Well-Being Therapy. G.A. Fava

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Название Well-Being Therapy
Автор произведения G.A. Fava
Жанр Зарубежная психология
Серия
Издательство Зарубежная психология
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9783318058222



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Engel replied ‘Not much, unfortunately. I will speak with her physician and at least this time we will avoid surgery.’ Sam and I, with our juvenile wish to help, were very dissatisfied by that answer. I thought ‘Maybe one day someone will find the way.’

      When the summer was over, I went back to Padova and intended to become like George Engel and be knowledgeable of both internal medicine and psychiatry. In due course, however, I realized that one specialty was already more than I could handle and thus chose psychiatry, the field where most of the psychosomatic researchers came from.

      Treating Depression

      Working in the US, I had essentially a cross-sectional view of the disorder (I was seeing and treating patients only in the hospital, with little follow-up). However, when I decided to go back to Italy and establish an outpatient clinic at the University of Bologna with opportunities for follow-up, I began to observe that patients I had personally treated with antidepressant drugs and whom I judged to have completely remitted relapsed into depression after some time. What was I missing?

      The Concept of Recovery

      Psychological Well-Being

      I belong to the endangered species of clinician-researchers who do clinical research as well as assess and treat individual patients. When I examine research constructs, my starting point is always whether these constructs make sense with the patients I see. And Ryff's formulations were able to do this: autonomy (a sense of self-determination), environmental mastery (the capacity to manage effectively one's life), positive interpersonal relationships, personal growth (a sense of continued growth and development), purpose in life (the belief that life is purposeful and meaningful), and self-acceptance (a positive attitude toward self). After her presentation, I started thinking of many patients I had encountered who seemed to have these dimensions impaired or exaggerated with resulting clashes against everyday life. I was surprised that a developmental psychologist could have articulated such deeply clinical formulations.