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The Journal of Critical Realism has issued a call for papers for a special issue on "critical realism and the self." The concept of the self is seen as crucial for social change and emancipatory theorizing. The special issue aims to explore various aspects of the self, including subjectivity, reflexivity, authenticity, personhood, and identity. Submissions can be theoretical or applied, and can engage with critical realism or critique it. The deadline for submissions is May 31, 2024, and the final papers are required by November 19, 2024. [Extracted from the article]

Adam Lowenstein's book, "Horror Film and Otherness," explores the social relevance and transformative power of horror cinema. Lowenstein argues that horror films can teach us about otherness and illuminate the ongoing evolution of social norms and identities. He challenges Robin Wood's analysis of American horror cinema, offering a more nuanced understanding of the genre's exploration of trauma, alienation, and displacement. Lowenstein engages with theorists and historians to examine the themes of aging, the body, gender, and sexuality in horror films from the 1970s to the present. While the book is comprehensive, it lacks coverage of trans people, which would further contribute to the exploration of otherness. Overall, "Horror Film and Otherness" is a landmark text that highlights the importance of horror in understanding society and the self. [Extracted from the article]

Compares the scores yielded by computerized and paper-and-pencil versions of the third edition of the Self-description Questionnaire (SDQ) and respondents' preferences for computerized assessment. Effect of administration mode on the completion time of SDQ-III; Effect of administration mode on the variability and magnitude of SDQ-III scores.

This articles explores the political functions of eastern European Hebrew journalism in Jewish life in the second half of the nineteenth century. For the Jewish communities spread throughout the world and economic leadership, the press functioned as a virtual "town squares," facilitating the flow of information and the exchange of ideas. The Hebrew press, which had the potential to bridge language barriers between distinct Jewish communities, was characterized by its self-perception as a leader, a spokesman, and a public institute as well as reflection of the "general-Israeli" spirit. This self-perception, combined with the characteristics of journalism as a mode of communication and the national legacy of the Hebrew language, contributed to the re-imaging of the Jewish nation in a modern and secular form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to note that Parada and Salmela-Aro addressed a more extended time period (i.e., 39 weeks), while Wong et al. illustrated the long-term identity phenomena unfolded within a few minutes of narratives. Three papers addressed short-term time scales (Kunnen, [6]; Sugimura et al., [11]; Vincent & Lannegrand, [12]). Among the other three papers, one focused on the relation between short- and medium-term (Meca et al., [9]) and one on the relation between short- and long-term time scales (Parada & Salmela-Aro, [10]; Wong et al., [13]). Four papers focused on both within- and between-person processes (Kunnen, [6]; Meca et al., [9]; Parada & Salmela-Aro, [10]; Vincent & Lannegrand, [12]). [Extracted from the article]

This paper examines a new first-year EAP course in a Hong Kong university. It utilizes teacher and student reflections to understand the course's strengths and weaknesses, aiming to enhance its design and delivery. The study employed a qualitative approach whereby textual analysis was used to interpret the data collected in the form of written teacher reflections, written student reflections, and notes of teacher reflective dialogue. The thematic categories for coding the data were established based on the course's main learning outcomes: Effective Learning, Spoken Language, and Written Language. Findings reveal that teachers were more critical of the course compared to learners. Teachers expressed dissatisfaction with the pedagogical approach to Effective Learning unit, insufficient time provided in the course to teach solo speaking, and the inability to cover too many organizational and linguistic features in the writing unit. Students, however, did not have much to reflect on about Effective Learning, had mixed views about Spoken Language with some worried about reading from notes, and wrote extremely positively about their learning of Written Language. Nonetheless, their views provide valuable insights for course improvement. Consequently, the paper advocates for a reflective pedagogy approach to EAP that considers both teacher and student reflections to enhance teaching and learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ingestion of various animals with psychoactive properties has been observed since antiquity. Though unusual, lizard use has been reported in the literature as case reports. Yet the rarity of this phenomenon has not been explored through large-scale studies. This paper systematically reviews available case reports of individuals using lizards for recreational purposes and synthesizes the evidence in terms of socio-demographic, clinical, and treatment variables. We conducted a systematic review of the literature including original papers, case reports, case series, and letters to the editor on MEDLINE and Taylor & Francis database. The search terms used were lizard AND (addiction OR psychedelic OR psychoactive). Additionally, bibliographies of published cases were searched for an exhaustive review. Eight case reports (from seven publications) were included for qualitative synthesis. The sample consisted of all males (age = 28 ± 8.97). Findings revealed that the lizards were self-acquired and consumed through varied methods. Ingestion was reported usually as pleasure-inducing, though without any prominent withdrawal symptoms. Additionally, it was highly concurrent with other substances. The finding indicates that using lizards for recreational purposes is a covert and underreported practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review articulates current understanding of the aesthetic, artistic and creative contributions that Dance makes to Health and Wellbeing across the lifecourse within publications 2000–2019, an under-researched area. Review Questions: What are the aesthetic, artistic and creative contributions that Dance makes to Health and Wellbeing across the lifecourse? And what methodologies are appropriate for investigating these contributions? A database keyword search identified 769 articles and 91 evaluations. 109 documents were identified for further in-depth analysis and rating, resulting in 24 papers (11 articles, 3 PhD studies, 10 evaluation reports), which were thematically analysed. Findings offer seven interrelated contributions that Dance makes to Health and Wellbeing: embodiment, identity, belonging, self-worth, aesthetics, affective responses and creativity. There was less insight regarding different methodologies, and discussions focused on quantitative data's limitations. There were insights into inclusion of embodied voices, subjective accounts, and lived experiences. Whilst acknowledging challenges, this paper illuminates the key contributions of dance to arts and health. It provides a future conceptual research agenda (prioritizing identity and creativity) and associated methodological developments. It recommends expanding geographical/lifecourse research, better defining terms, fuller epistemological critiques to open space for new methodologies, and continued attendance to appropriate rigour criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper foregrounds the agency of the body to explore how it is 'gamified' in the pursuit of a desired self-image. Gamified bodies are those that are tricked into metabolising in ways that suit the representational aspirations of the self. The aspirations that I consider in this paper are those of muscle, and how individuals trying to build muscle