Introduction: In this study we explore how the diagnostic category of mood disorders is construct... more Introduction: In this study we explore how the diagnostic category of mood disorders is constructed in two handbooks of Psychopathology as an example of the mainstream construction of psychopathology. Despite the increasing criticism and lack of evidence, the debunked chemical imbalance theory of the etiology of depression still dominates the professional and pop/folk understanding and interventions. Methods: We analysed the breadth of the inference field and the type of etiopathogenetic contents of the explanations of mood disorders using the "1to3" Coding System. Results: Our findings show that the dominant explanations draw almost exclusively onto monadic explanations, followed by limited dyadic ones. Intrapersonal etiopathogenetic contents prevailed, and biomedical explanations were dominant in both textbooks. Discussion: We critically discuss the underpinnings of these results and address the clinical implications of these biased representations, as well as potential alternative approaches to psychopathology.
Aim: Our goal is to test the clinical hypothesis put forward by Ugazio (2013) that narrated stori... more Aim: Our goal is to test the clinical hypothesis put forward by Ugazio (2013) that narrated stories of patients with phobic, obsessive–compulsive, eating and mood disorders, during therapeutic conversation, are dominated by the semantics of “freedom”, “goodness”, “power” and “belonging” respectively. Methods: To test this hypothesis we applied the Family Semantics Grid (FSG) coding system (Ugazio, Negri, Fellin, & Di Pasquale, 2009) to the transcripts of the first two sessions of 60 individual systemic therapies. Results: The hypothesis is confirmed by all the analysis. Moreover, the cluster analysis shows that the prevalent semantics pattern of 58 out of 60 patients assigns them to the right diagnostic group (Ugazio, Negri & Fellin, 2014). Discussion: As the results suggest, semantics can be a dimensional construct for a diagnosis oriented to the therapeutic change. Clinical implications for diagnostic and therapeutic processes will be addressed.
Phenomenological psychopathology focuses on the first-person experience of mental disorders. Alth... more Phenomenological psychopathology focuses on the first-person experience of mental disorders. Although it is in principle descriptive, it also entails an explanatory dimension: single psychological symptoms are conceived as genetically arising from a holistic structure of personal experience, i.e., the patient's being-in-the-world – and of its dynamic unfolding over time. Yet both classical and current phenomenological approaches tend to identify the essential disorder or “trouble générateur” (Minkowski) of mental illness within the individual, thereby neglecting the relevance of the social context not only for the emergence of symptoms but also for their treatment. The work of Wolfgang Blankenburg on schizophrenia represents a noteworthy approach to overcome this individualistic tendency. He introduced the concept of “loss of common sense” as the structural core of schizophrenic experience and being-in-the-world and he considered the social and most importantly familial context ...
L'articolo presenta i percorsi alternati, una strategia terapeutica sistemica per le anoressi... more L'articolo presenta i percorsi alternati, una strategia terapeutica sistemica per le anoressie e bulimie adolescenziali ideata da Ugazio (2010; 2013; 2019). Si tratta di un percorso terapeutico pianificato, articolato in quattro fasi, che alternano format familiari a sedute individuali con la paziente. Questo approccio si fonda sulla teoria delle polarità semantiche familiari (Ugazio, 1998; 2012; 2018), secondo cui nella conversazione di e con queste famiglie prevale la semantica del potere. Attraverso la discussione di un caso clinico mostriamo come questa strategia aiuti a superare i dilemmi, legati alle dinamiche di potere, così caratteristici delle psicoterapie con i disturbi alimentari e massimizzi l'alleanza terapeutica con la famiglia e soprattutto con la paziente.
Inspired by Ugazio’s model of family semantic polarities (Storie permesse, storie proibite. Torin... more Inspired by Ugazio’s model of family semantic polarities (Storie permesse, storie proibite. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1998; 2012; Semantic polarities and psychopathologies in the family: Permitted and forbidden stories. New York: Routledge, 2013) and by Harre et al.’s positioning theory (Harre & Van Langenhove, Positioning Theory: Moral Contexts of Intentional Action. Malden: Blackwell, 1999), this chapter explores Victoria and Alfonso’s conflicts and dilemmas through a semantic analysis.
