Therapeutic Alliance and Outcome of Psychotherapy: Historical Excursus, Measurements, and Prospects for Research

This paper proposes a historical excursus of studies that have investigated the therapeutic alliance and the relationship between this dimension and outcome in psychotherapy. A summary of how the concept of alliance has evolved over time and the more popular alliance measures used in literature to assess the level of alliance are presented. The proposal of a therapeutic alliance characterized by a variable pattern over the course of treatment is also examined. The emerging picture suggests that the quality of the client–therapist alliance is a reliable predictor of positive clinical outcome independent of the variety of psychotherapy approaches and outcome measures. In our opinion, with regard to the relationship between the therapeutic alliance and outcome of psychotherapy, future research should pay special attention to the comparison between patients’ and therapists’ assessments of the therapeutic alliance. This topic, along with a detailed examination of the relationship between the psychological disorder being treated and the therapeutic alliance, will be the subject of future research projects

Strategi Pengembangan Agribisnis Komoditas Padi dalam Meningkatkan Ketahanan Pangan Kabupaten Jember

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah 1) menganalisis kekuatan, kelemahan, peluang dan ancaman untuk mengembangan komoditas padi dalam upaya meningkatkan ketahanan pangan; 2) melakukan analisis rumusan alternatif strategi yang tepat untuk pengembangan komoditas padi dalam upaya meningkatkan ketahanan pangan; 3) menentukan prioritas strategi yang seharusnya dipilih untuk pengembangan komoditas padi dalam upaya meningkatkan ketahanan pangan; 4) memberikan rekomendasi kebijakan yang harus dilakukan pemerintah pusat/ daerah untuk meningkatkan ketahanan pangan. Analisis SWOT digunakan untuk menentukan alternatif strategi yang dapat dilakukan pemerintah. Analisis QSPM berfungsi menentukan pilihan strategi prioritas dalam mengembangkan agribisnis padi di Kabupaten Jember. Metode deskriptif digunakan untuk menjelaskan studi kasus pada Dinas Pertanian Kabupaten Jember dengan sampel responden sebanyak 35 orang. Motivasi petani merupakan kekuatan utama yang dimiliki oleh pemerintah Kabupaten Jember. Kelemahan utama yang harus diperbaiki adalah kondisi finansial yang lemah. Peluang utama yang dimiliki adalah peningkatan permintaan beras dan ancaman utamanya berupa serangan organisme pengganggu tanaman. Alternatif strategi yang dapat dilakukan oleh pemerintah diantaranya: 1) Intensifikasi USAhatani padi, 2) Sinergi antara petani, pengusaha dan pemerintah, 3) Penguatan kebijakan pangan daerah yang berpihak kepada petani, 4) Revitalisasi sarana dan prasarana, 5) Diferensiasi produk. Strategi yang menjadi prioritas utama dalam penelitian ini adalah strategi intensifikasi USAha tani padi

A new interpolation method to measure delta evolution and sediment flux: Application to the late Holocene coastal plain of the Argens River in the western Mediterranean

Rapid environmental changes along the Mediterranean coasts influenced the sedimentary dynamics, shoreline position and human settlements in deltaic areas over the last millennia. An innovative and multiproxy approach using geostatistical modelling was developed to estimate geomorphic evolution and sediment fluxes in deltaic areas, while palaeoecological conditions and environmental changes were assessed from geochemistry and cluster analyses of molluscan fauna. This method was applied to the coastal plain of the Argens River in southern France. Depositional environments of prodelta, delta front, river channel, floodplain, marsh and abandoned channel were identified from the study of facies associations. The late Holocene sediment flux in the Argens River bayhead delta ranged from 15,800 ± 2300 to 52,000 ± 8500 m3·yr−1. The highest rate of sediment deposition between 2500 and 2000 cal yr BP was associated with increased river flooding in southeastern France. A general decrease in subaqueous sediment flux over the past 2500 years was primarily controlled by a decrease in accommodation space and delta slope. From 500 to 0 cal yr BP, a sharp increase in subaerial sediment flux probably due to hydroclimatic change was contemporaneous with a period of high flood frequency during the Little Ice Age. A southward shift of the North Atlantic westerlies combined with either a negative phase of the East Atlantic/West Russian pattern or a negative phase of the East Atlantic pattern coupled to a northward migration of the intertropical convergence zone could have led to increased fluvial activity in the lower Argens valley during the late Holocene