pursue various metabolic tricks to try and overcome, or otherwise suppress, the in-built agency of the body. Exploring and understanding these tricks contributes to feminist understandings of the body generally, and of muscle specifically, and its unruly nonconformity to the gendered expectations of the self in/and society. I illustrate these ideas through an empirical exploration of Singapore-based body builders. I consider how they are caught within the intersecting gazes of Singapore's socio-familial structures, (inter)national norms of gendered representation, and the agentic phenotype of Asian body sizes and musculature. By exploring how these characteristics coalesce, creating a dynamic that is constantly being negotiated through the gamified body, I advance an understanding of how muscles become imbued with illusory, rather than manifest, forms of meaning and value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports an integrative literature review of research into the psychosocial factors which shape the transition to parenthood in couples following non-donor in vitro fertilization in comparison with those conceiving spontaneously. Nineteen papers of non-donor IVF and SC mothers and fathers were included. Differences between groups were reported for a range of psychosocial measures during the transition from pregnancy to parenthood including: the control couples feel they have over their lives (locus of control), parental adjustment and child behaviour, parental stress, parental investment in the child, self-esteem and self-efficacy, greater levels of protectiveness (separation anxiety) towards child, marital and family functioning, family alliance, marital satisfaction and communication, as well as anxiety, indirect aggression and lowered respect for the child. We have conceptualised these differences as three substantive themes which reflect psychosocial factors shaping transition to parenthood in parents after non-donor AR: namely social support, relationships and emotional well-being, which are in turn influenced by gender differences. These findings have implications for health care professionals' assessment of individual couples' support needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of whether to see partners individually as part of couple therapy has been hotly debated in couple therapy circles for decades, but has rarely been addressed in the psychoanalytic couple therapy literature, especially the self psychology literature. In an effort to fill that gap, this paper briefly reviews the reasons many couple therapists have traditionally avoided such sessions, encourages a reevaluation of those concerns, and suggests ways to minimize or reduce the risks. It argues strongly that in some cases, individual sessions can be an attuned, empathic response to the needs of one or both partners and the most effective way to help improve the relationship between them. Rather than hard-and-fast rules, the paper advocates that couple therapists use their empathic understanding of each partner's history and inner world, the couple's dynamics, and their own needs and motivations, to make attuned, empathically responsive decisions based on each partner and couple's particular needs at a particular time. Clinical vignettes are used throughout the paper to illustrate key points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses an important yet neglected existential issue sometimes faced by persons with bipolar disorder (BD): confusion about the extent to which what one is like is influenced by BD. Although such confusion is common in psychiatric illnesses, BD raises idiosyncratic difficulties due to its intricate interactions with personality, cognition and behavior. The fluctuating mood phases of BD can generate inconsistency in one's self-experience and sense of self. One way to resolve this confusion would be to coherently account for BD within one's overall self-concept. To facilitate this task, this paper introduces a heuristic taxonomy of different relationships wherein BD can be viewed in light of self-related beliefs. The relationships are as follows: (1) BD contributes to the self, (2) BD scaffolds the self, (3) BD gradually becomes part of the self and (4) BD is not part of the 'real self'. As the individual presentation of BD varies extensively, the type of relationship one feels holds true depends on one's personal experience of managing and living with the disorder. These relationships act as an organizing framework for one's self-related beliefs about how to account for the effects of BD on personality, behavior, cognitive patterns and other self-expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assistive technologies (AT) perform an important social role, interacting with cultural systems to produce or hinder accessibility to biosocial environments. This interaction profoundly shapes not only how an individual body can be experienced by users but also produce and hinder accessibility to biosocial environments. AT users have historically been viewed through a medical model, which deems them disabled by their impairments and by dominant ableist narratives. Therefore, this paper serves to provide an insight into the importance of ageing with and into AT. This paper aims to investigate polio survivors' and diabetic amputees' experiences of assistive technologies in order to better understand impacts upon narrative and identity. By applying an anthropological and sociological lens, a holistic view of the experiences of polio survivor and amputee AT users is developed. This paper draws on 16 in-depth interviews with polio survivors and diabetic amputees in the United States (US) and Australia, which were analysed using an experience-centered narrative approach. Both projects were approved by ethics boards. All participants provided written consent. Five themes were identified: a) disruption to biographies, which reflected AT impact on how narratives become altered; b) impacts to autonomy, which reflected the importance of regaining previous daily activities; c) re-engaging with community life, which highlighted how AT supported participation in valued activities; d) self-perceptions of assistive technologies, which act in opposition to external perspectives and challenge ableist narratives; and e) an intergenerational comparison of new and older AT users highlights the importance of temporalities. This paper offers new perspectives on ageing with assistive technologies, with a focus on identity and narrative. The importance of this paper is to contribute to the existing literature that demonstrates the cultural implications that arise through embodiment and assistive technologies. The use of assistive technology can help individuals regain function, but the individual circumstances require consideration The use of assistive technology is a complex entanglement of bodies, environments, biographies, and imagined futures. The use of assistive technology can provide participants autonomy over their narratives and assist with maintaining their identities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenomenon: An increasing number of refugees in recent years has led to changes in healthcare delivery. Historically, health care providers did not receive systematic and longitudinal training in refugee health. There is increasing interest among educators in developing educational opportunities for medical students to gain more training on how to care for this population. The aim of this scoping review was to identify and analyze existing literature on educational content and methods of delivery in Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) curricula related to refugees. Approach: The authors conducted a scoping review. Our search was conducted in seven electronic bibliographic databases. The search strategy was restricted to English language and scholarly articles. Three members of the research team tabulated and summarized extracted data. A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted to present findings. Findings: Of the 717 publications found, 24 met our inclusion criteria. The articles