenage suicide purported to be epidemic and rising, it is essential that the adolescent "self" be examined so preventive tools may be exacted and implemented. "Adolescent depression has also been shown to predict a variety of negative outcomes, including: academic problems, marital difficulties, delinquency ..."
Abstract This paper reviews literature which looks at arguments for and against the idea of joining the role of nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist. Arguments for suggest that the result would be an acute care clinician who integrates the clinical skills of the nurse practitioner with the systems knowledge, educational commitment and leadership abilities of the clinical nurse specialist. The paper shows that those against the idea argue that primary care practitioners play a critical role which would be diluted if blended with the other role. The paper shows that ultimately, the reasons for such a blending are more convincing than the reasons for not doing so.
From the Paper "Mick & Ackerman (2000) as well find that the two disciplines, while often blended, remain distinct at the same time, with a continuing differentiation between the two distinct practice roles. At the same time, the authors call for more emphasis on the blended roles in academia as a way of making the blended role work better. Until now, they note, the institutional value of the roles was depicted as consisting of educated technicians. There was no view that some would choose to move beyond the role of technician to scholar, but the advent of the blended role shows a broader acknowledgment of the influence of the medical model on all nursing roles."
Abstract A review of an article which assessed a validity study and a correlation study. The paper discusses how the study is important because it is felt that an assessment of these variables, guilt and shame, would be helpful to both clinicians and researchers, to know how they affect personality functioning, symptom formation and response to therapeutic intervention.
From the Paper "The first study continued research that was already started in 1987 on the construct validity by comparing the new SCAA scale to the already validated ASGS and PFQ2. The second study was done in two parts. The first part examined the possible revision of the SCAA and the second part looked at the role of shame and guilt in different psychological symptomatology. In summary therefore, this work will add to the data that will help researchers and clinicians decide on which scale is most reliable to use to assess shame and guilt in clients. Having assessed the shame and guilt, then these will be useful in diagnosing and treating the clients."
Abstract This paper discusses the definition of eating disorders and describes some of the different types such as anorexia and bulimia. In particular, it examines how eating disorders are becoming more common in men much for the same reason they occur in women. It examines how under diagnosis of eating disorders in men is not limited to the put down public, but unfortunately also takes in physicians and other healthcare suppliers. It discusses how for men, symptoms include levels of testosterone decrease along with sexual libido, which often go unreported or unnoticed. It looks at how men have been ignored for the reason that clinicians have not thought of them as having these kinds of problems and how men have been too humiliated to seek treatment.
From the Paper "Some use a combination of all these kinds of eradication. Many individuals with bulimia "binge and remove" in secret and sustain normal or above normal body weight, they can over and over again competently conceal their complicatedness from others for years. As with anorexia, bulimia typically begins during pubescent years. There are some disorders that first and foremost take place in males, for instance "body dysmorphia", which is a condition that is often referred to as "overturn anorexia" and takes place when an individual believes he cannot grow or become muscular enough. Like an emaciated anorexic that looks in the mirror and sees overweight, many excessively brawny bodybuilders notice parts of their body as being too skinny."
