Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of body psychotherapy in the treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia - a multi-centre randomised controlled trial

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The breast feeding mother and xenon anaesthesia: four case reports. Breast feeding and xenon anaesthesia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Four nursing mothers consented to anaesthesia for urgent surgery only on condition that their ability to breast feed would not be impaired.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Following induction of general anaesthesia with propofol and remifentanil, 65-69% xenon supplemented with remifentanil was used as an inhalational anaesthetic for maintenance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After finishing surgery the women could be extubated between 2:52 and 7:22 minutes. The women were fully alert just minutes after extubation and spent about 45 minutes in the recovery room before discharge to a regular ward. They resumed regular breast feeding some time later. The propofol concentration in the blood was measured after 0, 30, 90, and 300 minutes and in the milk after 90 and 300 minutes. Just 90 minutes after extubation, the concentration of propofol in the milk was limited (> 3 mg/l) so that pharmacological effects on the babies were excluded after oral intake. Also, no traces of xenon gas were found in the maternal milk at any time. After propofol induction and maintenance of anaesthesia with xenon in combination with a water-soluble short-acting drug like remifentanil, the concentration of propofol in maternal milk is low (> 3 mg/l 90 min after anesthesia) and harmless after oral intake.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results, as well as the rapid elimination and absence of metabolism of xenon, are of great interest to nursing mothers. General anaesthesia with propofol for induction only, combined with remifentanil and xenon for maintenance, has not yet been described in breast feeding mothers.</p

The Group as a Psycho-Educational Medium for the Teaching of Anti-Racist Practice on Social Work Trainings

This article discusses the anxieties that lead to resistance to anti-racist and culturally sensitive reflection and engagement on social work trainings. It briefly discusses a culturally diverse social work training and the anxieties described by the students that hindered the integration of the teaching of race and culture during the training. The article then contrasts this with another more successful training experience on another social work course at a different university with a similar level of cultural diversity by the use of the group as a psycho-educational method to manage the student’s defences and avoidance of the difficult and painful knowledge required to enhance reflexivity when it comes to issues of race. It discusses how the role and skills of the seminar leader can manage the student’s defences through the use of group dynamic processes and concepts as psycho-educational tools; thereby deepening the observational and reflective skills of the social work students during their training in preparation for their future work within diverse settings and in line with the social work competencies and regulation requirements

A Prospective Study of the Effectiveness of Group and Individual Psychotherapy for Women CSA Survivors

Objectives: There is little empirical evidence to guide clinical practice in treating adult patients presenting to Adult Mental Health and Primary Care services with severe psychological difficulties consequent on childhood sexual abuse. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a model of short term, focal, integrative psychotherapy with this population of patients and to compare outcomes when the model is delivered on an individual or group basis. Design: This study used a patient preference design with random allocation to one of two treatment modalities (individual or group treatment). There was a waiting list control. Method: Forty-eight women patients were assessed on four psychological measures when entering a waiting list condition, immediately before treatment and after completion of 12 sessions of psychotherapy, either in a group or individually. Follow up data were collected at 4 months and 8 months. Results: Both individual and group patients showed highly statistically and clinically significant improvements after treatment. These gains were maintained at follow up with the exception of one measure that indicated a significant decline from post treatment levels for the group patients. Conclusions This model of psychotherapy is highly effective, when delivered by chartered clinical psychologists to patients whose preferences for individual or group therapy have been met