Teodóra Tomcsányi

Health Promotion Strategy and Primary Prevention Program at Semmelweis University

In contemporary societies, health is widely recognised as the most valuable personal asset. It has undergone significant reconceptualisation in recent decades, of which the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986) is a major document, advocating empowerment and community mental health thinking. Such concepts have fallen on fertile ground in East Central Europe, where a veritable community mental health promotion movement has sprung up, soon developing institutional means of disseminating the novel views. A discussion of the East Central European scene is introduced by an overview of the emergence and key elements of community mental health thinking and of the possible levels of corresponding intervention. An examination is offered of the deforming effects of dictatorship on community mental health, using the related notions of salutogenesis and Sense of Coherence to deepen the analysis. An exemplary graduate program was developed and established in Hungary even before the Ottawa Charter stated its directive on training. It is designed not so much to convey specialised knowledge as to impart a set of skills and competencies through which helping professionals are better equipped to practice their primary vocation and promote the mental health of the wider community. The programs goals, contents, structure and specific features are described in detail, emphasising knowledge of self and society, multidisciplinarity, a holistic approach and society building.

Psychotherapy in Hungary during the Socialist Era and the Socialist Dictatorship

This study provides an overview of how psychotherapy’s Hungarian representatives tried to safeguard and transmit psychotherapeutic training and practice during the time of socialist dictatorship. At first, even some Soviet ideologists had considered psychoanalysis to be compatible with Marxist ideology. However, over the course of a few years, socialist ideology exerted pressure on psychotherapy’s theory, training, and therapeutic practice. This was done initially on an ideological level, but later it increasingly resorted to physical violence as well, both there and through its export to a Hungary occupied by the Soviet army. All this was similar to its stand against the arts and literature. The first thing to appear as a result of this was a denial of the necessity of psychotherapy (stating that psychotherapy was only needed because of ‘capitalist market conditions’, with even the teaching of psychology being nearly stopped); later anyone could face serious repercussions for belonging to any school of p...This study provides an overview of how psychotherapy’s Hungarian representatives tried to safeguard and transmit psychotherapeutic training and practice during the time of socialist dictatorship. At first, even some Soviet ideologists had considered psychoanalysis to be compatible with Marxist ideology. However, over the course of a few years, socialist ideology exerted pressure on psychotherapy’s theory, training, and therapeutic practice. This was done initially on an ideological level, but later it increasingly resorted to physical violence as well, both there and through its export to a Hungary occupied by the Soviet army. All this was similar to its stand against the arts and literature. The first thing to appear as a result of this was a denial of the necessity of psychotherapy (stating that psychotherapy was only needed because of ‘capitalist market conditions’, with even the teaching of psychology being nearly stopped); later anyone could face serious repercussions for belonging to any school of psychotherapy, especially the analytic. It was also a part of the arsenal of those in power to put crucial centres of therapy decisively under the leadership of appropriately aligned neurophysiologists for long periods of time. The state kept these under strict control, and healing was reduced to medication procedures. The authors provide examples of the modest internal and external opportunities that nevertheless arose for prominent representatives of psychotherapy to solve these dilemmas. With the weakening of the dictatorship, the war on psychotherapy also subsided in a relative and inconsistent way. At this point, events in the politics of science were characterised by the degree of loyalty to the Soviet association, who were visibly abusing psychiatry, and the fight to preserve the relative independence of this field of science. The final part of the study touches upon one or two dilemmas of the heroic age of starting over that surfaced at the time of the political system’s change.

Die gesellschaftliche und religiöse Entwicklung in Ungarn seit 1945 im Spiegel der seelischen Gesundheit der Bevölkerung

Six authors survey the processes that have contributed to deteriorating or enhancing the mental health of Hungarian society since World War II, reviewing a period from the emergence of the mental hygiene movement until the present time. In the early years of these socio-historical processes, post-war changes took place, which were soon followed by a Communist regime that was characterised mostly by negative infl uences – aspiration to absoluteness and aggressive expansion of communistic ideology. All of these changes affected mental health. People who were willing to retain their faith and conviction, and to preserve their independent and personal identity, were confronted with great diffi culties. The 1960s were characterised by a milder political climate, and the nation was kept on a longer leash. In terms of social care, the state provided more effective services to the citizens (at the cost of a constantly increasing national indebtedness), while individualism was spreading across the country. Both psychology and religion were given somewhat greater elbow-room, and, in especially lucky cases, mental hygiene initiatives were allowed to emerge here and there. In the last phase of the regime’s existence, constantly increasing social problems could neither be prevented nor concealed by the state. Even in that era, the solution and prevention of problems were facilitated by several church and other non-governmental initiatives. The collapse of the dictatorship offered great opportunities. At the same time, challenges have been greater than the readiness of the society to solve them. The professions (such as psychotherapists, pastoral counsellors, and social workers) had been pushed into the background until now, and are still searching for their positions on a road that may lead to more effi cient help and to the establishment of an infrastructure of assistance. 50 Vgl. Danièle Hervieu-Léger , The Transmission and Formation of Socioreligious Identities in Modernity, in: International Sociology 13 (1998) 213-228. 51 Die Krise der Kulturvermittlung berührt die Religiosität und die Werte in ihren Grundlagen. In einer besonders schwierigen Lage befi nden sich die religiösen Institutionen, da die Religion durch die Kontinuität der Erinnerung erhalten wird, während die Erinnerung in den modernen Gesellschaften ihre strukturierende Rolle verliert. – Vgl. ebd., 216. 52 Vgl. dazu weiterführend und vertiefend Teodóra Tomcsányi, Gesellschaft und seelische Gesundheit, Freiburg/Br (Lambertus) 2003.

