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Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a complex psychopathology. Through recent developments, neuroscience is able to contribute to better understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of BPD manifestations. This article aims to demonstrate that BPD is in part due to executive and frontal dysregulation of the mechanisms responsible for the optimal functioning of inferences specific to theory of mind. To do so, four types of observations will be examined: parallels between frontal personality and BPD, the presence of frontal cognitive deficits in BPD, the consequences of childhood abuse and neglect on brain development and finally, the results of brain imagery in BPD. This article follows in the path of a growing interest in the integration of the neuroscientific perspective of BPD to current conceptualisations in psychopathology. The final aim is to try to offer an understanding of BPD manifestations that avoids the traditional splitting between mind and brain—psychology and biology—and to show the numerous associations between clinical psychology and neurobiology.

The art of taking care of the insane developed and solidified at the Hospital Saint-Jean-de-Dieu after a School of Nurses was created there in 1912. Founded by the Sisters of Providence, this new school participated in the transformation of the asylum into a regular hospital. The archives of the Sisters of Providence and the monthly magazine La garde-malade canadienne-française allow us to analyze the discourse of nursing leaders, which was based on the importance of professional training. Scientific discoveries and new technologies were at the heart of the care process at Saint-Jean-de-Dieu, where students were introduced to a technical, as well as a spiritual, education. This article first considers the marginal status of psychiatric nursing training within the larger nurses' professionalization movement. In a second step, it describes the socio-religious context between 1912 and 1962 within which the School of Nurses of the Hospital Saint-Jean-de-Dieu evolved.

SUMMARYThis article has two aims: 1) to help in the understanding of the much discussed Italian reform in psychiatry. 2) to offer for review, discussion or action, a certain number of implications uncovered by this reform with regard to the ongoing discussions on the reorganization of Mental Health Services in Quebec. On the first aim, the key message is as follows: it is possible to create another psychiatry if society in general and those actually participating really want such a project. On the second aim, the main conditions of success for a global and deinstitutionalized psychiatry seem to be as follows: Sufficient resources, freedom to develop policies (a deep decentralisation of the decision making process and the organization) that are central to the integration of the services in a given territory; a dedicated study of the culture and the local social live; a continuous presence (intime and space) of the service in the territory; a total response (and deinstitu-tionalization) to the patient's needs; a democratic team work. However, there are no miracles in Italy; in the cooled down society of the 80's there is room for experimentation.

This research aims at delimitating the realm of meditation as therapeutic care in the field of the health psychology. The authors concentrate on the most prolific current of these last years in research terms : the meditation in full consciousness. The objective is to define the concept of meditation and full consciousness, to then pay attention on the relevant psychotherapies and clinical studies in this domain. Meditation in full consciousness constitutes a very promising field of research for health psychology within the framework of care. Techniques such as MBSR, MBCT applied to the full consciousness turns out relevant and result in improvement of general health. However, studies on full consciousness are still at very early stage and more rigorous approaches on a methodological level and refined conceptual developments are necessary.

AbstractThe field of anxiety disorders shows a considerable evolution in the last decades concerning the overall conceptualization of the disorders and concerning their treatment. However many questions remain open. For instance, what is the importance of anxiety disorders in terms of public health? What is their influence on other factors affecting populations' health, e.g. substance abuse, and especially smoking? Questions also remain concerning the underlying mechanisms, whether biological or psychological. For instance, is it possible to identify cognitive schemas leading to pathological anxiety? What are the physiological manifestations of the hypervigilance and hyperreactivity that are described clinically? Despite the successive classifications, some issues are unsettled concerning the delimitation of anxiety disorders. For instance, do obsessive-compulsive disorders belong to anxiety disorders or preferably to a different family of mental disorders constituting a spectrum of obsessive-compulsive disorders? Several practical issues remain open for clinicians: what is the importance of specific therapeutic factors in cognitive-behavioral therapies? Is there a psychoanalytical method and a psychopharmacological therapy specific to anxiety disorders? Concrete questions also deserve attention in relation with therapeutic modalities. Are group treatments superior to individual ones? What is the role of emotion in cognitive-behavioral treatment? Is it useful to associate self-regulation strategies like meditation? Do self-help organizations, that are numerous and helpful in that field, have a role concerning psychotherapy?

