The Empathic Ground explores the experience of nondual consciousness as the basis of human connection, and describes its importance for psychological healing. It looks at the therapeutic relationship from the perspectives of psychoanalytic intersubjectivity theory and Asian nondual philosophy, finding practical meeting points between them that illuminate crucial issues in psychotherapy, such as transference and counter-transference, the nature of subjectivity, and the role of the body. The book also includes a series of exercises developed by the author for realizing nondual consciousness in the clinical setting. Access to this subtle, unified dimension of consciousness develops both our individual human capacities—perception, understanding, love, and physical pleasure—and our relationships with other people. It thus has profound significance for both psychological healing and development, and for the relationship of psychotherapist and client.

Des initiatives communautaires novatrices : service d'accompagnement à la naissance et rencontres de groupes de parents ; développement d'un nouveau modèle de fonctionnement afin d'améliorer le taux de réussite de jeunes en difficulté ; développement des enfants de 0-3 ans dans les communautés défavorisées ; mission, valeurs, principes et actions auprès des personnes et des familles à faibles revenus.

Les auteurs, après avoir décrit les problèmes neurologiques, biologiques et environnementaux des enfants de parents alcooliques, toxicomanes ou joueurs pathologiques, présentent les caractéristiques et les expériences qui semblent soutenir une saine adaptation en dépit de situations personnelles et sociofamiliales défavorables. De l'analyse des facteurs de résilience inventoriés, ils dégagent certaines leçons pour l'intervention préventive et font état de quelques programmes de prévention ou d'intervention déjà mis en application et dûment évalués. Pour conclure, ils proposent des recommandations en matière de recherche et de politiques sociales.

The United States was founded on the principle of equal opportunity for all, and this ethos continues to inform the nation’s collective identity. In reality, however, absolute equality is elusive. The gap between rich and poor has widened in recent decades, and the United States has the highest level of economic inequality of any developed country. Social class and other differences in status reverberate throughout American life, and prejudice based on another’s perceived status persists among individuals and groups. In Envy Up, Scorn Down, noted social psychologist Susan Fiske examines the psychological underpinnings of interpersonal and intergroup comparisons, exploring why we compare ourselves to those both above and below us and analyzing the social consequences of such comparisons in day-to-day life. What motivates individuals, groups, and cultures to envy the status of some and scorn the status of others? Who experiences envy and scorn most? Envy Up, Scorn Down marshals a wealth of recent psychological studies as well as findings based on years of Fiske’s own research to address such questions. She shows that both envy and scorn have distinctive biological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral characteristics. And though we are all “wired” for comparison, some individuals are more vulnerable to these motives than others. Dominant personalities, for example, express envy toward high-status groups such as the wealthy and well-educated, and insecurity can lead others to scorn those perceived to have lower status, such as women, minorities, or the disabled. Fiske shows that one’s race or ethnicity, gender, and education all correlate with perceived status. Regardless of whether one is accorded higher or lower status, however, all groups rank their members, and all societies rank the various groups within them. We rate each group as either friend or foe, able or unable, and accordingly assign them the traits of warmth or competence. The majority of groups in the United States are ranked either warm or competent but not both, with extreme exceptions: the homeless or the very poor are considered neither warm nor competent. Societies across the globe view older people as warm but incompetent. Conversely, the very rich are generally considered cold but highly competent. Envy Up, Scorn Down explores the nuances of status hierarchies and their consequences and shows that such prejudice in its most virulent form dehumanizes and can lead to devastating outcomes—from the scornful neglect of the homeless to the envious anger historically directed at Tutsis in Rwanda or Jews in Europe. Individuals, groups, and even cultures will always make comparisons between and among themselves. Envy Up, Scorn Down is an accessible and insightful examination of drives we all share and the prejudice that can accompany comparison. The book deftly shows that understanding envy and scorn—and seeking to mitigate their effects—can prove invaluable to our lives, our relationships, and our society.

Addressing the common ground between ethics and psychoanalysis, W. W. Meissner asks “Does psychoanalysis have anything to contribute to ethical understanding and reflection?” and conversely, “Does ethics have anything to offer analytic understanding of the complexities of human behavior and decision-making?” Both disciplines focus their interest and concern not only on the inner well-being of the individual, but also on questions of his or her adaptation to the outside world, including both intimate personal relations as well as broader societal and communal relations. This book explores and explicates areas of interaction and common interest between these two disciplines in the hope of opening the way to further exploration and dialogue in the understanding of the human phenomenon.

A philosopher argues there is an ethical imperative to provide psychotherapy to depressed patients because the insights gained from it promote autonomy.

This volume explores ethical issues specific to working with deaf clients, particularly matters of confidentiality, managing multiple relationships, and the clinician’s competency to provide services, particularly in communicating with and understanding deaf people. Led by editor Virginia Gutman, a unique assembly of respected mental health professionals share their experiences and knowledge in working with deaf clients. Irene Leigh commences Ethics in Mental Health and Deafness with her varied experiences as a deaf mental health practitioner, and Gutman follows with insights on ethics in the “small world” of the Deaf community. William McCrone discusses the law and ethics, and Patrick Brice considers ethical issues regarding deaf children, adolescents, and their families. In contrast, Janet Pray addresses concerns about deaf and hard of hearing older clients. Minority deaf populations pose additional ethical aspects, which are detailed by Carolyn Corbett. Kathleen Peoples explores the challenges of training professionals in mental health services specifically for deaf clients. Closely related to these topics is the influence of interpreters with deaf clients in mental health settings, which Lynnette Taylor thoroughly treats. Ethics and Mental Health in Deafness also features a chapter on genetic counseling and testing for deafness by Kathleen Arnos. The final section, written by Robert Pollard, examines ethical conduct in research with deaf people, a fitting conclusion to a volume that will become required reading for all professionals and students in this discipline.

Freud's interpretation of the ancient legend of Oedipus—as formulated in Sophocles' tragic drama—is among the most widely known concepts of psychoanalysis. Euripides' Ion, however, presents a more complex version of the development of personal identity. Here, the discovery of family origins is a process in which parent and child both take part as distinct agents driven by their own impulses of violence and desire. Euripides, Freud, and the Romance of Belonging studies the construction of identity and the origins of the primal trauma in two texts, the Ion and Freud’s case history of the Wolf Man. Victoria Pedrick challenges the conventional psychoanalytic theory of the development of the individual within the family, presenting instead a richer and more complex economy of exchange between the parent and the child. She provides a new perspective on Freud's appropriation of ancient texts and moves beyond the familiar reunion in Oedipus to the more nuanced scene of abandonment present in Ion. Her parallel investigation of these texts suggests that contemporary culture remains preoccupied by the problems of the past in the determination of identity. Pedrick's fresh perspectives on both texts as well as on their relationship to each other shed new light on two foundational moments in the intellectual development of the West: Greek tragedy and Freudian psychoanalysis.

Pioneers in the study of forgiveness, Robert Enright and Joanna North have compiled a collection of twelve essays ranging from a first-person account of the mother of a murdered child to an assessment of the United States’ post-war reconciliations with Germany and Vietnam. This book explores forgiveness in interpersonal relationships, family relationships, the individual and society relationship, and international relations through the eyes of philosophers and educators as well as a psychologist, police chief-turned-minister, law professor, sociologist, psychiatrist, social worker, and theologian.