There are few references in research on the therapeutic relationship that explicitly deals with the psychotherapist's emotions in the relationship. The purpose of this study is to understand more about the psychotherapist's emotions, what triggers them in the therapy relationship and the perceived risks and opportunities with their feelings.  A qualitative methodology with an explorative approach was used for this study. Participants in the study are six psychotherapists; four women and two men, aged 50-65 years. The result shows that psychotherapists do not connect strong feelings in relation to the positive outcome in therapy. They express that as a psychotherapist one should be observant of one´s feelings and that the feelings should be kept in the background of the relationship. In the therapies that participants refer to in the interviews, the results has been good, the patients have been perceived as genuine and the psychotherapists have felt genuinely liked by the patient. Participants do not connect positive treatment outcome and authenticity of the patient in the therapy relationship. Authenticity also among the psychotherapist, both self-knowledge and professional skills are important factors for the performance of the therapeutic work. 

Introduction: The therapeutic alliance is considered an important factorregardless of therapeutic technique or theory. This essay discusses the affectivefocusedpsychotherapeutic method named Intensive short-term dynamicpsychotherapy (ISTDP) with focus on the therapeutic alliance. The aim of thisstudy is to examine how psychotherapists experience and describe the therapeuticalliance in ISTDP.

Issues: How do psychotherapists experience and describe the therapeutic alliancein ISTDP?

Method: The data collection method is qualitative semi-structured interviews.The material was analysed by using the processing method of empirical thematicanalysis.

Results: The result of the interviews are first presented by the informants´descriptions of the therapeutic alliance in ISTDP, followed by five emergingthemes; Responsiveness, Tempo/Pace, Body language, Press and Skill.

Discussion: The essay shows that the psychotherapist experience and describethe ISTDP method as a way to jointly with the patient create, a strong consciousand unconscious therapeutic alliance and a healing relationship. The result wassimilar in all respondents and consistent with theory and previous research.Possible future studies are suggested.

Introduction: In ISTDP have psychodynamic diagnostics developed and is continuously used in the treatment. The diagnostics divides patients into different character structures. Frederickson (2013) makes a classification into these four categories low resistance, moderate resistance, high resistance and fragile. This study examines how patients assessed character structure correlates with the patient's self-assessment of their mental problems.

Questions: Does therapist's assessment correlate, concerning the nature of the structures low resistance, moderate resistance, high resistance and fragile, with the patient's self-rated mental health problems with the evaluation form CORE-OM.

Methods: 31 patients at three psychiatric clinics have completed the self-assessment form CORE-OM. Then they were interviewed by the psychologists to assess the character of the structure. The estimated structure was compared with the outcomes of the CORE-OM. The statistical analyzes were conducted with Spearman's rho value. Kruskal - Wallis rank test. Selected level of significance <0:05. Follow-up pairwise mail / hoc test (Man-Whitney U test with Bonferoni corrected p value).

Results: The estimated character structure correlates with the patient's self-assessment of psychological disorders as measured by the CORE-OM. The differences are significant between character structures moderate resistance and fragile regard both the CORE-OM total and domain scores. Fragile character structure stands out significantly from the rest of the domain risk with higher degree of risk reported. Character Structure moderate resistance stands out significantly with reported lower degree of difficulty in subcategories close relationships and socially with the rest.

Discussion: The study's results demonstrate that the assessment of the character structure based ISTDP is a reliable diagnostic method. The results support the long tradition of theory in the psychodynamic tradition of the link between the nature of the defense and the level of mental illness.

