abstracts
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ABSTRACTS
Behavioral science andfamily practice: A statusreportHornsby JL, Kerr RM. J Fam Pracl 8:299304, 1979.
• Since 1969, family practice residency training programs have proliferated rapidly. Both the American Academy of Family Physiciansand the Department of GraduateMedical Education of the AMArefer to the inclusion ofbehavioralscience as essential to a familypractice residency training program. However, guidelines regarding this behavioral science component remain broad. Some programsinclude almost no behavioralscience, whereas others have anabundance. The purpose of thisstudy was to assess: (I) the characteristics of those who teach behavioral science, (2) the relative importance of various behavioralscience topics as perceived by faculty/staff, and (3) preferredmethods of behavioral science instruction. A questionnaire that explored these areas was sent to 286accredited family practice programs in the United States. Thestudy covered 136 returned, completed questionnaires. Of thosepersons teaching behavioralscience, 46% were physicians and54% were nOI1physicians. Of thephysicians, 67% were psychiatrists,and 27% were family physicians.The majority of the nonphysicianswere psychologists. Most departments surveyed employed from oneto three persons who taught behavioral science. Only 13 departmentsemployed no one to teach behavioral science. As to percentage oftime that persons teaching behav-
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ioral science devoted to familypractice, most persons were thusemployed in the I% to 25% and 76%to 100% ranges. Most part-timepersons were shared with departments of psychiatry. The peopleteaching behavioral science hadmultiple responsibilities, with themajority involved in patient care.Family practice departments wereresponsible for teaching behavioralscience in 45% of the programs,while psychiatry departments wereresponsible in 26%. Interviewingskills, family and individual counseling, and psychosocial growthand development were among themajor topics that were taught Pedagogic techniques most used ",ereconsultations, lectures, and seminars. Thus, the data revealed a widevariety of persons involved in behavioral science instruction, astrong emphasis placed on communication and counseling skills, andseveral not particularly innovativeteaching methods used for behavioral science instruction.
Richard L. Goldberg, M.D.Georgetown University
Paul Schilder and grouppsychotherapy: Thedevelopment ofpsychoanalytic grouppsychotherapyPinney EL Jr. Psychiatric Quart 50: 133-143.1978.
• Paul Schilder is best known forhis work concerning body imageand the emotional constructs of the"body ego." He was germinal,however, in the development ofgrou p psychotherapy. Historically,the modern originator of grouptherapy has been thought to be Dr.
Joseph Pratt, who utilized themodel of a Sunday school class inassembling tuberculous patientsand discussing their disease. Prattspecifically rejected Freudian ideasabout psychic causality. Pratt's followers developed group settings forthe treatment of individuals withpsychiatric illnesses; but thesemeetings turned more towards educational and moral inspirationthan towards understanding of behavior. In 1928 Trigant Burrow developed a group treatment in whichhe made certain interpretations toan individual within a group.Schilder presented his experiencewith group treatment in 1936. Heattempted to gather biographicdata from his patients within thegroup setting. He felt this helpedhim to make interpretations as wellas allowing some group cohesiveness to develop. He also was one ofthe early observers of group phenomena, in contradistinction togroup analysis. Schilder noted thatthere was a "social determination"within the group setting. He utilized transference phenomena andinterpretations within his groupa pproaches. In his position asDirector of Research at the Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, Schilderutilized therapeutic groups. He feltthat this treatment gave a patientfurther iI1sight into his individualdifficulties and allowed him to copein a more adequate fashion. Although Schilder receives little recognition in current texts on grouppsychotherapy, it appears that hiswork anticipated much of what followed in the development of thisform of therapy.
Thomas N. Wise, M.D.Falls Church, Va.
PSYCHOSOMATICS