The maintenance of professional competence is a core ethical responsibility of health professionals. Continuing Education (CE) is one quality assurance mechanism that helps health professionals to...

The unexpected death of a child is one of the most challenging losses as it fractures survivors’ sense of parenthood and other layers of identity. Given that not all the bereaved parents who have need for support respond well to available treatments and that many have little access to further intervention or follow-up over time, online interventions featuring therapeutic writing and peer support have strong potential. In this article we explore how a group of bereaved mothers experienced the process of (...) participating in an online course in therapeutic writing for the integration of grief. Our research questions were: How do parents who have lost a child experience being part of an online course in therapeutic writing? What are the perceived benefits and challenges of writing in processing their grief? We followed an existential phenomenological approach and analyzed fieldwork notes (n= 13), qualitative data from the application and assessment surveys (n= 35;n= 21), excerpts from the journals of some participants (n= 3), and email correspondence with some participants (n= 5). We categorized the results in three meaning units: (1) where does my story begin? The “both and” of their silent chaos; (2) standing on the middle line: a pregnancy that does not end; (3) closures and openings: “careful optimism” and the need for community support. Participants experienced writing as an opportunity for self-exploration regarding their identities and their emotional world, as well as a means to develop and strengthen a bond with their children. They also experienced a sense of belonging, validation, and acceptance in the online group in a way that helped them make sense of their suffering. Online writing courses could be of benefit for bereaved parents who are grieving the unexpected death of a child, but do not replace other interventions such as psychotherapy. In addition to trauma and attachment informed models of grief, identity informed models with a developmental focus might enhance the impact of both low-threshold community interventions and more intensive clinical ones. Further studies and theoretical development in the area are needed, addressing dialogical notions such as the multivoicedness of the self. (shrink)

ABSTRACT With few exceptions, the effectiveness of continuing education mandates has been measured by self-report assessments of the professional psychologists who fulfill them. The present investigation provided a longitudinal look at the number of approved CE providers and the incidence of licensing board complaints across a succession of two-year cycles prior to, and following, the 2012 implementation of CE mandates in the State of Illinois. Findings showed a substantial increase in the number of CE providers across that time, though no (...) significant change in the incidence of licensing board complaints, suggesting that the increased availability of CE did not translate into lower complaint rates. Possible reasons for these findings are noted, and recommendations for future work are detailed in support of an evidence-based approach to CE that better articulates and aligns its objectives with its outcomes in an era of renewed accountability in the health professions. (shrink)

“Natural” and “law” form a particular symbol pertaining to one mode of discovering the order of goodness, this mode invented by the classical Greek philosophers. They relied on a number of basic experiences and symbolic concepts: a) the nous (mind, reason); something divine in man participating in the mind of divinity; b) the distinction between “being” as the immanent order of “things” and “being” as the divine transcendence; c) the realization that man, possessing language and moral discernment, has an order (...) not merely as a “thing” but also as a participating partner of the transcendence. In modern times these concepts and underlying experiences have been lost. “Mind” and “rationality” to us mean the opposite of what they meant to the Greek philosophers. We have no longer a concept of “man” resembling theirs; the concept of “soul” has disappeared; all values are completely relativized. We cannot, therefore, bring back “natural law” simply by reading the classical texts. The awareness of the order of goodness must be regained, but we have to pay a price for that. It probably requires the kind of deeply shaking experiences that came to members of Soviet labor camps as described by Solzhenitsyn and his friends. It also would include jettisoning our Enlightenment concept of history. Short of such sacrifices we would do well to use the concept “natural law” reluctantly, if at all. (shrink)

Der handelnde Mensch und die Dinge.--Warten und Erwarten.

Dieser Buchtitel ist Teil des Digitalisierungsprojekts Springer Book Archives mit Publikationen, die seit den Anfängen des Verlags von 1842 erschienen sind. Der Verlag stellt mit diesem Archiv Quellen für die historische wie auch die disziplingeschichtliche Forschung zur Verfügung, die jeweils im historischen Kontext betrachtet werden müssen. Dieser Titel erschien in der Zeit vor 1945 und wird daher in seiner zeittypischen politisch-ideologischen Ausrichtung vom Verlag nicht beworben.

Die Themen reichen von zivilistischen Fragen, die unter allgemeinen rechtstheoretischen Gesichtspunkten aufgegriffen werden, uber wesentliche Aspekte einer allgemeinen Rechtslehre bis zu eigentlich rechtsphilosophischen Gegenstanden. Zusammengehalten wird diese Vielfalt zum einen durch die Einheit des methodischen Ansatzes, zum anderen durch sachliche Grundfragen und Grunduberzeugungen. Der Autor verficht mit allem Nachdruck die Realitat idealen Seins, an dem das Recht teilhat. Er spurt den Sachgegebenheiten und -gesetzlichkeiten dieser Spare nach und legt dabei Fundamente einer rechtswissenschaftlichen Systematik, die weit uber das Zivilrecht hinaus Beachtung (...) verdient. (shrink)