Are the semantics of “freedom”, “goodness”, “power” and “belonging” characteristic of the stories... more Are the semantics of “freedom”, “goodness”, “power” and “belonging” characteristic of the stories narrated in psychotherapy by individuals respectively with phobic, obsessive-compulsive, eating, and mood disorders? To verify this hypothesis, put forward by Ugazio’s model of semantic polarities, the Family Semantics Grid (FSG) was applied to the transcripts of 120 individual video-recorded systemic therapy sessions, the first two sessions carried out with 60 patients with phobic (12), obsessive-compulsive(12), eating (12), and mood (12) disorders and asymptomatic patients (12) with existential problems who made up the comparison group. The results confirm the hypothesis. All but one patient were correctly assigned to their diagnostic group only by drawing on their narrated semantics. The semantics alone therefore seem capable of defining the correct diagnostic group to which each patient belongs. We suggest considering the semantics as contextual and cultural diagnostic dimensions, expressions of the bonds but also of the resources of people, and above all useful for a diagnosis aimed at fostering processes of transformation and change.
Introduction: In this study we explore how the diagnostic category of mood disorders is construct... more Introduction: In this study we explore how the diagnostic category of mood disorders is constructed in two handbooks of Psychopathology as an example of the mainstream construction of psychopathology. Despite the increasing criticism and lack of evidence, the debunked chemical imbalance theory of the etiology of depression still dominates the professional and pop/folk understanding and interventions. Methods: We analysed the breadth of the inference field and the type of etiopathogenetic contents of the explanations of mood disorders using the "1to3" Coding System. Results: Our findings show that the dominant explanations draw almost exclusively onto monadic explanations, followed by limited dyadic ones. Intrapersonal etiopathogenetic contents prevailed, and biomedical explanations were dominant in both textbooks. Discussion: We critically discuss the underpinnings of these results and address the clinical implications of these biased representations, as well as potential alternative approaches to psychopathology.
In a recent review of the literature on domestic violence and childhood (Callaghan, 2015) it has ... more In a recent review of the literature on domestic violence and childhood (Callaghan, 2015) it has become clear that, in a literature that tends to presume a male perpetrator and female victim of DV, men are largely absent. Literature focuses on damaged childhoods and deficient mothers, but the male perpetrator (most typically the father, or a father figure) is positioned as simply a violent object, with relatively little engagement with him as a conscious subject, and little theorisation of the continuing role of The Father in children’s lives, particularly in the lives of male children. In this paper, based on interviews with 100 children who have lived with domestic violence, as well as group based therapeutic work with young people, we explore how boys negotiate the complexities of positioning themselves as masculine subjects, within a context where masculinity itself is (re)produced as highly problematic. We draw on Messerchmidt’s (2000) concept of ‘masculinity challenges’ to explore how boys and young men work with fraught constructions of masculinities and masculine embodiment, in their recovery from the experience of domestic violence.
Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies is a four nation European Commission funded projec... more Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies is a four nation European Commission funded project, focused on the experience of young people living with domestic abuse. The project explores how we might facilitate young people's capacity for agency, resistance and resilience in situations of domestic violence. In this invited workshop, we presented the preliminary findings of the UK and Italian project partners (University of Northampton, Women's Aid, and Il Meridiano). 74 individual interviews with children and young people were analysed thematically, with key themes including: Escapism; Gestures of Defiance; Care-taking and Relationships; and Paradoxical Resilience. The implications of the findings in relation to European and Italian policy development around domestic abuse were discussed.
UNARS (‘Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies: Young People Living with Domestic Violenc... more UNARS (‘Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies: Young People Living with Domestic Violence’) is a two-year European project exploring the ways children and young people cope and manage in situations of domestic violence. The project is led by an academic team from the University of Northampton with partners in Italy, Greece, Spain and the UK. One of the key aspects of the project is the enablement of children’s ‘voices’: we think it is important that children’s experiences are heard. The exhibition presents photovoice collages, drawings and interview extracts that enable a better understanding of the way that children experience and live with domestic violence. The imagery the children have produced provides an insight into the many and varied creative and resourceful ways that children find to manage their emotions, embodied experiences and relational spaces. The work illustrates children as impacted by domestic violence, but also as active agents in their own lives, making...
