Dr. Kevin Volkan is Professor of Psychology at California State University Channel Islands, where he teaches courses in psychopathology and atypical behaviors. He holds doctorates in clinical and educational/quantitative psychology, is a graduate of the Harvard School of Public Health, and a former Harvard Medical School faculty member. Dr. Volkan is considered to be an expert on extreme psychopathologies and has testified before the United States Senate on pathological and dangerous fetishes. He has made many appearances on television and radio as a psychological expert – most notably for the show Taboo on the National Geographic Network and for the show Prohibited on the Discovery Science Network. Dr. Volkan’s clinical training is primarily in Object Relations psychotherapy, but he also has training in Applied Behavior Analysis, as well as Jungian, and Existential psychologies. He has practiced as a clinical psychologist in a state hospital and in private practice. His clients included a diverse population of people representing a wide variety of socioeconomic strata and psychological distress. He has worked with people suffering from neuroses and personality disorders as well individuals suffering from profound autism, psychoses, self-injurious behavior, and organic brain injury. Dr. Volkan was awarded the Sustained Superior Accomplishment Award from the State of California for his clinical work. Dr. Volkan also works as a medical research methodologist and statistical consultant. He currently serves on the Graduate Medical Faculty for the Community Memorial Health System in Ventura CA where he provides research and statistics training to residents in general/internal medicine, orthopedics, and surgery, as well as conducting research in these areas.
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects people all around the world. It presents in... more Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects people all around the world. It presents in many different contexts, across geographic boundaries, and in different ways. Rates of schizophrenia seem generally to be the same regardless of geographical location, though there is some evidence that those in developed nations have a higher incidence of the disorder. Also, immigrants who relocate to areas where their culture has little, or no representation are at more risk for schizophrenia. While the prevalence of schizophrenia is similar around the world, the presentation of the disorder can vary widely, depending on the cultural, religious, and supernatural beliefs native to specific areas. Examples of varying types of presentation of schizophrenia, including culture-bound disorder variants, can give insight into the ways in which people from across the world make sense of this devastating disease, and ways in which they attempt to treat it.
Personality disorders are the most common serious mental illness. People suffering from these dis... more Personality disorders are the most common serious mental illness. People suffering from these disorders tend to exhibit emotional patterns and behaviors that seem troubling to the majority of people and are not necessarily explicable by immediate environmental stimuli. Nevertheless, many clinicians are unfamiliar with the most recent research on these disorders and the latest approaches to treatment. This study will review the current diagnostic conceptualization of personality disorders, their clinical treatment, and their relationship to cultural characteristics and culture-specific disorders. Introduction Diagnosis of Personality Disorders In the creation of the new DSM-V there was some debate about what to do with the diagnostic category for personality disorders. In the end the creators of the DSM-decided to holdover the different types of personality disorders from the DSM-IV but to remove these disorders from a separate axis. The DSM-V also keeps the same cluster structure as...
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that has devastating consequences for those who suffer f... more Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that has devastating consequences for those who suffer from the disorder. The epidemiology of schizophrenia indicates that it occurs relatively often, in many different contexts, and in conjunction with other disorders, decreasing quality of life and causing premature death. There has been an enormous amount of research into the causes of schizophrenia and there is now have a much better understanding of the genetic, environmental, and psychological factors that contribute to the disease. While there are numerous ways to understand and conceptualize schizophrenia, a unified picture of the neurobiology, changes in brain structure, cognitive and social-cognitive impairments related to the disorder has yet to emerge. Convulsive therapies and psychosurgery were used unsuccessfully, indiscriminately and without scientific validation in the past to treat schizophrenia. Medical advances including advanced imaging technology have now provided the abi...
Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies, Jun 15, 2013
The goal of Buddhism is to gain enlightenment through the realization of the psychological basis ... more The goal of Buddhism is to gain enlightenment through the realization of the psychological basis of human suffering. Like other religions Buddhists undertake this goal together in a community known as the Sangha, which, includes lay practitioners, clergy, and various symbolic figures. While, the ostensible goal of the Sangha is to help Buddhists reach a state of religious epiphany, it also functions in a psychological fashion to moderate the regressive effects of group membership. This moderation allows the Sangha to facilitate individuation for its members while they maintain their group membership. In this way the Sangha provides a practical method for applying spiritual principals to relationships with others in the group and later, to the world at large. This paper will review classical and object relations views of group psychology and then apply these perspectives to the understanding of the Sangha.
German universities in the Nazi era experienced profound upheaval. Under turmoil and stress induc... more German universities in the Nazi era experienced profound upheaval. Under turmoil and stress induced by Nazi leadership these universities succumbed to pathologies related to large group processes. These group pathologies fell into predicable patterns based on dependency, ght or ight, or sexual pairing and are related to both narcissistic and paranoid group leadership. Such patterns of pathology led to organizational characteristics related to unbounded rationality and groupthink. These characteristics are reminiscent of problems found in modern universities. Psychological solutions will be proposed to offset these organizational symptoms of group pathology.
Hoarding is a disorder that has only recently begun to be understood by researchers and clinician... more Hoarding is a disorder that has only recently begun to be understood by researchers and clinicians. This disorder has been examined from a biopsychosocial perspective and has features that overlap with obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as some unique characteristics. Hoarding disorder is widespread and maybe related to the evolution of collecting and storing resources among humans and other animals. While there have been a number of non-analytic theories related to hoarding and its treatment, psychoanalytic thinkers have rarely described the disorder or explored its underlying psychodynamics. Beginning with Freud, it is possible to understand hoarding in relationship to the vicissitudes of the anal stage of development. However, loss of a loved object, especially loss of the mother, can play an important role in the development of hoarding behavior in adults. The hoarding of inanimate items, examined from a developmental object-relations perspective, appears to involve transitio...
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that has devastating consequences for those who suffer f... more Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that has devastating consequences for those who suffer from the disorder. The epidemiology of schizophrenia indicates that it occurs relatively often, in many different contexts, and in conjunction with other disorders, decreasing quality of life and causing premature death. There has been an enormous amount of research into the causes of schizophrenia and there is now have a much better understanding of the genetic, environmental, and psychological factors that contribute to the disease. While there are numerous ways to understand and conceptualize schizophrenia, a unified picture of the neurobiology, changes in brain structure, cognitive and social-cognitive impairments related to the disorder has yet to emerge. Convulsive therapies and psychosurgery were used unsuccessfully, indiscriminately and without scientific validation in the past to treat schizophrenia. Medical advances including advanced imaging technology have now provided the abi...
Delusional misidentification syndromes constitute a number of disorders that involve a myriad of ... more Delusional misidentification syndromes constitute a number of disorders that involve a myriad of delusions related to the identity of self or other. The forms of delusion range from misattribution of identity related to self, other, as well as parts of the body. Although rare, these syndromes are encountered in a number of different forms by medical and psychiatric personnel, as well as other types of mental health workers. This is especially true since many of the syndromes have organic etiology and are treated via medical rather than psychological intervention. Nevertheless, delusional misidentification syndromes often co-exist with psychiatric issues which can be helped by concurrent psychological treatment. Given that identity is central to human beings and their cultures, it is not surprising that delusional misidentification is represented in a number of cultural beliefs. Some cultural expressions of delusional misidentification may function as coping mechanisms for anxiety ov...
The idea that humans can be inhabited by supernatural entities is widespread among cultures and r... more The idea that humans can be inhabited by supernatural entities is widespread among cultures and religions around the world. Demonic possession is sometimes encountered by clinicians who choose to understand it as the actual presence of a demon possessing a human, or as a psychological phenomenon. Some forms of Christianity hold to the belief that demonic possession occurs in reality. Clinicians who share these beliefs may abandon a psychological understanding and treatment of the phenomenon in favor of religious explanations and rituals. Eastern religions like Buddhism understand demonic possession as relatively real but also see it as ultimately stemming from psychological issues. Psychoanalysis understands demonic possession as the result of interpsychic processes related to disturbances in the development of early in-ternalized object relations. This has a number of implications for treatment of so-called demonically possessed individuals, which is exemplified in two clinical cases.
