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Biomedical subjects

H Stierlin

Publications and source records attributed to H Stierlin.

53 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Psychosomatics of the family today].

The concept "family psychosomatics" was introduced some 30 years ago. It denoted at that time a programme rather than a domain of practice and research. Today this domain increasingly reflects a systemic approach focussing on the so-called "problem defined system" which is not necessarily identical with the family system. Also, we notice that systems with serious psychosomatic disorders tend to embed themselves in a "hard reality". Therefore, therapeutic interventions should aim at softening this hard reality. In this, they could make use of a "systemic questioning" which can trigger changes, and at the same time, can anticipate potentially frightening consequences of such changes.

Family↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Why some patients prefer to become manic-depressive rather than schizophrenic.

This paper reports the authors' observations on fifteen families in which a young adult member had been diagnosed as manic-depressive. All families were seen in systemic family therapy, with intervals of four to six weeks between sessions. The circular questioning method developed by Selvini-Palazzoli [1] and her team was widely employed. All families could be described as extremely rigid and bound-up systems characterized by a "restrictive parental complementarity," typical dynamics of reciprocal delegation, and certain cognitive features and shared assumptions. These "manic-depressive" families show similarities as well as differences when compared with families with schizophrenic members (i.e., "schizo-present" families). Finally, some therapeutic implications of this view and approach are developed.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Breast cancer in context - results of a prospective study and implications for therapy].

56 patients admitted to the surgical clinic for a breast biopsy were interviewed on the day of their admission. The interviewer recorded his impression of the conversation in eight rating scales. The assessments were repeated by an independent rater from edited tape recordings of the interviews. There was a statistical difference between breast cancer patients and patients with a benign node in all eight scales used and the diagnosis cancer was predicted by the interviewer and rater in 80-90% of all cases. A specific mode of therapeutic procedure is discussed in which the cancer is seen as the final link in a chain of similar occurrences, and in which inclusions of the surrounding field is more conclusive to success than working with the individual alone. The basic idea of this approach has for a long time played a part in the work with "difficult" patients: it very positively sanctions the behavior exhibited as a survival feat in an extremely difficult situation and it accepts that for the time being any other behavior is hardly possible. Thus, a paradoxical effect often ensues: the families begin to offer resistance to the doctor's one-sided representation and at the same time call their own behavior into the question.

Adult↗