“Most people think you’re a fruit loop”: Clients’ experiences of seeking support for anomalous experiences

Objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of clients who report anomalous experiences in counselling services so we are better informed about how therapists have responded to such clients. Design. A qualitative approach was taken involving semi-structured interviews and an inductive thematic analysis was conducted on transcripts. Method. Semi-structured face to face interviews were conducted with eight clients who had discussed at least one anomalous experience in counselling. Results. Four themes were derived from participants’ data which were labelled using short participant extracts: “Why are you looking at that airy fairy crap?”, “It was like banging my head against a brick wall”, “It kind of shut the door”, and “Having someone to normalise and say you’re not crazy, you’re not weird”. Conclusions. Findings highlight the importance for clients of finding an open-minded and informed counsellor so they can explore the meaning of the anomalous experience without being ridiculed or pathologised. Implications for both clients and counsellors are discussed in terms of the accessibility of counselling services to meet the needs of diverse clients and the growing field of ‘clinical parapsychology’

‘The real rape of York’ - Dr. Rosenbach’s acquisition of books from York Minster Library: a reconsideration

In 1931 the British press expressed outrage at the sale, during the previous year, of rare books from York Minster Library to the American book dealer, Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach. The sale of ‘national treasures’ to an overseas agent was met with fury and indignation by the public, who considered the sale a breach of trust: the Minster should be preserving such books for posterity, not selling them off to foreigners. Much of the anger was directed towards Rosenbach; his dealings with the cash-strapped diocese were seen as predatory: he took advantage of them and, so the press claimed, essentially committed a ‘rape’ of the magnificent Library. This article considers evidence for the sale negotiations alongside hitherto undisclosed ‘private and confidential’ files kept by the Dean and Chapter. It assesses why books held in trust by the Library came to be sold in such dubious circumstances and argues that blame, if any is to be apportioned, should lie with the custodians of those texts, rather than with the businessman from Philadelphia. The ‘rape of York’ still resonates today, in a climate of unease and public outrage at recent attempts to sell off and disperse yet more of Britain’s national treasures

“It’s about having exposure to this”: investigating the training needs of therapists in relation to the issue of anomalous experiences

Two focus groups, consisting of six participants each, were conducted to explore the training needs of therapists when working with clients reporting anomalous experiences (AEs). AEs are those that “depart from our own familiar personal experiences or from the more usual, ordinary, and expected experiences of a given culture and time” (Braud, 2012, p.107). A thematic analysis revealed four themes: ‘Quite often we get taken by surprise because it’s a subject we don’t talk about’, ‘It’s just having this in our vocabulary’, ‘Demystifying and valuing AEs as normal human experiences’, and ‘To ask or not to ask?’. Most of the participants felt that they were unequipped to work with clients reporting AEs and suggestions were made for overcoming this

Positive psychology in the clinical parapsychology setting

This presentation expands on the guest lecture given at the Bucks New University 2nd Positive Psychology Symposium (Cooper, 2016), regarding the union between positive psychology and areas of parapsychology (from the laboratory to the field). A recap will be given, on links between positive psychology and parapsychology, and how the two areas have been seen to complement each other. Focus will then be given to two of the previous areas mentioned at the 2nd symposium, these being instances of spontaneous and sought experiences. For example, there has been much research into the benefits of counselling for anomalous experiences, now seen within the domain of clinical parapsychology, bridging anomalous experiences with an understanding of the therapeutic benefits and transformative features within these experiences. Looking to the typical studies within clinical parapsychology, again, much research has focused on the overlaps between anomalous experiences following a bereavement. Focus will therefore also be given the lead author's own research specifically exploring mediumship as a form of counselling - where people seek out an experience which appears to aid symptoms of grief and loss. It will be argued that mediumship can be seen as a form of holistic intervention, in enhancing positive psychological attributes within the bereaved to help with coping, post-traumatic growth, and other positive psychological attributes

“Well nobody wants to see a hairy fanny do they?”: exploring the everyday narratives of young women’s perceptions and practices around genital appearance and sexual identities