Structural equation modeling has become increasingly popular as a technique for the analysis of n... more Structural equation modeling has become increasingly popular as a technique for the analysis of non-experimental data in the social sciences. This increase can be traced in part to the development of computer programs that facilitate structural equation modeling. The Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) program is the most widely used tool for implementing structural equation models. LISREL is applicable across a wide range of study, but is most useful in analyzing social science data. Some characteristics of the LISREL program are examined. The general LISREL model is explained along with methods for establishing the identification and goodness-of-fit of the overall model and its individual parameters. It is concluded that the most important aspect of LISREL methodology is its flexibility; almost any type of problem involving regression or factor analytic procedures can be computed using LISREL. LISREL models should be theory driven, but should not be used to explore the grosser as...
The concept of a zombie is widespread and commonly presented in the popular media. Nevertheless, ... more The concept of a zombie is widespread and commonly presented in the popular media. Nevertheless, zombies are not well understood. This paper seeks to understand zombies through their history, psychology and biology. Historical manifestations of zombies are explored through the lens of the African diaspora as well as through Voudun traditions from the Caribbean. Psychological aspects of zombies are examined from the viewpoint of unconscious group psychology and are related to modern manifestations of zombies in popular culture. Biological phenomena related to infections and damage of the brain that cause behavior change are described and then elucidated via a case study. Conclusions regarding the potential for the existence of real zombie phenomenon are discussed.
Little is known about using the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in physical diag... more Little is known about using the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in physical diagnosis courses. The purpose of this study was to describe student performance on an OSCE in a physical diagnosis course. Cross-sectional study at Harvard Medical School, 1997-1999, for 489 second-year students. Average total OSCE score was 57% (range 39-75%). Among clinical skills, students scored highest on patient interaction (72%), followed by examination technique (65%), abnormality identification (62%), history-taking (60%), patient presentation (60%), physical examination knowledge (47%), and differential diagnosis (40%) (p <.0001). Among 16 OSCE stations, scores ranged from 70% for arthritis to 29% for calf pain (p <.0001). Teaching sites accounted for larger adjusted differences in station scores, up to 28%, than in skill scores (9%) (p <.0001). Students scored higher on interpersonal and technical skills than on interpretive or integrative skills. Station scores identifi...
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects people all around the world. It presents in... more Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects people all around the world. It presents in many different contexts, across geographic boundaries, and in different ways. Rates of schizophrenia seem generally to be the same regardless of geographical location, though there is some evidence that those in developed nations have a higher incidence of the disorder. Also, immigrants who relocate to areas where their culture has little, or no representation are at more risk for schizophrenia. While the prevalence of schizophrenia is similar around the world, the presentation of the disorder can vary widely, depending on the cultural, religious, and supernatural beliefs native to specific areas. Examples of varying types of presentation of schizophrenia, including culture-bound disorder variants, can give insight into the ways in which people from across the world make sense of this devastating disease, and ways in which they attempt to treat it.
Personality disorders are the most common serious mental illness. People suffering from these dis... more Personality disorders are the most common serious mental illness. People suffering from these disorders tend to exhibit emotional patterns and behaviors that seem troubling to the majority of people and are not necessarily explicable by immediate environmental stimuli. Nevertheless, many clinicians are unfamiliar with the most recent research on these disorders and the latest approaches to treatment. This study will review the current diagnostic conceptualization of personality disorders, their clinical treatment, and their relationship to cultural characteristics and culture-specific disorders. Introduction Diagnosis of Personality Disorders In the creation of the new DSM-V there was some debate about what to do with the diagnostic category for personality disorders. In the end the creators of the DSM-decided to holdover the different types of personality disorders from the DSM-IV but to remove these disorders from a separate axis. The DSM-V also keeps the same cluster structure as...
