Remotivation Therapy

Remotivation refers to a variety of group therapy techniques used with chronically mentally ill patients in inpatient settings to stimulate their communication, vocational, and social skills and interest in their environment (Keane and O’Toole 2003). The National Remotivation Therapy Organization (NRTO) defines remotivation ther- apy (RT) as a small-group therapeutic modality, designed to help clients by promoting self- esteem, awareness, and socialization (National Remotivation Therapy Organization 2003). As the concept itself suggests, remotivation relates to the creation of interest in life, i.e., in a person’s daily activities, talents, hobbies, and social rela- tionships with family and friends.

Remotivation Therapy

Remotivation refers to a variety of group therapy techniques used with chronically mentally ill patients in inpatient settings to stimulate their communication, vocational, and social skills and interest in their environment (Keane and O’Toole 2003). The National Remotivation Therapy Organization (NRTO) defines remotivation ther- apy (RT) as a small-group therapeutic modality, designed to help clients by promoting self- esteem, awareness, and socialization (National Remotivation Therapy Organization 2003). As the concept itself suggests, remotivation relates to the creation of interest in life, i.e., in a person’s daily activities, talents, hobbies, and social rela- tionships with family and friends.

Good is generally more alike than bad in the information ecology: Investigating the case of (the ABC model of) group stereotypes

On most if not all evaluatively relevant dimensions such as the temperature level, taste intensity, and nutritional value of a meal, one range of adequate, positive states is framed by two ranges of inadequate, negative states, namely too much and too little. This distribution of positive and negative states in the information ecology results in a higher similarity of positive objects, people, and events to other positive stimuli as compared to the similarity of negative stimuli to other negative stimuli. In other words, there are fewer ways in which an object, a person, or an event can be positive as compared to negative. Oftentimes, there is only one way in which a stimulus can be positive (e.g., a good meal has to have an adequate temperature level, taste intensity, and nutritional value). In contrast, there are many different ways in which a stimulus can be negative (e.g., a bad meal can be too hot or too cold, too spicy or too bland, or too fat or too lean). This higher similarity of positive as compared to negative stimuli is important, as similarity greatly impacts speed and accuracy on virtually all levels of information processing, including attention, classification, categorization, judgment and decision making, and recognition and recall memory. Thus, if the difference in similarity between positive and negative stimuli is a general phenomenon, it predicts and may explain a variety of valence asymmetries in cognitive processing (e.g., positive as compared to negative stimuli are processed faster but less accurately). In my dissertation, I show that the similarity asymmetry is indeed a general phenomenon that is observed in thousands of words and pictures. Further, I show that the similarity asymmetry applies to social groups. Groups stereotyped as average on the two dimensions agency / socio-economic success (A) and conservative-progressive beliefs (B) are stereotyped as positive or high on communion (C), while groups stereotyped as extreme on A and B (e.g., managers, homeless people, punks, and religious people) are stereotyped as negative or low on C. As average groups are more similar to one another than extreme groups, according to this ABC model of group stereotypes, positive groups are mentally represented as more similar to one another than negative groups. Finally, I discuss implications of the ABC model of group stereotypes, pointing to avenues for future research on how stereotype content shapes social perception, cognition, and behavior.

Liveable & just: a toolkit for local governments to address the social and equity impacts of climate change

The Liveable & Just Toolkit is the culmination of a project to explore how local governments across Victoria are responding to the social and equity impacts of climate change.In June 2009 the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA) and Melbourne University’s McCaughey Centre travelled across the state to hear directly from local governments about issues of priority, success stories, challenges, and lessons learned in addressing the social and equity impacts of climate change. Workshops covered crucial issues such as heatwaves and bushfires, rising costs of water, energy and transport, physical and mental health, and the heightened vulnerability of groups such as the mentally ill, homeless, aged, and infants. In response to workshop outcomes and recommendations, the Liveable & Just Toolkit provides a practical framework to help integrate responses to the social and equity impacts of climate change across council activities. It also presents ideas and suggestions for local government to respond to climate change in ways that simultaneously promote social justice.

When a Change in Level of Care Results in a Transfer Between Programs

This project was chosen to investigate the criteria, process, procedures and policies in place for transferring patients of the Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center between programs due to a change in their level of care in efforts to make the process more consistent and prevent or reduce gaps in care for patients.

Aportes a la revisión de literatura sobre la relación entre el arte y la psicosis desde una perspectiva psicoanalítica.

El presente trabajo tiene como propósito hacer una revisión crítica de dos de los trabajos más relevantes que abordan la relación entre salud mental y arte, a saber: Artistry of the Mentally Ill, de Hans Prinzhorn (1922/1972) y Madness and Art, de Walter Morgenthaler (1921/1992). Para ello, se presenta primero un recuento de estos textos, y en un segundo momento, su respectivo análisis. De esta manera, llevo a cabo una revisión crítica de los ya mencionados libros a la luz de diferentes teorías psicoanalíticas que abordan algunos temas cruciales dentro de esta relación, como lo son la psicosis, y desde otras perspectivas, el arte marginal y la creatividad, aportando así a la investigación teórica de este tema particular.

