American Journal of Psychotherapy 

About: American Journal of Psychotherapy is an academic journal published by American Psychiatric Association. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Poison control & Psychoanalytic theory. It has an ISSN identifier of 0002-9564. Over the lifetime, 3969 publications have been published receiving 65240 citations. The journal is also known as: Am J Psychother.

In Over Our Heads. The Mental Demands of Modern Life

Abstract: ROBERT KEGAN In Over Our Heads The Mental Demands of Modern Life Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1994, 1995, 396 pp, $1595 (pbv), ISBN 0-674-44587-2 Those of us stimulated and even enchanted by Robert Kegan's 1982 book The Evolving Self (Harvard University Press) have been waiting for further elaboration as well as rectification of the intriguing constructive-developmental theory that the book espoused Robert Kegan, senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a nationally known educator, has now written a second book, In Over Our Heads, with exactly this purpose, addressing "the most familiar challenges (p 7) to the theory, as well as expanding the stage theory which The Evolving Self had delineated from infancy to adolescence, further from adolescence through the adult life cycle Constructive-developmental theory delineates a person's level of meaningmaking that is "the organizing principle we bring to our thinking and our feelings and our relating to others and to parts of ourselves" (p 29) Kegan views meaning-making as being constituted by particular kinds of subject-object relationships "Subject" refers to elements we are "embedded in and cannot be responsible for" (p 32), while "object" is outside of us "distinct enough from us that we can do something with it" (p 32) Kegan has now come to call this development "the transformation of consciousness" and takes us step by step from Consciousness 2 to Consciousness 5 Consciousness 2 characterizes adolescents, embedded in their egocentric needs which must move from subject to object before Consciousness 3, signalling the mastery of civic responsibility, can be achieved Yet, Consciousness 3, still embedded in Traditionalism, works best in a stable culture in which the community lays down clear standards and provides appropriate and highly visible universally accepted models, which is not the case in our current society Modern life, which the author views as pervading our current climate in the name of Modernity, will be mastered more competently in Consciousness 4, in which relationships must move from subject to object, from being one's relationships to having them, being one's roles and rules to becoming more of one's own agent The author addresses in chapter by chapter the major tasks of adulthood, such as Parenting (chapter 3), Partnering (chapter 4) Working (chapter 5) Healing through psychotherapy (chapter 7) continued Learning (chapter 8) to show how the demands of modern life frequently exceed "the capacities of the adult mind" (p 5) He calls these demands the difficult curriculum of our Western culture and suggests by the title of the book that many of us tend to be "in over our heads," arrested in Consciousness 3 when Consciousness 4 is called for …

Exacting Beauty: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment of Body Image Disturbance

Abstract: J. KEVIN THOMPSON, LESLIE J. HEINBERG, MADELINE ALTABE, AND STACEY TANTELEFF-DUNN: Exacting Beauty: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment of Body Image Disturbance. American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., 1998, 396 pp., $39.95, ISBN 1-55798-541-3. The goal of this book-the third on body image that was either authored or edited by J. Kevin Thompson-is "to attempt to integrate theory, assessment, and treatment for the field of body image; to provide a guide for researchers and clinicians interested in the field of body image disturbance and to bridge research and practice." After reading this text, the clinician would hope to come away with a clear sense of the etiology of body-image disturbances and then to be able to identify the best clinical treatment that would match patient diagnostic presentation. Although the research material is well handled, the treatment aspect is somewhat incomplete. The authors present a good overall view of the origin of body image and body-image disturbance, and an excellent historical review of research in the field of eating disorders, i.e., anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, as well as bingeeating disorder and obesity. The book also addresses the complexity of defining, measuring, and creating theoretical models while exploring the social and cultural aspects of body image and the public media emphasis on thinness. And it outlines the current thinking about making a differential diagnosis of body-dysmorphic disorder, often a difficult matter. Some important work in body-dysmorphic disorder is missing, however, such as that of Eric Hollander, M.D. The book's forte is presenting the reader with a strong array of models for measurements and assessment and different testing methodologies, as well as including helpful tables, appendices, and references. The 11 chapters are divided into five parts: 1. An Overview: Prevalence, Diversity, Assessment, and Treatment; 2. Societal and Social Approaches; 3. Interpersonal Approaches; 4. Feminist Approaches; and 5. Behavioral, Cognitive, and Integrative Approaches. The term "approaches" is somewhat misleading because it infers presentation of several different treatment methodologies that the book only partially delivers. The authors conclude that the cognitive-behavioral modality of treatment, supported by "empirical findings," has been the most successful in the treatment of body image thus far, and they are not nearly as exhaustive in covering other treatment modalities, such as the feminist perspective. …