Today's information society, is offering new ways to interact, to establish relationships and maintain contact between people.Technology and therapy is a way to maintain a therapeutic relationship with the help of Skype as an information technology tools. The purpose of the study is to examine psychotherapist’s experiences of the therapeutic relationship in psychodynamic psychotherapy via videocommunication. Research questions focuses on the psychotherapists' use of psychodynamic theories, the description of the therapeutic relationship and how the therapeutic alliance is being built in videocommunications. The study was a qualitative research approach with a hermeneutic method. Six therapists who pursued therapy via Skype were interviewed. The results show that therapists felt that there was a distance in the relationship which could be used positively to investigate deeper into the therapy. The therapies became wordier as transferense and countertrancferences could not be identified as easily as in a physical meeting. The therapeutic alliance felt more fragile on Skype. Discussions from the study shows in order to pursue a psychodynamic psychotherapy on Skype the therapists needed to adapt the theory to the technology. The distance in the relationship was used as a means of therapy to be developed into insight therapy but could also seem to strengthen the defenses.

Introduction: ISTDP, a method with a growing evidence base, requires a greater degree of activity and directness from the therapist than the classical psychodynamic approach. The purpose of this study is to gain knowledge of psychotherapy students' experience of learning ISTDP in parallel with other educational features.

Questions: Focus on psychotherapy students' experience of learning ISTDP and integrating it with other ways to work in psychodynamic therapy.

Results: Interviewees describe ambivalence: on one hand an appreciation of having learned the method, on the other the challenges of being active, attentive, and finding appropriate interventions. Growing experience led to greater courage and sense of security in the therapist role. The method was perceived to facilitate clarity, focus, and regulation of anxiety in patient work.

Discussion: This study demonstrates the difficulties involved when learning a method where working ways differ from those taught in other courses. The study underlines the importance of a balance between challenge and security in the learning situation, considering the students' previous knowledge and limited. Factors that promote and impede learning are discussed.

Introduction: Within the psychodynamic theory, there are different opinions whether the therapist should tell the patient about himself. The therapists self-disclosure have been studied and discussed in psychoanalytic literature. The purpose of this article is to describe psychodynamic psychotherapists experiences of working with Self-Diclosure.

Question: How do psychodynamic psychoterapists describe their experiences of working with Self-Disclosure?

Method: The study uses the descriptive phenomenological human scientific method. Qualitative deep interviews was made with five psychodynamic psychotherapists at their office. The interviews were recorded and transcribed word for word. The material was divided into meaning units whose psychological content was elucidated, their mutual relations was studied and an understanding has been achieved. An continuous oscillation between the whole and the parts was made until the structure of the phenomenon was discovered.

Result: In the analysis seven general structures were discovered. Milieu, personality, questions and answers, thoughts and feelings in the therapy room, life outside therapy, emotional experiences of Self-Disclosure and Self-Disclosure and its influence on the therapy process. Milieu and personality were regarded as inevitable Self-Disclosure. Verbal statements and emotional expressions could be both intentional and unintentional. Self-Disclosure can both hinder and facilitate the therapy process.

Discussion: Safety and contact are emphasised as central in the therapy process by all therapists in the study. Self-Disclosure ought to be used with regard to both the patient and the phase in the therapy process. Both the content and the context are of importance for the consequence of Self-Disclosure. A pragmatic stance can favour the therapy process. The consequences cannot be foreseen but the most important is the therapist`s attention to how it is experienced and how it influence the therapy process.

Experiences of trauma that not are taken care of may give somatic symptoms, in some cases as signs of dissociation, so called somatoform dissociations. Patients with these symptoms search for help in the medical care where insufficient knowledge of trauma symptoms can delay adequate treatment. The aim of this study is to investigate therapists’ experiences of therapy with traumatized patients that have somatoform dissociations. The questions to be asked are: Which experiences do psychotherapists have of affect regulation and alliance with traumatized patients? Which symptoms do patients have that can be seen as somatoform dissociations? How can you be aware of trauma related problems in the medical care? The method is a qualitative approach based on interviews of five legitimated psychotherapists working with traumatized patients. The result shows that somatic symptoms are common in traumatized patients and that some symptoms can be seen as somatoform dissociations. The somatic symptoms can be seen as signs of unprocessed affects and affect regulation is a way to reduce the symptoms. In psychotherapy faith is an important part of the alliance. Derived conclusions are that somatoform dissociations need to be highlighted so that the link between somatic symptoms and dissociation can be clarified. In the medical care the knowledge of trauma is essential so that the patient also gets help with affect regulation and not only further medical treatment of somatic and psychological symptoms.