included in this review were published between 2003 and 2019. Thirteen (57.6%) were descriptive papers, three (11.5%) qualitative, four (15.3%) quantitative, and one (3.8%) mixed methods. Other publications included one commentary, one letter to the editor, and one review paper. Three main descriptive themes were identified: (1) Content related to refugees' curriculum, (2) Teaching strategies, and (3) Learning outcomes. Insights: Studies included in our review suggest that delivering refugee health curricula to medical students improve self-perception of cross-cultural knowledge, communication, and physical exam skills that are necessary to deliver proper healthcare. Medical schools should focus on developing a longitudinal and standardized approach to teaching refugee health through the use of interactive and diverse learning methods while engaging with the community to ensure a better provision of health care for vulnerable populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two independent studies of questionnaire administration, respondents completed multidimensional self-concept inventories within four randomized research conditions that mirrored the most common administration formats used in practice: paper booklets with and without answer sheets and computer questionnaires with single versus multiple items per screen. Strong differences among conditions emerged for completion time, but not for psychometric properties of scores (means, variances, reliability coefficients, concurrent validity coefficients). Answer sheets increased completion time by 24% to 34%, single-item displays by 20% to 25%, and computerization by 13% to 17%. Completion time was longer for multiple-alternative than for rating-scale items, but relative effects of answer sheets, single-item displays, and computerization remained consistent. We discuss implications for questionnaire construction and administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assertions that reflection plays a critical role in both our individual growth and professional success are reinforced by personal experience and empirical research from around the world. Those keen to engage in the key skill of reflection can access a 'sea of support' that includes academic papers, modular-based websites, practical handouts, and peer assistance. In contrast, those wishing to engage in self-reflection are likely to be discouraged by the modest amount of quality information and resources that are readily available for practical use. Prompted, in part, by the concluding commentaries offered by Brownhill (2022a, 2022b), this thoughtpiece offers a refreshing literature-based exploration of self-reflection as an essential act, facilitated by asking and answering additional key questions such as what additional definitions and types of self-reflection exist, what is the process of self-reflection, and how can self-reflective activity be undertaken and encouraged in others. Written to be accessible in both content and scope, this thoughtpiece serves as a constructive 'go-to'/short resource that has the potential to help individuals self-reflect as part of their personal learning and professional development/practice with enhanced understanding, assurance, and enjoyment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite evidence of the importance of self-of-the-therapist factors for positive clinical outcomes, supervisors interested in helping their supervisees enhance their therapeutic effectiveness by honing their use of self may not have the framework to guide this process. In this article, we present the Person-of-the-Therapist Training (POTT) as a model that offers a clear philosophical perspective and specific tools to incorporate self of the therapist work in supervision. We start with a general introduction to POTT, its philosophical underpinnings, and its main concepts. Then, we describe the POTT supervision goals and specific emphasis. Subsequently, we present two POTT instruments (signature theme and case presentations and papers). With a vignette, we illustrate the use of the two instruments and show how this work on the person of the supervisee translates into the supervisee's clinical work with their clients. Specific recommendations about the implementation of POTT supervision are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People have different ways of developing knowledge about their 'selves', what has come to be called 'technologies'. Apart from technologies of production, of sign systems, and of power, the 'technology of the self' enables individuals to effect certain operations on their bodies, thoughts, behaviour, feelings and other ways of being. Such technologies involve the application of certain modes of training by individuals not only for the sake of acquiring skills but also for effecting change in their values, attitudes and beliefs. This paper argues that applied theatre practice involves not only the technology of the self but also of the other. Using the case study of a practice based project that was carried out among disabled students at the University of Zimbabwe, the paper examines how disabled students not only subverted ableist discourses of hopelessness but also acted upon their own bodies to assert their own agency, power and authority. Thus the focus will be specifically on the politics of the disabled body as a site of ableist perceptions that construct the disabled body in terms of lack, incapacity, pathology, deformity and deficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a study on blindness discourses found in South African non-profit organisations that provide rehabilitation services to visually impaired adults. The paper investigates what the public relations materials of these organisations communicate about blindness. It also considers the ideological assumptions that blindness discourses reinforce and embed in rehabilitation practice. The primary focus is a discourse analytic review conducted on a sample of organisation public facing material. The findings comprise three clusters of assumptions, with concomitant enactments in practice. These are i) third-person alliances around the blind subject and a resulting objectification of service users ii) 'journey discourse' which prohibits the expression of complex disability experiences and iii) polarised blindness fantasies which promote othering and prescribe acceptable ways of being for blind subjects. This paper questions what might be imparted to blind persons at a symbolic level through rehabilitative practices. This article explores the ways that blindness and blind persons are represented on the websites of organisations that provide visual impairment rehabilitation services in South Africa. These representations affect the way that society views visually impaired people, and the way that visually impaired people feel about themselves. Organisation websites describe visually impaired people in ways that make it seem as though they play little active role in the rehabilitation process. The idea that rehabilitation is a journey from dependence and depression to independence and self-acceptance might make it difficult for rehabilitation service users to express ongoing feelings of grief and loss. There is a need for more focus on interdependence in rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation organisations must think carefully about what their public relations materials communicate to society about blindness and blind persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a review of Susan Kassouf's densely argued paper: Human among the more-than-human. Retrofitting Kohut for the Anthropocene, wherein Kassouf applies self psychology to an understanding of climate crisis and proposes an additional selfobject tie, the tie to the more-than-human, which is the world entire. Her claim is that the precarious self's need for safety, if untransformed, results in impermeability to the more-than-human world, which in turn accounts for our disregard of the health of the planet. Kassouf's goal is to promote permeability of the self with the more-than-human. This reviewer