Chance meets choice on the path to autonomy : Psychology at the University of Minho, Portugal

As Albert Bandura once pointed out, “in a chance encounter the separate chains of events have their own causal determinants, but their intersection occurs fortuitously rather than through deliberate plan ” (1982). The history of the new School of Psychology at the University of Minho is a good illustration of how one chance encounter leads into another, progressively drawing a path in a long journey towards autonomy. Back in 1986, I was graduating from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst under the stimulating advisorship of Allen Ivey. As I recently recounted (see Santiago-Rivera, 2009), Allen and I would meet frequently for breakfast to discuss my dissertation, the book he was working on — Developmental Therapy, philosophy of science, and world and faculty politics. After graduating from UMass, I got a promising faculty position in the counseling psychology program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The late 1980s were an exciting time to be in Santa Barbara as a young cognitive behavioral therapist. Michael Mahoney was on the faculty, and he was attracting visiting scholars from all over the world (Gonçalves & Machado, 2006). My life was on a predictable pattern of academic achievement, but was interrupted when I was drafted into the Portuguese army. (Because I was not a U.S. resident, I could not get a waiver. For the first time in my career, the dice seemed to be against me.) During my basic training as a military psychologist, I was invited by the University of Minho, in the north o

Therapist’s theoretical orientation and patients’ narrative production: Rogers, Lazarus, Shostrom and Cathy revisited

This study aimed to explore the influence of the therapist’s theoretical orientation on patient’s narrative production. Cathy’s therapeutic narratives with Carl Rogers, Arnold Lazarus and Everett Shostrom were analyzed in terms of three narrative dimensions: structural coherence, process complexity and content multiplicity. Results showed statistically significant differences in scores of Cathy’s total narrative production depending on the therapist she was interacting with. Process complexity was the only narrative dimension that registered statistically significant differences between the three therapists. Comparison between the three therapists showed statistically significant differences between Rogers and Shostrom but neither between Rogers and Lazarus nor between Lazarus and Shostrom. Cathy’s highest narrative production scores were obtained with Carl Rogers. Results suggest that the therapist’s theoretical orientation influences the patient’s narrative production in psychotherapy.Este estudio tiene como objetivo explorar la influencia de la orientación teórica del terapeuta sobre la producción narrativa del paciente. La narrativa terapéutica de Cathy con Carl Rogers, Arnold Lazarus and Everett Shostrom fue analizada en términos de tres dimensiones narrativas: coherencia estructural, complejidad del proceso y multiplicidad del contenido. Los resultados muestran diferencias significativas en la producción narrativa total de Cathy obtenida con cada uno de los terapeutas. La complejidad del proceso registró diferencias estadísticas significativas entre los tres terapeutas solamente en la dimensión narrativa. La comparación entre los tres terapeutas mostró diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre Rogers y Shostrom pero no entre Rogers and Lazarus ni entre Lazarus and Shostrom. La puntuación más alta en la producción narrativa de Cathy fue obtenida con Carl Rogers. Los resultados sugieren que la orientación teórica del terapeuta influye en la producción narrativa en psicoterapia.(undefined

"Ser" aluno: o segredo do "ser" professor

Ser aluno, é mais do que a denominação para o destinatário final de um sistema educativo. É também uma categorização carregada de significados sociais e culturais que ultrapassa em muito aquilo que habitualmente designa. É um conceito que interfere e regula o nosso pensamento e as nossas acções mais privadas. Na nossa cultura e na nossa sociedade, ser aluno ainda é uma espécie de moratória, de um período de baixo estatuto epistemológico, para um período de autonomia, auto-suficiência e conhecimento. Neste artigo, depois de desconstruir este conceito, defenderemos o ponto de vista de que o ser aluno é a atitude permanente mais adaptativa para viver o estatuto de docente, nesta era a que já muitos autores rotularam de pós-moderna. Enfatizaremos o poder transformacional e revolucionário que a condição de aluno pode trazer para todo o sistema educativo, nomeadamente na prática educativa

O que faz e o que sabe um professor? Algumas reflexões sobre a docência

Comunicação apresentada no "4º Seminário Nacional - A Componente de Psicologia na Formação de Professores e Outros Agentes Educativos" em Évora em 1993.O ponto de interrogação do título sugere problemas de identidade para a classe docente. Procuraremos fazer uma incursão sobre alguns aspectos conceptuais que orientam a forma como se encara a docência e a formação dos seus profissionais e que concorrem para os seus problemas de identidade. Discutiremos basicamente dois aspectos que, em nosso entender, afectam o prestígio e o desenvolvimento do conhecimento da profissão, enfraquecendo em simultâneo as possibilidade de desenvolvimento pessoal e profissional dos professores: (1) a ausência de reconhecimento de um corpo específico de conhecimentos e atitudes característicos da actividade docente; e (2) o facto da formação de professores ser formal e maioritariamente orientada pela crença na suficência do conhecimento científico em detrimento do conhecimento da prática. A partir daqui sugerimos duas mudanças conceptuais na forma como habitualmente se encara a docência. Num primeiro momento defenderemos a asserção de que a natureza da profissão docente é basicamente a de ajuda, explorando implicações várias desta consideração. Num segundo momento defenderemos que a formação de professores e os encontros de formação de professores devem começar a dar maior ênfase ao conhecimento da prática

