Eric Fertuck - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Eric Fertuck
Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2019
Background: Misappraisals in evaluating the trustworthiness of others may be one mechanism contri... more Background: Misappraisals in evaluating the trustworthiness of others may be one mechanism contributing to the interpersonal difficulties individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) face. Objective: This study used a translational experimental design to examine the behavioural and neural correlates underlying the appraisal of facial stimuli morphed on dimensions of trustworthiness across three groups: individuals with high posttraumatic stress symptoms (HPTS), low posttraumatic stress symptoms (LPTS), and healthy controls (HC). Methods: Participants (N = 70) rated how trustworthy to untrustworthy they perceived three facial morphs (trustworthy, neutral, and untrustworthy) while undergoing electroencephalography (EEG). Results: Behavioural results showed that the HPTS group rated the untrustworthy morph as more untrustworthy than the HC group (β = 0.20, SE = .07, 95% CI [0.06, 0.33], z = 2.88, p = .004). The HPTS group also showed no variation in response time across morphs (X 2 (2) = 0.92, p = 0.63), while the LPTS and HC groups did (X 2 (2) = 9.60, p = .008; X 2 (2) = 23.62, p < .001). EEG data revealed significant group by morph interactions at the N170 latency and the Vertex Positive Potential (VPP): the HPTS and LPTS identified the untrustworthy morph faster than the HCs, but diverged to the degree to which they encoded each facial morph. Conclusions: Taken together our results suggest that HPTS individuals demonstrate an early attentional avoidance of faces morphed on dimensions of trustworthiness. This early, preconscious, avoidance may be one mechanism contributing to the miscalculations individuals with PTSD make in interpersonal situations. El Juicio socio-cognitivo de la confiabilidad en individuos con distintos niveles dimensionales de síntomas de estrés postraumático: un estudio traslacional Antecedentes: Los errores de apreciación al evaluar la confiabilidad de los demás pueden ser un mecanismo que contribuye a las dificultades interpersonales que enfrentan las personas con trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT). Objetivo: Este estudio utilizó un diseño experimental traslacional para examinar los correlatos conductuales y neurales subyacentes a la evaluación de los estímulos faciales transformados en dimensiones de confiabilidad en tres grupos: individuos con síntomas de estrés postraumático alto (SEPA), síntomas de estrés postraumático bajo (SEPB) y controles sanos (CS) Métodos: Los participantes (N = 70) calificaron cuán confiables a no confiables percibieron tres transformaciones faciales (confiables, neutrales y no confiables) mientras se sometían a electroencefalografía (EEG). Resultados: Los resultados de comportamiento mostraron que el grupo SEPA calificó la transformacion no confiable como más confiable que el grupo CS (β = 0.20, SE = .07, IC 95% [0.06, 0.33], z = 2.88, p = .004). El grupo SEPA tampoco mostró variación en el tiempo de respuesta entre las Transformaciones. (Common.EditSubmissionSteps.Transform.EquationText (2) = 0.92, p = 0.63), mientras que los grupos SEPB y CS sí lo hicieron (Common.EditSubmissionSteps.Transform. EquationText (2) = 9.60, p = .008; Common.EditSubmissionSteps.Transform.EquationText (2) = 23.62, p <.001). Los datos del EEG revelaron interacciones significativas de grupo por transformacion en la latencia N170 y el potencial positivo de vértice (PPV): el SEPA y el SEPB identificaron la transformacion no confiable más rápido que los CS, pero divergieron en el grado en que codificaron cada transformacion facial. Conclusiones: Tomados en conjunto, nuestros resultados sugieren que las personas con SEPA demuestran una evitación temprana de las caras transformadas en dimensiones de confiabilidad. Esta evitación temprana y preconsciente puede ser un mecanismo que contribuye a los errores de cálculo que las personas con TEPT hacen en situaciones interpersonales.
Psychological Medicine, 2009
BackgroundBorderline personality disorder (BPD) is partly characterized by chronic instability in... more BackgroundBorderline personality disorder (BPD) is partly characterized by chronic instability in interpersonal relationships, which exacerbates other symptom dimensions of the disorder and can interfere with treatment engagement. Facial emotion recognition paradigms have been used to investigate the bases of interpersonal impairments in BPD, yielding mixed results. We sought to clarify and extend past findings by using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), a measure of the capacity to discriminate the mental state of others from expressions in the eye region of the face.MethodThirty individuals diagnosed with BPD were compared to 25 healthy controls (HCs) on RMET performance. Participants were also assessed for depression severity, emotional state at the time of assessment, history of childhood abuse, and other Axis I and personality disorders (PDs).ResultsThe BPD group performed significantly better than the HC group on the RMET, particularly for the Total Score and Neutra...
