Sybil Considered

The book "Sybil" came out just about when I started my career in psychology.  It is interesting to reflect on how it would be different to be starting out now,with "Sybil Exposed" to process as well.  It was a lot easier back then to know what to believe.  There is so much more information about people, the brain, and what has happened in the past, now.  What a job it is to know how to help people, and yourself, I guess.  "Sybil Exposed" tells a lot about the three women who worked together to produce the book "Sybil".  Personality theory is changing a lot, and DSM-V will treat it much differently than DSM-IV has.  The Healer to focus on here is Dr. Cornelia Wilbur.  She worked hard to help people.  I'm always concerned when a healer focuses too heavily on one diagnosis.  Breadth of experience and focus seems important to me.  It's worth the time to read this book, particularly if "Sybil" was an important book for you at the time it came out.

Seven Steeples and a "Peculiarly Saddened Life"

I just finished reading "From Under the Cloud at Seven Steeples."  It was published in 2002.  There are several important characters in the book, Anna Agnew herself, the author of this book (Lucy Jane King), and the hospitals in which Anna Agnew spent time. Anna Agnew's book, published in 1887 (From Under the Cloud) is available free on Google Books. It is an early example of a person's description of their psychological problems and treatment. There are some good descriptions that show her state of mind and reactions to the changes in treatments and hospital personnel. In this (King's) book, there is a summary near the end of the changes in psychiatric treatments, which is straightforward and clear. The various support groups and legislative supports for people with psychological problems are described. The differences between how men and women fare in the system are described. All in all, these books are worth reading.  Lucy Jane King has written a lot about the history of psychology.

A Good First Hand Account of Schizophrenia

I've just read The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks. I listened to this on Audible. It is very good. It is among the better first person accounts that I have read. It drives home the idea that serious psychological problems don't put you in a position of making a decision to do the wrong thing, but instead in a position of not having the power to make any kind of decision. This is when the thinking problems have you in their grip, of course. There is the idea of the shattered personality rather than the split personality. There is a good comparison of several healers and their styles (one of them Kleinian - I've just read a Melanie Klein biography by chance). There is the struggle to keep from taking medication despite many instances of going backwards when stopping taking it. There are good videos of the author on YouTube, so you can hear the author there. I wish she had recorded the book for Audible herself.

Healers' Basic Procedures

I've been thinking that there are about six basic procedures that I carry out in my work.  These are gathering and sharing information, measuring learning skills, making DSM diagnoses, performing psychotherapy, following ethical standards, and consultative problem solving.  Three additional basic procedures carried out by people in the mental health field might be teaching, managing organizations, and carrying out basic research.  This makes nine, and I love round numbers.  Can anyone add a tenth basic procedure, or it's also OK to completely revamp the list.  I'd love to hear what others think about the list of basic procedures that Healers carry out.

Healers of Intelligence

Kurt Fischer and Todd Rose wrote the chapter in The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence about Intelligence in Childhood.  They present a theory of Dynamic Assessment and Dynamic Skill theory of intelligence.  The idea is that the way in which children solve problems is very influenced by the situation and the specific demands of the task.  They introduce other theories of intelligence, as well.  They are certainly of the opinion that there is a lot you can do to help students to be better problem solvers.  They give information about a study by Fischer and Catharine Knight that shows different routes a child might take to becoming a reader.  I quickly found a link to the article involved.  It is here.  That never would have happened in 1971.  I'd still be looking for the article.  Anyway, they also expand their theory to emotional problem solving in an interesting way.  Check this stuff out!

Increasing Intelligence

Raymond S. Nickerson wrote the chapter about Developing Intelligence in the Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence.  He believes that at least half of IQ is attributable to environment.  He discusses this issue, and programs developed to provide children with the opportunity to improve their "ability to learn, to reason well, to solve novel problems, and to deal effectively with the challenges - often unpredictable- that confront one in daily life."  Some of these are Head Start, The Carolina Abecedarian Project, and Project Intelligence.  He reviews the evidence for brain plasticity and other factors supporting improved functioning due to experience.  Some of the things that he thinks are helpful are: teaching domain specific knowledge, providing experience with at least informal (if not formal) logic, training in probability and statistics,  supporting executive functioning skills, modeling heuristics and other strategies to solve problems, teaching metacognitive skills (self-management), helping students to develop good habits, and managing students' beliefs about learning.  These all seem to be helpful skills, no matter what relationship that the have to measured IQ.

Nim, and Other Animals

The latest Planet of the Apes movie, and the documentary Project Nim (NPR story here) have brought research with animals into the spotlight.  The story is about 100 years old.  A Russian scientist raised a chimpanzee at home, and studied it extensively about that long ago.  She was impressed, among other things, by the empathy it showed.  Many studies of trying to teach language to animals have been carried out.  The books Nim Chimpsky and Silent Partners tell about some of the studies.  The late Alex, a parrot, was also studied and cared for.  Many of the scientists doing this work are controversial figures.  Sue Savage-Rumbaugh wrote a scientific paper about primates in captivity with three bonobos.  Janis Carter lived in Africa for several years with Lucy, to help her to adjust back to the semi-wild.  William Lemmon and Roger Fouts found it difficult to work together studying chimpanzees.  There are now a number of healers using animals in treating PTSD for people, and working with animals who have been research subjects.  There are many questions about whether and how animals should be used in research.  The trend is towards understanding the natural methods that the animals use to communicate and cope in their environment.