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Harmony-disharmony therapy: a treatment method of African origin
Abstract
The harmony restoration theory of health (HRT) is an existential phenomenological theory of health and ill health from an African perspective. The theory emanated from years of clinical practice of Peter Ebigbo in the mid 90s has its basic tenet, "he who is at peace with his world does not fall sick" and this is the root from which all other tenets of the harmony restoration theory stems. The harmony restoration theory of health was borne out of the African concept of illness. In Africa, the mind, the body and the society interact to produce health and ill-health. From clinical practice, it was observed that the African personality has three components, namely: the endocosmos, which is the relationship between the individual and himself; the mesocosmos, the relationship between the individual and the significant others in his environment; and the exocosmos, the relationship between the individual and his God or gods. This paper examines the HRT, traces its origin from the African traditional and contemporary religion, the socio-cultural, personological aspect of its derivation, its development and how it is applied in the treatment of psychological disturbances as well as in maintaining positive health. It also examines two case studies where the harmony restoration therapy was used and lastly, makes a case for its further exploration by other health care practitioners.
... Such an emphasis on a blended coexistence of more entities, rather than a polarized prominence of single units, emerges from the findings of psychological studies conducted in these regions (Leung et al., 2002;Huang, 2016). These ontological perspectives, culturally constructed and historically transmitted, shape the understanding and conceptualization of mental phenomena (Markus and Kitayama, 1991;Igbokwe and Ndom, 2008;Ohajunwa and Mji, 2018), leading to the development of constructs such as "interdependent happiness" (Hitokoto and Uchida, 2015), or to the investigation of culturally specific concepts like "Ubuntu, " indicating that a person's humanity is inextricably linked to the humanity of another (Nyamnjoh, 2019). At the social level, these views are reflected in the collectivistic organization of most African and Asian communities (Triandis, 1974;Hofstede, 1980;Igbokwe and Ndom, 2008;Lim, 2009;Uchida and Ogihara, 2012), characterized by the primacy of relational aspects over pursuit of individual goals and Frontiers in Psychology 05 frontiersin.org ...
... These ontological perspectives, culturally constructed and historically transmitted, shape the understanding and conceptualization of mental phenomena (Markus and Kitayama, 1991;Igbokwe and Ndom, 2008;Ohajunwa and Mji, 2018), leading to the development of constructs such as "interdependent happiness" (Hitokoto and Uchida, 2015), or to the investigation of culturally specific concepts like "Ubuntu, " indicating that a person's humanity is inextricably linked to the humanity of another (Nyamnjoh, 2019). At the social level, these views are reflected in the collectivistic organization of most African and Asian communities (Triandis, 1974;Hofstede, 1980;Igbokwe and Ndom, 2008;Lim, 2009;Uchida and Ogihara, 2012), characterized by the primacy of relational aspects over pursuit of individual goals and Frontiers in Psychology 05 frontiersin.org desires. ...
... desires. The positive features of individuals, community, nature, and spiritual forces are conceived as reciprocally balanced and harmoniously intertwined (Igbokwe and Ndom, 2008;Lim, 2009;Huang, 2016;Nwoye, 2017). Overall, these findings point to the need for more accurately contextualizing positive dimensions of mental health (Di Martino et al., 2017). ...
Worldviews are culturally derived assumptions that influence individual and collective behaviors, values, and representations of reality. The study of mental functions is not exempt from this influence, as reflected in scientific theories, methodological approaches, and empirical studies. Despite acknowledging the interplay of mental processes with developmental, environmental, and cultural dimensions, psychological research is still primarily based on quantitative methods, and on the conceptualization of mental phenomena as unfolding along polarized continua. A lively epistemological debate surrounds this approach, especially underscoring the risk of blurring the distinction between constructs derived from statistical models and real-life processes and experiences. Based on this debate and on recent empirical evidence derived from the positive psychology literature, this paper is aimed at proposing an integrated view of mental health, as a holistically patterned, contextually imbedded, and dynamic phenomenon changing over time and across life events, with harmony, harmonization and dynamic balance as core qualities. The heuristic potential of investigating the qualitative configuration patterns of mental health dimensions across individuals and groups, beyond their position along a quantitative continuum, is outlined. The development of more integrated approaches and methodologies to investigate mental health as a harmonization process, taking into account personal, contextual and developmental features, would be aligned with evidence derived from the integration of traditional nomothetic and ideographic approaches, and other life sciences. However, the development of a transdisciplinary line of research requires further inputs from different epistemological views, as well as higher attention to the potential contribution of different philosophical traditions.
