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Our work with children whose rights have been violated, with their families devastated by family violence and where the majority have been left out of the sociocultural systems and experiencing serious economic and educational difficulties, has taken us to our professional limit. The solitary and individual work, in the dim light of the office, left us without tools. As therapists, we can say that it has been necessary to break with our own mental schemes and to take a leap into the territory, the terrain itself. The learned university theories were questioned, forcing us to include a more humanising and less judgmental look at the work. A psychology of the trench was born for us. This paper articulates a work process that required something more than specific training in our subject matter. It summoned us as human beings capable of hosting suffering. From this starting point, and with an open mind and heart to go through its stages, this process is presented as a journey with advances and setbacks in its intervention modalities, systematising programs in permanent construction. Systematising practices is not an easy task. Familias Cuidando (Caring Families) and Adoptar es Posible (To Adopt is Possible) are the developmental spaces of our trench practices, practices that aim to accompany children, adolescents, and their families through the system of promotion and comprehensive protection of their rights. From Vicente López, a district in the province of Buenos Aires, our psycho‐socio‐educational and legal approach tries to be a link within collaborative and supportive practices; establishing ties, networks, and dialogues to strengthen the new paradigm aiming to support listening to the voice of children and adolescents; rescuing their childhoods, resignifying the different family models, and accompanying the construction of a life project for each one, in which we all fit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The therapeutic alliance (TA) has been shown to be a predictor of psychotherapy treatment success. In the case of psychotherapy with children, there is a dearth of information on TA's role. The aims of the paper are: (1) To estimate the therapist effects on children TA; (2) to investigate if therapists' TA predicts children's TA; (3) to analyze if children's age and sex predict children's TA; (4) to evaluate if the therapist's characteristics predict children's TA. Methods: The sample consisted of 77 children undergoing psychotherapy in Argentina, and the therapists (N = 29) providing services to those children. The assessment tools utilized for the study included the Therapy Alliance Scale for Children and the Personal Style of the Therapist Questionnaire (PST‐Q). Results: Findings indicated that 2% of the children's TA was explained by the therapists (ICC = 0.02), while 17% of the therapists' TA was explained by the therapists (ICC = 0.17). Therapists' TA predicted children's TA. Children's age and sex did not have an effect on their own TA. Moreover, therapists with more experience achieved higher scores of children's TA. Finally, the Operative dimension of the PST had a negative effect on children's TA (i.e., therapists who prefer more spontaneous interventions over structured ones may experience higher levels of therapeutic alliance with child patients). Conclusion: We found a positive effect of the therapist's TA on children's TA, especially in the preference for using more spontaneous intervention techniques. We discuss the implications of the findings on the training of psychotherapists who provide services to children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper reports on a focus‐group discussion of four expert psychotherapy researchers facilitated at an international conference from the Society of Psychotherapy Research. A discussion was facilitated to explore their perspectives on psychotherapy practices of personal growth (intentionally working towards a strengthened sense of autonomy, mastery, and self‐acceptance) in different countries (United States, Canada, Argentina, and Chile) and different modalities (psychoanalysis, humanistic therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy). Methods: Following the conference, the audio recording of this discussion was transcribed and analyzed using consensual qualitative research methods. Results. Six domains were identified; definition of personal growth, mental health care systems, psychotherapy practice, psychotherapy research, client and therapist characteristics, and social stigma. Results: Six domains were identified; definition of personal growth, mental health care systems, psychotherapy practice, psychotherapy research, client and therapist characteristics, and social stigma. Conclusion: Future research examining the cost‐effectiveness and benefits of psychotherapy for personal growth is warranted. Building on the six domains, specific future research projects on the evidence‐based practice of psychotherapy for personal growth are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author shares a personal account of 50 years of experience practicing psychodynamic psychiatry and psychoanalysis after migrating from Argentina to the United States. Her career developed in parallel as a clinician and as an academic psychiatrist, with leadership roles in the American Psychiatric Association, the Association of Women Psychiatrists, and the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis. After describing what constitutes the essence, substance, and form of psychoanalysis, she reviews the historic shift within psychoanalysis in the United States from intrapsychic dyadic practice with selected patients to the application of psychodynamic concepts to everyday psychiatric care of patients with complex morbidities in multiple clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is aimed at studying the psychological demand in the primary health care centers of La Plata city hall and their relationship with the therapeutic strategies. Some