Experiencia y construcción de significados en relación con su rol en cuidadores de personas con esquizofrenia

La perspectiva de los conocimientos situados es una postura epistemológica que surge de la corriente feminista y permite comprender las experiencias y la construcción de significados de un sujeto desde la posición que ocupa dentro de un contexto específico. Esta perspectiva no pretende generar un conocimiento generalizable, más bien busca comprender una realidad particular que viven las personas frente a problemáticas específicas. Esta perspectiva se implementó en este trabajo de grado con el objetivo de entender el significado que tiene para un cuidador informal cuidar a una persona con un diagnóstico de esquizofrenia. Este trabajo utilizó una metodología fenomenológica desde la cual se realizaron cinco entrevistas en profundidad al mismo número de cuidadores de personas con esquizofrenia donde se busca indagar acerca de la experiencia del cuidador en relación con su rol, las circunstancias por las se llega a ser cuidador, las condiciones bajo las cuales se da el cuidado, la percepción de la salud de los cuidadores y las expectativas de estas personas. La información se registró por medio de audio y de manera escrita. El análisis de la información se realizó de forma manual teniendo en cuenta a los autores Bautista (2011); Giraldo y González (2015) y Fernández (2006). Inicialmente se generaron categorías orientadoras que se fundamentaron a partir de la teoría y posteriormente se realizó la construcción de categorías emergentes. Acto seguido se contrastaron ambos tipos de categorías (teóricas y empíricas) para reflexionar acerca de la experiencia y construcción de significados de los cuidadores de personas con esquizofrenia. Se identificó que la experiencia de las cuidadoras está enmarcada en relación con el género femenino el cual ha asumido tradicionalmente esta función y también es característica que termina justificando el rol que asumen.

Cartas imaginarias a Freud y otros ensayos

"Las cinco cartas imaginarias a Freud recogidas en este libro son su columna vertebral y los efectos que producirán en la comunidad psicoanalítica están aún por verse. Pero las cartas no agotan los aportes de esta obra. Alberto Fergusson, médico, psiquiatra y psicoanalista, tiene toda una historia vital dedicada al estudio y el tratamiento de pacientes psicóticos. En los años ochenta creó el Instituto de Autorrehabilitación Acompañada, inspirado en las premisas del freudomarxismo de la Escuela de Frankfurt y en el mal llamado "movimiento antipsiquiátrico" (mal llamado en la medida en que no se opone a la psiquiatría, sino más bien a una mala práctica psiquiátrica) y en los trabajos y experiencias de Laing, Cooper, Basaglia y Szasz. La materialización de los conceptos del Instituto se produjo en una singular experiencia denominada Fungrata, pero conocida en el mundo académico y profesional como "La granja". Esa institución, pionera en nuestro país, sigue produciendo asombro en varias partes del mundo por haber llegado, desde ya hace décadas, adonde muchos otros dispositivos dedicados a la intervención psicosocial con pacientes psicóticos hoy aspiran llegar". (Extracto del "prólogo") Miguel Gutiérrez-Peláez

Lugares de montanha: proposta de reactivação de uma aldeia do Vale do rio Ceira, Serra da Lousã

O território da Serra da Lousã, quase desabitado e profundamente descaracterizado, esconde lugares em ruína e indícios de vivências passadas que a montanha teima em reclamar. Importa recuperar esses lugares reinventando-os, sob pena de se perderem com o passar do tempo e o avanço do meio natural. Este trabalho debruça-se sobre um dos lugares abandonados desta serra, a Silveira de Baixo, procurando nas suas raízes oportunidades para uma reactivação. Estuda a hipótese de tornar a aldeia e esta parte da serra, acessíveis a pessoas portadoras de deficiências, físicas ou cognitivas, tendo assim um duplo objetivo: permitir o acesso para todos a lugares de grande beleza natural e reactivar uma economia local que permita um desenvolvimento sustentado, através de actividades e produtos nativos deste território, conservando assim alguns dos seus saberes ancestrais. Desenha-se deste modo o início de uma comunidade, experimentando um equilíbrio entre o antigo e o contemporâneo, negando a musealização do lugar que o pode tornar estéril e constitui um impedimento no retorno de vida a este território. Assim, o trabalho experimenta o papel da arquitectura na reactivação de um lugar antigo e com marcas, preservando os seus elementos notáveis e com eles construindo novas espacialidades que ajudem ao estabelecimento de vivências contemporâneas; Mountain setlements: Proposal for reactivating an abandoned village in Ceira river valley, Lousã mountain range Abstract: The Lousã mountain range, almost uninhabited and profoundly decharacterized, speaks to us through its ruins about ways of living that ceased to exist. It is important to recover and reinvent them, otherwise they will slowly vanish as time goes by and nature steps in. This investigation focus on one of these abandoned settlements, Silveira de Baixo. It looks in its roots for opportunities of reactivation, investigating the hypothesis of turning this village and the mountain accessible to the physically and mentally impaired, thus assuming a double objective, of allowing these disabled people to experience a place of extreme beauty and of reinventing and reactivating native productive activities thus conserving them and allowing for the village’s economical sustainability. This work designs a new beginning for a community and experiments the balance between the old and the new, without excessive patrimonialisation that often kills the return of life to such settlements. Experimenting the role of architecture in providing life to an abandoned place through a sustainable intervention.