Dr. James Husen, Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Attorney, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

  I’ve been participating in the Child Custody Evaluator Annual DV / IPV update with Dr. Love today: Family Code 6320 now has new categories of disturbing the peace / coercive control over various types but also Pet Abuse, Technology Facilitated Abuse and Reproductive Coercion—see the language at Family Code 6320 in the link below: Family Code 6320 Here’s a couple of new terms for you: Stealthing: “wen a partner secretly removes a condom during sex without the other person’s consent”; Fraping: “unauthorized alteration of information on a person's online social media profile by another person.”

Childhood sexual abuse can in some cases particularly disorganize the growing child’s attachment system resulting in among other things for some, an ability to lie about other caregivers. In the link below I explore this observation in my practice as an attorney and now as a psychologist. In saying that, I do not mean to minimize in any way the harm caused to the child or the importance of protecting such children from further harm. The link below will take you to a paper I wrote about 9 years ago but still think it pretty good where I offer some ideas that I explored back in 2013 as an attorney working with families back then. Husen, J. (2013). Attachment trauma in divorce: Recommendations for judges, lawyers, and child custody evaluators. Paper researched and written for Bereavement Counseling with M. Woodruff Johnson, Psy.D.

 I read Higgin's 1998 article entitled  Promotion and prevention: Regulatory focus as a motivational principle. The link to that reading is here . The link to the article itself is here .  Higgin's contributes to Motivational research by pointing out an important distinction accounting for the mixed results associated with the classic Motivational equation--i.e. that X Motivation = Expectancy of success x the Value of the goal to the person.  Worth the read as it will add your understanding of the pleasure vs. pain polarity underlying this key feature of human motivation--i.e. promotion of gain (seeking / approaching pleasure) and/or the prevention of loss (avoidance / pain / risk of harm reduction).  This line of research is consilient with attachment theory's emphasis on the regulatory features of different styles of attachment--i.e. secure flexible, anxiety underregulated, avoidant over regulated and disorganized as dysregulated. See for example  Calkins...

  I think the consensus among psychologists that the self is essential to regulation of emotion. Furthermore, regulation of emotion has emerged as a general factors in most of the psychological disorders detailed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2013). We are calling this the p factor. 1. Chapter 1, The Self in Psychological Disorders: An Introduction 2. Chapter 2, 

  Generally speaking, guilt tends to be helpful and leads to personal growth and positive change. This is because "in guilt, the self is negatively evaluated in connection with something, but is not itself the focus of the experience." When it comes to shame; however, shame tends to be about one's identity. (Lewis, H. B. (1971). Shame and guilt in neurosis. Psychoanalytic Review, 58(3), 419-438) I read the entire article for your edification at the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jtb0nzkz0l3kuph/Lewis%2C%201971%2C%20Shame%20and%20Guilt.mp4?dl=0 Lewis, H. B. (1971). Shame and guilt in neurosis. Psychoanalytic Review, 58(3), 419-438 For your read the article yourself click the following Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3xsgnccm0kkkprv/Helen%20Lewis_%20Shame%20and%20Guilt%20in%20Neurosis_.pdf?dl=0 I do notice that a lot of the research on Shame and Guilt took place in the late seventies and early eighties. I haven't been seeing much in the literature these days ...

 1. Lack of Value and Justification

 I've been studying Systems Theory, Attachment, and Psychoanalysis as it relates to Family Conflict and how to ameliorate or help such families. I thought I would leave some of my readings on my Blog for others and myself: 1.      Pocock on Working with Emotional Systems 2.