The authors examine psychotherapy as an effective means of providing treatment to the mentally retarded from several theoretical standpoints. The literature on this topic dates back at least 30 years, and in some cases arguably 60 years, and consequently it is not a new area of inquiry. Although, historically, research has been lacking in this area, recent contributions have been promising, and this newer work is explored amid appraising the implications of this modality for today's practitioner who works with the mentally retarded.Have you ever considered or attempted to conduct psychotherapy with mentally retarded clients? If your next referral was a client with mental retardation, would you consider psychotherapy as an intervention? We address these questions and others in this article. We provide the reader with the findings of recent and existing literature about conducting psychotherapy with mentally retarded individuals and the multifaceted nature of just contemplating this issue.Addressing the mental health needs of the mentally retarded or developmentally disabled has historically been a difficult task and one many psychologists avoid. Albeit, psychological evaluations are performed regularly. However, in most cases these evaluations MICHAEL R. Biirz received his PhD in psychology in 1992 from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. He was the program manager for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Health and Human Services Counseling and Family Services Program in Fort Hall, ID. He was formerly the director of Child and Adolescent Services at Cornerstone Behavioral Health/Mountain Regional Services, Inc., a provider of psychotherapeutic services for the mentally retarded-developmentally disabled individuals suffering from mental illness, located in Evanston, WY. He is now supervising clinical psychologist with Washington County Psychotherapy Associates in Machias, ME. He has written on nonlinear dynamics integration into psychology over the past several years. JOHN B. BOWLING received his PhD in counseling psychology in 1995 from Texas A&M University. He was a staff psychologist at Cornerstone Behavioral Health/Mountain Regional Services, Inc. He is now the clinical director of Advanced Behavioral Care, Inc. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Utah and maintains an independent practice in Salt Lake City, UT.

Practitioners look to experts in a particular area to formulate and solidify diagnoses, dynamics, and other phenomena. Despite 30 years of literature, clarity and clinical direction are lacking in the case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), factitious disorder by proxy (FDBP), and fabricated and/or induced illness in children (FII). These diagnoses are rare, complex, and controversial, and their underlying dynamics and etiology are at best poorly understood by health professionals. Situations arise, nonetheless, requiring professionals to address these diagnoses under forensic scrutiny without solid scientific footing. This is the nature of the complaint addressed in this article, and the authors propose that these categories be reexamined using diagnostic conventions that already exist in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and applying the most recognized markers of FDBP for an acceptable individual and dynamic diagnostic description.

No abstract

Selenocysteine transfer RNA (tRNA([Ser]Sec)) is a central molecule in the production of selenium-containing proteins, and may play a role in the regulation of their biosynthesis. Selenium concentration influences both the levels of tRNA([Ser]Sec) and the relative abundance of two isoforms. To study the mechanism by which selenium affects tRNA([Ser]Sec) levels, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were treated with the transcription inhibitor, actinomycin D, and tRNA([Ser]Sec) levels were determined by Northern blotting, primer extension and reverse-phase column chromatography. Turnover of tRNA([Ser]Sec) in CHO cells was faster than the total tRNA population. Supplementation of the culture media with selenium reduced turnover of tRNA([Ser]Sec), but did not influence turnover of a randomly selected serine tRNA. Inhibition of transcription with actinomycin D resulted in a relative increase in the abundance of the isoform containing methylcarboxymethyl-5'-uridine-2'-O-methylribose in the wobble position of the anticodon. Primer extension studies, which permitted the independent evaluation of the tRNA([Ser]Sec) arising from the introduced mouse gene and that derived from the host CHO gene, indicated an accelerated decline in tRNA([Ser]Sec) derived from both the transfected and the native gene. These results provide additional insight into the levels of regulation that control the translation of selenium containing proteins in mammalian cells.

In this article, the idea of chaos in relation to chaos theory will be explored in terms of its psychological meaning. Chaos theory has recently become a central area of scientific interest in psychology, and as a result it seems important to understand the deeper philosophical issues that surround the idea of chaos. Consequently, chaos will be explored in terms of its philosophical history through the ages, and some psychological speculations will be offered to explain both the disappearance and reemergence of such an important philosophical idea in modern science.