Introduction: In this study we explore how the diagnostic category of mood disorders is construct... more Introduction: In this study we explore how the diagnostic category of mood disorders is constructed in two handbooks of Psychopathology as an example of the mainstream construction of psychopathology. Despite the increasing criticism and lack of evidence, the debunked chemical imbalance theory of the etiology of depression still dominates the professional and pop/folk understanding and interventions. Methods: We analysed the breadth of the inference field and the type of etiopathogenetic contents of the explanations of mood disorders using the "1to3" Coding System. Results: Our findings show that the dominant explanations draw almost exclusively onto monadic explanations, followed by limited dyadic ones. Intrapersonal etiopathogenetic contents prevailed, and biomedical explanations were dominant in both textbooks. Discussion: We critically discuss the underpinnings of these results and address the clinical implications of these biased representations, as well as potential alternative approaches to psychopathology.
Aim: Our goal is to test the clinical hypothesis put forward by Ugazio (2013) that narrated stori... more Aim: Our goal is to test the clinical hypothesis put forward by Ugazio (2013) that narrated stories of patients with phobic, obsessive–compulsive, eating and mood disorders, during therapeutic conversation, are dominated by the semantics of “freedom”, “goodness”, “power” and “belonging” respectively. Methods: To test this hypothesis we applied the Family Semantics Grid (FSG) coding system (Ugazio, Negri, Fellin, & Di Pasquale, 2009) to the transcripts of the first two sessions of 60 individual systemic therapies. Results: The hypothesis is confirmed by all the analysis. Moreover, the cluster analysis shows that the prevalent semantics pattern of 58 out of 60 patients assigns them to the right diagnostic group (Ugazio, Negri & Fellin, 2014). Discussion: As the results suggest, semantics can be a dimensional construct for a diagnosis oriented to the therapeutic change. Clinical implications for diagnostic and therapeutic processes will be addressed.
Phenomenological psychopathology focuses on the first-person experience of mental disorders. Alth... more Phenomenological psychopathology focuses on the first-person experience of mental disorders. Although it is in principle descriptive, it also entails an explanatory dimension: single psychological symptoms are conceived as genetically arising from a holistic structure of personal experience, i.e., the patient's being-in-the-world – and of its dynamic unfolding over time. Yet both classical and current phenomenological approaches tend to identify the essential disorder or “trouble générateur” (Minkowski) of mental illness within the individual, thereby neglecting the relevance of the social context not only for the emergence of symptoms but also for their treatment. The work of Wolfgang Blankenburg on schizophrenia represents a noteworthy approach to overcome this individualistic tendency. He introduced the concept of “loss of common sense” as the structural core of schizophrenic experience and being-in-the-world and he considered the social and most importantly familial context ...
L'articolo presenta i percorsi alternati, una strategia terapeutica sistemica per le anoressi... more L'articolo presenta i percorsi alternati, una strategia terapeutica sistemica per le anoressie e bulimie adolescenziali ideata da Ugazio (2010; 2013; 2019). Si tratta di un percorso terapeutico pianificato, articolato in quattro fasi, che alternano format familiari a sedute individuali con la paziente. Questo approccio si fonda sulla teoria delle polarità semantiche familiari (Ugazio, 1998; 2012; 2018), secondo cui nella conversazione di e con queste famiglie prevale la semantica del potere. Attraverso la discussione di un caso clinico mostriamo come questa strategia aiuti a superare i dilemmi, legati alle dinamiche di potere, così caratteristici delle psicoterapie con i disturbi alimentari e massimizzi l'alleanza terapeutica con la famiglia e soprattutto con la paziente.
Inspired by Ugazio’s model of family semantic polarities (Storie permesse, storie proibite. Torin... more Inspired by Ugazio’s model of family semantic polarities (Storie permesse, storie proibite. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1998; 2012; Semantic polarities and psychopathologies in the family: Permitted and forbidden stories. New York: Routledge, 2013) and by Harre et al.’s positioning theory (Harre & Van Langenhove, Positioning Theory: Moral Contexts of Intentional Action. Malden: Blackwell, 1999), this chapter explores Victoria and Alfonso’s conflicts and dilemmas through a semantic analysis.
