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The living space as a reflection of the inner self, this article explores the unique practice of the psychologist at home within the housing division of a French association. The article argues that the living space can be seen as a reflection of the inner self, and this understanding can be used to inform the work of psychologists who visit patient in their homes. The article highlights the challenges of this balancing act, which involves meeting the patient on their own turf, listening to their subjective experience, and juggling political and social expectations. The psychologist's role is to be as close as possible to the patient's psychic reality and to try to defuse the effects of stigmatization. This can sometimes lead to changes that take place over time.

Keywords: logement, souffrance psychique, marginalité, deuil, repli social, housing, mental distress, social exclusion, mourning, social isolation

Les discussions sur l’éthique de la santé mentale se concentrent généralement sur des sujets comme la confidentialité ou les conflits d’intérêt. Certaines formes de thérapie donnent cependant lieu à des situations plus particulières. C’est le cas de la thérapie psychodynamique et des considérations éthiques soulevées par les processus de transfert et de contre-transfert. En raison du peu de recherche sur ce sujet, l’approche de l’analyse documentaire critique, une méthode qualitative, fut sélectionnée. Ce projet vise à établir l’apport de la médecine narrative et plus spécifiquement du concept de représentation pour analyser les aspects éthiques du transfert et du contre-transfert. À cette fin, ces processus sont étudiés en détail et les diverses stratégies proposées aux thérapeutes pour maintenir une relation éthique avec leurs patients sont recensées. …

AbstractAccording to the theory of constructivism, development and transformation of practical knowledge are a vital process that is unavoidable and that occurs without there being necessarily an intention to educate or to learn. A human being can effectively consider the circumstances of his or her existence when he or she produces this kind of knowledge: one always knows something that is relatively viable for oneself! Contrary to traditional writings that evaluate practical knowledge according to their degree of conformity to "established" school knowledge, the analysis proposed here considers that it is formal school learning that should be subjected to the constraints of pratical informal learning.

AbstractClinical use of Benzodiazepines for anxiety problems: Where do we stand? This article presents an overview of the clinical use of Benzodiazepines (BZD) for anxiety problems. It presents a synthesis of the literature on potentially problematic aspects associated with long-term use and presents alternatives to BZD use in the management of anxiety. Medline searches from 1980 to 2001 were conducted. Relevant articles anterior to these dates, located through reference sections of more recent articles, were also reviewed. Conclusions: Risks and benefits of these drugs for the long-term management of anxiety problems are still not clearly established. Nevertheless, despite recommendations that BZDs should be used on a short-term basis only, an important proportion of patients continue using them on a long-term basis. It would be useful to assess how alternative anxiety management strategies are presented to patients and, if relevant, how to make them more accessible and appealing to anxious patients.

A phenomenon which occurs commonly within groups is the uneven distribution of speach time between members. In answer to this situation, several intervention strategies are proposed in order to incite quiet individuals to assert their opinion. These strategies agree with the negative representation of silence which is common in the fields of education and social services. After describing four major representations of silence, this article shows that silence does not have to be assimilated with a weakened or otherwise deviated means of expression, i.e. something to be corrected at any cost. It also shows that interventions aimed at forcing quiet individuals to speak, as well-meaning as they maybe, sometimes yield results contrary to what was intended.

AbstractThis article describes and compares two case studies in an attempt to delimit more precisely the experience of illness and recovery of two women suffering from depression as well as determining their learning needs and the dimensions of their quality of life which were most affected by their illness. One case study involved a woman who was hospitalized on a psychiatric ward, while the other was about a woman undergoing group therapy three times a week at a psychiatric day center. The verbatim report revealed fourteen themes distributed among three analysis units. In both women, the trigger for their depressive disorder gravitated around their employment and their financial difficulties.

Keywords: femme, dépression (trouble dépressif), étude de cas, expérience de la maladie, besoins d'apprentissage, qualité de vie, women, depression, case study, experience of illness, learning needs, quality of life

AbstractIn this article, the authors address the concept of object relations and its place within psychodynamic theories regarding personality and, more specifically, in Kernberg's conceptualization of personality disorders and organization. The authors attempt to demonstrate the relevance of an empirical approach to object relations by presenting some of the instruments that are most considered. The Object Relations Rating Scale (ORRS ; Diguer, 2001), a new assessment instrument that is different from the others in that it assesses the therapeutic interaction as a whole, and that it is coherent with Kernberg's model of intervention and considers the overall relational manifestations. Finally, the authors present satisfying metrological ratings of this new instrument.

ABSTRACTThe author examines the links between the feeling of continuity and the mental health of 25 elderly people who recount their perception of how material and cultural values are transmitted in their line of descendants and in their social community. In considering the aging process as a cultural system, the author builds a model depicting the symbolization of the rule of filiality, for which there are three categories developed in function of manifestations of a more or less strong feeling of continuity or of a feeling of rupture. Beyond their psychological vulnerability and the "deadline" to which they are confronted, these people find themselves in one of the three categories of this model through their relationships with their ascendants and descendants.

SUMMARYThe author is looking into the problem of multidisciplinarity in mental health : through a theoretical conception of mental disease and from a more practical point of view through the actual functionning of a treating team in mental health. He tries to develop two thesis : 1) physical or social criteria cannot define madness, it has to be studied from a psychological point of view : madness is a personal as well as a psychical fate, a difficulty in facing the different levels and crisis of existence where the physical and social factors are secondary : the specific character of mental health resides in its psychological dimension; 2) the functioning of the treating team is analyzed according to three main models : autocratic, anarchic and democratic : the concept of a treating team in mental health can only be understood if each of its members express himself in an autonomous way and according to his own competencies with regard to the public : this would protect the multidisciplinary team from the dangers of an autocratic leadership or of an anarchic functioning.