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EDITORIAL

Editorial
by Chiara Lui

ARTICLES

Improving sociality through positive behaviour support
by Clare Coppock
AbstractImproving sociality through positive behaviour support.Young people with intellectual disabilities may present with behaviour that is construed as challenging by those around them. This paper aims to explore behaviour as a form of communication that occurs in response to patterns of construal and anticipation of events. This paper will summarise ways in which the principles of Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) can be used by caregivers in order to develop an understanding of the construal processes of their young people. Using this approach can support the improvement of sociality between caregivers and young people, whilst simultaneously reducing the frequency and severity of incidents of challenging behaviour.

Keywords: sociality, challenging behaviour, intellectual disability, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The therapeutic relationship with clients with phobic, obsessive-compulsive, eating and depressive disorders: Which meanings prevail?
by Valeria Ugazio, Stella Guarnieri, Pasquale Anselmi, Daniele Castelli e Marisa Pandolfi.
AbstractThe therapeutic relationship with clients with phobic, obsessive-compulsive, eating and depressive disorders: Which meanings prevail?Do clients with phobic, obsessive-compulsive, eating, and depressive disorders interact with their therapist using ways of relating whose respective meanings are characteristic of the semantics of freedom, goodness, power, or belonging? And does the therapist take a position in tune with clients’ dominant semantic? This study aims to answer these questions to verify the hypothesis, derived from Ugazio’s family semantic polarities theory: that there is no single way of building the therapeutic relationship, rather, there are as many ways as there are semantics and related disorders. We applied the Semantic Grid of Therapeutic Relationship to 120 video-recorded sessions, the first two sessions of 60 clients with phobic (12), obsessive-compulsive (12), eating (12), depressive or bipolar disorders (12) and problems with daily life (12). The SG-DTR allows the detection and classification of the Interactive Semantic Polarities (ISPs), in which client and therapist, mainly non-verbally, move away from their ascribed roles. The results confirm that the lived story between therapist and client in the here and now of the session is constructed in different ways according to the patients’ disorder. This study opens a new research perspective on the therapeutic relationship and shows the application of a method which can also be used by clinicians, especially when they are facing an impasse during the therapy.

Keywords: therapeutic relationship, therapeutic alliance, phobic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, eating disorders, depressive disorders.

Euclidean distance in the repertory grid technique: a study of distances between elements in a sample of battered women
by Jesús Garcia-Martínez, Ángeles Payán-Bravo e Rafael Moreno-Rodríguez
AbstractEuclidean distance in the repertory grid technique: a study of distances between elements in a sample of battered womenIn this study, Euclidean distance was used to analyse the construct of “male-female” elements and those “supportive or non-supportive” in a sample of battered women (N=25). The main aim was to study the differences in subjective similarity (Euclidean distance) according to different structural indexes in the repertory grid. The sample was divided into two groups using the mean as the criterion for dichotomizing groups as high- low. Symptomatology was also used as a factor for distributing the sample. Between-group differences were calculated with the Student’s-t. Women in the high-polarization group considered themselves different from their partner and also from other aggressive men. Women in the low-intensity group considered themselves and their partners as different from cooperative-helpful men.

Keywords: Euclidian distances, repertory grid technique, intimate partner violence.

Repertory Grid Technique in adoptive parent candidate counselling
by Leonora S. Pechnikova, Andrey L. Ryzhov, Ekaterina B. Zhuykova
AbstractRepertory Grid Technique in adoptive parent candidate counsellingParental expectations play an important role in the success of adoption or foster placement. We propose a qualitative approach to explore parental expectations based on repertory grid technique with children’s photos as elements. Its main advantage rests on the ability to assess such interrelated aspects of parental expectations as the elaboration of personally important content, the ability to regulate reactions, the presence of stereotypes about adoption, lack of awareness or evasive thinking and specific attitudes towards family members. The article presents rationale, administration and interpretation procedures, the results of an exploratory study of parents from 48 families in order to define preliminary norms for quantitative indexes and a sample of grid analysis to illustrate how the method can be employed in counselling.

Keywords: adoption, repertory grids, family counselling, parental expectations.

Tattoo in haste, repent at leisure?
by John M. Fisher
AbstractTattoo in haste, repent at leisure?Tattoos are becoming more and more prevalent in society and TV shows showing both the positive and negative sides of tattooing (e.g. the Ink series, Tattoo Fixers, etc.). Some of the reasons for a tattoo have been explored by Desley Hennessy (2011). It can be argued that getting a (memorial/life affirming/drunken/‘shit’) tattoo is becoming a rite of passage for young people especially on holiday in some of the hotspots of Europe. However, for some, this impulse and/or drunken purchase can turn into “buyer’s remorse” and regret. Having already used Procter’s (2014) Time/Event Grid in exploring people’s perception of an 8 day training course (2014) I felt that this was an ideal way to look at the meaning people gave their tattoo at different points in time and juxtapose that with their perception of how other people saw the tattoo.

Keywords: Tattoos, personal constructs, Time/Event Grids (TEG).

Videogames, between dependency and sociality: an exploration of the meanings involved in the use of the media through the Personal Construct Psychology
by Marcello Bandiera and Davide Scapin.
AbstractVideogames, between dependency and sociality: an exploration of the meanings involved in the use of the media through the Personal Construct PsychologyPublic opinion and scientific research, due to the numerous controversial issues related to the study of the Gaming Disorder, are still divided with respect to implications on well-being. Starting from the comparison with the scientific literature on the subject, the present research is configured as an attempt to reframe the phenomenon through the constructivist epistemological key. The purpose of the research is to explore the possible meanings built around videogame activity that could have important implications in the context of clinical activity. The results highlight the main thematic themes that emerged in the interviews and the considerations about the possible implications at the level of professional constructions of role, dependency and sociality in a group of young adults.

Keywords: addiction, videogames, Gaming Disorder, construction of meanings, young adults.

BOOK REVIEW

“Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions” by Edwin A. Abbott
by Federica Mattarei

GLOSSARY

Personal constructs in depression
by Robert A. Neimeyer