NeuroImage: Clinical, 2018
Background: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is associated with sensitivity to signals of in... more Background: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is associated with sensitivity to signals of interpersonal threats and misplaced trust in others. The amygdala, an integral part of the threat evaluation and response network, responds to both fear-and trust-related stimuli in non-clinical samples, and is more sensitive to emotional stimuli in BPD compared to controls. However, it is unknown whether the amygdalar response can account for deficits of trust and elevated sensitivity to interpersonal threat in BPD. Methods: Facial stimuli were presented to 16 medication-free women with BPD and 17 demographically-matched healthy controls (total n = 33). Participants appraised fearfulness or trustworthiness of the stimuli while BOLD fMRI was obtained. Results: Though BPD participants judged stimuli as less trustworthy compared to controls, trustworthiness did not correlate with amygdalar activity in either group. Trustworthiness correlated with prefrontal regional activity in the insula and lateral prefrontal cortex. Prefrontal BOLD activity while appraising trustworthiness was smaller in BPD compared to controls, and the size of the reduction was proportional to each participant's response bias. Conclusions: Neural substrates of trustworthiness appraisal are associated with the lateral prefrontal cortex and insula, not amygdala, suggesting that untrustworthy stimuli do not elicit a subcortical threat response. Current models of BPD and its treatment may need to include a focus on improving impairments in frontally mediated trustworthiness appraisal in addition to amygdala-driven emotional hyper-reactivity.
Clinical Handbook for the Management of Mood Disorders, 2013
Psychiatry research, Jun 16, 2016
Identification of biological indicators of suicide risk is important given advantages of biomarke... more Identification of biological indicators of suicide risk is important given advantages of biomarker-based models. Decreased high frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV) may be a biomarker of suicide risk. The aim of this research was to determine whether HF HRV differs between suicide attempters and non-attempters. Using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), we compared HF HRV between females with and without a history of suicide attempt, all with a lifetime diagnosis of a mood disorder. To investigate a potential mechanism explaining association between HF HRV and suicide, we examined the association between self-reported anger and HF HRV. Results of an Area under the Curve (AUC) analysis showed attempters had a lower cumulative HF HRV during the TSST than non-attempters. In addition, while there was no difference in self-reported anger at baseline, the increase in anger was greater in attempters, and negatively associated with HF HRV. Results suggest that suicide attempters have a...
Psychiatry research, Jan 30, 2016
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research has focused largely on fear processing. However, in... more Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research has focused largely on fear processing. However, interpersonal trauma exposure can also impact interpersonal functioning and the perception of the trustworthiness of others. The present study examined facial perceptions of fearfulness and trustworthiness in individuals with PTSD (n=29), trauma-exposed without PTSD (n=19), and healthy controls (n=18). The PTSD group was hypothesized to exhibit a bias to perceive more fear and untrustworthiness in faces relative to controls. Participants rated the level of fearfulness or trustworthiness of faces that were parametrically morphed along a fear or trustworthiness dimension. The PTSD group was biased to perceive faces as more trustworthy compared to the trauma-exposed healthy controls, yet there were no differences between groups in fear processing. A trustworthiness bias in PTSD may represent a vulnerability factor. Conversely, lower trustworthiness perception may represent a protective dispos...
Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation, 2016
Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) may experience a qualitatively distinct de... more Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) may experience a qualitatively distinct depression which includes "mental pain." Mental pain includes chronic, aversive emotions, negative self-concept, and a sense of pervasive helplessness. The present study investigated whether mental pain is elevated in BPD compared to Depressive Disorders (DD) without BPD. The Orbach and Mikulincer Mental Pain Scale (OMMP) was administered to BPD (N = 57), DD (N = 22), and healthy controls (N = 31). The OMMP assesses total mental pain, comprised of nine subtypes: irreversibility, loss of control, narcissistic wounds, emotional flooding, freezing, self-estrangement, confusion, social distancing, and emptiness. Co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses, depression severity, and other potentially confounding clinical and demographic variables were also assessed. The total Mental Pain score did not differentiate BPD from DD. Moreover, most of the subscales of the OMMP were not significantly ...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2015
The American journal of psychiatry, 1999
This study aimed to replicate findings that neurocognitive capacity in schizophrenia is more pred... more This study aimed to replicate findings that neurocognitive capacity in schizophrenia is more predictive of acquisition of social skills than are symptoms. Thirty-two hospitalized patients with chronic psychotic disorders were randomly assigned to community reintegration skills training or supportive group therapy. Neurocognitive functioning was assessed before treatment, and symptoms and skill levels were measured before and after treatment. The skills training group showed significantly greater skill acquisition. In a regression model, skill acquisition was predicted by group membership and verbal memory capacity and not by symptoms. With methodological advances, the authors replicated findings regarding the importance of neurocognition in determining treatment outcome in schizophrenia.
Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 2007
Reviews the book, Evidence-based Psychotherapy: Where Theory and Practice Meet edited by Carol D.... more Reviews the book, Evidence-based Psychotherapy: Where Theory and Practice Meet edited by Carol D. Goodheart, Alan E. Kazdin, and Robert J. Sternberg (see record 2006-02969-000). The distinguished editors and authors of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy: Where Theory and Practice Meet have created an intellectual atmosphere in the book that paves the way for generative development of evidence-based practice (EBP) in psychotherapy in the future. The book is organized into three sections: 1) &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;The Practice Perspective,&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; 2) &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;The Research Perspective,&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; and 3) &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;Training, Policy, and Cautions.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; This book is an important addition to the debate on EBP in psychotherapy and highlights issues that extend well beyond the role of psychotherapy in EBP. It is highly recommended for practitioners and researchers alike and is likely to invite thoughtful questioning and reflection on core assumptions at both ends of the spectrum. Moreover, the book would serve as a useful primer on the issues germane to EBP in psychotherapy training for graduate students and psychiatric residents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).
Neuropsychoanalysis, 2011
ABSTRACT Psychoanalytic and scientific conceptions of unconscious processes are reconverging. Thi... more ABSTRACT Psychoanalytic and scientific conceptions of unconscious processes are reconverging. This commentary on Heather Berlin’s Target Article, “The Neural Basis of the Dynamic Unconscious,” discusses the current status of the study of the neural substrates of cognitive, affective, and motivational dimensions of unconscious processes. The current research is contextualized with some thoughts on the historical tensions between psychoanalytic and academic models of the mind. Recommendations for advancing both psychoanalytic and neuroscientific investigations of unconscious processes are proposed, with a focus on psychopathology and psychoanalytic treatments and processes in different types of pathological personality structures.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 2010
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 2009
Since the Columbia cohort included only graduates from 1987 to 2001, a subset of the CPI populati... more Since the Columbia cohort included only graduates from 1987 to 2001, a subset of the CPI population, 8 of 20 who graduated from analytic training between 1987 and 2001, was used to make comparisons between the groups. A similar subset was also used from the NCP ...
The Clinical Journal of Pain, 2010
There is considerable evidence that personality disorders, including borderline personality disor... more There is considerable evidence that personality disorders, including borderline personality disorder (BPD), tend to co-occur with chronic pain. There is also evidence that mood disorders co-occur with chronic pain conditions. Given the central role of affective instability and negative mood states in BPD, we proposed that affective features of depression, anxiety, and hostility may account for the association between BPD features and the severity of pain reported in a patient sample. Seven hundred seventy-seven patient participants completed the Battery for Health Improvement. This included measures of DSM-IV BPD features, affect scales (depression, anxiety, hostility), and pain items assessing the severity of pain and somatic symptoms. As predicted, individuals with higher levels of BPD features reported greater severity of pain and somatic complaints, including higher levels of maximum and minimum pain levels in the past month. In addition as predicted, this association was no longer significant after controlling for affect scales. In particular, depression was strongest in accounting for this association. These results indicate that the association between BPD features and pain is accounted for by negative affect, primarily in the form of depression. This is consistent with current theoretical perspectives on BPD. This also suggests that clinicians observing or detecting BPD features among pain patients should consider negative affect, especially depression, in addressing these issues.
ABSTRACT Thesis (Ph. D.)--Adelphi University, 1998. Photocopy. Includes bibliographical reference... more ABSTRACT Thesis (Ph. D.)--Adelphi University, 1998. Photocopy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-150).
