Dynamic systems theory and embodiment in psychotherapy research. A new look at process and outcome


Book Description

In an attempt to cease from reducing the world and its (emergent) phenomena to linear modeling and analytic dissection, Dynamic Systems Theories (DST) and Embodiment theories and methods aim at accounting for the complex, dynamic, and non-linear phenomena that we constantly deal with in psychology. For instance, DST and Embodiment can enrich psychology’s understanding of the communicative process both in clinical and non-clinical settings. In psychotherapy, an important amount of research has shown that – next to other ingredients – the therapeutic relationship is the most important active factor contributing to psychotherapy outcome. These findings give communication a central role in the psychotherapy process. In the traditional view, the underlying model of understanding psychotherapy processes is that of a number of components summatively coming together enabling us to make a linear causal prediction. Yet, communication is inherently dynamic. A shift to viewing the communication process in psychotherapy as a field dynamic phenomenon helps us to take into account nonlinear phenomena, such as feedback processes within and between persons. We thus propose an embodied enactive dynamic systems view as a new theoretical and methodological perspective that can more realistically capture what happens among and between two persons in psychotherapy. This view reaches beyond the current narrow model of psychotherapy research. DST and Embodied Enactive Approaches can offer solutions to the loss of non-linear phenomena, the complex dynamics of reality, and the holistic level of analysis. DST and Embodied Enactive Approaches have developed not in a single discipline but in a joined movement based on various fields such as physics, biology, robotics, anthropology, philosophy, linguistics, neuroscience, and psychology, and have only recently entered clinical theorizing. The two new paradigms have already triggered a rethinking of the therapeutic exchange by recognizing the embodied nature of psychological and communicative phenomena. Their integration opens up a promising scenario in the field of psychotherapy research, developing new, profoundly transdisciplinary, theoretical concepts, methodologies, and standards of knowledge. The notion of field dynamics enables us to account for the role of the communicational context in the regulation of intra-psychological processes, while at the same time avoiding the pitfalls of an ontologization of the hierarchy of systemic organization. Moreover, the new approach implements methodological strategies that can transcend the conventional opposition between idiographic and nomothetic sciences.




Psychotherapy Research


Book Description

This book provides readers with essential information on the foundations of psychotherapy research, and on its applications to the study of both psychotherapy process and outcome. The aim is to stimulate a reflection on these issues in a way that will benefit researchers and clinicians, as well as undergraduate and graduate students, at different levels and from different perspectives. Accordingly, the book presents a balanced mix of chapters summarizing the state of the art in the field from different viewpoints and covering innovative topics and perspectives, reflecting some of the most established traditions and, at the same time, emerging approaches in the field in several countries. The contributors, who were invited from among the experts in our national and international professional networks, also represent a healthy mix of leading figures and young researchers. The first part of the book addresses a number of fundamental issues in psychotherapy research at a historical, philosophical, and theoretical level. The second part of the book is concerned with research on psychotherapy processes; in this regard, both quantitative and qualitative approaches are given equal consideration in order to reflect the growing relevance of the latter. The book’s third and last part examines research on psychotherapy outcomes, primarily focusing on quantitative approaches. Offering a balanced mix of perspectives, approaches and topics, the book represents a valuable tool for anyone interested in psychotherapy research.




Arts Therapies in the Treatment of Depression


Book Description

Arts Therapies in the Treatment of Depression is a comprehensive compilation of expert knowledge on arts therapies’ potential in successfully addressing depression. The book identifies ways of addressing the condition in therapy sessions, shares experience of tools and approaches which seem to work best and guides towards a conscious and confident evidence-based practice. Including contributions from international experts in the field of arts therapies, the book presents some of the most recent, high-profile and methodologically diverse research, whether in the form of clinical trials, surveys or case studies. The three sections of this volume correspond to particular life stages and explore major topics in arts therapies practice and the nature of depression in children, adults and in later life. Individual chapters within the three sections represent all four arts therapies disciplines. The book hopes to improve existing arts therapies practice and research, by encouraging researchers to use creativity in designing meaningful research projects and empowering practitioners to use evidence creatively for the benefit of their clients and the discipline. Arts Therapies in the Treatment of Depression is an essential resource for arts therapies researchers, practitioners and arts therapists in training. It should also be of interest to other health researchers and health professionals, particularly those who work with clients experiencing depression and in multidisciplinary teams.







The Neuroscience of Depression


Book Description

The Neuroscience of Depression: Genetics, Cell Biology, Neurology, Behaviour and Diet is a comprehensive reference to the aspects, features and effects of depression. This book provides readers with the behavior and psychopathological effects of depression, linking anxiety, anger and PSTD to depression. Readers are provided with a detailed outline of the genetic aspects of depression including synaptic genes and the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of depression, followed by a thorough analysis of the neurological and imaging techniques used to study depression. This book also includes three full sections on the various effects of depression, including diet, nutrition and molecular and cellular effects. The Neuroscience of Depression: Genetics, Cell Biology, Neurology, Behaviour and Diet is the only resource for researchers and practitioners studying depression. - Features a section on neurological and imaging, including SPECT Neuroimaging - Analyzes how diet and nutrition effect depression - Examines the molecular and cellular effects of depression - Covers genetics of depression - Includes more than 250 illustrations and tables




Sound, Music and Movement in Parkinson’s Disease


Book Description

Recent years have brought new insights to the understanding of Parkinson’s disease, impact of exercise and sound displays in rehabilitation and movement facilitation. There is growing evidence that auditory signals in the environment can provide a temporal template for movement and change the mode of motor control from intrinsic to extrinsic; habitual to goal-directed, enabling enhanced motor performance in patients. In addition, forced exercise rate studies show that exercising at the pace of healthy adults can have potential neuroprotective benefits for patients. Many research groups have explored the use of auditory cues (such as rhythmical auditory training) in improving gait and upper limb movement parameters. Cues are usually either intermittent (metronome) or continuous (dynamic sound displays). Similarly, dance based interventions suggest that patients benefit from additional sensory information (i.e. the temporal structure embedded in music and proprioceptive information from a dancing partner) that facilities movement. On the contrary, studies dedicated to auditory perception and motor timing report an impaired ability of patients to perceive and synchronise with complex rhythmical structures (i.e. causing an inability to play musical instruments). With the growth of modern technology and the increasing portability of hi-specification devices (such as smart phones), new research questions on the design of interventions are beginning to emerge as we strive for more efficient therapeutic approaches. In this Research Topic we wanted to bring together top scientists from the movement disorder, motor control and sound related studies along with therapists. That way, we can engage in cross-disciplinary and challenging scientific debate about future rehabilitation avenues and frontiers for Parkinson’s disease patients.




Therapy as Discourse


Book Description

This book addresses the premise that therapy can be understood, practiced, and researched as a discursive activity. Using varied forms of discourse analysis, it examines the cultural, institutional, and face-to-face communications that shape, and occur within, therapies that are discursively understood and practiced. By first providing an overview of commonalities across discursive therapies and research approaches, the authors discursively examine general aspects of therapy. Topics explored include subjectivity, psychological terms, institutional influences, therapeutic relationships, therapists’ ways of talking and questioning, discursive ethics, and assessment of therapeutic processes and outcomes. This book offers a macro-analysis of the conversational practices of a discursively informed approach to therapy; as well as a micro-analysis of the ways in which language shapes and is used in a discursively informed approach to therapy. This book will interest practitioners seeking to better understand therapy as a discursive process, and discourse analysts wanting to understand therapy as discursive therapists might practice it.













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