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that has devastating consequences for those who suffer f... more Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that has devastating consequences for those who suffer from the disorder. The epidemiology of schizophrenia indicates that it occurs relatively often, in many different contexts, and in conjunction with other disorders, decreasing quality of life and causing premature death. There has been an enormous amount of research into the causes of schizophrenia and there is now have a much better understanding of the genetic, environmental, and psychological factors that contribute to the disease. While there are numerous ways to understand and conceptualize schizophrenia, a unified picture of the neurobiology, changes in brain structure, cognitive and social-cognitive impairments related to the disorder has yet to emerge. Convulsive therapies and psychosurgery were used unsuccessfully, indiscriminately and without scientific validation in the past to treat schizophrenia. Medical advances including advanced imaging technology have now provided the abi...
Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies, Jun 15, 2013
The goal of Buddhism is to gain enlightenment through the realization of the psychological basis ... more The goal of Buddhism is to gain enlightenment through the realization of the psychological basis of human suffering. Like other religions Buddhists undertake this goal together in a community known as the Sangha, which, includes lay practitioners, clergy, and various symbolic figures. While, the ostensible goal of the Sangha is to help Buddhists reach a state of religious epiphany, it also functions in a psychological fashion to moderate the regressive effects of group membership. This moderation allows the Sangha to facilitate individuation for its members while they maintain their group membership. In this way the Sangha provides a practical method for applying spiritual principals to relationships with others in the group and later, to the world at large. This paper will review classical and object relations views of group psychology and then apply these perspectives to the understanding of the Sangha.
German universities in the Nazi era experienced profound upheaval. Under turmoil and stress induc... more German universities in the Nazi era experienced profound upheaval. Under turmoil and stress induced by Nazi leadership these universities succumbed to pathologies related to large group processes. These group pathologies fell into predicable patterns based on dependency, ght or ight, or sexual pairing and are related to both narcissistic and paranoid group leadership. Such patterns of pathology led to organizational characteristics related to unbounded rationality and groupthink. These characteristics are reminiscent of problems found in modern universities. Psychological solutions will be proposed to offset these organizational symptoms of group pathology.
Hoarding is a disorder that has only recently begun to be understood by researchers and clinician... more Hoarding is a disorder that has only recently begun to be understood by researchers and clinicians. This disorder has been examined from a biopsychosocial perspective and has features that overlap with obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as some unique characteristics. Hoarding disorder is widespread and maybe related to the evolution of collecting and storing resources among humans and other animals. While there have been a number of non-analytic theories related to hoarding and its treatment, psychoanalytic thinkers have rarely described the disorder or explored its underlying psychodynamics. Beginning with Freud, it is possible to understand hoarding in relationship to the vicissitudes of the anal stage of development. However, loss of a loved object, especially loss of the mother, can play an important role in the development of hoarding behavior in adults. The hoarding of inanimate items, examined from a developmental object-relations perspective, appears to involve transitio...
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that has devastating consequences for those who suffer f... more Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that has devastating consequences for those who suffer from the disorder. The epidemiology of schizophrenia indicates that it occurs relatively often, in many different contexts, and in conjunction with other disorders, decreasing quality of life and causing premature death. There has been an enormous amount of research into the causes of schizophrenia and there is now have a much better understanding of the genetic, environmental, and psychological factors that contribute to the disease. While there are numerous ways to understand and conceptualize schizophrenia, a unified picture of the neurobiology, changes in brain structure, cognitive and social-cognitive impairments related to the disorder has yet to emerge. Convulsive therapies and psychosurgery were used unsuccessfully, indiscriminately and without scientific validation in the past to treat schizophrenia. Medical advances including advanced imaging technology have now provided the abi...
