Commentary on Multiple Personality and Channeling

In her paper, Multiple Personality and Channeling, Dr. Rogers compares and contrasts the two phenomena, tries to outline some distinctions between them, and expresses concern lest persons who have the ability to channel be pathologized for their capacity to engage in a creative social activity which is currently very much in vogue (p.11 ) (1). I appreciate her efforts and here will offer some additional observations and reflections from my own work and experience

Subsequent Pregnancy in Women with a History of Postpartum Psychosis

Postpartum psychosis stands out among the psychiatric syndromes associated with child birth, not able for the variability of its symptom profile and the potential severity of its course, if unrecognized. Significant questions regarding nosology, etiology, prevention and treatment remain only partially answered (1). While controversy surrounds many of the critical issues regarding postpartum psychosis, including its definition, current epidemiologic data indicates severe, frequently psychotic episodes occur following 1-2 per 1,000 of all births (2). As diagnosis and treatment of puerperal conditions have evolved, clinicians now are frequently involved in assisting women with a history of postpartum psychosis with decision making about subsequent pregnancies. The purpose of this paper is to review the fundamental issues related to postpartum psychosis, examine the risk of subsequent episodes of psychiatric illness in postpartum and non-postpartum periods, and review three cases of women hospitalized with postpartum psychosis who went on to deliver a second child without incident, focusing on issues of prediction, prophylax is and intervention

Frank Siebert -- Then, And More Than Forty Years On”

Richard B. Singer; M.D., is a consultant in medical risk appraisal and lives in Falmouth, Maine. He and Frank Siebert went to school together in the late 1920s. At a class reunion in 1980, they rediscovered each other and have corresponded since. In what follows, Singer describes their encounters over the past seven decades

Therapeutic Alliance and Involuntary Commitment of a Minor

Children are legally entitled to be present throughout the commitment hearing for continued hospitalization. The effect of this process on the therapeutic alliance between the child and the psychiatrist warrants examination. A case study of a 14 year-old boy who participated in the court proceedings is presented. The outcome of the hearing resulted in a disruption of the therapeutic alliance. Alter natives to current commitment procedures for minors are discussed