Are the semantics of “freedom”, “goodness”, “power” and “belonging” characteristic of the stories... more Are the semantics of “freedom”, “goodness”, “power” and “belonging” characteristic of the stories narrated in psychotherapy by individuals respectively with phobic, obsessive-compulsive, eating, and mood disorders? To verify this hypothesis, put forward by Ugazio’s model of semantic polarities, the Family Semantics Grid (FSG) was applied to the transcripts of 120 individual video-recorded systemic therapy sessions, the first two sessions carried out with 60 patients with phobic (12), obsessive-compulsive(12), eating (12), and mood (12) disorders and asymptomatic patients (12) with existential problems who made up the comparison group. The results confirm the hypothesis. All but one patient were correctly assigned to their diagnostic group only by drawing on their narrated semantics. The semantics alone therefore seem capable of defining the correct diagnostic group to which each patient belongs. We suggest considering the semantics as contextual and cultural diagnostic dimensions, expressions of the bonds but also of the resources of people, and above all useful for a diagnosis aimed at fostering processes of transformation and change.
Introduction: In this study we explore how the diagnostic category of mood disorders is construct... more Introduction: In this study we explore how the diagnostic category of mood disorders is constructed in two handbooks of Psychopathology as an example of the mainstream construction of psychopathology. Despite the increasing criticism and lack of evidence, the debunked chemical imbalance theory of the etiology of depression still dominates the professional and pop/folk understanding and interventions. Methods: We analysed the breadth of the inference field and the type of etiopathogenetic contents of the explanations of mood disorders using the "1to3" Coding System. Results: Our findings show that the dominant explanations draw almost exclusively onto monadic explanations, followed by limited dyadic ones. Intrapersonal etiopathogenetic contents prevailed, and biomedical explanations were dominant in both textbooks. Discussion: We critically discuss the underpinnings of these results and address the clinical implications of these biased representations, as well as potential alternative approaches to psychopathology.
In a recent review of the literature on domestic violence and childhood (Callaghan, 2015) it has ... more In a recent review of the literature on domestic violence and childhood (Callaghan, 2015) it has become clear that, in a literature that tends to presume a male perpetrator and female victim of DV, men are largely absent. Literature focuses on damaged childhoods and deficient mothers, but the male perpetrator (most typically the father, or a father figure) is positioned as simply a violent object, with relatively little engagement with him as a conscious subject, and little theorisation of the continuing role of The Father in children’s lives, particularly in the lives of male children. In this paper, based on interviews with 100 children who have lived with domestic violence, as well as group based therapeutic work with young people, we explore how boys negotiate the complexities of positioning themselves as masculine subjects, within a context where masculinity itself is (re)produced as highly problematic. We draw on Messerchmidt’s (2000) concept of ‘masculinity challenges’ to explore how boys and young men work with fraught constructions of masculinities and masculine embodiment, in their recovery from the experience of domestic violence.
Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies is a four nation European Commission funded projec... more Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies is a four nation European Commission funded project, focused on the experience of young people living with domestic abuse. The project explores how we might facilitate young people's capacity for agency, resistance and resilience in situations of domestic violence. In this invited workshop, we presented the preliminary findings of the UK and Italian project partners (University of Northampton, Women's Aid, and Il Meridiano). 74 individual interviews with children and young people were analysed thematically, with key themes including: Escapism; Gestures of Defiance; Care-taking and Relationships; and Paradoxical Resilience. The implications of the findings in relation to European and Italian policy development around domestic abuse were discussed.
UNARS (‘Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies: Young People Living with Domestic Violenc... more UNARS (‘Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies: Young People Living with Domestic Violence’) is a two-year European project exploring the ways children and young people cope and manage in situations of domestic violence. The project is led by an academic team from the University of Northampton with partners in Italy, Greece, Spain and the UK. One of the key aspects of the project is the enablement of children’s ‘voices’: we think it is important that children’s experiences are heard. The exhibition presents photovoice collages, drawings and interview extracts that enable a better understanding of the way that children experience and live with domestic violence. The imagery the children have produced provides an insight into the many and varied creative and resourceful ways that children find to manage their emotions, embodied experiences and relational spaces. The work illustrates children as impacted by domestic violence, but also as active agents in their own lives, making...
Historically, much research has focused on the use of humour, especially following traumatic even... more Historically, much research has focused on the use of humour, especially following traumatic events. Within organisational research, emotions are positioned as either instrumental to doing the job, or damaging to task effectiveness; either way this involves some sort of performance. Thus, individuals with emotionally challenging job roles must find ways to manage difficult or traumatic events, whilst still being deemed ‘professional’. Much research positions humour as a discursive tool to enable individuals to talk about feeling. Some researchers argued joking is a way of expressing these damaging or ‘toxic’ emotions, in a culturally masculine way. The current research using interviews with fifteen fire fighters, explored how fire fighters manage emotionality within their job roles. One clear theme that emerged was the use of humour as a strategy to construct, make sense of, and manage emotionally stressful events. This research therefore expanded further on the previous work, exploring how humour enabled them to make sense of emotionality.