Introduction: Although attachment theory is widely studied within the field of developmental psychological research, work environment research frequently disregards attachment-related individual characteristics of co-workers when studying workplace environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of attachment style on the perception of psychosocial work environment.

Research question: How does attachment style relate to the experience of demands, influence and social support at work?

Method: Nurses and assistant nurses employed at the emergency departments, Skåne University Hospital (n = 218), were asked to answer the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ).

Results: A total of 135 questionnaires (62%) were included in the study. In the majority of the analyses no correlations were found between attachment style and experience of psychosocial work environment. A lower degree of perceived support from colleagues was, however, related to higher discomfort with closeness and relationships as secondary. An association between higher degree of perceived support from peers and higher degree of confidence in self and others was found. Securely attached individuals were less burdened by quantitative requirements and experienced more support from peers than insecure attached individuals.

Discussion/conclusion: There is only a weak relationship between attachment style and experience of demands, influence and social support at work. This might partly be explained by the nature of the questionnaires, the homogeneity of the study population and missing cases. The statistically significant correlations that were found are supported by findings in previous studies.

Introduction: Genuine humor, joy and jokes can create a relief in human life, just as conflicts, pain and anxiety these emotions have been as prominent. The use of humor in therapy and the function of humor in the therapeutic process have had a very limited role in the psychotherapeutic world.

Question formulation: What are the patient’s experiences of humor in a psychotherapeutic relationship? How do patients consider that humor may have affected the psychotherapeutic process?

Method: The study has a qualitative research approach. Five participants attending psychotherapy were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed and interpreted based on a qualitative content analysis.

Results: Humor in therapy can create a good alliance through the therapist's participation, provide a greater sense of freedom and meaningfulness to the participant, bringing a change in the perceived problem or event in a more humorous way, and be a tool to process the view of past experiences. The use of humor strengthens participants' self-perception, interest in their own development, and finally the ability to develop trust with the therapist.

Discussion: Humor can be a very effective and stimulating part of psychotherapy. The study shows the use of humor has mostly positive effects with only a few negative effects. The use of humor can provide optimal conditions for a positive therapy work and can be an important bearing on the therapeutic relationship and process. Most researchers and therapists contradict the use of humor and sees it as a defense mechanism. Previous research describes the emergence of humor therapy as extremely limited.

Introduction: Psychotherapeutic frame is a phenomenon which is fundamental to establish during therapist education. What psychotherapists students actually understand and can describe constitute a quality assurance of what students perceive is needed in form of frame, in relation to the patients but also in relation to the educational situation. To be compared with the prevailing theory and empiricism.

The aim of the study was to let psychotherapist students describe their idea of what constitutes the phenomenon frame of psychodynamic therapy.

Issues: What perceive and describe psychotherapist students as psychodynamic therapeutic frame?

Method: This study has a hermeneutical approach and processing method is qualitative content analysis. The data collection method is interviews.

Results: The result of the issue manifests as three categories with subcategories. Category one is love-play, with subcategories as responsibility and interpersonal. Category two is awareness, with subcategories as physical messages, continuity and opinion. Category three is potential, with subcategories as symbolize and integrate.

Discussion: What psychotherapist students describe as constants in psychodynamic therapeutic frame, harmony above all with what the literature and research describes as inner and outer frame. The result has few constants in the form of meta- framework, which may be understood as that there is a lack of awareness in establishing meta- frame. In the extension this unawareness limits students influence on education and profession.

Introduction: Intimate partner violence is a global health problem in today’s society, which affects women, men and children. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the local council to provide victims of violence with sufficient help and support. This study focuses on the women’s situation and strives to make their voices heard when it comes to what help should be provided. The objective of this study has been to research how women subjected to violence, have experienced extended counselling. 