commends Kassouf on her original and thoughtful extension of Kohut's theory. He raises the question whether the primary self state is not one of profound vulnerability, where precarity already constitutes a derailment in the tie to the more-than-human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I show that the "narcissistic libido' out of which the self emerges is best conceived as de-sexualized eros, for this is the kind of energy that can love ideals, love ourselves (self-esteem), and love connecting with others (selfobjects). I draw upon Plato and the late Freud to amplify how seeing the self's energy as eros allows us to understand the self as daimonic, aesthetic, and developmental—a striving to attain evermore complex versions of itself. Eros is also an "experience-near" way to conceive of the self's energy, as we immediately know when we are feeling intensely erotic about an activity, another person, a work of art, etc. I will further show how eros can be transformed into sexualization and narcissistic rage when the self is traumatized, thereby explaining why selves have these two kinds of by-products when traumatically injured. Conceiving of the self's energy as eros gives us an important way to come to know our selves: we are what we love. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, research in children's geographies and governmentality studies have contributed significantly to the study of children's experiences in neoliberal educational contexts. This paper furthers this debate by examining the ways children govern and are governed within the neoliberal governmentality at the educational transition to Gymnasium: the only school that offers a direct path to university education within the state-funded school system in Switzerland. Drawing on an ethnography with eight students aged 13-15 during their preparation for the selective entrance examination to Gymnasium in Zurich, this article makes two points: Firstly, it demonstrates how Zurich's education system thrusts students into taking individual responsibility for their educational success at this transition. Secondly, the article draws on Foucault's later work to explore the particular 'technologies of the self' that children adopt coping with this individualized responsibility. This paper argues that these technologies reveal insights into the neoliberal governmentality of this educational transition. Finally, the article argues to critically examine children's technologies of the self to understand their relationships with the education systems they navigate. This line of inquiry serves as a pathway to answer and expand earlier calls to grant children an active voice in research on education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the global nursing shortage. As the shortage worsens, reliance on internationally educated nurses is expected to increase, presenting challenges and opportunities for health care systems and nurse leaders worldwide. While internationally educated nurses bring cultural and ethnic diversity to domestic workforces, they face significant hurdles in successfully integrating due to racism, discrimination, and isolation, which can have a negative impact on their self-determination. The challenges encountered by internationally educated nurses can not only affect their self-determination, but they can also pose risks to patient safety. Objectives: This purpose of this paper was to examine the extant literature to describe the experiences of internationally educated nurses through the lens of Ryan and Deci's Self-Determination Theory. Another aim was to offer nurse managers and administrators strategies for supporting internationally educated nurses within their health care facilities. Design: Discussion Paper. Conclusions: Health care organizations should allocate time and resources to facilitate the professional transition of internationally educated nurses, promoting their psychological well-being and self-determination by fostering autonomy, competence, and relatedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To understand the current situation and progress of nursing students' professional selfconcept, this review aimed to perform a general analysis of research related to the connotation of professional self-concept, measurement tools, influencing factors, effects, and intervention experiments. Methods: Three databases (Web of Science, PubMed, and CNKI) were searched for relevant articles. Research articles that met specific criteria were included, with identified articles initially screened by title and keyword. Then the abstracts were screened for relevance, and the full text was read for validation before inclusion. Descriptive analysis was performed with relevant findings from data retrieved from various sources. Results: Finally, 54 articles that met the criteria were included, which organised the connotation of self-concept of nursing speciality, and introduced six measurement scales, such as Professional Self-Concept of Nurses Instrument and Nurse's Self-Concept Questionnaire. A total of 16 investigations on influencing factors were described, and the results showed that there were internal individual and external environmental factors. The professional selfconcept was formed by analysing both factors. This paper described 17 effect surveys and found that professional self-concept had an important impact on students' mental health, academic performance, and professional values, and so on. Eight intervention experiments including attribution training and hierarchical teaching were evaluated. Conclusions: Research articles on the professional self-concept included in this review were rich. These articles clarified the basic connotation of the concept, developed relatively mature measurement tools, found many influencing factors and effects, and proposed effective intervention strategies. They were of great value for understanding the professional selfconcept and could provide a reference for scholars to conduct relevant research and practice. It also presents research prospects in this field, aiming to inspire future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contexts in which people immerse themselves, as well as the people they interact with, contribute immensely to people's understanding of self. As a person grows, lives and operates in different contexts with different people, he/she develops a self-concept or a particular understanding of oneself. This understanding constitutes an identity which becomes entrenched, thus a person brings this understanding wherever he/she goes, including the workplace. Research on teacher identity has established that teachers' identities are constantly evolving and are multifaceted. Although the research on teacher identity has shown that the personal aspects of teachers influence their professional practices, the literature on school leadership has for many years overlooked the influence of leader's personal identities on their leadership practices. Instead, the focus has mainly been on the expected traits and practices. This paper is drawn from a project that explored the lived experiences of deputy principals; therefore, it focuses on one set of school leaders. Through the lived experiences of these leaders, the paper intends to reveal the influence of personal identities on leadership practices. The main contribution of this paper is to clearly show that the leadership practices of deputy principals are not free from their personal aspects of selves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been little research on the experiences of individuals in the early stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) when they participate in intensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation programs emphasising self-management. In addition, little is known about such individuals' transition back to everyday life following rehabilitation. This paper seeks to provide insights into such experiences. A qualitative approach was utilised in the study on which this paper is based. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven individuals approximately three months after they had completed a 3-week interdisciplinary rehabilitation program. Following transcription, the interviews were analysed on the basis of Brown & Clarke's six stage framework for thematic analysis. Analysis of the data yielded three core themes: being oneself during rehabilitation; believing in oneself again; and managing one's everyday life following rehabilitation. Our results demonstrate how an intensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation program can contribute to improved physical function and self-esteem for individuals in an early phase of PD. The results also reveal ambivalence regarding relational aspects of the rehabilitation program and point to the need for more emphasis on including emotional, mental and family aspects into the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Librarian professional identity can be understood as a developmental process occurring over time and is indicative of a renegotiation of identity through experiences. This process transpires with or without cognitive grappling of identity and its influence on behaviour, making the renegotiation process either explicit or implicit. Among these experiences, education is a key developmental phase in which entrants begin to define conceptualisations of the profession and their identity within it. Critical, reflective, and reflexive practices can be understood as forms of identity negotiations relating to the practice of a profession in society. Effecting change within a profession through these practices requires first an examination of professional identity to understand the influences upon it. This paper reports on selected findings from interviews with practicing public librarians in New Zealand. It introduces the umbrella term critical practices for critical, reflective, and reflexive practice, defined as identity negotiations within the context introduced by this paper. In order to better effect critical practices, results suggest provision of cognitive spaces in educational settings can encourage explicit grappling with professional identity. Such spaces could encourage self-awareness of the identity process for entrants and begin the explicit recognition of the relationship between identity, behaviour, and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a discussion of the therapeutic process in the case presented in Paolo Stramba-Badiale's paper Hope and Uncertainty. The Subjective Experience of the Body During the Covid-19 Pandemic. The patient's face was disfigured by the surgical treatment of cancer. This discussion considers psychosomatic perspectives of European and African theoreticians and integrates Kohut's concept of the somatic self with more recent concepts of psychoanalytic Self Psychology. The patient's psychological healing process, mediated through the therapeutic relationship with her analyst, combined with the paradoxical impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and their impact on the eventual integration of her disfigured face—her injured body self—into her whole self, will be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper engages with two overarching questions: why is engaging with queer theologies potentially valuable for sex education, and how can we carry out this kind of work without rendering sex education an expression of queer theological commitment? In responding to the first of these questions, I argue that working with queer theologies can offer sex education researchers another way of thinking about, and with, theology – one that resists positioning theology as inevitably heteronormative through its attention to the body, embraces the multiple possibilities of queer subjecthood, and attends to the importance of context in understanding how heteronormativity is both reproduced and resisted. Following this, I turn to the second question animating this paper, suggesting that if we are to avoid sex education sliding into an inevitable expression of queer theological commitment, what is needed is a methodology for the translation for sex education research, in which queer theologies can 'meet' with sex education without at the same time 'merging' with it. I demonstrate how this might be enacted through the symbol of the 'Abrahamic threesome', a queer symbolic device of my own design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case is made for art therapy and its contributions to the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current systematic literature review set out to critically review existing evidence of the impact of art therapy upon adults with a diagnosis of PTSD. Five online databases were searched for articles published in peer-reviewed journals exploring the effectiveness of art therapy in the treatment of PTSD. The search yielded 449 papers. Following application of exclusion criteria 20 were included in the systematic review. Across the reviewed articles, four themes were identified: (1) impact on symptoms, (2) processing traumatic memories, (3) fostering a holistic view of self, and (4) increased well-being and more positive view of self. Overall methodological considerations included issues regarding study design, measures and analysis, researcher biases, sample size, and treatment received. Evidence suggested that some can benefit from the treatment with effects being shown in most symptom clusters of PTSD. Implications such as the need for more robust research in the field are discussed. Clinical recommendations include the suggestion to use art therapy when avoidance or feelings of guilt/shame make engaging in standard talking therapies difficult. Art therapy has a long history in the work with trauma-related difficulties including post-traumatic stress disorder. The current literature review is the largest of its kind summarising 20 research papers on the impact of visual art therapy with adult trauma survivors. Themes identified across papers pertained to the impact on symptoms, processing traumatic memories, fostering holistic view of self, and increased well-being/improved self-image. The review showed that some can benefit from art therapy for PTSD with effects shown in most symptom clusters. However, the quality of reviewed articles was poor and the current paper makes recommendations for more rigorously designed research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer observation of teaching has for long been defended as a valuable device of professional and institutional development in higher education, but is almost unexplored at primary- and secondary-level schools. This paper introduces a model for multidisciplinary peer observation of teaching that has been developed and implemented in a professional development programme in two Portuguese school clusters of basic and secondary education in collaboration with its teachers. After four years of developing the programme in these school clusters, a case study was conducted through a qualitative analysis of observation guides completed throughout the years (N = 563) to identify perceived effects of participating in the programme for both teacher professional development and reflective practices. The programme emerged as a powerful initiative to foster teacher collaboration, innovation, and reflection for improving practices. Implications related to current national curriculum and educational policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a qualitative study exploring anomalous self and world-experiences in individuals with high levels of depersonalization experiences. Depersonalization (DP) is a condition characterized by distressing feelings of being a detached, neutral and disembodied onlooker of one's mental and bodily processes. Our findings indicate the presence of a wide range of anomalous experiences traditionally understood to be core features of DP, such as disembodiment and disrupted self-awareness. However, our results also indicate experiential features that are less highlighted in previous work, such as faster time perception and blurriness of the self/other boundaries which may play a key role in altering one's