With the rising use of social media and in particular the visual elements of ‘selfies’ by young adults, recent research has explored the ways in which the images of the female body are scrutinised and stigmatised if non-conformity towards an idealised body image is apparent (Chrisler, 2011). This current trend of social media surveillance and self-regulation has led to recent moves towards young females removing their pubic hair with clinicians claiming that it is now unusual to examine a female under the age of 30 years who still has pubic hair (Braun, Tricklebank & Clarke, 2013; Riddell, Varto & Hodgson, 2010). These are ways in which the intimate appearances of genitalia become enveloped within everyday life. This qualitative research uses one-to-one, semi-structured interviews analysed using a discursive analysis with females aged 18 to 30 years old, with differing sexual orientations to explore their own perceptions and practices of this particular grooming regime. This research is still in progress at this time but initial findings suggest that participants predominantly cite the removal of pubic hair as a hygienic issue together with narratives of non-shaving resulting in a lessening of sexual activity (this can take the form of self-monitoring whereby not having shaved before a night out will stem sexual activity together with partners’ (either male or female) influencing shaving behaviours by refusing to have oral sex if the vaginal area is not fully shaved. All participants cite pornography and the media (television programmes such as Geordie Shore) as being instrumental in this trend

The (co-)occurrence of problematic video gaming, substance use, and psychosocial problems in adolescents

Aims. The current study explored the nature of problematic (addictive) video gaming and the association with game type, psychosocial health, and substance use. Methods. Data were collected using a paper and pencil survey in the classroom setting. Three samples were aggregated to achieve a total sample of 8478 unique adolescents. Scales included measures of game use, game type, the Video game Addiction Test (VAT), depressive mood, negative self-esteem, loneliness, social anxiety, education performance, and use of cannabis, alcohol and nicotine (smoking). Results. Findings confirmed problematic gaming is most common amongst adolescent gamers who play multiplayer online games. Boys (60%) were more likely to play online games than girls (14%) and problematic gamers were more likely to be boys (5%) than girls (1%). High problematic gamers showed higher scores on depressive mood, loneliness, social anxiety, negative self-esteem, and self-reported lower school performance. Nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis using boys were almost twice more likely to report high PVG than non-users. Conclusions. It appears that online gaming in general is not necessarily associated with problems. However, problematic gamers do seem to play online games more often, and a small subgroup of gamers – specifically boys – showed lower psychosocial functioning and lower grades. Moreover, associations with alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis use are found. It would appear that problematic gaming is an undesirable problem for a small subgroup of gamers. The findings encourage further exploration of the role of psychoactive substance use in problematic gaming

Performance deficits of NK1 receptor knockout mice in the 5 choice serial reaction time task: effects of d Amphetamine, stress and time of day.

Background The neurochemical status and hyperactivity of mice lacking functional substance P-preferring NK1 receptors (NK1R-/-) resemble abnormalities in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Here we tested whether NK1R-/- mice express other core features of ADHD (impulsivity and inattentiveness) and, if so, whether they are diminished by d-amphetamine, as in ADHD. Prompted by evidence that circadian rhythms are disrupted in ADHD, we also compared the performance of mice that were trained and tested in the morning or afternoon. Methods and Results The 5-Choice Serial Reaction-Time Task (5-CSRTT) was used to evaluate the cognitive performance of NK1R-/- mice and their wildtypes. After training, animals were tested using a long (LITI) and a variable (VITI) inter-trial interval: these tests were carried out with, and without, d-amphetamine pretreatment (0.3 or 1 mg/kg i.p.). NK1R-/- mice expressed greater omissions (inattentiveness), perseveration and premature responses (impulsivity) in the 5-CSRTT. In NK1R-/- mice, perseveration in the LITI was increased by injection-stress but reduced by d-amphetamine. Omissions by NK1R-/- mice in the VITI were unaffected by d-amphetamine, but premature responses were exacerbated by this psychostimulant. Omissions in the VITI were higher, overall, in the morning than the afternoon but, in the LITI, premature responses of NK1R-/- mice were higher in the afternoon than the morning. Conclusion In addition to locomotor hyperactivity, NK1R-/- mice express inattentiveness, perseveration and impulsivity in the 5-CSRTT, thereby matching core criteria for a model of ADHD. Because d-amphetamine reduced perseveration in NK1R-/- mice, this action does not require functional NK1R. However, the lack of any improvement of omissions and premature responses in NK1R-/- mice given d-amphetamine suggests that beneficial effects of this psychostimulant in other rodent models, and ADHD patients, need functional NK1R. Finally, our results reveal experimental variables (stimulus parameters, stress and time of day) that could influence translational studies

River histories : A thematic review

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