Research questions: How is extended counselling experienced by women who have been subject to intimate partner violence? What part of the counselling have they found helpful? What do they miss?

Method: Five women, who have been subjected to intimate partner violence and who have completed extended counselling, were interviewed. The study has a qualitative and hermeneutic approach and has been processed using a thematic method of analysis.

Results: The results of the study show that it is important for the women to be able to discuss all aspects of their lives, not just the violence aspects. The results also stress that it is important that the therapist is experienced in the field of intimate partner violence and is used to meeting women who have been subjected to violence. The women must be given enough time and space to process potentially traumatic experiences and there has to be an understanding that feelings of shame can make the story harder to tell. The interviewed women partly lacked the opportunity to talk more about shame during the treatment and also wanted repeated information on the likely extent of the treatment period.

Discussion: This group of patients exposed to violence might require more extensive counselling, which should include processing the feelings of shame, and the framework for the treatment should be made clear. The women’s efforts in creating a new life story are facilitated through a trusting cooperation. The impression that the counselling provides improved self-esteem and security is stressed, whilst accepting what has happened, to some extent, without accepting the violence per se.

This study has been conducted in order to increase knowledge about psychosocial development in children with autism diagnosis in relationship to activities with horses. The study is qualitative, based on five interviews with parents and includes field observations. The interviews have been processed according to inductive thematic analysis and are reported under three themes related to the childrens interaction with their environment. The result shows that the activity with horses has positive impact on the children's desire and ability to interact and communicate with the outside world. The skills manifests in interaction with children as well as with adults, both within the family and in other settings. The result of the study indicates conformity with previous research, and the event's multi-facetted content and effects are made visible. Surprising results are experiences of the children's different relationship and communication with horses, and observations of the immediate impact on the children when riding. Research from a family perspective highligtening the voice of the child is proposed, as well as further research on physiological effects of horseback riding in reltionship to social interacting.

Mental health problems and addiction problems are the two main risk factors for suicide in our society. The experiences psychotherapists have made in assessing the risk of patients committing suicide are important to further research in order to decrease the suicide numbers.

The purpose of this study was to look into the experiences psychotherapists have made in assessing the risk of suicide in patients.

The questions focused on the experiences of assessing the risk of suicide and which factors that might have had an influence on these experiences.

Data was collected by interview with six psychotherapists. The study had an inductive qualitative approach and thematic analysis was used as method for analysis of data.

Results show that the conversation and establishing of an alliance with the patient is decisive for the assessment. Feelings of meaninglessness and emptiness in the patient are seen as the main risk factors along with addiction. The sometimes indistinct borderline between psychotherapy and psychiatry may affect the therapeutic framework. Family and relatives are described as an unutilized resource. The risk of making a false assessment can at times create worries in the therapists and doubts about their own ability. Supervision and exchanging experiences with colleagues are mentioned as the main support in the work.

Discussion: The results show that the therapists sees assessment of suicidal risk in the patient as an important part of the work. It is possible to assess the suicidality in the patient. It is impossible to predict an actual suicide.

Further research is required to increase knowledge in the subject.

Introduction: In the eating disorder treatment you work most often in interdisciplinary teams, different professions with different theoretical knowledge and specialization. Is there really any common ground between them, and what would it be?

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate if there is a common ground between professions in the process of eating disorder patients.

Questions: Is there any common ground between various professions within the eating disorder treatment. If, how could it be utilized?

Method: Five people with different professions within the eating disorder treatment were interviewed, an occupational therapist, nurse, nutritionist, psychologist / psychotherapist and physiotherapist.

Results: The results of this study show that the therapists there is a consensus in relation to the eating disorder problems, des emergence, care and treatment. Their willingness and motivation to get healthy is with the meeting with the patient in the form of motivational work regardless of profession. A conclusion of the study is that the base between professions and what unites the different professional groups are thoughts about the affect of the role in terms of development and treatment. To deal with the issue of the eating disorders is about feelings and emotions that need to find the right emotional expression instead of being expressed through food.