... The importance of harmony in lay people's experiences of happiness and well-being has been shown in a multicultural mixed methods study by Delle , but empirical evidence is lacking on the role of harmonizing as proposed by Senghor (1970) as an antecedent for well-being as an outcome. Igbokwe and Ndom (2008) indicated that good health in an African context means that the individual is in harmony with his/her cosmos (that includes the self, other people as well as the natural environment and spiritual forces). Disharmony manifests in physical, psychological and social illness. ...
... An African theory on harmony, the Harmony Restoration Theory, has been developed by Igbokwe and colleagues (Igbokwe et al., 2015;Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008) and defines harmony as "being at peace with one's cosmos (world)" (Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008, p. 61). This theory postulates that, for an individual to have inner peace and inner balance, there must be a peaceful coexistence between the individual and the components of his/her cosmos. ...
... This theory postulates that, for an individual to have inner peace and inner balance, there must be a peaceful coexistence between the individual and the components of his/her cosmos. Such balance involves peace within the individual (endocosmos), peace between the individual and significant others (mesocosmos) and lastly peace between the individual and a higher power, religion, or ancestral spirits (exocosmos) (Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008). In this theory, an imbalance in one of the cosmoses disrupts the individual's harmony and is the cause of all unwellness, be it physical or psychological (Igbokwe et al., 2015). ...
Harmony is recognized as fundamental to being and functioning well in philosophical traditions and empirical research globally and in Africa. The aim of this study was to explore and describe harmony as a quality of happiness in South Africa (N = 585) and Ghana (N = 420). Using a qualitative descriptive research design, participants’ responses to an open-ended question from the Eudaimonic-Hedonic Happiness Investigation (EHHI, Delle Fave et al., Soc Indic Res 100:185–207, 2011) on what happiness meant to them were coded according to the formalized EHHI coding manual. Responses that were assigned any of the following codes were considered: codes from the “harmony/balance” category in the “psychological definitions” life domain; and codes from any other life domain containing the words “harmony”, “balance”, or “peace”. This resulted in 222 verbatim responses from South Africa and 80 from Ghana that were analyzed using content analysis to get a sense of the experiential texture of harmony as a quality of happiness. Findings showed that happiness was often expressed as harmony and balance within and between intrapersonal, interpersonal, transcendental, and universal levels of functioning, with wholeness, interconnectedness, and synergy implied. These findings, resonating with philosophical reflections on harmony from Africa and elsewhere, suggest that harmony as a quality of happiness is essentially holistic and contextually embedded and that context-sensitive interdisciplinary approaches to theory building and intervention development pertaining to harmony are needed locally and globally.
... The importance of harmony in lay people's experiences of happiness and well-being has been shown in a multicultural mixed methods study by Delle , but empirical evidence is lacking on the role of harmonizing as proposed by Senghor (1970) as an antecedent for well-being as an outcome. Igbokwe and Ndom (2008) indicated that good health in an African context means that the individual is in harmony with his/her cosmos (that includes the self, other people as well as the natural environment and spiritual forces). Disharmony manifests in physical, psychological and social illness. ...
... An African theory on harmony, the Harmony Restoration Theory, has been developed by Igbokwe and colleagues (Igbokwe et al., 2015;Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008) and defines harmony as "being at peace with one's cosmos (world)" (Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008, p. 61). This theory postulates that, for an individual to have inner peace and inner balance, there must be a peaceful coexistence between the individual and the components of his/her cosmos. ...
... This theory postulates that, for an individual to have inner peace and inner balance, there must be a peaceful coexistence between the individual and the components of his/her cosmos. Such balance involves peace within the individual (endocosmos), peace between the individual and significant others (mesocosmos) and lastly peace between the individual and a higher power, religion, or ancestral spirits (exocosmos) (Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008). In this theory, an imbalance in one of the cosmoses disrupts the individual's harmony and is the cause of all unwellness, be it physical or psychological (Igbokwe et al., 2015). ...