Delusional misidentification syndromes constitute a number of disorders that involve a myriad of ... more Delusional misidentification syndromes constitute a number of disorders that involve a myriad of delusions related to the identity of self or other. The forms of delusion range from misattribution of identity related to self, other, as well as parts of the body. Although rare, these syndromes are encountered in a number of different forms by medical and psychiatric personnel, as well as other types of mental health workers. This is especially true since many of the syndromes have organic etiology and are treated via medical rather than psychological intervention. Nevertheless, delusional misidentification syndromes often co-exist with psychiatric issues which can be helped by concurrent psychological treatment. Given that identity is central to human beings and their cultures, it is not surprising that delusional misidentification is represented in a number of cultural beliefs. Some cultural expressions of delusional misidentification may function as coping mechanisms for anxiety ov...
The idea that humans can be inhabited by supernatural entities is widespread among cultures and r... more The idea that humans can be inhabited by supernatural entities is widespread among cultures and religions around the world. Demonic possession is sometimes encountered by clinicians who choose to understand it as the actual presence of a demon possessing a human, or as a psychological phenomenon. Some forms of Christianity hold to the belief that demonic possession occurs in reality. Clinicians who share these beliefs may abandon a psychological understanding and treatment of the phenomenon in favor of religious explanations and rituals. Eastern religions like Buddhism understand demonic possession as relatively real but also see it as ultimately stemming from psychological issues. Psychoanalysis understands demonic possession as the result of interpsychic processes related to disturbances in the development of early in-ternalized object relations. This has a number of implications for treatment of so-called demonically possessed individuals, which is exemplified in two clinical cases.
Structural equation modeling has become increasingly popular as a technique for the analysis of n... more Structural equation modeling has become increasingly popular as a technique for the analysis of non-experimental data in the social sciences. This increase can be traced in part to the development of computer programs that facilitate structural equation modeling. The Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) program is the most widely used tool for implementing structural equation models. LISREL is applicable across a wide range of study, but is most useful in analyzing social science data. Some characteristics of the LISREL program are examined. The general LISREL model is explained along with methods for establishing the identification and goodness-of-fit of the overall model and its individual parameters. It is concluded that the most important aspect of LISREL methodology is its flexibility; almost any type of problem involving regression or factor analytic procedures can be computed using LISREL. LISREL models should be theory driven, but should not be used to explore the grosser as...
The concept of a zombie is widespread and commonly presented in the popular media. Nevertheless, ... more The concept of a zombie is widespread and commonly presented in the popular media. Nevertheless, zombies are not well understood. This paper seeks to understand zombies through their history, psychology and biology. Historical manifestations of zombies are explored through the lens of the African diaspora as well as through Voudun traditions from the Caribbean. Psychological aspects of zombies are examined from the viewpoint of unconscious group psychology and are related to modern manifestations of zombies in popular culture. Biological phenomena related to infections and damage of the brain that cause behavior change are described and then elucidated via a case study. Conclusions regarding the potential for the existence of real zombie phenomenon are discussed.
Little is known about using the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in physical diag... more Little is known about using the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in physical diagnosis courses. The purpose of this study was to describe student performance on an OSCE in a physical diagnosis course. Cross-sectional study at Harvard Medical School, 1997-1999, for 489 second-year students. Average total OSCE score was 57% (range 39-75%). Among clinical skills, students scored highest on patient interaction (72%), followed by examination technique (65%), abnormality identification (62%), history-taking (60%), patient presentation (60%), physical examination knowledge (47%), and differential diagnosis (40%) (p <.0001). Among 16 OSCE stations, scores ranged from 70% for arthritis to 29% for calf pain (p <.0001). Teaching sites accounted for larger adjusted differences in station scores, up to 28%, than in skill scores (9%) (p <.0001). Students scored higher on interpersonal and technical skills than on interpretive or integrative skills. Station scores identifi...
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