Conclusion: For eating disorder treatment to achieve success, it is important that the patient´s motivation to be healthy, the patient gain confidence in reading and learn to recognize feelings and emotion.

Introduction: The relationship between leaders and employees, as well as the function of this relationship, has gained increasing importance in leadership research in recent years. How can attachment theory be used to increase knowledge of leaders' way of relating to leadership in our part of the world? The aim of this study is, under Swedish conditions, to investigate attachment styles within a group of leaders in a health care organization, and whether there are correlations between leaders’ attachment styles and how various relational parameters in leadership are experienced.

Research question: How do attachment styles differ in a group of first-line managers within a Swedish health care organization?

Are there correlations between attachment styles and how managers experience different relational parameters in his or her leadership?

Method: First-line managers (N = 40) from ten administrations in Region Västra Götaland were asked to answer the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) and a questionnaire designed to measure sense of leadership security.

Results: All survey responses, 37 pcs. (92.5%) were included in the study. The dominant attachment style was secure (86.5%), while five people (13.5%) were categorized as dismissing. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the attachment variable Secure and Leadership Security, and a negative significant relationship between the variable Fearful and Leadership Security, as well as with the subscale Participation. Leaders with dismissing attachment style tended to experience a slightly lower sense of security in his or her leadership than managers with secure attachment style.

Discussion/Conclusion: A clear majority of leaders in the study categorized themselves as securely attached, consistent with previous research. Attachment variables Secure and Fearful tended to have the strongest correlations, particularly with Leadership Security and with the subscale Participation. The results must be regarded with some caution, based on the size and the homogeneity of the population studied and on validity and reliability of the questionnaires.

Introduction: Mental illness is recognized to be increasing, and the debate is growing in terms of lack of resources. An unregulated sector is free to offer their services. The Swedish church is an unregulated authority and the church has a long tradition of offering discourses. The reality is challenging and the increased mental illness puts potential new requirements on competence.

Questions: How do the interviewees describe the mission to offer discourses? How do the interviewees describe why the patients ask for discourses? How do they experience their skills and training needs?

Methodology: Collection of data through qualitative depth-interviews with a hermeneutical and inductive approach. The material has been processed in a content analysis.

Result: The result illustrates that the mission to offer discourses is on one hand obvious, but on the other hand indistinct. The concept of church counseling and its content allow differentiations in mindset, and consensus is primarily existing in regards of what is not offered, namely psychotherapy.

The discourse-therapy helps to clarify what church counseling can offer and what cannot be offered. The result indicate that relationships and the everyday well-being are the main-topics in the discourses. In addition inner motives (e.g. perceived everyday stress and existential questions) and external motives (e.g. openness in society, free calls, have been recommended) also influence why patients look for discourse therapy. The counseling task seems unclear as well as the reasoning regarding competence and further training. Overall, the study shows that questions regarding identity – the uniqueness in what is offered in church counseling remains unclear, and that various limitations and level of suitable competence for discourse-therapy is handed over to the individual context to decide on.

Inledning: ”Komma-ut” processen för personer med sexuell identitet tillhörande en minoritet har sällan uppmärksammats utifrån föräldrarnas perspektiv. Att få en större förståelse för vad föräldrar går igenom under den process när deras barn kommer ut som homo-, bi- eller transsexuella kan ge en ökad kunskap om hur fenomenet kan bemötas i psykoterapin.

Frågeställningarna riktades in på att komma åt föräldrarnas upplevelser av ”komma-ut” situationen. Vad upplevde föräldrarna skedde i relationen med deras barn under ”komma-ut” processen och i vilket sammanhang? Syftet med studien var att få en djupare förståelse för föräldrarnas subjektiva upplevelser under ”komma-ut” processen utifrån ett anknytningsperspektiv.