Spiritual Transcendence and Mental Health of Psychotherapists and Religious Professionals in a Hungarian Adult Sample

In this study we examine whether components of spiritual transcendence can explain individual differences in mental health in a Hungarian adult sample (N = 583), with a special focus on the associations in two subsamples, religious professionals and psychotherapists. Using the Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS), we found that religious professionals presented higher Prayer Fulfillment and Universality than psychotherapists; however, members of both professional groups scored higher than other professionals on these dimensions. By contrast, psychotherapists were superior to religious professionals in Connectedness. Moreover, higher Universality predicted better mental health, even after controlling for gender, age, profession, and basic personality traits. No interaction effects were found between profession and the subscales of the STS. Results suggest that the potential mental health benefits of spirituality, especially in form of a universal view of existence, are equally present in both specific professions and in the general sample, whereas the professions themselves still reflect differences both in spirituality and in well-being.

Recent findings in the effectiveness testing of an interdisciplinary training program in mental health promotion.

Participants of the Hungarian training program in mental health promotion described in this paper are human services professionals (mainly education and health professionals, religious and social workers). The aims of the three-year graduate program include the development of students’ professional expertise with a body of knowledge of mental health promotion on the individual, community and social levels and with a mental-health-promoting attitude. Testing the effectiveness of the program must measure a change in this attitude rather than an increase in academic knowledge. The instrument here presented is based on a case description, relevant to the students’ occupation. Content analysis methods and a special scoring system can be employed in the interpretation and evaluation of the answers to the mostly open-ended questions. The longitudinal study presents a comparative analysis of the four occupational groups named above. In addition to results, the paper also discusses difficulties and suggestions for further research.

Methodological contribution to effectivity studies of training programs in community mental health promotion@@@Methodische Ansätze zur Untersuchung der Effizienz der Fachausbildung in Mentalhygiene

Our paper is a survey of the methodology of two effectivity studies of postgraduate training in community mental health promotion in Hungary. The aims of our study of the Helping Relationship Course were multifaceted: we intended to measure how much the student internalised a philosophy of non-directive counselling, the recognition of the client’s non-verbalised emotions and the possibilities of application of the helping relationship promoting community mental health, as well as the skills of reflecting on group behaviour. This was realised by means of a written case study. In the Appendix of our paper we also bring the evaluation questionnaire. In the Activity Supervising Course, the various helping activities and their representatives are introduced. Within the frame of the effectivity study we followed the impact of these presentations on representatives of other professions. Teachers and pastors were in the focus of the study: essays written on provocative questions concerning these two professional ...

Spirituality in Psychotherapy

While scientific interest in the relationship between psychotherapeutic praxis and spirituality is growing, there is still little knowledge on this topic, especially in an East Central European context. To explore how psychotherapists understand spiritual issues and experiences they encounter in their work and to learn what happens to these issues in the course of psychotherapy, this study analyses semi-structured interviews with 30 Hungarian psychotherapists. Applying a grounded theory analytical strategy, three main topics were identified: the therapists attitude towards spirituality leaves a discernible trace in the psychoterapeutic treatment; the therapist influences the way spiritual issues are treated; and the therapist may have a shared spiritual experience with the client. We present individual variations of these experiences as they appear in the code tree. Results are interpreted with reference to a systemic view of the psychotherapeutic process, the intersubjective space of patient and therapist, and the notion of the therapists’ mentalizational capacity.

Antoine Vergote, Founder of the Empirical and Psychoanalytical Approach in the Psychology of Religion@@@Antoine Vergote, der Begründer des empirischen und psychoanalytischen Ansatzes der Religionspsychologie

The monograph introduces the reader to the psychology of religion through the work of Antoine Vergote, a theoretician who has influenced the development of this discipline in Europe in fundamental ways for several decades. Behind the iron curtain, the importance of a psychology of religion was suppressed and its cultivation banished from the scope of research. On the solid basis of his life’s work and of his psychoanalytically oriented pioneering research, Vergote now presents the Hungarian reader with empirical methods of studying various cases, his preliminary considerations, and the results of his investigations supported by his insight into several disciplines. Vergote approaches definitions, symbols, and rituals from a wide theoretical foundation making use of different fields such as psychology, theology, and a religiously based and practically oriented pedagogy. While the author has developed a system of criteria to distinguish between healthy and pathological forms of religious practices, he points out that the adequate training of the practitioner is key to a successful treatment. Vergote’s works are now an indispensable resource for any research in the field connecting psychology and theology.