BOOKS BY FEDERICA VOLPI

Attualmente si ritiene che la dipendenza sia un disturbo comportamentale complesso che è influenzato da fattori biologici, psicologici, sociologici, e che, co-me tale, debba essere visto da una prospettiva biopsicosociale. Gli autori reputano che possano essere due le "calamite" principali che prima stimolano e poi stabilizzano la dipendenza favorendone la recidiva: il tentativo di effettuare una auto-terapia della propria disregolazione affettiva (alessitimia) e l’attivazione della memoria del piacere. Dopo aver presentato una breve rassegna sull’uso dell’ipnosi nel trattamento dei disturbi da addiction, gli autori espongono una propria tecnica, la Desensibilizzazione Sistematica Inversa, illustrandola attraverso un caso clinico. L’efficacia della tecnica nel ridurre il pensiero della sostanza, quindi il craving e la recidiva, sta producendo esiti positivi in termini di aumento del tasso di tenuta in trattamento e di successo.

La prima guida mai realizzata nel nostro Paese, da parte della Società Italiana di Ipnosi (SII), finalizzata a offrire all’utenza e alle categorie professionali interessate (medici di base, specialisti, psicologi, psicoterapeuti, odontoiatri e operatori sanitari in genere) un orientamento sulle principali applicazioni dell’ipnosi in ambito clinico, unitamente ai risultati clinici evidence-based. Una guida essenziale, ma autorevole, snella e di agevole lettura, integrata da una breve bibliografia ragionata.

The use of hypnosis in oncology: indications from the research. Hypnosis is applied at various levels in cancer care. Several studies show the effectiveness of hypnosis to treat the symptoms of the disease (pain, malaise, irritability and insomnia etc.); in the management of the side effects of cancer treatments; to improve the quality of life and deal with the psychological distress related to the health; for its effects on the immune system. The Authors point out that studies on the effects of hypnosis in activating psyconeuroimmunology mechanisms, which may be useful to modulate disease progression and response to treatment, is a very interesting and promising area of study. In this context, however, research is still lacking, because systematic and controlled trials on the effects of hypnotherapy on the immune system, on the relapse rate and long-term survival of cancer patients are needed.

Tomorrow I stop it. Interrupting harmful behaviors: the exploratory use of pseudo-orientation in time. In recent years the pseudo-orientation in time has been mainly used as a therapeutic intervention (for example, arousing images and pleasant scenes in depressed patients) or with the evaluation function of the estate of an intervention. The authors want to reconsider the importance of the exploration of the pseudo-orientation in time, recovering the function of insight, that Erickson had already experienced in the 40’s. The method of the "Bridge of the Future", which it will be presented, seems to increase the success’s predictability of an hypnotic intervention. According to the authors, giving more importance to an initial exploratory phase protects the patient from the consequences of a failure for exposing himself at change interventions too early compared to his emotional-motivational disposition at the time of the request. It also allows the patient to discover the blocker factors, to be helped to accept the valid reasons and/or to engage him in a elaboration process of the emotions resulting from the change, even before working for change.

The Fascination: use of classical hypnosis and naturalistic hypnosis in the popular treatment. The term "fascination" refers to a mental condition of impediment and inhibition, and at the same time to a sense of domination, to a sense of being possessed by an occult and powerful force, which leaves no margin of autonomy to the person and his decision-making capacity. "Fascination" is often accompanied by headache, drowsiness, and fatigue, but the experience of an indomitable and deadly force, along with the desire to be freed from this domination, remains the hallmark of the underlying condition. In this work, the authors propose a comparison between the popular treatment of "fascination" and hypnotherapy. In particular, they want to explore three areas: 1) the related state of trance (both of the "rimediante", i.e., the person who exercises the procedure, and of the "fascinated" subject); 2) the associated metaphorical language (the metaphorical element is central to the rite of "fascination" and to all formulae used by the "rimedianti", since it allows the introduction of the dimension of the "as if" and to operate for a positive change); 3) the rapport.

Socio-Political Participation and Responsible Consumption: between the collective dimension and a sense of efficacy - Participation has been studied from different points of view. One of the possible ways to address the topic is to interrelate it with cultural consumption, con- sidering the relevance of both terms with regard to social cohesion and integration. The essay is designed to evaluate the interaction between participation and cultural consumption, leading to a definition of some citizens’ groups with homogeneous features compared to both variables. Moreover, the essay aims to examine the groups’ behaviour, compared with a phenomenon related to both cultural consumption and socio-political participation: responsible consumption. The groups’ behaviour relative to this variable helps the understanding of some social dynamics and, above all, highlights the close relationship between a particular group (the actives) and alternative consumption behaviours. A thorough analysis of the relationship between a high degree of cultural consumption and a high degree of political participation underlines that responsible consumption is a collective action and, at the same time, finalised to and endowed with political efficacy.

Keywords: Political Consumerism, Participation, Cultural Consumption, Collective Action, Political Efficacy.