Handbook of Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Psychology, 2012
Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2019
Background: Misappraisals in evaluating the trustworthiness of others may be one mechanism contri... more Background: Misappraisals in evaluating the trustworthiness of others may be one mechanism contributing to the interpersonal difficulties individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) face. Objective: This study used a translational experimental design to examine the behavioural and neural correlates underlying the appraisal of facial stimuli morphed on dimensions of trustworthiness across three groups: individuals with high posttraumatic stress symptoms (HPTS), low posttraumatic stress symptoms (LPTS), and healthy controls (HC). Methods: Participants (N = 70) rated how trustworthy to untrustworthy they perceived three facial morphs (trustworthy, neutral, and untrustworthy) while undergoing electroencephalography (EEG). Results: Behavioural results showed that the HPTS group rated the untrustworthy morph as more untrustworthy than the HC group (β = 0.20, SE = .07, 95% CI [0.06, 0.33], z = 2.88, p = .004). The HPTS group also showed no variation in response time across morphs (X 2 (2) = 0.92, p = 0.63), while the LPTS and HC groups did (X 2 (2) = 9.60, p = .008; X 2 (2) = 23.62, p < .001). EEG data revealed significant group by morph interactions at the N170 latency and the Vertex Positive Potential (VPP): the HPTS and LPTS identified the untrustworthy morph faster than the HCs, but diverged to the degree to which they encoded each facial morph. Conclusions: Taken together our results suggest that HPTS individuals demonstrate an early attentional avoidance of faces morphed on dimensions of trustworthiness. This early, preconscious, avoidance may be one mechanism contributing to the miscalculations individuals with PTSD make in interpersonal situations. El Juicio socio-cognitivo de la confiabilidad en individuos con distintos niveles dimensionales de síntomas de estrés postraumático: un estudio traslacional Antecedentes: Los errores de apreciación al evaluar la confiabilidad de los demás pueden ser un mecanismo que contribuye a las dificultades interpersonales que enfrentan las personas con trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT). Objetivo: Este estudio utilizó un diseño experimental traslacional para examinar los correlatos conductuales y neurales subyacentes a la evaluación de los estímulos faciales transformados en dimensiones de confiabilidad en tres grupos: individuos con síntomas de estrés postraumático alto (SEPA), síntomas de estrés postraumático bajo (SEPB) y controles sanos (CS) Métodos: Los participantes (N = 70) calificaron cuán confiables a no confiables percibieron tres transformaciones faciales (confiables, neutrales y no confiables) mientras se sometían a electroencefalografía (EEG). Resultados: Los resultados de comportamiento mostraron que el grupo SEPA calificó la transformacion no confiable como más confiable que el grupo CS (β = 0.20, SE = .07, IC 95% [0.06, 0.33], z = 2.88, p = .004). El grupo SEPA tampoco mostró variación en el tiempo de respuesta entre las Transformaciones. (Common.EditSubmissionSteps.Transform.EquationText (2) = 0.92, p = 0.63), mientras que los grupos SEPB y CS sí lo hicieron (Common.EditSubmissionSteps.Transform. EquationText (2) = 9.60, p = .008; Common.EditSubmissionSteps.Transform.EquationText (2) = 23.62, p <.001). Los datos del EEG revelaron interacciones significativas de grupo por transformacion en la latencia N170 y el potencial positivo de vértice (PPV): el SEPA y el SEPB identificaron la transformacion no confiable más rápido que los CS, pero divergieron en el grado en que codificaron cada transformacion facial. Conclusiones: Tomados en conjunto, nuestros resultados sugieren que las personas con SEPA demuestran una evitación temprana de las caras transformadas en dimensiones de confiabilidad. Esta evitación temprana y preconsciente puede ser un mecanismo que contribuye a los errores de cálculo que las personas con TEPT hacen en situaciones interpersonales.
Psychological Medicine, 2009
BackgroundBorderline personality disorder (BPD) is partly characterized by chronic instability in... more BackgroundBorderline personality disorder (BPD) is partly characterized by chronic instability in interpersonal relationships, which exacerbates other symptom dimensions of the disorder and can interfere with treatment engagement. Facial emotion recognition paradigms have been used to investigate the bases of interpersonal impairments in BPD, yielding mixed results. We sought to clarify and extend past findings by using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), a measure of the capacity to discriminate the mental state of others from expressions in the eye region of the face.MethodThirty individuals diagnosed with BPD were compared to 25 healthy controls (HCs) on RMET performance. Participants were also assessed for depression severity, emotional state at the time of assessment, history of childhood abuse, and other Axis I and personality disorders (PDs).ResultsThe BPD group performed significantly better than the HC group on the RMET, particularly for the Total Score and Neutra...