Positive mental health, and the validity of its assessment instruments, are largely unexplored in the Ghanaian context. This study examined the factor structure of the Twi version of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form and explored the prevalence of positive mental health in a sample of rural Ghanaian adults (N = 444). A bifactor exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) model fit the data better than competing models (confirmatory factor analysis [CFA], bifactor CFA, and ESEM models). We found a high omega reliability coefficient for the general positive mental health factor (ω = .97) and marginal reliability scores for the emotional (ω = .51) and social well-being (ω = .57) subscales, but a low reliability score for the psychological well-being subscale (ω = .41). Findings support the existence of a general mental health factor, and confirm the underlying three-dimensional structure of mental health, but suggest that caution should be applied when interpreting subscale scores, especially for the psychological well-being subscale. Based on Keyes’s criteria for the categorical diagnosis of the presence of positive mental health, 25.5% of the sample were flourishing, with 74.5% functioning at suboptimal levels (31.1% languishing, 41.4% with moderate mental health) and may benefit from contextually relevant positive psychological interventions, which may also buffer against psychopathology.
... The importance of harmony in lay people's experiences of happiness and well-being has been shown in a multicultural mixed methods study by Delle , but empirical evidence is lacking on the role of harmonizing as proposed by Senghor (1970) as an antecedent for well-being as an outcome. Igbokwe and Ndom (2008) indicated that good health in an African context means that the individual is in harmony with his/her cosmos (that includes the self, other people as well as the natural environment and spiritual forces). Disharmony manifests in physical, psychological and social illness. ...
... An African theory on harmony, the Harmony Restoration Theory, has been developed by Igbokwe and colleagues (Igbokwe et al., 2015;Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008) and defines harmony as "being at peace with one's cosmos (world)" (Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008, p. 61). This theory postulates that, for an individual to have inner peace and inner balance, there must be a peaceful coexistence between the individual and the components of his/her cosmos. ...
... This theory postulates that, for an individual to have inner peace and inner balance, there must be a peaceful coexistence between the individual and the components of his/her cosmos. Such balance involves peace within the individual (endocosmos), peace between the individual and significant others (mesocosmos) and lastly peace between the individual and a higher power, religion, or ancestral spirits (exocosmos) (Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008). In this theory, an imbalance in one of the cosmoses disrupts the individual's harmony and is the cause of all unwellness, be it physical or psychological (Igbokwe et al., 2015). ...
Psychology is concerned with human behaviour, therefore all psychologies are contextually-embedded and culturally informed. A movement towards globalising psychology would invariably diminish the localised socio-cultural situatedness of psychology, and instead seek to advance a dominant Euro-American centred psychology even in regions where such applications do not fit. The emergence of strong voices, and theoretically grounded and empirically supported positions from the global South in general and sub-Saharan Africa in particular, in studies of well-being allows for the opportunity to explore and describe an Africa(n) centred positive psychology. Acknowledging the limitations of cross-cultural psychological approaches, which have encouraged the uncritical transportation of Euro-American centred concepts and values, in this chapter we utilise assumptions from critical, cultural and African psychology to present our initial thoughts about a culturally embedded, socially relevant and responsive, and context respecting Africa(n) centred positive psychology. This challenge warrants consideration of early contributions to the study of well-being, its current data-driven positivist tendency, as well as African worldviews grounded in interdependence, collectivism, relatedness, harmony with nature, and spirituality. For an Africa(n) centred positive psychology, it is also essential to consider questions of epistemology, ways of knowing about the world and the human condition, context respecting knowledge, and theory building. Drawing on current scholarly evidence in sub-Saharan Africa, which emphasises relationality and societal values and norms shaping experiences of well-being, we propose future directions and discuss implications for empirical research and theory building within positive psychology which seeks to centre Africa and African experiences.
... The importance of harmony in lay people's experiences of happiness and well-being has been shown in a multicultural mixed methods study by Delle , but empirical evidence is lacking on the role of harmonizing as proposed by Senghor (1970) as an antecedent for well-being as an outcome. Igbokwe and Ndom (2008) indicated that good health in an African context means that the individual is in harmony with his/her cosmos (that includes the self, other people as well as the natural environment and spiritual forces). Disharmony manifests in physical, psychological and social illness. ...