sense of self and sense of presence in the world. Our qualitative study provides an in-depth examination of self-reported disturbances of one's relatedness to one's self and the world, thereby shedding further light on the nature of altered subjective experiences in DP. In doing so, this paper draws attention to key aspects yet overlooked that may prove valuable for shedding further light into the phenomenon of depersonalization. We conclude by highlighting limitations of this study and a number of open questions that further work needs to address in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black women are underrepresented in the research on compulsive sexual behavior (CSB). The absence of research poses questions for therapists supporting Black women who present with CSB as they have unique specificities, which can also influence how CSB is formulated in this population. This paper recommends a thorough assessment for CSB following the ICD-11 diagnostic criteria and also explains and provides guidance on the usefulness of assessing for racism and discrimination. The paper discusses the specificities experienced by Black women, such as Adultification, Invisibility, Microaggressions, Colorism, and Intergenerational Trauma and how they can influence Black women in the United Kingdom. This article will present a case study to illustrate the importance of understanding the specificities of Black women with CSB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testimonios are used as a method to help understand and share the authors' lived experiences as tocayos with society and the human world, and to create interaction between both of them. The term tocayo is used to identify people who share the same name. The purpose of this paper is to share the lived experiences of and give meaning, understanding and knowledge to a tocayo epistemology. Tocayo epistemology is strongly linked to emotions, is based on prior learning experiences, is influenced by reflection, and happens through social interactions and through the work of the individual mind. Tocayo epistemology depends upon understanding the self, and seeks multiple perspectives to uncover complexity, ambiguity and change to empower the self and Others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformative learning occurs when a person, group, or larger social unit encounters ideas that are at odds with their prevailing perspective. This discrepant perspective can lead to an examination of previously held beliefs, values, and assumptions. The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) has since 2011 been training and supporting faculty from different African universities, to become more reflective and productive researchers, research leaders, educators, and change agents who will drive institutional changes in their institutions. As part of a mid-term evaluation of CARTA, an open-ended question was posed to the CARTA fellows asking them to describe any changes they had experienced in their professional lives as a result of the CARTA Programme. The 135 responses were inductively coded and analysed using qualitative thematic analysis. These themes were subsequently mapped onto Hoggan's typology of transformative learning outcomes. CARTA fellows reported shifts in their sense of self; worldviews; beliefs about the definition of knowledge, how it is constructed and evaluated; and changes in behaviour/practices and capacities. This paper argues that the changes described by the CARTA fellows reflect transformative learning that is embedded in CARTA's Theory of Change. The reported transformation was enabled by a curriculum intentionally designed to facilitate critical reflection, further exploration, and questioning, both formally and informally during the fellows' PhD journey with the support of CARTA facilitators. Documenting and disseminating these lessons provide a guide for future practice, and educators wishing to revitalise their PhD training may find it useful to review the CARTA PhD curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines newspapers' self-perceptions from a historical perspective. By comparing some of the major themes in current news press' own analysis of itself with the way newspapers presented themselves in the eighteenth century, an argument for deep-seated self-reflections of the press is made. Twenty-first-century themes, focusing on evaluation, problems and future of the British newspaper press, are compared to self-reflexive self-promoting introductory columns, appearing in virtually every new paper 200 to 300 hundred years ago. These columns offer a unique forward-looking source making them suitable for depicting some of the ways the newspapers in their first century of continuous publication presented themselves and the industry. A twenty-first-century perspective based on an Institute of Contemporary Art roundtable of newspaper insiders is juxtaposed with this historical angle. Themes include market saturation and segmentation, trust and authoritative journalism, press wars, role within democracy, influence on readers' perceptions and identity, interactivity, among others. The comparison offers a long-term view of issues facing newspapers today and points to some historical continuity in the trends in the self-perception of the news press. While far from arguing that there is an unchanged media map, the article points to some deep-rooted perceptions, almost a-historical in their nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patient-centred work is an essential part of contemporary medicine. Literature shows that educational interventions contribute to developing patient-centredness, but there is a lack of insight into the associated learning processes. Objective: Through reviewing articles about educational interventions involving patients, we aspire to develop a program theory that describes the processes through which the educational interventions are expected to result in change. The processes will clarify contextual elements (called contexts) and mechanisms connected to learning patient-centredness. Methods: In our realist review, an initial, rough program theory was generated during the scoping phase, we searched for relevant articles in PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC, CINAHL and Embase for all years before and through 2016. We included observational studies, case reports, interviews, and experimental studies in which the participants were students, residents, doctors, nurses or dentists. The relevance and rigour of the studies were taken into account during analysis. With deductive as well as inductive coding, we extended the rough program theory. Results: In our review, we classified five different contexts which affect how upcoming professionals learn patient-centredness. These aspects are influenced through components in the intervention(s) related to the learner, the teacher, and the patient. We placed the mechanisms together in four clusters – comparing and combining as well as broadening perspectives, developing narratives and engagement with patients, self-actualisation, and socialisation – to show how the development of (dimensions of) patient-centredness occurs. Three partial-program-theories (that together constituting a whole program theory) were developed, which show how different components of interventions within certain contexts will evoke mechanisms that contribute to patient-centredness. Translation into daily practice: These theories may help us better understand how the roles of patients, learners and teachers interact with contexts such as the kind of knowledge that is considered legitimate or insight in the whole illness trajectory. Our partial program theories open up potential areas for future research and interventions that may benefit learners, teachers, and patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empowerment has received considerable attention in the past four decades and become a threshold framework in the field of social work. Using the Theory Evaluation Scale (TES), this paper critically analyzed the empowerment theory with regard to