questions about the introducing way of the symptom in this contemporary time have emerged and led us to review the discussion on the so-called "new symptoms" within the psychoanalytic field. Thus, a problem arises from an empirical finding: a notorious increase of the psychological demand in the public sphere both in the municipality health centers and the psychopathology and mental health offices of the hospitals. From the bibliographical exegesis and the case-histories analysis some issues on the care provision are pointed out as they involve unselected and diverse consultations. In this sense, some of the answers the psychoanalysis has offered to its social practice will be studied and thereby make us wonder on the necessary twists to set a device that regards the institution policies but keeping the ethics and theoretical-clinical grounds of the psychoanalysis itself. We can only situate the singularity that the psychoanalytic practice demands if we inquire on and displace the generalizations. A practice that should regard the history-case as unique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a historical journey through the concepts developed (i.e., worked, modified, and made more complex) over four decades in the existence of one of the first family therapy institutions in Argentina: the CEFYP. This journey travels from its beginnings, in the midst of the military dictatorship, to the present. The concepts will be introduced and discussed taking into account those concepts that emerged and stood out as we worked therapeutically, enriching our clinic in each new paradigm. We will start from the CEFYP's emergence within the socio‐political framework of Argentina in the 1970s, its constitution as differentiated from the prevailing psychoanalytic context within the field of psychotherapies, and its evolution, an evolution that was always attentive to the particular questions that accompanied its relational approach. These questions, which intersected philosophy, anthropology, art, and critical history, will express the position of the CEFYP in relation to change, history, power, dialogue, and the therapist and their place in the process of change. Finally, it will also discuss the CEFYP's way of thinking and developing the teaching and training of relational systemic therapists. This article will also present the most outstanding clinical themes, exemplified with the use of vignettes. Among others, these include our trajectories in the clinic of violence and partner violence, the clinic in destructive divorces, and the clinic with seriously disturbed families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid‐19 pandemic brought a heightened fear of death and illness, and increased experiences of isolation, loneliness and aloneness. In this article we describe clinical experiences of psychotherapists in Argentina, the UK and Germany in order to explore how the impacts of the pandemic are variously felt and mediated by inner resources. We explore the capacity to relate internally to good experiences of infancy and a secure internal world, and the risks of loneliness, and interpersonal and intrapsychic withdrawal, that lead to vulnerability in patients and therapists. We contrast instances where psychotherapy in response to increased fears of death, infection and isolation is facilitative of change and growth, with situations where perverse, destructive or defensive relating predominate. We ask if we are witnessing and, through our therapeutic activities, contributing to the emergence of new ways of understanding the internal conflicts of this Covid‐19 age, and tentatively identify some key emerging themes; the capacity for facilitative interactions and change; identifications with the powerful virus; an increase in paranoid anxieties and the potential for a more considerate, 'care‐full' way of relating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a case study in which Cognitive‐Integrative psychotherapy was used to treat a patient with obsessive‐compulsive disorder with the implementation of routine outcome monitoring (ROM) at Aiglé Foundation in Argentina. The patient, a 34‐year‐old female with a university degree reports having obsessive ideas about dirt or pollution, causing harm to others, and religious and superstitious topics on a daily basis. The therapeutic process carried out during the first 17 psychotherapy sessions is described: construction of the therapeutic alliance, psychoeducation, and main interventions. The purpose of the article is to describe a case in which the measures' results did not show clinically relevant improvement even though the clinical indicators assessed by the therapist and the patient's subjective evaluation were positive. The article, shows the application of ROM during the supervision process, proposes interpretations of these results, and discusses decision‐making processes in the light of this discrepancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although prevention efforts to eliminate the occurrence of sexual violence are clearly necessary, it is also important to consider how we can prevent further trauma among women who are already victims. The negative consequences for victims of violations occur not only as a result of the episode itself, but also because of the poor response of the environment. This paper describes and analyzes the psychotherapeutic treatment provided to victims of sexual violence in Reference Public Hospitals in Buenos Aires. To do this, a descriptive study was conducted using qualitative techniques. Psychologists who are members of the Committees of Sexual Violence Public Hospitals were interviewed. Results describe the level of sensitivity to the issue of sexual violence held by psychologists. They can be useful to generate policies to improve care for victims of sexual violence to avoid their double victimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrative approach to psychotherapy has been growing worldwide during the last few decades. However, there is very little information about this