Peruvian traditional healing systems, some of which have been estimated to date back to prehistoric times, are known for their prominent usage of psychoactive plants: For curing traditions in the Andean highlands or sierra, it is the coca bush (Erythroxylum coca) that plays the protagonist role. Healing traditions that have arisen in the deserts of the northern Pacific coast (costa), on the other hand, are characterized by the usage of the psychoactive huachuma cactus (Echinopsis pachanoi). Finally, medical systems that have evolved east to the Andes in the tropical forests of the Amazon make use of diverse psychoactive plants, of which especially tobacco (Nicotiana rustica) and ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) are known. The present contribution takes reference to the Peruvian healing tradition and mainly its Amazonian branch in the context of the ongoing psychedelic renaissance. We argue that culturally inclusive studies are critical in the scope of the revival of psychedelic research and present two examples of cross-cultural clinical field research in this context. The first one involved a collaborative study with an Amazonian traditional healer specializing in the usage of the tobacco plant for therapeutic purposes, while the second one focused on an integrative Peruvian addiction treatment program, in which Amazonian medicine is combined with psychotherapy. The examples point to promising therapeutic means and underscore the importance of an intercultural approach in view of both clinical utility and cultural equality in the psychedelic renaissance.

Keywords: plantes psychotropes, renaissance psychédélique, médecines traditionnelles, guérison autochtone, Pérou, Amazonie, tabac, psychoactive plants, psychedelic renaissance, traditional medicines, amerindian healing, Peru, Amazon, tobacco, ayahuasca, plantas psicoactivas, renacimiento psicodélico, medicina tradicional, Perú, Amazonía, nicotiana rustica, ayahuasca

AbstractTransference focused psychotherapy is a version of psychodynamic psychotherapy that is modified and specialized for patients with borderline personality disorder. It is based on psychoanalytic principles with an emphasis on object relations theory. A fundamental concept in this model is that the organization of an individual's psyche is structured around internalized versions of interpersonal relations. The relationship experiences that are internalized involve a specific representation of the self, a specific representation of the other (the object of the libidinal or aggressive drive) and an intense affect that links them. However, this movement toward integration of the internal representational world does not take place in individuals with borderline personality, who continue to experience life in a way that is based on rigid and extreme views of self and others. The goal of transference focused psychotherapy is to help individuals advance to an integrated internal world through the analysis of the patient's ongoing experience of his or her relationship with the therapist. It is assumed that the analysis of this relationship will bring to light the internal representations of self and other, and the corresponding affects, that are related to unconscious desires and motivations, and that underlie the individual's extreme and discontinuous experience in life. The therapy begins with a specific diagnostic interview and the establishment of a treatment contract with the patient before the psychotherapeutic work begins. The first goal of the therapy is to engage the patient in the process of observing and gaining awareness of the representations of self and other that guide his or her perceptions of the world. The therapy then helps the patient to understand the internal forces that have kept theses representations segregated from each other and to integrate them into a more mature and coherent sense of self and others.

The aim of this article is to draw an overall portrait of knowledge on querulence, which corresponds to a set of behaviors through which an individual shows inordinate persistency in his complaints and legal proceedings in a quest for justice and reparation. We will thoroughly define the concept, and explore how it has evolved within the German, the French, and the English clinical and judiciary traditions. We will critically examine hypotheses about possible underlying psychopathologies. Finally, we will discuss measures and guidelines developed over the years to help individuals more likely to deal with querulence (e.g., clinical, court, and ombudsmen staff).

Keywords: quérulence, psychopathologie, psychologie légale, querulence, psychopathology, legal psychology

AbstractThe aim of this study is to construct and validate a French-language questionnaire based on the theory of self-determination (Deci and Ryan, 1985). To do so, 352 people were recruited in a public readaptation center for alcoholic and drug addicted persons. Globally, the psychometric properties of the Questionnaire de motivation au traitement des toxicomanies (QMTT) are quite satisfactory. In addition, the studied population seems to show a particular motivational profile. The clinical implications of such a profile are discussed.

Keywords: alcoolisme, toxicomanies, motivation, instrument de mesure, alcoholism, drug addictions, motivation, questionnaire, alcoholismo, toxicomanías, motivación, instrumento de medición