The concept of interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) refers to a variety of processes in which emotion regulation occurs as part of live social interactions and includes, among others, also those interpersonal interactions in which individuals turn to others to be helped or to help the others in managing emotions. Although IER may be a concept of interest in group therapy, specific theoretical insights in this field appear to be missed. In this article, we firstly provide a review of IER definitions, of classifications of IER strategies, and of IER clinical conceptualizations. Afterwards, we discuss the relevance of considering IER for group therapy, both in terms of non-specific group therapeutic factors and of group therapy techniques promoting adaptive emotion regulation, underlining the potentially relevant role of IER behaviors as intrinsically involved in group experience.
Introduction: Working with dreams in groups allows understanding of unconscious phenomena that characterize it as unity and totality. The dreamer becomes the vehicle of emotions, fantasies,and anxieties that dominate the group at a given moment, allowing them to be understood and processed (Friedman et al., 2002). Recognizing a projected theme in the group generates a change of perspective for the group, which becomes a specific psychic space (Kaës, 2001), a shared psychic field. The analysis of the shared dreams helps the understanding of the emotional concerns related to the Covid 19 and its psychological repercussions. Methods: Six matrices of social dreaming of different groups for analytical purposes were conducted during the Covid pandemic period. The sessions were transcribed and the texts were analyzed by performing a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) with the support of Atlas.ti software. Results: From the analysis of the results, three main themes were identified: a) “Lately I have more nightmares when I am awake than when I am asleep": Nightmares during the Covid-19 pandemic; b) “Losing one’s senses and losing the sense”: Helplessness and environmental mastery across time and space; c) Do play like a child: Recalling the child-past in the uncertain present. Discussion and conclusions: Through dreams and dream narratives we witness the evolution of group thinking through a progressive growth of the links between individuals and the common and shared field. The members of the group are thus able to identify within dreams the meanings that are useful for the entire group to process the painful experience that unites them.
The literature has widely acknowledged the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of young adults. Despite extensive research, eudaimonic well-being, which focuses on self-knowledge and self-realization, has been scarcely investigated. This cross-sectional study aimed to add knowledge on the eudaimonic well-being of young adults one year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, verifying its potential linkages with fear of death and psychological inflexibility. A total of 317 young Italian adults (18–34 years), recruited through a chain sampling method, completed measures of psychological inflexibility, fear of death, and eudaimonic well-being included in an online survey. The study’s hypotheses were tested with multivariate multiple regression and mediational analyses. Results showed that psychological inflexibility was negatively associated with all the dimensions of well-being, while fear of the death of others was associated with autonomy, environmental mastery, and self-acceptance. Furthermore, in the association between fear of death and well-being, the mediation role of psychological inflexibility was verified. These results contribute to the extant literature on the factors associated with eudaimonic well-being, providing clinical insights into the work with young adults within challenging times.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health, adjustment, and psychological well-being of young adults. Despite extensive research conducted in this area, eudaimonic well-being, one specific form of psychological well-being focusing on self-knowledge and self-realization within existential challenges, has received comparatively less attention. The current study aimed to investigate the potential linkages between two key psychological factors, psychological inflexibility and fear of death, with eudaimonic well-being among young adults in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. One year after the outbreak, 317 young Italian adults (18-34 yrs.) participated in an online survey, including measures of psychological inflexibility (AAQ-II), fear of death (CL-FODS), and eudaimonic well-being (PWB). Results showed that psychological inflexibility was negatively associated with all the dimensions of Ryff’s model of eudaimonic well-being, while fear of death of others was found to be associated with three of these dimensions (autonomy, environmental mastery, and self-acceptance). Results also indicated a mediation role of psychological inflexibility in the association between fear of death and eudaimonic well-being. These findings expand our knowledge of the potential factors that may influence eudaimonic well-being and provide insights for clinical work with young adults challenged by uncertain times.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.