READINGS

THEORY AS STORY

READ BY: Ava Pasewicz.

CITATION: Modlin, N., Stubley, J., Maggio, C., & Rucker, J. (2023). On Redescribing the Indescribable: Trauma, Psychoanalysis & Psychedelic Therapy. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 39: 551-572.

ABSTRACT: The psychedelic state can be thought about as an interdependent intrapsychic, somatic, interpersonal & spiritual happening which encourages, perhaps both to the relief & dismay of those participating in the experience, the shocking & impressive emergence of one’s unconscious desires & traumata's; a state which may be experienced as cathartic or healing, and as anxiety-provoking & confusing. Often, in clinical trials investigating psychedelics in mental health conditions, these go hand-in-hand. Amid a renewed, at times hyperbolic, interest in psychedelics as a potential treatment for mental illness, significant gaps of knowledge remain. Additional studies exploring the impact of the extra-pharmacological factors & adjunct therapeutic models on treatment outcomes are needed. Drawing from psychoanalytic perspectives, this paper explores points of intersectionality between psychedelic therapy under investigation & psychoanalysis in the context of traumatic stress. To that end, the psychedelic state will be considered an attempt to make the unconscious conscious by immersing self in a bewildering waking-dream to better tolerate reality; immersing self in a willful state of vulnerability, to develop trust in one’s agency & capacity to trust others; immersing self in an indescribable experience to learn how to redescribe, to self & to others the traumatic past.

REDESCRIBING THE INDESCRIBABLE

CITATION: Shedler, J. (2021). The personality syndromes. In R. Feinstein (Ed.), A Primer on Personality Disorders: Multi-Theoretical Viewpoints. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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KEY POINTS:

Personality refers to an individual’s characteristic patterns of thought, feeling, behavior, motivation, defense, interpersonal functioning, and ways of experiencing self and others. Clinical knowledge accrued over generations has given rise to a taxonomy of familiar personality syndromes. Personality syndromes exist on a continuum of functioning from healthy to severely disturbed. There is no discontinuity between normal and pathological personality.

Understanding personality syndromes requires an understanding of underlying personality processes such as inner conflicts, defenses, and motives. A diagnostic prototype is provided for each personality syndrome, which describes the syndrome in its “ideal” or pure form. A practical diagnostic method based on pattern recognition is provided, whereby clinicians consider the overall resemblance between patients and diagnostic prototypes.

The personality constructs provide the broad strokes of clinical case formulations. They can explain and contextualize presenting symptoms and disorders. Each personality syndrome is a distinct pathway to depression and requires a different treatment focus.
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Read by: Isabel P.

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THE PERSONALITY SYNDROMES

CITATION: Goldstein, H. (1990). The knowledge base of social work practice: Theory, wisdom, analogue, or art? Families in Society, 71(1), 32–43.

ABSTRACT: Lured by the promise of the scientific method, social work (SW) has turned away from its own foundations of practice wisdom and has not entirely succeeded in developing its own value base, theories, and methods. A historical overview traces the tendency to accumulate theories that are, in many ways, alien to the SW's original mission of serving humanity. A range of theories have appeared in the literature as alternatives to the normative or positivistic orientation of the SW practice knowledge base. These include narrative theory, social constructionism, cognitive theory, moral theory, faith and spirituality, feminist theory, and the humanities.

THE KNOWLEDGE BASE OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE: THEORY, WISDOM, ANALOGUE, OR ART?

INTEGRATIVE DBT & PSYCHOTHERAPY