... An African theory on harmony, the Harmony Restoration Theory, has been developed by Igbokwe and colleagues (Igbokwe et al., 2015;Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008) and defines harmony as "being at peace with one's cosmos (world)" (Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008, p. 61). This theory postulates that, for an individual to have inner peace and inner balance, there must be a peaceful coexistence between the individual and the components of his/her cosmos. ...
... This theory postulates that, for an individual to have inner peace and inner balance, there must be a peaceful coexistence between the individual and the components of his/her cosmos. Such balance involves peace within the individual (endocosmos), peace between the individual and significant others (mesocosmos) and lastly peace between the individual and a higher power, religion, or ancestral spirits (exocosmos) (Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008). In this theory, an imbalance in one of the cosmoses disrupts the individual's harmony and is the cause of all unwellness, be it physical or psychological (Igbokwe et al., 2015). ...
Child marriage has been identified as a violation of human rights and an obstacle to promoting the development goals concerning gender, health and education. All these impacts undermine the development of the girl child. Despite the potential for negative outcomes, the presence of intrinsic and extrinsic resources can buffer the adverse effects (e.g., psychological, physical and economic impact) of early marriage. This study employed a qualitative exploratory, descriptive design to explore and describe protective resources utilised by married girls in the Northern region of Ghana to cope with the challenges in their marriage and to promote positive outcomes. Using semi-structured interviews, data was collected from 21 married girls who were aged between 12 and 19 years. Findings, from a thematic analysis of data, showed that intrinsic resources that promoted positive outcomes included possession of resilience attitudes, the use of help-seeking and active coping, and in some instances avoidance coping for problems they perceived as unsolvable. Extrinsic resources included interpersonal support networks, however, participants reported limited access to community and NGO support, which were also identified as protective resources. Policy makers and clinicians should consider a social justice approach in evaluating and recommending protective resources to girls in early marriages when working to promote their well-being. In so doing, attention should be placed on making external support systems accessible to married girls.
... It also posits that a disruption or disharmony in any of these domains would engender ill health or psychopathology. Hence, assessing harmony and disharmony in the three aspects of an individual's cosmos is crucial for planning and successful psychotherapeutic intervention strategy (Ebigbo, 1995(Ebigbo, , 2001; Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008;Igbokwe, 2014). As a theory of health and ill health from an African perspective, the HRTheory uses a psychotherapy procedure developed by Ebigbo (1995Ebigbo ( , 2001aOnyeizugbo, 2002), named Harmony Restoration Therapy (HRTherapy). ...
... It also posits that a disruption or disharmony in any of these domains would engender ill health or psychopathology. Hence, assessing harmony and disharmony in the three aspects of an individual's cosmos is crucial for planning and successful psychotherapeutic intervention strategy (Ebigbo, 1995(Ebigbo, , 2001; Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008;Igbokwe, 2014). As a theory of health and ill health from an African perspective, the HRTheory uses a psychotherapy procedure developed by Ebigbo (1995Ebigbo ( , 2001aOnyeizugbo, 2002), named Harmony Restoration Therapy (HRTherapy). ...
... The African's behavior is thus determined by their relationship with the components of their cosmos. This further establishes that the African is largely cosmocentric and any presence of disharmony or disruption of relationship between them and their cosmos brings about illness or disharmony in the African (Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008). The issue is not whether the problem is from the society, the mind of the individual or the body of the person, the overall effect of disharmony is either psychological or physiological ill health. ...
