Editorial
Enikő Albert-Lőrincz
ARTICLES
Questions of practice
Gábor Flaskay: The principles and techniques of supportive psychotherapy
Overview
Edit Ferencz (Szélesné): The legacy of Alfred Adler: the outlook of individual psychology
Research
Gábor Szőnyi, Bien Filet: Should we conduct psychoanalytic competency research?
Experiences of a pilot study
Theoretical study
József Pál Vas: Some thoughts on the unity of mind and body in the days of neuroscience
PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Interview
An interview of László Bokor with Tamás Bagotai, head of the Education Counceling Center Kőbánya
News and reports
Report from Thalassa-House — Anna Szentiványi, Zsolt Zalka
Conferences — Katalin Barcza ¨ Etelka Büte
Curved mirror — Ágnes Fazekas
Reviews
Book reviews — Amaryl Árkovits ¨ Zsuzsanna Kerekes ¨István Tiringer
Professional Programs
Questions of practice
Gábor Flaskay: The principles and techniques of supportive psychotherapy
Supportive psychotherapy is considered to be a therapeutic method, which has no developmental, psychopathological, or therapeutic theory on its own, its practical value is nonetheless rather significant. The method is based on the pivotal supportive factor, which has been part of any kind of psychotherapeutic relationship ever since the beginnings of psychoanalysis. The development of the method speeded up as soon as it started to define itself as an autonomous therapeutic method, and the basis of its definition was the emphasis on its differences to psychoanalysis. First the paper gives an overview of the different stages in the development of the method. Then it delineates the distinguishing characteristics of the method, outlines the specific aspects of the therapeutic setting, and describes its determining factors. Next, the objectives of the method, together with their required strategic and tactical psychotherapeutic principles and techniques will be proposed. Finally, a supportive therapeutic technique will be presented, which has been advocated for the treatment of some of the symptoms of severe personality disorders. Supportive psychotherapy could be a principal method for psychotherapists who, out of either objective or subjective reasons, do not choose expressive methods in their psychotherapeutic work.
Overview
Edit Ferencz (Szélesné): The legacy of Alfred Adler: the outlook of individual psychology
Remembering Alfred Adler, the founder of individual psychology who died 70 years ago we recall the keystones of his individual-theoretical system. With its conception, integrity and holistic approach the theory became the precursor of a number of individual- and social-physiological theories. With its simple concepts the theory contributed to the development of physiological culture, and of the „teaching” the knowledge of everyday man.
Adler assumed that a person behaves like a unit; his/her development is unique and proceeds in a creative way depending on the subjective interpretation of experiences. In his visualization of lifestyle he described that voyage as the person achieves his/her final goal, relating to life challenges, compensating for the feelings of inferiority, searching for identity, pre-possessed by a feeling of community.
This individual conception has a value of a message for the modern specialists and it may inspire for the re-discovery of Adler’s work.
Research
Gábor Szőnyi, Bien Filet: Should we conduct psychoanalytic competency research? Experiences of a pilot study
The authors report on the results of a pilot study, carried out with a competency list questionnaire, one of the projects of the Working Party on Education of the European Psychoanalytic Federation.
On the basis of 211 responses, they studied how the different professionals — analysts, candidates and psychotherapists, attendees of international conferences — assess the relative a) importance b) specificity of the listed competencies. They present the background of the survey, and some difficulties of competency research.
The authors demonstrate that we can gain interpretable data with the help of the questionnaire. We find indications that from an external point of view theoretical knowledge, while from the point of a practicing analyst competencies related to the analytic attitude are more important. Although the respondents did not evaluate any of the listed competencies as highly specific for psychoanalysis, they found a constellation of competencies, which is pronouncedly psychoanalytic. It turned out later, during the discussions of the study that the item “capacity to think with independence in group situation” got on the list with some justification, and may cover an important analytic competence, which remains usually unstressed.
The study was the first phase of a complex program. In the second phase, now starting, the authors want to connect the competency project with other projects of the Working Party, especially with studying the three training models in psychoanalysis.
Theoretical study
József Pál Vas: Some thoughts on the unity of mind and body in the days of neuroscience
Transcending both monism and dualism the author tries to find out an interpretation of mind–body unity as an ontological issue originated from a historical context of human relations pointing to the uterus and mother–fetus bond for its origin. A new interpretation of the development of self and sense of self is associated to the formation of mind–body unity. As the body of his/her own as an object is to be differentiated from that of the mother, the fetus forms his/her own body–representation. The „I” (subject) and „mine” i.e. „my body” (object) will be integrated into a higher unity called self, which can be regarded as subject (mind) and object (body) at the same time. This process is considered an interplay in the differentiation between „I” and „not-I” (mother). Both the bodily and the psychic representations are shown in the phenomena of thinking–, self–consciousprocesses and emotions. While taking the mind–body unity as an everlasting oneness both in its macro- and micro dimension,a dialectic contradiction is also hinted at.
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