Metod: En kvalitativ metod med fenomenologisk-hermeneutisk ansats valdes för att komma åt föräldrarnas subjektivt upplevda verklighet. Sex föräldrar med en erfarenhet av att ha hbt barn deltog i en semistrukturerad intervju. Intervjuerna har transkriberats och texternas innehåll analyserats med hjälp av en kvalitativ analys.

Resultat: Olika uttryck för föräldrarnas upplevelser under ”komma-ut” process presenteras utifrån givna tidsaspekterna; innan/när/efter deras barn kom ut som hbt. Samtliga föräldrar har beskrivit sig gå igenom en förändring och utvecklats som personer. Det mest centrala tema som föräldrarna hela tiden återkom till i sina berättelser var att känna oro för att deras barn skulle få svårigheter i livet på grund av sin sexualitet. Samtliga föräldrar var angelägna om att skydda och ge sina vuxna hbt-barn stöd.

Diskussion: Denna studies resultat belyser några nyanser i hur det kan vara för föräldrar vems barn identifierat sig som hbt. Föräldrarnas upplevelser av ”komma-ut” processen har i tidigare forskning konstaterats som variationsrika, även om det fanns gemensamma teman. Några föräldrar i den aktuella studien talade om en för dem viktig insikt, nämligen att de inte behöver förstå deras barns sexualitet. I stället behöver de acceptera att deras barn är hbt. Fortsatt forskning i ämnets specifika grenar skulle vara av ett stort intresse för att bättre bemöta ämnets frågor, och inte minst i psykoterapeutiska interventioner.

Introduction: Psychdynamic therapy has evolved from a strict view of the principle of neutrality towards a more liberal attitude, where some therapists choose to use self disclosure, and share some personal information about themselves. At institutions, psychotherapists and patients share everyday situations and several occasions arise where therapists has to relate to self disclosure.

Questions: Wich experiences have psychotherapists at institutions of self disclosure? On what grounds uses psychotherapists self disclosure? How do psychotherapists handle self disclosure in everyday contact outside the therapeutic situation?

Method: Qualitative method, semi-structured interviews with 5 licensed psychotherapists working at institutions. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the results.

Results: Self disclosure appears both in the therapeutic situation and in the everyday treatment work. Sel disclosure is used as an alliance-building intervention to meet the patients problems with lack of confidence, low stamina, and sometimes lack of motivation. Futher considered self disclosure helping to create security and make thetherapist less intimidating. Self disclosure is also used as an educational intervention in wich the psychotherapist can serve as role model in the therapeutic and everyday situations. It is considered important to make careful consideration about the self disclosures and keep it at a general level,that is not tangent to personal problems and personal conditions.

Discussion: Self disclosure is likely to occur to a greater extent at institutions than in individual psychotherapy. The classic neutral therapeutic stance is not considered to work because a majority of the patients problems is rooted in deficit.

Introduction: Sexuality had a central roll in the beginning of the development of psychoanalytic theory. At the same time the instinct theory was left behind, sexuality became less important as well, even though it is well known that sexuality penetrates the human way of life in a vigorous way. The purpose of the study is to investigate how licensed psychotherapists, who have the competence and are used to work with questions concerning sexuality, do so in their daily work.

Question: How do psychodynamic psychotherapists who specialised in sexuality work with their patients sexual problems?

Method: A qualitative phenomenologically -based interview carried out with five legitimate psychotherapists who specialised in sexuality, working in both public and private practice.

Results: Sexuality is given integrated room in the psychotherapeutic work. The importance of taking a sexual history shows in the results. Experiences of abandonment, trauma, shame and guilt return in the patient´s histories together with the experience that sexuality is regained as a defence against difficult feelings. This demands the ability of the psychotherapist to listen to and contain the patient´s histories, even the courage to ask question and talk naturally about sexuality. This can stir up difficult feelings in the psychotherapist. To make the work possible, emphasises the importance of supervision and therapy.

Discussion: Sexuality obviously affects most of the people in different ways. This study supports earlier results of literature and research and shows the advantages to involve sexuality in the psychotherapeutic work from the start. To integrate sexuality in the psychotherapeutic work gives the psychotherapist the possibility for deeper contact and understanding of the problems he/she investigates.