Objective-The Harmony Restoration Theory (HRTheory) propounded by Ebigbo (1995, 2001a) is an African psychodiagnostic theory of health. It is a theory of harmony-disharmony, psychopathology, psychotherapy and a useful attempt to account for the aetiology of psychopathology in the African. Central to the theory is the notion that psychopathology arises from the disharmony in the cosmos of an individual. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a measuring scale, harmony-disharmony scale (HD Scale), for determining the areas of the cosmos which an individual needs harmony restoration before the initiation of harmony restoration therapy. Method-Based on the harmony restoration theory of health and Harmony restoration therapy, 120 items with 40 items per subscale were generated focusing on the three aspects of an individual's cosmos viz: endocosmos, mesocosmos and exocosmos needing harmony restoration. The outcome, a 120 likert-type scale, was administered to a cross-section of University undergraduates. The 258 responses obtained from the respondents (124 males and 128 females) aged 16 to 29 years (21.02 ± 4.083, mean ± s.d.) were subjected to factor analysis. Results-The data was examined to assess the suitability for factor analysis and was found suitable with good R-matrix, Bartlett's test of Sphericity and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) sample sufficiency. A 3-factor model emerged from the result of the factor analysis with 59 pure and valid items loading on factor 1, 23 items loading on factor 2 and 16 items loading on factor 3. The factors retained their original theoretical names viz: endocosmos, mesocosmos and exocosmos. Conclusion-The finding of this study is consistent with the harmony restoration theory on the African personality consisting of three components. Suggestions on ways to advance this area of research were made and a short version of the harmony-disharmony scale was proposed.
... Interpersonal harmony has received more attention by Asian and African researchers, as a specific case of social harmony framed in the local philosophical traditions of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, or African worldviews linking humans, nature and spiritual forces (Igbokwe and Ndom, 2008;Nyamnjoh, 2019;Nwoye, 2018). ...
... The harmonious interplay between natural and supernatural forces transcending humans has been conceptualized within most philosophical and religious traditions (Igbokwe, 2008;Li and Düring, 2020;Nwoye, 2018;Nyamnjoh. 2015;Wang et al., 2018). ...
In a time marked by profound polarization, this volume draws attention to virtue that is of key importance in many non-Western cultures but is largely neglected in modern Western thought: the virtue of harmony. The volume comprises a collection of thirteen essays that expound harmony against different cultural and disciplinary backgrounds. Each contribution focuses on some aspect of what harmony—as a personal trait, social disposition, or environmental outlook—entails and describes how the virtue may be cultivated; either by examining the way in which it has been discussed in specific traditions in ethical, religious, or political thought, or by developing a cross-cultural analysis of the theory and practice of the virtue of harmony.
... Interpersonal harmony has received more attention by Asian and African researchers, as a specific case of social harmony framed in the local philosophical traditions of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, or African worldviews linking humans, nature and spiritual forces (Igbokwe and Ndom, 2008;Nyamnjoh, 2019;Nwoye, 2018). ...
... The harmonious interplay between natural and supernatural forces transcending humans has been conceptualized within most philosophical and religious traditions (Igbokwe, 2008;Li and Düring, 2020;Nwoye, 2018;Nyamnjoh. 2015;Wang et al., 2018). ...
The concept of harmony was neglected by scientific psychology until recent years, when the growing interest in the investigation of well-being, happiness and the good life brought this dimension to the attention of researchers. Within the literature on human positive functioning, harmony was variously defined and operationalized as a component of well-being in the context of broader theoretical models. This chapter is aimed at providing an overview of the psychological contributions to the study of harmony, which was investigated in relation to intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transcendent dimensions of human experience. Although not explicitly included in the current psychological classifications of virtues, harmony shares features with the virtues of temperance, kindness, justice, and transcendence. Due to this multifaceted structure, the identification of harmony with a virtue requires further conceptual elaboration and empirical investigation.
... Positive relational qualities are not only linked to the experience of meaning in life, but also to harmony on individual, social and spiritual levels (Nwoye, 2018;Ohajunwa and Mji, 2018;Wang et al., 2018;Li and Düring, 2020;Wissing et al., 2020). Theoretical and empirical studies mostly explored interpersonal harmony together with intrapersonal and contextual harmony -probably because these studies are mostly linked to integrative philosophical perspectives such as Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, or African ontological perspectives linking people, nature and spiritual forces (e.g., Igbokwe and Ndom, 2008;Sundararajan, 2008Sundararajan, , 2013Nyamnjoh, 2015;Huang, 2016;Nwoye, 2018;Wang et al., 2018). From the above, it is easy to comprehend that relational qualities and harmony are also linked with virtues, values, peace and moral behavior, often as part of interdisciplinary studies (e.g., Fowers and Anderson, 2018;White, 2018;Fowers et al., 2020;McGrath and Brown, 2020;Fowers, 2021;McGrath, 2021;Delle Fave et al., in press). ...