coherence, conceptual clarity, philosophical assumptions, historical roots, testability, empiricism, boundaries, client context, and human agency within the environment. Based on a thorough review of the literature, the empowerment theory generated an overall score of 39 on the TES. Contrary to popular criticisms, this score demonstrates the epistemological soundness and overall quality of empowerment as a theoretical model. This paper has implications for theory and research by showing that empowerment is an ideal framework for the mixed-methods research paradigm. This paper also has implications for social work practice where empowerment is seen as a countermeasure to traditional practice models which promoted therapists as experts. That is, the findings suggest that social workers at all levels of intervention – micro, mezzo, and macro – can continue to embrace empowerment as the model to help clients influence their own lives. Finally, the findings have relevance for social work pedagogy by justifying the choice of empowerment as a threshold concept in the social work curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To systematically review and synthesise the qualitative literature on experiences that challenge self-identity following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method: Four electronic databases were searched systematically for qualitative research published between 1965 and August 2017, investigating subjective experiences of identity change following TBI. Papers which met the inclusion criteria were evaluated using the Critical Skills Appraisal Programme (CASP) tool and synthesised using guidelines by Thomas and Harden (2008). Results: Of the 1965 papers retrieved, 36 met inclusion and quality criteria. Synthesis resulted in six themes: (1) awareness of change in physical, cognitive, emotional and social functioning; (2) autobiographical memory loss; (3) responses of other people that highlight change; (4) loss of autonomy; (5) comparing old me and new me-loss of valued roles and activities; (6) social rejection and stigma. Conclusions: An in-depth understanding of the experiences that challenge self-identity after TBI can inform rehabilitation to support individuals to negotiate these processes with less distress and more successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to provide a program description and supporting data to demonstrate that occupation-based interventions can be implemented in a recovery high school. An occupational therapist was a co-facilitator in a 60-minute 11-week group with a convenience sample of 12th grade students (n = 3) in a substance use recovery high school. This paper details the evidence-based interventions utilized during each phase of the group program including narrative interviewing, reflective listening, goal setting, identity exploration, and occupational engagement. Participant attendance and satisfaction are reported, and methods of program assessment are described. This program description can be used to inform future research evaluating program efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmful sexual behaviour that occurs between siblings (HSB-S) is thought to be one of the most common forms of intrafamilial abuse. Despite an increase in academic papers, and acknowledgement of the prevalence of the problem, there is still a lack of specific assessment and intervention models. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview on the Assessment, Intervention and Moving On (AIM) HSB-S Practice Guidance. The framework draws on the literature and evidence-based models, as well as clinical practice illustrated by the four-case series summarised. Of the four-case series illustrated in the paper positive outcomes were observed. In addition, the intervention includes the practitioner guiding the family to write a structured narrative which supports them to restore family relationships and find a way of moving forward. This guidance will strengthen practitioner's skills and confidence in working with families impacted by HSB-S and provide hope for them that they can heal from this crisis. This paper provides a preview for the AIM HSB-S Practice Guidance illustrated by a case series. The framework will provide practitioners with a clear approach to assessment and intervention when working with families impacted by HSB-S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There has been agrowing interest in using artistic interventions as a method of developinginterpersonal competence. This paper presents a meta-analysis evaluating the impact of theatre interventions on social competencies. Methods: Twenty-one primary studies totaling 4064 participants were included, presenting evidence available since 1983. Included studies were assessed in terms of quality, heterogeneity, and publication bias. Results: Our findings indicated that active theatre participation significantly improved participants' empathic abilities, social communication, tolerance, and social interactions, with the largest pooled effect size for social communication (0.698) and the smallest for tolerance (0.156). Our findings did not corroborate the impact of theatre on self-concept. Conclusions: This paper shows that theatre interventions have a positive impact on social competencies. The paper makes a methodological contribution by showing that randomized and non-randomized studies yielded comparably valid results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Western culture, "hearing voices" is often considered a symptom of mental illness. After reinterpreting this phenomenon from perspectives that emphasise the socio-cultural aspects of the construction of these voices, this paper describes a case report involving a psychological intervention divided into six phases. The aim is to challenge the dominant narratives that stigmatise the experience of hearing voices, and propose alternative meanings that can improve the hearer's ability to manage the voices by converting them from a disease into a personal and relational resource. Using the metaphor of an "inner dialogue", we show how changes in the client's interpretation of the voices, and way of relating to them, can be co-constructed by the client and the therapist. The paper concludes with some critical reflections on the medicalisation of mental distress, highlighting the importance of expanding our understanding of the experience of hearing voices, not only in clinical terms, but also on a social and cultural level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both Plato and Confucius were deeply concerned with moral cultivation and political leadership, topics that were inherently gendered in ancient patriarchal societies. I show that both thinkers focused their discussions on concepts that were associated with male aristocratic ideals of gentlemanliness. Yet while Confucian texts emphasize moral behavior and ritual to beautify the male body (shen 身), Plato focuses on the cultivation of a non-physical soul, which women also possess. Various theories have been proposed to explain this difference in their understandings of the self, but when we bear the gendered nature of their inquiry in mind, an important difference takes center stage: for Socrates, the male body is an object of sexual desire. This paper highlights the influence of homoerotic desire in Plato’s unique approach to gentlemanliness, offering a new perspective for comparing these philosophers' views on gender, cultivation, and leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single session therapy (SST) is an increasingly popular approach to mental health treatment that aims to address clients' presenting difficulties in a single appointment. However, experiential approaches to SST are limited. In this paper I describe the theory and practice of "chairwork" – an integrative, action-focused method of intervention centred on the concept of self-multiplicity – and outline how these procedures can be coherently applied in a single-session format. A preliminary protocol for delivering single-session chairwork (SSC) or "brief dialogical psychotherapy" is