Today therapy dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) service people more than ever and different categories of work places use therapy dogs to help their caretakers. Many studies have been made on the positive effects in patients when they are given contact with a dog, but very little have been done on how the dog experience its situation and what kind of behaviour a therapy dog shows during its working days. This work was made to investigate the behaviours that educated therapy dogs in Sweden showed when they were in contact with a caretaker and to find out if the dogs showed any signs of stress or some other kind of discomfort. To do this a survey was sent out to 17 educated therapy dog handlers in Sweden that together had 18 educated therapy dogs. The survey contained 39 questions about the daily work of the therapy dogs when they were together with caretakers and some questions about the therapy dogs spare time. A question about what kind of dog breed the therapy dog handlers had were also in the survey to investigate if some breeds were more usual as therapy dogs.

BackgroundPeople with psychiatric problems, despite efforts in recent decades still experience vulnerability. Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), where self-harm is common, often live in difficult and complex social relationships because of their illness. Additional knowledge and studies about mental illness, self-harm, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and the therapeutic alliance are needed.Purpose and MethodThis study aims to examine how staff perceive and describe: DBT as a treatment method; the therapeutic alliance and the importance it has for treatment. The study utilises a qualitative approach with a qualitative content analysis method and presents earlier research on DBT and the therapeutic alliance. The empirical material consists of focus group interviews comprising three DBT - teams.

Animal-assisted therapy had its large breakthrough in the 1960-ties when a psychiatrist named Boris Levinson discovered the great advantages of involving animals in the treatment of patients. Therapy with animals involves that animals are used in a systematic way, in a person's process of treatment. The most distinguished companion animal used within this area is the dog, but horses, cats, rabbits, birds, dolphins and the most common farm animals are used in animal-assisted therapy. Most animals that are to be used for this specific purpose need to be trained in order to maintain their physical and mental health, but also to minimize the risks for the people that are involved. Most studies within this research area are focused on the positive effects on the patients and less on the effects on the animals.

Morbid jealousy is a relatively common problem that often results in relational conflicts, frequently involving violence. Eventually many relationships break down as a consequence of these conflicts. Despite of this morbid jealousy is considered to be under-researched. As regards the treatment of morbid jealousy there is however some evidence that cognitive behaviour therapy is a worthwhile treatment, and there is also a growing body of evidence that jealousy, normal as well as morbid, is an evolutionary adaptation. This study integrates an evolutionary psychological approach with cognitive behaviour therapy in the treatment of morbid jealousy.

At two nursing homes for people with dementia a qualitative study was performed. The purpose was to investigate the therapy dog?s meaning to people with dementia from their perspective. Two women and five men with dementia were interviewed, everyone being somewhere between 60 and 87 years of age. All but one had previously owned a dog at some point in their lives.

Hemuppgiften är ett viktigt moment inom såväl Funktionell familjeterapi (FFT) som Dialektisk beteendeterapi (DBT). Målsättningen med denna uppsats var att utröna om, och i sådana fall på vilket sätt, hemuppgifter ges inom den familjeterapeutiska kontext som utgör ramen för FFT. En hypotes vid arbetets ingång var att de interaktionistiska hemuppgifterna kommit att ersättas av de mer beteendeorienterade som ingår i DBT.De personer som utgjort underlag för undersökningen arbetar alla på en öppenvårdsmottagning inom Barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin (BUP) i Uppsala, med antingen ovan nämnda Funktionella familjeterapi (n=3) eller med Dialektisk beteendeterapi (n=2).Syftet med studien var att, dels via en enkätundersökning dels via en intervju i fokusgruppform, försöka förstå mer av det psykoterapeutiska redskap som utgörs av hemuppgiften. Fokus låg på den relationella hemuppgift som familjeterapeuterna tillhörande nämnda team förväntas konstruera utifrån tillhandahållen FFT-manual.Resultatet visade på en relativt stor bredd när det gällde terapeuternas syn på och tillämpning av hemuppgiften, men det generella mönstret pekade på att terapeuterna i sitt praktiska arbete konstruerade såväl relationella som beteendeorienterade hemuppgifter. Vad som framkom är dock ett behov av och en önskan från familjeterapeuternas sida om en större tydlighet kring hur man går tillväga då man fastställer och ger en familj en relationellt orienterad hemuppgift.

Deliberate self harm as defined pathologically as well as socially is becoming an increasing phenomenon within forensic psychiatry. Nurses working with patients who have self harm behaviour and are confined to forensic psychiatry face different challenges which affect their feelings and attitudes in different ways, in their nursing practice.Purpose: To explore nurses? experiences of caring for patients who suffer from deliberate self harm behaviour and are confined to forensic psychiatry.Method: Qualitative semi- structured interview s from eight nurses working within the forensic psychiatric clinic. Interviews were analysed by using a qualitative content analysis.Results: They worked strategically and emphasized the importance of teamwork, good communication and urged for the need to get necessary education, staff focused tutoring and patient focused therapy.Conclusion: Need for necessary education, patient focused therapy and staff focused tutor is needed to empower staff working with patients who are confined within forensic psychiatry and suffer from deliberate self harm behaviour..

