PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Slipp

Publications and source records attributed to S Slipp.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Subliminal stimulation research and its implications for psychoanalytic theory and treatment.

As a tribute to Freud's genius, he was able to recognize not only the importance of implicit unconscious learning but also the way it currently impacts on the patient in psychoanalytic therapy. He prevented the patient from viewing the analyst's facial expressions by placing the patient on the couch. In addition, the analyst was instructed not to say too much, to be neutral, nonjudgmental, and calmly reflective. Thus the patient's response to the facial expressions and voice tone of the analyst, even when subliminally perceived, were minimized. This may be even more significant in women, who seem to be more sensitive to nonverbal cues of emotional states. Ferenczi further elaborated on the importance of establishing a connective empathic relationship, using a kindly, soothing voice tone and being emotionally available. Sandler and Sandler (1994) also emphasized the importance of tolerance and acceptance when making interpretations. These clinical instructions diminish external threats to survival and thereby minimize the activation of the amygdala. These procedures in psychoanalytic treatment seem similar to a subliminal MIO message and to the subliminal exposure of a happy face, as mentioned above in the fMRI study by Whalen et al. (1998). The empathic responses of the therapist need to create a condition of safety. In turn, this decreases the patient's vigilance and defensiveness and allows for the emergence of unconscious material that can be worked through verbally and rectified by explicit memory. Another fascinating finding is that Freud (1914) became aware, in his paper on the repetition compulsion, that repressed traumatic and conflictual relationships are acted out behaviorally outside of conscious awareness. He then considered that the focus of analysis should be on analyzing the transference relationship, where this enactment was manifested. Brockman (1998) notes that modern empirical findings confirm Freud's clinical hypotheses regarding the repetition compulsion. Repressed traumatic emotional memories are encoded in the amygdala, and they are unconsciously enacted through behavior, especially in the transference. In summary, childhood and other traumatic memories become encoded in the amygdala and are later enacted and expressed behaviorally, especially in the transference relationship. Working through of the emotional trauma makes these implicit memories explicit and exposes them to adult judgment. When the therapist creates a condition of safety, old memories are reexperienced and detoxified. The memories are experienced as nonthreatening now, thus calming the amygdala and diminishing its activity. Biologically, new neural pathways from the cortex to the amygdala can be established, since the cortex is plastic. This process is slow and may account for the need to repeatedly work through in analysis old conflicted relationships that had threatened security and survival. As imaging techniques improve, we may soon be able to evaluate therapy outcomes scientifically by measuring these actual brain changes. We are on the threshold of establishing a scientific psychoanalysis, as empirical research is providing us with data that integrate the mind and the brain. Subliminal stimulation and brain imaging techniques provide us with important tools for developing an empirical base for psychoanalytic theory and treatment. These techniques were not available to Freud at the turn of the last century, and as we center the new millennium Freud's dream of psychoanalysis having a firm scientific foundation is becoming a reality.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

An experimental study of psychoanalytic theories of depression.

This study involves an application of a new methodology, subliminal psychodynamic activation, which can be used to experimentally test psychoanalytic "dynamic" propositions. It was found that with a sample of neurotically depressed female patients, there was a significant decrease in depression-related responses following the stimulation of a symbiotic gratification fantasy ("Mommy and I are one"). Subliminal symbiotic stimulation had been shown previously in studies with different populations (schizophrenics, homosexuals, phobics, alcoholics and overeaters) to have similar ameliorative effects. The current results point to the importance of symbiotic dynamics and the relationship dependent on a dominant other, rather than to the retroflexion of aggression in neurotic depression. This is in keeping with the formulations of Arieti (1959), Bemporad (1953), Horowitz (1980), and the senior author (Slipp, 1977). Hypotheses regarding the effects of stimulating fantasies involving success were not supported by the primary data, although secondary data (from correlational analyses) did provide some indirect support for the senior author's hypothesis. The "Autonomous Succeed" message ("Succeed for myself") did not reverse the depressive mood, possibly because autonomy was equated with abandonment. Relatively differentiated depressives tended to respond to the "Exploitative Succeed" ("Succeed for Father or Mother") messages with a decrease in depression, while depressives with a low level of self-object differentiation tended to respond with an increase in depression. For more differentiated depressives, performing for and giving over a part of the self to another is an adaptive style that insures the dependent relationship and bolsters the patient's weak self-image. However, with poorly differentiated depressives, giving over to another raises the threat of total annihilation, since the self is already diminished. These secondary data can be viewed, however, as only suggestive and need to be pursued in future studies. The results on symbiosis in this study add to the growing literature (summarized in Silverman, 1976, 1980) indicating that subliminal psychodynamic activation is a useful technique for investigating psychoanalytic formulations in the laboratory. It was Freud's overriding hope that psychoanalysis be firmly rooted as a behavioral science and this technique seems most promising as contributing toward that end.

Achievement↗
PubMed1978

Difficulties in family therapy evaluation. I. A comparison of insight vs. problem-solving approaches. II. Design critique and recommendations.

In Part 1, an outcome study comparing two methods of family treatment, is reported. Families were randomly assigned to one of two forms of conjoint therapy: an Insight-oriented treatment (N = 10) or a Problem-Solving intervention (N = 10). The results on self-report measures of family functioning indicate that the Problem-Solving intervention produced more favorable changes after three months. Experienced therapists did better than inexperienced therapists in the Insight-treatment condition but level of experience did not make a difference in the Problem-Solving therapy. A group of eight families who dropped out of the Insight-treatment group provided data on correlates of premature termination. In Part II, the study is critically reviewed. The practical obstacles to implementing an experimental design in a clinic setting are considered. Special attention is given to issues involving the selection of treatment and control conditions: sampling and the measurement of outcome. Alternatives to experimental designs are considered.

Adolescent↗