NeuroImage: Clinical, 2018
Background: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is associated with sensitivity to signals of in... more Background: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is associated with sensitivity to signals of interpersonal threats and misplaced trust in others. The amygdala, an integral part of the threat evaluation and response network, responds to both fear-and trust-related stimuli in non-clinical samples, and is more sensitive to emotional stimuli in BPD compared to controls. However, it is unknown whether the amygdalar response can account for deficits of trust and elevated sensitivity to interpersonal threat in BPD. Methods: Facial stimuli were presented to 16 medication-free women with BPD and 17 demographically-matched healthy controls (total n = 33). Participants appraised fearfulness or trustworthiness of the stimuli while BOLD fMRI was obtained. Results: Though BPD participants judged stimuli as less trustworthy compared to controls, trustworthiness did not correlate with amygdalar activity in either group. Trustworthiness correlated with prefrontal regional activity in the insula and lateral prefrontal cortex. Prefrontal BOLD activity while appraising trustworthiness was smaller in BPD compared to controls, and the size of the reduction was proportional to each participant's response bias. Conclusions: Neural substrates of trustworthiness appraisal are associated with the lateral prefrontal cortex and insula, not amygdala, suggesting that untrustworthy stimuli do not elicit a subcortical threat response. Current models of BPD and its treatment may need to include a focus on improving impairments in frontally mediated trustworthiness appraisal in addition to amygdala-driven emotional hyper-reactivity.
Clinical Handbook for the Management of Mood Disorders, 2013
Psychiatry research, Jun 16, 2016
Identification of biological indicators of suicide risk is important given advantages of biomarke... more Identification of biological indicators of suicide risk is important given advantages of biomarker-based models. Decreased high frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV) may be a biomarker of suicide risk. The aim of this research was to determine whether HF HRV differs between suicide attempters and non-attempters. Using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), we compared HF HRV between females with and without a history of suicide attempt, all with a lifetime diagnosis of a mood disorder. To investigate a potential mechanism explaining association between HF HRV and suicide, we examined the association between self-reported anger and HF HRV. Results of an Area under the Curve (AUC) analysis showed attempters had a lower cumulative HF HRV during the TSST than non-attempters. In addition, while there was no difference in self-reported anger at baseline, the increase in anger was greater in attempters, and negatively associated with HF HRV. Results suggest that suicide attempters have a...
Psychiatry research, Jan 30, 2016
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research has focused largely on fear processing. However, in... more Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research has focused largely on fear processing. However, interpersonal trauma exposure can also impact interpersonal functioning and the perception of the trustworthiness of others. The present study examined facial perceptions of fearfulness and trustworthiness in individuals with PTSD (n=29), trauma-exposed without PTSD (n=19), and healthy controls (n=18). The PTSD group was hypothesized to exhibit a bias to perceive more fear and untrustworthiness in faces relative to controls. Participants rated the level of fearfulness or trustworthiness of faces that were parametrically morphed along a fear or trustworthiness dimension. The PTSD group was biased to perceive faces as more trustworthy compared to the trauma-exposed healthy controls, yet there were no differences between groups in fear processing. A trustworthiness bias in PTSD may represent a vulnerability factor. Conversely, lower trustworthiness perception may represent a protective dispos...
Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation, 2016
Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) may experience a qualitatively distinct de... more Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) may experience a qualitatively distinct depression which includes "mental pain." Mental pain includes chronic, aversive emotions, negative self-concept, and a sense of pervasive helplessness. The present study investigated whether mental pain is elevated in BPD compared to Depressive Disorders (DD) without BPD. The Orbach and Mikulincer Mental Pain Scale (OMMP) was administered to BPD (N = 57), DD (N = 22), and healthy controls (N = 31). The OMMP assesses total mental pain, comprised of nine subtypes: irreversibility, loss of control, narcissistic wounds, emotional flooding, freezing, self-estrangement, confusion, social distancing, and emptiness. Co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses, depression severity, and other potentially confounding clinical and demographic variables were also assessed. The total Mental Pain score did not differentiate BPD from DD. Moreover, most of the subscales of the OMMP were not significantly ...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2015
The American journal of psychiatry, 1999
This study aimed to replicate findings that neurocognitive capacity in schizophrenia is more pred... more This study aimed to replicate findings that neurocognitive capacity in schizophrenia is more predictive of acquisition of social skills than are symptoms. Thirty-two hospitalized patients with chronic psychotic disorders were randomly assigned to community reintegration skills training or supportive group therapy. Neurocognitive functioning was assessed before treatment, and symptoms and skill levels were measured before and after treatment. The skills training group showed significantly greater skill acquisition. In a regression model, skill acquisition was predicted by group membership and verbal memory capacity and not by symptoms. With methodological advances, the authors replicated findings regarding the importance of neurocognition in determining treatment outcome in schizophrenia.
Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 2007
Reviews the book, Evidence-based Psychotherapy: Where Theory and Practice Meet edited by Carol D.... more Reviews the book, Evidence-based Psychotherapy: Where Theory and Practice Meet edited by Carol D. Goodheart, Alan E. Kazdin, and Robert J. Sternberg (see record 2006-02969-000). The distinguished editors and authors of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy: Where Theory and Practice Meet have created an intellectual atmosphere in the book that paves the way for generative development of evidence-based practice (EBP) in psychotherapy in the future. The book is organized into three sections: 1) &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;The Practice Perspective,&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; 2) &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;The Research Perspective,&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; and 3) &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;Training, Policy, and Cautions.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; This book is an important addition to the debate on EBP in psychotherapy and highlights issues that extend well beyond the role of psychotherapy in EBP. It is highly recommended for practitioners and researchers alike and is likely to invite thoughtful questioning and reflection on core assumptions at both ends of the spectrum. Moreover, the book would serve as a useful primer on the issues germane to EBP in psychotherapy training for graduate students and psychiatric residents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).
Neuropsychoanalysis, 2011
ABSTRACT Psychoanalytic and scientific conceptions of unconscious processes are reconverging. Thi... more ABSTRACT Psychoanalytic and scientific conceptions of unconscious processes are reconverging. This commentary on Heather Berlin’s Target Article, “The Neural Basis of the Dynamic Unconscious,” discusses the current status of the study of the neural substrates of cognitive, affective, and motivational dimensions of unconscious processes. The current research is contextualized with some thoughts on the historical tensions between psychoanalytic and academic models of the mind. Recommendations for advancing both psychoanalytic and neuroscientific investigations of unconscious processes are proposed, with a focus on psychopathology and psychoanalytic treatments and processes in different types of pathological personality structures.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 2010
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 2009
Since the Columbia cohort included only graduates from 1987 to 2001, a subset of the CPI populati... more Since the Columbia cohort included only graduates from 1987 to 2001, a subset of the CPI population, 8 of 20 who graduated from analytic training between 1987 and 2001, was used to make comparisons between the groups. A similar subset was also used from the NCP ...
The Clinical Journal of Pain, 2010
There is considerable evidence that personality disorders, including borderline personality disor... more There is considerable evidence that personality disorders, including borderline personality disorder (BPD), tend to co-occur with chronic pain. There is also evidence that mood disorders co-occur with chronic pain conditions. Given the central role of affective instability and negative mood states in BPD, we proposed that affective features of depression, anxiety, and hostility may account for the association between BPD features and the severity of pain reported in a patient sample. Seven hundred seventy-seven patient participants completed the Battery for Health Improvement. This included measures of DSM-IV BPD features, affect scales (depression, anxiety, hostility), and pain items assessing the severity of pain and somatic symptoms. As predicted, individuals with higher levels of BPD features reported greater severity of pain and somatic complaints, including higher levels of maximum and minimum pain levels in the past month. In addition as predicted, this association was no longer significant after controlling for affect scales. In particular, depression was strongest in accounting for this association. These results indicate that the association between BPD features and pain is accounted for by negative affect, primarily in the form of depression. This is consistent with current theoretical perspectives on BPD. This also suggests that clinicians observing or detecting BPD features among pain patients should consider negative affect, especially depression, in addressing these issues.
ABSTRACT Thesis (Ph. D.)--Adelphi University, 1998. Photocopy. Includes bibliographical reference... more ABSTRACT Thesis (Ph. D.)--Adelphi University, 1998. Photocopy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-150).
Handbook of Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Psychology, 2012