Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy 3/2003

Frank M. Dattilio
Emetic exposure and desensitisation procedures in the reduction of nausea and a fear of emesis  5
Summary
An emetic syrup  was titrated according to a reduction schedule in order to recreate graduated levels of nausea in the exposure of a 34-year-old female who developed the fear of nausea and emesis (vomiting) after vomiting on stage during a piano recital.  In this particular case, the patient was taught breathing retraining and anxiety reduction techniques such as double swallowing, in addition to some imagery as a desensitisation procedure to avoid reacting to nausea by vomiting.  Results in similar case designs suggest that, at times, artificial methods such as the above may be used to create variations of a situation that cannot always be duplicated through pure imaginal exposure or during in vivo exposure, especially when the stimulus involves certain physiological responses such as a gastric regurgitation.  A two-year follow-up yielded no indication of relapse and a full return to pre-baseline status.

Zdzisław Bizoń , Andrzej Kokoszka, Joanna Roszczyńska, Ludwik Bryła, Marcin Wojnar
Bizoń's method of social network and social support assessment: Description of the method and its application  17
Summary
The development of the social network and social support assessment method designed by Bizoń is concisely outlined. The final version of the measurement method is described and all its components are presented in the appendix. It consists of the Interview Questionnaire, including Social Support Inventory, the Map of Social Network, the List of Social Network, Table of the data coding and Questionnaire of Demographic Data. The main studies with this instrument are reviewed. They indicate that Bizoń's method is a helpful diagnostic tool and has some advantages in comparison with similar methods applied in the studies of social support.

Martin Drapeau, Christine Annett Körner, Louis Brunet, Luc Granger, Franz Caspar, Jean-Nicolas Despland, Yves de Roten
A psychodynamic look at pedophile sex offenders in treatment  31
Aim: The authors report the main results from a qualitative study on the motivation for, and the daily experience of a specialised treatment for child molesters. Method: Non-directive semi-structured interviews were done with 24 paedophile sex offenders in treatment at La Macaza clinic of La Macaza federal penitentiary (Canada). The data was initially analysed using diverse qualitative methods including theme analysis, comparative analysis, plan analysis and dynamic analysis. Results: The results indicated the importance of the structuring of the treatment program, of the therapists' role, and of the patients' strive for a sense of mastery. Discussion: The data is examined in psychodynamic terms in order to emphasise the dynamic and interpersonal aspects of a manualised treatment procedure such as the one used at La Macaza. The authors also discuss the subjects' comments suggesting that interpersonal aspects were as, if not more important to them than specific therapeutic techniques.

Ludmiła Boguszewska, Elżbieta Słupczyńska-Kossobudzka
Trends and methods of evaluative studies in community-based psychiatry in the world in the years 1993-2000  43
Summary
321 research reports were analysed. Most of the studies were devoted to the effects of interventions and solely a several were referred to the analysis of process. The influence of intervention on patients was that considered most often. During a period of the first 3 years the influence exerted through mobile community teams, community support programmes, day care, and crisis interventions was more often than later on. In the following 5 years interventions by the service system and primary health care were studied more often than earlier. The influence on staff, system of services or populations was considered only occasionally. Relatively the majority of the studies fulfilled the requirements of methodological correctness.

Andrzej Cechnicki, Miguel Valdes
Relation between schizophrenic patients' quality of life and symptom severity  55
Summary
The authors focus on the relation between the psychopathological pattern of schizophrenia and the patients' quality of life. The relation was studied in a group of sixty-six patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the criteria of DSM-III and followed up for 7 and 12 years after their first hospitalisation. The psychopathological picture of schizophrenia was described with the use of the BPRS (Californian version), while the quality of life was assessed with the use of the Questionnaire of the Quality of Life by Lehman. In the discussion of their research findings, the authors point to a different pattern of relations between the pathological picture and subjective and objective evaluation of the patients' quality of life.

Comments on the article: "What psychotherapy is and is not: an essay on redefining of the term" by Jerzy W. Aleksandrowicz
Comment I: Fank M. Dattilio "On th essence of psychotherapy"  69
Comment II: Dov Aleksandrowicz  77

Richard D. Chessick
An unfinished didactic novel. Chapter 7: Pergamum  79