Ruth L. Graver

Spanish Adaptation of the Reasonsfor Living Inventory

The Reasons for Living Inventory (RFL) is an instrument to mea sure a range of beliefs potentially important as reasons for not com mitting suicide. There is no Spanish version of this instrument. The adaptation process includes translation, back-translation, review of both versions, and application of the resulting instrument to a bilingual sample from the tar get population. This process allows for assessment of the equivalence between the English and Spanish version of the RFL in three stages: linguistic equivalence, conceptual equivalence, and scale equivalence. The most important aspects of the adaptation, con ceptual and scale equivalence, are adequate in this Spanish version of the RFL. The adaptation of the RFL is ready to be used in Spanish-speaking populations.

Clinical Pitfalls in the Diagnosis of Ataque de Nervios: A Case Study

Ataque de nervios (attack of nerves) is an idiom of distress generally thought of in relation to Caribbean Hispanics. The following case study discusses the presentation of ataque de nervios in a Colombian female. This case study provides insight into a different presentation of ataque de nervios in a new population that clinicians should be aware of in order to ensure accurate diagnosis. Ataque de nervios is a distinct syndrome that does not fully correspond with any single DSM-IV diagnosis. However, there is overlap between symptoms in this condition and those in conventional clinical diagnoses. Common problems in deriving an accurate differential diagnosis are discussed. Implications for treatment are also reviewed, with an emphasis on a comprehensive approach to treatment that supports the client’s norms and values.

Mapping the Macroprocess

Over several years of teaching psychoanalytic case writing to advanced candidates at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, instructors noticed that while students can often learn to write convincingly about the moment-to-moment work in the analysis— the microprocess—it is often quite difficult for them to understand and convey a sense of the longitudinal movement of the case over time—the macroprocess. To redress this, a pedagogical method was devised that helps candidates visually map an analysis in order to facilitate case writing and formulation. Changes in the analysis are tracked over time, encouraging explication of how those changes have come about. The method is illustrated with a pedagogical vignette.