A influência do nível de desenvolvimento do auto-conhecimento sob os padrões de auto-atribuição em professores

Estudam-se as relações entre o nível de desenvolvimento do auto-conhecimento e os padrões de atribuição causal para a sua melhor aula e pior aula num grupo de 30 professores do sexo feminino em profissionalização na Universidade de Évora no ano de 1988/89. Constata-se que os padrões de auto-atribuição são medidados pelo nível de desenvolvimento do auto-conhecimento apenas em experiências de sucesso (melhor aula). Os resultados são discutidos à luz de teoria desenvolvimenta

Introduction: Narrative in psychotherapy: The emerging metaphor

There has been an increased interest in the study of language processes in psychotherapy. More recently, research and theoretical formulations of the therapeutic process suggested that we must move from the microscopic study of verbal modes to a macroscopic approach in which these modes are organized into narratives. Narratives are conceived, in this perspective, as the basic instruments for meaning making. In this article the research on narrative processes in psychotherapy is reviewed and discussed in terms of its implications for the theory and practice of cognitive narrative psychotherapy. Additionally some of the main data coming from research projects on cognitive narrative psychotherapy are presented

Clients' narratives in psychotherapy and therapist's theoretical orientation : an exploratory analysis of Gloria's narratives with Rogers, Ellis and Perls

The therapist’s theoretical orientation has been shown to impact the psychotherapy process. However, less is known about the extent to which the therapist’s orientation may impact clients’ narratives. This exploratory study analysed clients’ narrative production in psychoptherapy, when interacting with different therapists. The data consisted of transcripts of Shostrom’s videotaped therapy sessions between the client Gloria and the therapists Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls and Albert Ellis. Gloria’s narratives were analyzed in terms of narrative dimensions: structural coherence, process complexity and content multiplicity. Gloria’s narratives where characterised by higher levels of stuctural coherence, process complexity and content multiplicity when interacting with Carl Rogers. This exploratory study identified the tendency of clients’ narrative production in psychotherapy vary accordingly to the therapist theoretical orientation. Future studies (using more robust methodologies) that contribute to clarify the impact of the therapist theoretical orientation on narrative co-construction in psychotherapy settings are needed

Task switching ability is compromised after cross-hemispheric tDCS over the parietal cortex

Background/Aims: One of the components of working memory is the ability to respond to unexpected demands and rapidly shifting attention between tasks. Previous studies have used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in order to modulate task and set shifting ability over the prefrontal cortex. However, set shifting/task switching ability requires a left-lateralized fronto-parietal network. In this study, we aimed to assess if delivering active cross-hemispheric tDCS over the parietal cortex - right anodal/-left-cathodal (pRA-LC) and right cathodal/-left anodal (pRC-LA), as compared to sham tDCS, is able to modulate task switching ability in healthy volunteers. Methods: A total of 17 college students who volunteered (age: 21.65 ± 4.42, 14 females) participated in this pilot study in which the effects of three different single session tDCS conditions over the parietal cortex on task switching ability were assessed. Results: There were significant differences in terms of switch costs F (2,28) = 4,01, p < .05 dependent on stimulation. Bonferroni pairwise comparisons showed that the Response Time (RT) of the Switch Cost increased significantly (M = 102.84, SD = 18.24) for the pRA-LC condition, when compared with the sham condition (M = 49.44, SD = 17.84) (p = .03, d=2.96) Conclusions: The results of this study highlight the importance of studying the role of the parietal cortex in task switching ability. An activity shift towards the right parietal hemisphere (i.e., pRA-LC) impaired task switching performance, which is consistent with the role of the left parietal cortex on endogenous preparation and adjustment of goal directed behaviors. Future studies should focus on exploring the electrophysiological and neuroimaging correlates associated with the tDCS effects over the parietal, as well as exploring the usefulness of multi-site stimulation.OFG and SC were supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653) and along with JL were also funded through the grants: PTDC/PSIESP/30280/2017 and PTDC/PSI-ESP/29701/2017, SC was also funded by the individual grant IF/00091/2015