presented, alongside a case illustration that demonstrates features of this approach. Finally, directions for future research and the continued development of chairwork as a psychotherapeutic modality are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a qualitative Group Survey study involving four healthcare professionals (HCPs) and eight people living with HIV who were recipients of care in the United Kingdom (UK). The survey aimed to bring participants' perspectives into dialogue and establish consensus about how communication between HCPs delivering HIV care and their patients could be improved in the context of the routine care consultation. Responses from both parties were anonymously collated, thematically analysed, and shared back with participants in two subsequent survey rounds to support consensus-building on matters of concern and identify thematic insights. In this paper, we report three themes for informing future designs of tools and services to support communication between patients and HCPs: Patient-clinician relationship for trusted sharing; Self-reporting psychosocial information to support Whole-person care; and Perceived barriers for online trusted sharing with HCPs. Our findings highlight key areas of concern and further investigation is needed to understand how self-reported information may be meaningfully captured, interpreted and processed by HCPs in ways that are trusted by patients who voice privacy and security concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Self-Concept Clarity Scale (SCCS) is a 12-item self-report measure that assesses self-concept clarity (SCC). Previous research has identified a relationship between lower SCC and higher levels of social anxiety. As a measure of positive psychological well-being, the SCCS can be used as a tool to examine and monitor SCC in populations with social anxiety disorder (SAD) who appear to be susceptible to inconsistent or unstable self-concept. However, the scale has yet to be validated with a SAD sample. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on the SCCS data of sample of 87 individuals who met criteria for a diagnosis of SAD (M = 20.15, SD = 3.55; 83% female) and the reliability, convergent validity and norm scores of the SCCS with a SAD were also investigated. Results of the CFA supported a unidimensional factor structure. The SCCS was found to have good internal consistency (Cronbach's α =.80) and SCCS scores were found to correlate with measures of psychological distress and social fears, however, no correlation was found with measures of social anxiety behaviours. Also, overall results found that the SAD sample scored lower on SCC than other clinical samples in previous literature. These findings suggest that the SCCS is a psychometrically sound measure with unidimensional factor structure and demonstrated reliability and validity with a SAD sample, although additional research is warranted to replicate and extend the results of the current research. What is already known about this topic: The SCCS is a valid and reliable measure of self-concept clarity (SCC) with unidimensional factor structure, developed by Campbell et al. (1996). The SCCS has been used to identify that individuals with social anxiety symptomology demonstrate lower SCC. To the authors' knowledge, previous literature has not yet used the SCCS to measure SCC in a SAD clinical sample. What the current research adds: The findings of the original development paper and recent validations of the SCCS were supported by the current study – i.e., unidimensional factor structure and sound psychometric properties were demonstrated. Lower SCC was associated with social worry and cognitive distress. No association was found with behavioural symptoms of SAD. The SCCS demonstrated clinical utility as a measure that can be used to assist with treatment planning and formulation, and to address a client's beliefs about the self and their identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to provide an overview of the lived experience of a group of individuals who participated in an adventure therapy project, as an adjunct to their routine clinical care with an Early Intervention Service (EIS) for psychosis. We hope it will support the growing literature in this field as well as encourage other services to adopt these approaches within their settings. A group of individuals who had experienced a First Episode of Psychosis (FEP) participated in a programme of outdoor activities, culminating in a six-day residential sailing adventure (N = 5). A semi-structured interview was used to explore their experiences, and an inductive thematic analysis was undertaken to identify themes. Four key themes emerged from the analysis of the transcripts. The themes centred around what people learnt about themselves from taking part in the project: "enhanced self-perception"; "building friendships and being part of a shared experience"; "navigating and overcoming new challenges"; and "working together as a team". Adventure-based approaches offer the opportunity to enhance standard treatment outcomes in EIS, and the unique context in which they occur provides a platform to support social and occupational recovery from psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper forms an intervention into debates about the corporeality of impairment and 'bodies that matter' in critical disability studies. Toward informing the epistemology of embodiment present in critical disability studies, it proposes new directions for progression within four set parameters. Firstly, insights from disability might be better re-purposed toward understanding the nature of all human embodiment. Secondly, one must sufficiently address, but not necessarily polarise, materiality and abstraction. Thirdly, within its parent academy, the epistemological approach might adhere to critical disability studies' conventions, whilst still avoiding present perils and impasses. Fourthly, it is important not to be so exhaustive and conclusive as to eliminate innovation and creative new trajectories. Overall, the sustaining proposition is, that the productive capacity of disability is immense, toward disrupting and re-configuring ableist understandings of the body in the material world. Writers from a critical disability studies perspective have a particular way of understanding the role of the body in disability. This article considers this way of understanding the body, and then describes four directions for how this understanding could be further developed. The way that critical disability studies understands the role of the body in disability is called 'epistemology of embodiment' in this article. This article concludes by saying that disability is a great starting point for understanding the meaning of the body for all human beings. In this context, the article uses the term 'dis/ability' instead of 'disability' to highlight how people are disabled by interrelations between ability and disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Where one sibling has a disability, research has examined the role of disability in sibling relationships; however, the majority has reflected a normative understanding of sibling relationships and a deficit understanding of disability. Reacting to this history, this paper draws on the concepts of embodiment (absorption of bodily experience into self/identity) and enactment (performance of self/identity) to provide a new way of understanding the role of disability in sibling relationships. Using data from an Australian study of young adult siblings with and without disabilities, the paper discusses how disability is embodied and enacted in: how siblings engage in supportive and conflictual talk and everyday chat with each other; how they enact recreation and seek connection with each other; and how they strive to understand and experience their emotions about each other. The paper ends by discussing how embodiment and enactment allow a clearer understanding of disability in sibling relationships, which may be empowering for siblings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]