This study will focus on how patients that suffer from self-injurious behaviours experience the relation between their self and body according to some professionals. The purpose is to enlighten why a person who has mental problems chooses to injure his or her body. We believe that the reason behind this is based on the early attachment between the parent and child. We also believe that a person only continues with this behaviour if he or she gains from it. The research questions this study raises are:· How does a person with self-injurious behaviour experience the relationship between their body and their self?· What is the effect of self-injurious behaviour on the body and what is the effect on the relationship between their body and their self.· How did the relationship between body and self evolve?This study is qualitative and is based on interviews from our respondents of whom all work or have worked with self-injurious behavioural patients.

This study is an evaluation of the school Liljanskolan, which is a ?therapy-school? for children between the ages of seven and twelve with psychosocial problems. These problems can concern difficulties interacting with adults as well as children, acting out, difficulty concentrating and anxiety. Liljanskolan has a high number of professionals, both teachers and treaters, and few children. The aim of the study was to increase the understanding of how children that have attended Liljanskolan have progressed during their time at the school with focus on their behaviour in school, ability to interact with adults and children, anger management and self-confidence.

The aim of the study was to illustrate how music therapy can be used in the care of patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic illness.The method used was a literature review. Scientific articles were searched in PubMed, Cinahl, PsycINFO och Scopus databases with an outcome of ten articles, with in total 330 participants, that underwent quality and outcomes analysis.The results showed that music therapy could provide potential improvement in the patients' social functions and that it could also improve negative, some positive and general schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms in some patients. The form of music therapy used was often creative music activities with music therapist, with or without structure, or individually customized. The length of treatment varied widely. It was not possible to draw conclusions about which type of music therapy was best.

The thesis explores an ongoing dialectical process between different levels of employees including top management to workers of Scandinavian Airline Service (SAS) regarding a new change program and to find out the possible social construction among them. In particular, it searches for the constructed reality of SAS ground service employees at Malmö Airport with regard to the preparatory stage of SAS Strategy 2011. A possible ambiguity in dialectical process is explored as it relates to an organization?s ability to effectively influence the understanding and identity of its employees through discourse.

A study by Gulistan Kavak has been done about the therapy school, Liljanschool. The school handles children between the ages seven and twelve who suffer from psychosocial problems. These psychosocial problems may be the children?s? experiences of psychological trauma, attachment-difficulties and anxiety. Therapists, teachers, educators and medical professionals work at Liljanschool. The purpose of this thesis is to see how parents see their children?s? development at the school from there very first day until there last. Three questions have been formulated: How do parents of the children understand the development of the therapy that Liljanschool contributes with? How do the parents think that the school situation has been for their children? Do the school staff´s views and the parent´s views differ regarding cooperation between staff, parents and children?I have done a qualitative study.  In-depth interviews were conducted with the staff of the school and the children?s parents. The results show that the majority of respondents were positive about the school. The analysis shows that through the extension-theory, the children and parents have developed together.

The main purpose of this thesis was to take part of girl?s descriptions and experiences of their treatment for deliberate self-harm and to investigate whether they still experience effects of the treatment today. Our main research questions where; how do the girls describe their experiences of the treatment method, do the girls describe that they still experience any effects of the treatment, and finally how do the girls look back on their treatment today? In order to answer these questions, we carried out eight qualitative telephone interviews with girls that had undergone treatment in a specific treatment centre. We chose to analyze the material from the salutogenic theory and the concepts of SOC (sense of coherence) and with a hermeneutic approach.

För att undersöka vad medveten närvaro kan betyda i dialektisk beteendeterapi (DBT) meningskoncentrerades nio intervjuer. Medveten närvaro hade en positiv betydelse för samtliga deltagare. Det centrala för deltagarna var färdigheterna observera och en sak i taget. Färdigheterna hjälpte patienterna att stanna upp i ett negativt händelseförlopp. Behandlarna menade att medveten närvaro hjälpte vid stressrelaterade situationer.

Historically, the horse has in many ways been important to human beings. Today, Equine Assisted Therapy is a form of treatment in which the horse is used as a tool from the treatment of the client. Supported Equine therapy has a therapeutic purpose and may vary depending on the patient's needs and the professionals work competence. Various studies show that animals have a positive impact on people. The aim of our study was to explore how Equine Assisted Therapy is used within the practical fields of social work in Sweden.