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The interest of this paper is in the gender roles and social expectations concerning femininity and masculinity as perceived and reported on by the Polish female and male psychotherapists of two generations. This is discussed in the context of socio-cultural changes in Poland that took place in the twentieth century and their consequences and implications for issues around gender roles. To this end, reflexive thematic analysis was applied to a corpus of statements on gender-related family messages offered by 121 male and female Polish psychotherapists of two different age groups. The aim was to identify and examine psychotherapists' gender-related transgenerational scripts. The analysis revealed the construction of the Polish men and women in terms of binary oppositions regardless of the age of the participants. Although the findings generally reflect more global concepts of essentialist femininity and masculinity, their local significance to the changing gender roles and relations in Poland is discussed. The implications of transgenerational gender assumptions to the work of therapists are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper contributes to mental health studies of children and youth's suicide and suicide attempts. Inspired by early sociological concepts such as Durkheim's contribution to understanding suicide through social anomy, we ran statistical analysis of worldwide suicide rates and tested for correlation between suicide rates amongst children and youth and "Big Data" on social, educational, economic and environmental factors around the world. Amongst them we considered 88 variables including Human Development Index (HDI) and its indicators, rates of religious observance and denomination, and even the hours of sunlight and the average temperature in each country. The statistical section of the paper is preceded by the results of analysis from the anonymised mental health records of adolescents with suicidal and self-harming tendencies. The data came from a Polish psychotherapist and was accompanied by in-depth analysis of contributing factors from purposely selected, attempted suicide cases, in order to enrich the statistical perspective with biological, individual, environmental and situational factors. Finally, we identify trigger factors and protective indicators, derived from both the statistical and the empirical part of our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:To characterise how psychotherapy with people who expereince psychosis is conducted in Poland, and by whom. Method:A nation-wide online survey and paper and pencil enquiry comprised of 40 questions and addressed mainly to the members of psychological, psychiatric and psychotherapeutic associations was administered to a sample of 1196 people who provide psychotherapy. Results:Of the 1196 therapists surveyed, 30.8% reported working with people experiencing psychosis. Therapists working with psychotic people were more likely than the rest of the therapists to have graduated in medicine, worked in a psychiatric hospital or public counselling centre and trained in psychoanalytic or psychodynamic psychotherapy. No difference in gender and age or years of experience was found between the two groups. Conclusions:The percentage of therapists working with psychotic patients in Poland is similar to the international average, but lower than in Austria. Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapists play an important role in the psychological treatment of people experiencing psychosis in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws a parallel between the biographical narrative life-story interview technique and psychoanalytic therapy. It points out that this type of interview may, in some cases, assist with the re-construction of a new narrative identity of the interviewee. Where there is practically no intervention by the interviewer it can do this just by providing the interviewee with a situation where there is someone who does not want anything other than to listen to her life narrative. Through this process there can be a therapeutic effect which is more than a joyful by-product, which the interviewees not only unconsciously experience, but for which they overtly express their gratitude. The paper features the case of such a woman, who was sterilised in Auschwitz. It also tells the story of a man where the interviewer experienced incredibly strong resistance and projective identification throughout the interview. This resulted in almost insoluble guilt in the interviewer. The paper tries to interpret the story of the interviewee, who is also a Shoah survivor, and is unable to make some things in his life story explicit. The interpretation suggests that he might have killed some Arrow Cross officers in order to take their uniforms to help others. He has lived for the last 60 years with feelings of insoluble guilt. The question is raised whether in this case the interview had a similar therapeutic effect to the first case or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 1196 persons conducting psychotherapy in Poland fully completed a nationwide online survey (or, alternatively, a paper and pencil enquiry) concerning their education, training, experience, and clinical work (professional environment, patients treated). The results are described in detail and compared with findings of similar studies from other countries. Among the primary findings were: (1) psychotherapy in Poland is conducted mostly by women (80 %); (2) almost all participants have an MA degree (91 %), including 75.2 % having graduated in psychology; (3) the therapists are well trained (mean number of training hours is above 942) and established (average experience is about 9.8 years), however, more than half of the therapists have no type of certificate; (4) 54 % of respondents identify with the integrative or eclectic orientation and, simultaneously, for 48.6 % of the therapists the most important approach is either psychodynamic or psychoanalytic; (5) the most common form of therapy is individual psychotherapy in private practice; (6) the majority of the therapists treat adult patients with anxiety or personality disorders. In sum, the results show that psychotherapeutic practice is well established in Poland and many indices are similar to those found in Western countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explores psychodynamic therapists' experiences associatedwith unexpected encounters with their patients outside the clinical setting. Information was collected using a semi-structured interview protocol from 10 experienced practitioners in Poland and examined according to the interpretative phenomenological analysis principles. Four overarching themes are discussed in the paper. Results show that accidental encounters often challenged practitioners' privacy, led to involuntary self-disclosure (causing discomfort and distress) and required re-negotiating roles and boundaries in the new context. Various coping strategies were also identified and analysed, including withdrawal, anticipation and avoidance, as well as using community support. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for mental health professionals and psychotherapy training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By helping individuals after traumatic experiences, the helper is also exposed to the consequences of trauma. The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of consequences of secondary exposure to trauma among clergymen and therapists (N = 140) helping victims of trauma in Poland. Symptoms of secondary traumatic stress (STS) were identified in 22.9% of the clergymen and 8.6% of therapists, and secondary posttraumatic growth (SPTG) in 61.4% of the clergymen and 42.9% of therapists. STS and SPTG predictors were identified based on regression models. In the case of clergymen, regret is a determinant of STS, and positive cognitive restructuring of SPTG. Research findings highlight the need to increase awareness of exposure to secondary trauma among the clergy, and for them to acquire greater skills for coping with stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the presented paper, the authors as members of the Polish-Israeli Mental Health Association share their reflections around debate caused by the publishing of the book "Fear" of J.T. Gross, in Poland. The question is which stereotypes around patriotism and the Polish myth are provoked, what kind of defense could be moved and how it could influence contemporary Polish-Jewish relations? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors of the present article describe the historical context of family therapy in Poland and current issues in the field. They highlight the fact that Polish therapists first began to develop the field after coming into contact with family therapy leaders from the United States and Western Europe. With the political breakthrough of 1989, there were new opportunities for multilateral cooperation, attendance at international conferences, and the exchange of experiences. Currently, the work of Polish family therapists, the place of family therapy among other forms of psychotherapy, and the related problems and challenges do not differ from other European nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]