Introduction: Since PTSD has become a distinct diagnosis in the psychiatric manual of diagnoses (DSM) a lot of research has been done in this field. At the same time has research in the field of attachment produced evidence that early traumatic events, especially in relation to children´s attachment figures, rises the prevalence of psychiatric illness. This led to the hypothesis that attachmenttrauma could be a predisposing factor for development of PTSD or that a secure attachment could be a protective one. Most researchers chose veterans or violence/rape or crime-victims. This pilot-study chooses a different studypopulation.

Issues: Which attachment patterns show patients with exile-background who became victims of war and/or torture.

Method: The study uses two rating-scales for this, the PCL-5 to establish the participants PTSD-symptom-score and the ASQ to show the attachment pattern. In the qualitative part of the study the individual attachment patterns are established by evaluating and interpreting the answers in the ASQ-scale. The quantitative part of the study shows the correlations between the PTSD-totalscore and the attachment pattern.

Results: The qualitative part shows that nearly all participants with a high PTSDsymptom-score show an insecure attachment. The quantitative part shows some interesting tendencies like a positive correlation between high PTSD-total-score and high score in the ASQ-dimension “discomfort with closeness” and a nonsignificant negative correlation between high PTSD-total-score and confidence.

Discussion: The study confirms the hypothesis that PTSD-patient´s attachmentsystem is troubled. This result takes as a basis for more research with a bigger sample.

Introduction: There are few research references on psychotherapists physical and emotional reactions in the patient work. This thematic analysis is based on psychotherapists who work with people suffering from trauma, as previous studies indicate powerful physical and emotional reactions in the work with this target group. The purpose of the study is to illustrate how psychotherapists describe their experiences, both negative and positive, and how they handle them.

Questions: How do psychodynamic psychotherapists describe theirphysical and emotional reactions in the work with traumatized patients? How do they handle their own reactions?

Method: Five licensed psychotherapists with psychodynamic training in Sweden working with patients with trauma were interviewed. This qualitative researchapproach was processed with a thematic analysis.

Results: Psychotherapists describe difficulties facing the unimaginable violence in the patients' stories, how to protect themselves, how they carry hope, how they can cope with it and how they can use their reactions in therapy sessions. It also highlights the consequences regarding themselves and the need for recovery.

Discussion: The result is discussed from the theoretical concepts of countertransference, projective identification, containment and trauma. The psychotherapists´ reactions confirm earlier research of physical and emotional reactions, and isbeing discussed out of the wide impact the reactions have on psychotherapists´ professional and personal life.

Introduction: Intensive Short-Time Dynamic Psychotherapy, ISTDP, is apsychodynamic therapy method with unique therapy techniques. One of the crucialinterventions for a successful therapy is the psychodiagnose, an assessment that isdone by which defense is dominating with the patient and how anxiety is present.Psychopathology is seen as rooted in an attachment trauma and in the present studythe connection between the psychodiagnostic assessment and the attachment profilewas investigated. The psychodiagnose distinguishes between two spectra of patients,fragile character structure and psychoneurotic character structure. The differencebetween these character structures fits well with how you in the attachment researchdescribe disorganized attachment unlike the other unsecure attachments.

Questions: The purpose with the present study was to compare thepsychodiagnostic assessment with the patients’ attachment profile and explore how aself-rated attachment profile differ between individuals with fragile character structurerespective neurotic character structure.

Method: Twenty-four patients in psychiatric care were assessed using a model ofISTDP's psychodiagnostics (Frederickson, 2013) concerning the character structure.The patients attachment, rated with ASQ (Attachment Style Questionnaire), wascompared with the character structure in a statistical analysis to explore possible links.

Result: All patients were unsecure in their attachment profile according to the selfratingsand there was no significant difference between fragile character structure andneurotic character structure according to the attachment profile.

