Richard E. Webb

Outsourcing and the Role of Psychological Services on the College Campus

This paper explores the complexities involved in transferring psychological services to off-campus providers. The ethical and legal responsibilities of colleges and universities to provide services that encourage the development of the student may not be met by health care entrepreneurs who do not take into account differences between the needs of college students and those of members the larger society.

Personal Transformation and Readjustment in “Homecoming”

ABSTRACT Studies support the observations by college psychotherapists that students returning from study abroad adventures often have a difficult time readjusting to being back “home.” We consider what the internal developmental challenges might be that relate to this transitional step. We weave first-hand comments of students into our article.

Commentary on Gregory Hatchett's “Reducing Premature Termination in University Counseling Centers”

ABSTRACT The authors question the assertions made by Gregory Hatchett in his article in Volume 19, Number 2, of this Journal (2004) and the suggestions that follow. We review the appropriateness of using data from outpatient clinics with adults in contrast to data from surveys of students. We look at average numbers of sessions of students in therapy according to regional and national surveys by Kenneth John (2003) and Robert Gallagher (2002) and place these numbers in the context of developmental and institutional issues. We comment on Hatchetts assumption about his role as a therapist and evaluate the nature of the suggestions he makes to counter “premature termination” by students.

Traumas With and Without a Sense of Agency

The authors differentiate two types of traumatic experience: trauma with agency and trauma without agency. The types are different despite the fact that the symptoms of both look similar enough to fall within the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The differentiating factor is the sufferers sense of agency during the circumstances surrounding the trauma. What is traumatizing is that the individual acted in some way that, however adaptive in the moment of threat and crisis, was ultimately loathed simultaneously or subsequently by the persons larger self and seen by this larger self as defining of character. Traumatized clients with a sense of agency require treatment that comes from being cared for and loved despite this hated facet of self.

Truth, lies, and wondering

Abstract The expectation of knowing “truth” leads to at least 3 “tongues” or ways of considering both truth and lies. The rooted tongue reflects the correspondence view and involves the “lie of authority”. The unrooted tongue reflects the coherence view and involves the “lie of relational totality”. The authors propose that these 2 kinds of lies occur when one gets “tongue-tied” in the face of experience that threatens ones capacity for accommodation and for further wondering. The authors describe a 3rd tongue, the dialectical, which considers the “lie” as a given of any knowledge and thereby supports ongoing openness to “not knowing”. An Isak Dinesen short story serves as the fulcrum for discussion.

Resilience and Thinking Perpendicularly: A Meditation or Morning Jog

ABSTRACT In this article, we explore the topic of resilience. We consider some of the ways that resilience relates to managing stress levels, with the intention of developing a capacity to “keep going.” However, we find that this model does not match our clinical experience and propose instead that resilience is about the ability to think perpendicularly. We define this as the developmental capacity to take perspective and alter one’s coordinates to think and feel about things in new lights. We locate this achievement in a developmental model originating with Object Relations, and relate it to achieving the “depressive position,” which recognizes the substantial gray areas in life. Finally, we use Plato’s allegory of the Cave to underscore our thinking.