... Harmony as a phenomenon received much attention from philosophy particularly in East Asian (e.g., Li, 2016;Wang et al., 2018;Li and Düring, 2020) and African (e.g., Igbokwe and Ndom, 2008;Mkhize, 2008;Metz, 2016) contexts, but empirical studies lagged behind, especially in Western contexts. Only in recent times harmony and associated constructs and processes such as balance, peace, serenity, harmonization and more, came into focus in scientific psychological studies on wellbeing referring to qualities on intrapersonal, interpersonal, social, ecological and spiritual levels. ...
The positive psychology (PP) landscape is changing, and its initial identity is being challenged. Moving beyond the “third wave of PP,” two roads for future research and practice in well-being studies are discerned: The first is the state of the art PP trajectory that will (for the near future) continue as a scientific (sub)discipline in/next to psychology (because of its popular brand name). The second trajectory (main focus of this manuscript) links to pointers described as part of the so-called third wave of PP, which will be argued as actually being the beginning of a new domain of inter- or transdisciplinary well-being studies in its own right. It has a broader scope than the state of the art in PP, but is more delineated than in planetary well-being studies. It is in particular suitable to understand the complex nature of bio-psycho-social-ecological well-being, and to promote health and wellness in times of enormous challenges and changes. A unique cohering focus for this post-disciplinary well-being research domain is proposed. In both trajectories, future research will have to increase cognizance of metatheoretical assumptions, develop more encompassing theories to bridge the conceptual fragmentation in the field, and implement methodological reforms, while keeping context and the interwovenness of the various levels of the scientific text in mind. Opportunities are indicated to contribute to the discourse on the identity and development of scientific knowledge in mainstream positive psychology and the evolving post-disciplinary domain of well-being studies.
... Spiritual practices emphasize moving beyond the individual perspective to understand how living things are embedded in complex relationships within the ecological world (Redvers et al., 2022). Similarly, according to Igbokwe and Ndom (2008), African good health is conceptualized as the individual being in a state of harmony with his or her cosmos, this idea of health encompasses not only the self but also other people, the natural environment, and spiritual forces . This aggregate perspective is also seen in the belief system of Taoism (Nelson, 2009). ...
Despite differences in how scholars define flourishing, they tend to approach the question of flourishing from a universalist perspective by assuming that it amounts to a single, overarching concept across cultures. We will review the weaknesses in this approach. First, we highlight limitations in current “cross-cultural” research on flourishing, which prioritizes psychometric validity at the expense of cultural validity. We then review the inherent Western assumptions that seem to underly the flourishing literature, which include the tendency to (1) focus on the person as an independent, autonomous unit, (2) neglect elements of duty and responsibility to others, (3) overlook communal flourishing (4) disregard the influence of religion and spirituality, and (5) emphasize high-arousal positive emotions (“joy,” “happiness,” “excitement”) at the expense of low-arousal positive emotions in conceptualizations of flourishing. These findings underscore the need to expand the existing paradigms of flourishing to include concepts that are relevant to how individuals conceptualize flourishing in their respective societies. Careful assessment and integration of sociocultural meaning systems and differing philosophical, religious, and political traditions is critically warranted to understand flourishing in diverse populations.
... In Nigeria, most therapists follow an eclectic approach. Eclecticism does not focus only on the Western methods but on the admixture of western and indigenous psychotherapy methods like Harmony Restoration Therapy (Ebigbo et al., 1997;Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008) and Meseron Therapy. Manickam (1992) identified four different types of integration viz: common factors approach to understanding psychotherapy, assimilative integration, technical integration and theoretical integration. ...
The present study involved an in-depth probe into the selected personality variables of
children with conduct disorder (CD) and comparison to their normal counterparts (NC)
to provide a better understanding of their psychopathology. A sample of 16 children with
conduct disorder and 16 children without any behavioral problems between 9 and 13
years of age and their respective parents, either mother or father were studied based on
their availability. Child Behaviour Questionnaire (CBQ) was used as a screening tool for
selecting the control group of children without Conduct Disorder. Personality dimensions
of children were assessed on Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (JEPQ), children’s
perception of the parents was evaluated by using Parent-Child Relationship Scale (PCRS)
and parenting style of the parents of these children was measured through Multidimensional Parenting-Scale (MDP-Scale). The mean values and standard deviations of the variables for each group were calculated. Student’s t-test was used to assess the differences between patients and their control counterparts. The children with conduct disorder were found to have the higher predisposition for neuroticism, psychoticism and lie scale. The CD children perceived their parents negatively compared to the normal children. Parents of CD group also showed significantly negative parenting style. The CD children’s negative appraisal of the parents reflects poor parent child bondage.