group of psychotherapists in Argentina. This paper is aimed at finding out more about psychotherapists who use an integrationist framework. Out of a total sample made up of 525 psychotherapists from different major cities of Argentina, 39.8% reported integrating theories in their clinical practice. This result places the integrationist group second as the most important psychotherapeutic trend in this country, behind psychoanalytic psychotherapists (53.1%). In order to get a better knowledge of this group of psychotherapists we focused our attention on the theories being integrated, the main reasons for integrating those theories, certain aspects of their professional education, and their psychotherapeutic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigated aspects of current psychoanalytical practice in Buenos Aires. Specifically, three of the psychoanalytic setting's constants proposed by Joel Zac in 1967 were considered. Sixty theoretical and clinical case studies were analyzed, which had been presented in the Buenos Aires Psychoanalytic Association Symposium during five consecutive years (1996-2000). The theoretical, functional and temporal setting's constants were taken into account, both quantitatively and qualitatively. It was shown that the theoretical and functional constants appeared more frequently than the temporal one and their supporting theories. Thus, aspects of the psychoanalytic setting that are necessary and fundamental are emphasized here. This paper is an abridged version of the author's Master's Thesis, presented at the University of La Matanza and the Graduate School of Psychotherapy Association (Buenos Aires). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of affect has generated much confusion in anthropology given its focus on that which seems to escape our language. The evanescent features of affects have irritated many anthropologists who consider affect theory as an empirically weak or esoteric hermeneutics. In this article, I respond to these critiques by developing an anthropology of therapy that foregrounds the role of affects. My intent is to explore the possible contribution of affect theory to medical and psychological anthropology. I draw from my ethnography on couple's therapy in Argentina to suggest that we cannot understand therapeutic efficacy if we focus only on language and discourse. I ask what it means to regard affects as late modern spirits and take psychotherapy as a modern ritual of "affect dispossession." I propose to ask how affects, like spirits, can haunt our present rendering our lives barely livable. Focusing on a session of therapy in Buenos Aires, I describe how a therapist channels the spirit of impasse that colonizes the lives of her patients. Developing an enchanted hermeneutics, I engage with Eve Sedgwick's call for an other-than-paranoid social theory by engaging the imagination as an important organ of perception in the medical anthropology of affects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin American literature on clinical supervision is limited and literature concerning technology‐assisted supervision is virtually nonexistent. We address this gap, providing our perspective on the use of technology in distance supervision within Argentina and Guatemala. Despite important differences, these two countries share many sociocultural features. We contextualize these perspectives, describing therapist training according to the Integrative Model of Fundación Aiglé. Through the use of vignettes, we illustrate contextualized training experiences, concluding with a synthesis of strengths and weaknesses encountered when implementing the use of technology in distance supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The systems paradigm has been developing in the southern region of South America for more than three decades, albeit at different paces and with a variety of achievements as can be expected when describing the process of countries as diverse as Argentina, Chile and Peru. This article describes the circumstances and actions that have enabled the systemic approach to gain a legitimate place in the local psychotherapy field permeating family, marital/couple, and individual therapy. Moreover, the family/contextual perspective has attained a valued respectability in the family legal system as well as in community interventions. Overall, the community is aware of and at ease with this efficacious contextual approach. As in other parts of the world, the universities have joined the private entities in the training endeavor and the accreditation process is a complex goal with obstacles that have not yet been surmounted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been estimated that Buenos Aires has more psychoanalysts per capita than any other city in the world. Middle-class porteños (as inhabitants of Buenos Aires are known) typically do not associate involvement with psychoanalytic therapy with depression or mental illness but, rather, often view it as a type of healthy self-exploration. This article explores how painful issues surrounding national belonging and Argentine identity often emerge as central topics of discussion during psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the consulting room. Additionally, this article also examines some of the historical, social, and cultural conditions since the 1950s that have promoted the massive popularization of psychoanalysis among middle-class porteños. I argue that psychoanalysis has been a particularly attractive practice and ideology for many porteños who have maintained a European transnational identity, and particularly for those during the 1960s and 1970s who were alienated from Argentina's growing political authoritarianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the training of child psychologists in Argentina. Types of the psychology courses; Interest of the psychoanalysts to expand their knowledge; Challenges of professionals with doctorate degrees; Regulation of the Ministry of Public Health on the practice of psychotherapy.