Discussion: The self-rating test that was used could be the reason to why there wereno significant differences. It has also in previously research been doubts whether thetest was capable of differentiate within a psychiatric sample.

The therapist defines the situation in the therapy-room and the emphasis of the unique individual is common, instead of being aware of social and cultural elements.

The aim of this study was to examine therapists reflections of gender, sex and sexuality.

Questionformulation: Which discourses emerge out of the therapists stories about gender, sex and sexuality based on their clinical work and personal experiences.

Method: Semistructured interviews were effectuated with five psychotherapists and a discursive psychological perspective was used in analysing the results.

Results: Three discourses were identified; the psychological, the biological and the social. The two discourses first lined were recognised by meanings of dominant discourses, including a dichotomy view on gender, a heteronormative idea of sexuality, naturalised opinions of motherhood, intrapsychic explanations and a lack of a critical stance towards the discipline of psychology. The social discourse embraced a norm critical aspect, which was recognised by a critical and flexible stance, a knowledge in power and stances against heteronormative ideas in our social and political context.

In the discussion were themes highlighted such as the responsibility of the therapist when it comes to questions of power in therapy and the need for reflexivity within the discipline of psychology. 

Introduction: Swedish schoolchildren’s habits concerning health show a decrease in mental health, but also that adolescents rate their mental emotional health as good or very good. The consumption of psychological healthcare among young adults in Sweden has increased. WHO defines eight different dimensions as important parts for building an existential health: connectedness to a spiritual being or force, meaning of life, awe, wholeness and integration, spiritual strength, inner peace/serenity/harmony, hope and optimism, and faith. The object of this study is to give a description the mental health of young people today.

Questions: How do four psychotherapists and one psychologist experience the existential health of young people/young adults today? In what way can therapy including existential perspectives contribute to better quality of life and existential health among young people?

Method: Four psychotherapists and one psychologist have been interviewed. The 3 (31) examination method of the study was based on a descriptive and qualitative research. Processing method was the theme analysis.

Result: There is a shortage of existential health. Young adults today are described as existentially lonely with an absence of spiritual thoughts and with escape and emptiness as means of dealing with difficulties. Young adults are more socially lonely today than before. They are more left alone by their parents than before and there is not enough grownup support. In psychotherapy it is important to show that it is normal to feel psychologically distressed during youth and that the therapist becomes a carrier of hope and meaning. This can be fulfilled trough the therapeutic relation.

Discussion: The result shows the importance of having longer sessions of therapy. It takes time to find “their” way. The psychotherapist can through play in therapy together with thw adolescent work through the existential issues and bring forth a meaning in life. The study shows the need for some kind of forum for teenagers, alone or in a group, where they can find an existential base to stand on. This would affect the mental health positively.

Introduction: Shame seems to be one of our most unpleasant emotions. There are connections between shame and depression, acute stress syndrome and it is one of the main reason for committing suicide.

Questions: What are psychotherapist´ views on the role of shame in the therapeutic process? Which are psychotherapist experiences when reducing shame has had a positive impact on humans well being? On the contrary what prevents us regulating shame and what are the difficulties in working with shame?

Method: The study has a qualitative and hermeneutic approach and method of analysis is thematic. Five experienced psychotherapists participate.

Result: Therapists have no experience of working with shame as a primary emotion. People are seeking therapy when shame is observed as anxiety or as a defence. Shame prevents us from our deep feelings as anger, sadness, love and interest etc. The non-verbal markers of shame do something with the whole personality and are close to our opinion about our self, that who I am.

Discussion: The experience of shame reminds of the experience of anxiety and fear. Thereby we need to treat shame in the same way as we treat anxiety given Malan´s triangle of conflict. Otherwise the risk is high that the patient terminates treatment prematurely. The contrary to shame is that we are lovable and we need to reach that experience if we will be able to regulate shame in treatment. To achieve these, qualities as self-compassion, acceptance, non-judgemental is needed. Furthermore the therapist´ ability to create an alliance and that we start to speak about shame are important.