Key words: Conduct disorder children, personality, perception of parents, parenting style
... In Nigeria, most therapists follow an eclectic approach. Eclecticism does not focus only on the Western methods but on the admixture of western and indigenous psychotherapy methods like Harmony Restoration Therapy (Ebigbo et al., 1997;Igbokwe & Ndom, 2008) and Meseron 7KHUDS\ 0DQLFNDP LGHQWL¿HG IRXU different types of integration viz: common factors approach to understanding psychotherapy, assimilative integration, technical integration and theoretical integration. The present case was treated from an assimilative integration perspective. ...
Application of Gestalt therapy is not common with Nigerian clients. The more common psychotherapy modalities are the indigenous psychotherapy models of either Harmony Restoration Therapy or Meseron Therapy. This paper presents a case report of Ms. J. E, a 28-year-old single graduate, a civil servant. Client was misdiagnosed at the age of 24 years as being anaemic while undergoing her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme and was placed on injectable pentaxocine. Client became addicted to the drug, using it as a stimulant when depressed. Client’s abuse of the drug led her to stealing personal belongings of family members to purchase the drug. Client stole her mother’s gold trinkets worth about 5 million Nairas, which purportedly led the mother developing kidney failure and her eventual death. Client had gone for previous rehabilitation, which did not achieve positive result. Client was treated with gestalt therapy in order to resolve the unfinished business that she had with her mother. Client improved following treatment and is still stable after two years follow-up.
For a long time, well-being research had been driven from a Western perspective with a neglect of cultural and contextual variables. In this chapter we argue with reference to well-being research as manifested in positive psychology (PP) as a discipline, that contextual, metatheoretical and metadisciplinary perspectives need to be taken into account. Developments in PP over time are described, illustrating the importance of contexts and assumptions in understanding well-being, and how new assumptions in the third wave of PP resonate with old African wisdoms about interconnectedness as a core value in human lives. The first wave of PP focused on advocating for the positive in human functioning, many facets of well-being were differentiated in theory and empirical studies, while assuming a naturalist worldview and that findings from the West are globally applicable. The second wave showed that PP needs to take context, culture and negative facets of human life into account for understanding the nature and dynamics of well-being. The emerging third wave of PP is characterized by the acceptance of a strong relational ontology and trends towards contextualization, interconnectedness and post-disciplinarity. Harmonizing Western and African perspectives are indicated, and specifically also the understanding of well-being as harmony and harmonization. The third wave suggests a move to “well-being studies”, instead of the disciplinary bound “positive psychology studies”—a butterfly leaving its cocoon.
Classical theories of harmony have been used to explain phenomena like beauty, happiness, health, virtue, pleasure, peace, and even ecological sustainability. With the intent of making these theories more accessible to designers, this article reviews the conception of harmony from about 500 BCE to the present. It begins with a brief overview of harmony in classical Chinese and Greek philosophy. Then it examines the role of harmony in
the renaissance, the scientific revolution, and the early modern period across topics in aesthetics, ethics, physics, politics, and economics. Finally, turning to the 20th century, this article highlights the conceptual function of harmony in psychology, neuroscience, computer science, and design. This synthesis concludes with a review of applications and implications for con- temporary designers. An essential conclusion of this article is that harmony involves the integration of diversity into a greater whole; harmony is not pure agreement or “sameness.” Overall, we suggest that classical principles of harmony might serve as a theoretical framework to help designers de- velop a more sustainable and vibrant vision of the future.