Objectives:
Dominant professional and academic discourses position children who have experienced ... more Objectives: Dominant professional and academic discourses position children who have experienced domestic violence as passive observers of abuse, ‘wounded’ by the things they have seen (Øverlien 2013). Challenging this representation of children, this paper explores how children represent embodied and spatial experience of violence, including a consideration of how children use their material experiences to produce resistant embodied agency.
Method This paper is based on interviews with 107 children, in 4 European countries (Italy, Greece, Spain and the UK), focused on their experiences of coping and of maintaining a sense of agency, in families where domestic violence occurs. These interviews included use of photo-elicitation, free drawing, and guided drawing - including family drawing and spatial mapping (Bridger, 2013; Gabb and Singh, 2014), to facilitate young people’s expression of difficult to articulate experiences. The interviews were analysed using Denzin’s Interpretive Interactionism.
Results: Visual methods facilitated children’s critical reflections on their experiences of embodiment, and how they used spaces and places within and outside the violent home environment. Three themes are considered: children’s experiences of displacement and disruption (the un-homing of the home), their accounts of creating safe spaces within their home, and use of space as a form of escape and resistance to abuse and control.
Conclusions and Implications Findings suggest that children are capable and active agents, resourceful and inventive in their capacity to use, produce and construct physical, embodied and relational spaces for security, comfort and healing during and after living within violent and volatile contexts. The practical applications of these findings are considered.
Objective: There is a dearth of practice-based evidence of adapted or ‘DBT-informed’ transdiagnos... more Objective: There is a dearth of practice-based evidence of adapted or ‘DBT-informed’ transdiagnostic models, which could provide services and clinicians with information of what works and for whom, in which settings. This paper aims to bridge this gap by exploring the client experience of a 12-week transdiagnostic dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) group programme in a private psychiatric hospital. Method: Five participants with varied clinical diagnoses and previous therapeutic experiences were interviewed following completion of one or more of the same adapted DBT programme, comprising of the standard four modules over 12 weeks, including a weekly skills group and 1:1 therapy. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was applied to give voice to the clients’ lived experience of the group. Results: Three master themes were identified: ‘Pre DBT: Crisis & Desperation’; ‘In-session: Belonging’; and ‘The Real World: Living’, each characterised by 4 sub-themes, highlighting helpful and hindering factors of clients’ current and previous therapeutic experiences. Conclusion: Overall this version of DBT in a transdiagnostic setting was experienced as helpful and positive by participants; main outcomes included being able to build a life worth living, feel hope and joy, build DBT skills into a lifestyle, and develop reflective practice. Implications for clinical practice, service delivery and policy are also discussed. The article aims to provide clinicians with practice-based evidence to inform the delivery of DBT as well as supporting the case for the use of DBT with various disorders, thus paving the way for future research in this area.
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Papers by Lisa C Fellin
Dominant professional and academic discourses position children who have experienced domestic violence as passive observers of abuse, ‘wounded’ by the things they have seen (Øverlien 2013). Challenging this representation of children, this paper explores how children represent embodied and spatial experience of violence, including a consideration of how children use their material experiences to produce resistant embodied agency.
Method
This paper is based on interviews with 107 children, in 4 European countries (Italy, Greece, Spain and the UK), focused on their experiences of coping and of maintaining a sense of agency, in families where domestic violence occurs. These interviews included use of photo-elicitation, free drawing, and guided drawing - including family drawing and spatial mapping (Bridger, 2013; Gabb and Singh, 2014), to facilitate young people’s expression of difficult to articulate experiences. The interviews were analysed using Denzin’s Interpretive Interactionism.
Results:
Visual methods facilitated children’s critical reflections on their experiences of embodiment, and how they used spaces and places within and outside the violent home environment. Three themes are considered: children’s experiences of displacement and disruption (the un-homing of the home), their accounts of creating safe spaces within their home, and use of space as a form of escape and resistance to abuse and control.
Conclusions and Implications
Findings suggest that children are capable and active agents, resourceful and inventive in their capacity to use, produce and construct physical, embodied and relational spaces for security, comfort and healing during and after living within violent and volatile contexts. The practical applications of these findings are considered.