"My aim in this essay is to raise the question 'Is there such a thing as mental illness?' and to argue that there is not." Major sections are: Mental Illness as a Sign of Brain Disease; Mental Illness as a Name for Problems in Living; The Role of Ethics in Psychiatry; Choice, Responsibility, and Psychiatry; and Conclusions. Mental illness "is a myth, whose function it is to disguise and thus render more palatable the bitter pill of moral conflicts in human relations." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Mental health is defined and a diagnostic system of ordered and disordered African (Black) personality functioning is discussed. The discussion first is grounded in the backdrop of briefly stated but fundamental "Advances in Black Personality Theory." Mental health is then shown to be rooted in the original human's biogenetic nature, and, hence, the natural order. Both ordered and disordered personality functioning are considered in this context. The nosology systematizes 18 of the disorders of the African personality (a) with one another and (b) with the nosological system prevalent in Euro-American psychology (DSM-ILI). Two cases (one actual, one contrived) are presented to illustrate practical usage of the nosology.
A revision of the author's 1937 publication, "Personality: A Psychological Interpretation" (see
11: 1964). The most important recent "fruits of personological research" are surveyed. Intended for "college students who have little or no background in psychology," this edition incorporates a restatement of Allport's thesis that man is not a reactive robot but a being with unique potential for growth and a revision of his argument regarding functional autonomy. New chapters dealing with cultural factors in personality, cognition, the self, learning, personality assessment, and person perception are included. The philosophical consequences of endorsing one psychological interpretation of personality rather than another are discussed. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3HA93A. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Among Nigerian mentally ill a constant male-female ratio of 2:1, over-representation of single males and married females and the tendency for the females who seek psychiatric aid to be psychotic with schizoaffective disturbances have been observed. The question arose as to why this is so. To answer this, the Enugu Somatization Scale, developed in an effort to avoid the difficulty encountered in using Western diagnostic illness categories and scales for assessing mental illness in Nigeria was administered to 51 mentally ill females, 60 adolescent secondary school girls, 67 post secondary school females, 149 pregnant females, and 60 women who were once able to bear children but now no longer can. It was found that somatization is used by Nigerian females to contain their stress. The pregnant females scored lowest while those women who can no longer deliver scored highest. Pregnancy is seen as a state of rest from societal stress for the females, who otherwise are not allowed by the society to be so mentally ill as to seek a psychiatrist and who have to be psychotic to be able to do so. Various tentative, dynamic explanations of the items in the scale answered in the affirmative by a wide cross section of the women, based on the clinical experience of the author, are offered.
Well-being therapy is a short-term, well-being-enhancing psychotherapeutic strategy. It is based on Carol D. Ryff's multidimensional model of psychological well-being, encompassing environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life, autonomy, self-acceptance and positive relations with others. Its conceptual and technical issues are described. It may be applied as a relapse-preventive strategy in the residual phase of affective (mood and anxiety) disorders, as an additional ingredient of cognitive behavioral packages, in patients with affective disorders who failed to respond to standard pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments, in body image disorders and in psychosomatic medicine. The first validation studies appeared to be promising. The technique is in its preliminary stage of development and may undergo major changes in the next years. It is hoped it may herald a new trend of psychotherapy research and practice in the current symptom-oriented settings.
This article describes the main characteristics and technical features of a novel psychotherapeutic strategy, well-being therapy. This paper outlines the background of its development, the structure of well-being therapy, its key concepts and technical aspects. Well-being therapy is based on Ryff's multidimensional model of psychological well-being, encompassing six dimensions: autonomy, personal growth, environmental mastery, purpose in life, positive relations and self-acceptance. The goal of this therapy is improving the patients' levels of psychological well-being according to these dimensions, using cognitive-behavioral techniques. It may be applied as a relapse-preventive strategy in the residual phase of affective (mood and anxiety) disorders, as an additional ingredient of cognitive-behavioral packages, in patients with affective disorders who failed to respond to standard pharmacological or psychotherapeutic treatments and in body image disturbances. The clinical studies supporting its efficacy are illustrated.
A survey was made of reports on the improvement of neurotic patients after psychotherapy, and the results compared with the best available estimates of recovery without benefit of such therapy. The figures fail to support the hypothesis that psychotherapy facilitates recovery from neurotic disorder. In view of the many difficulties attending such actuarial comparisons, no further conclusions could be derived from the data whose shortcomings highlight the necessity of properly planned and executed experimental studies into this important field." 40 references.
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