Empathy is directly related to one’s satisfaction with a romantic partner, and therefore, most approaches to couples therapy explicitly address empathy as a means for creating positive relational change. Imago relationship therapy (IRT) is practiced extensively worldwide yet lacks research validating its effectiveness. Given IRT’s focus on developing empathy within the members of the romantic partnership, it is important to examine how empathy contributes to change in relationship satisfaction. This random and controlled study examined the impact of 12 weeks of IRT treatment on individual (N = 60) empathy levels. Results showed a significant interaction between time and condition and found significant increases in treatment group empathy levels at each of three assessment points. These findings begin to emphasize the impact of IRT on couple empathy levels and highlight the potential benefits of using this particular therapeutic modality to promote positive relational change within romantic relationships. The research would have benefited from greater diversity within the sample and a greater understanding of the specific therapist interventions that impact client couple empathy levels.
Previous qualitative research findings have discussed motivations, decision-making, stigma, and resistance to pronatalism among voluntarily childless (VC) men and women. The current study placed such elements of the lifeworlds of VC individuals and dyads within the context of a life story of (re)making of the VC identity. Twelve life history and semistructured interviews with six VC men and women in three heterosexual couples in Canada were analyzed using thematic analysis. The VC choice was expressed as a decision to accept one’s essential voluntary childlessness. The construction of the VC participants’ bodies through their stories entailed episodes of conflict and resistance central to gendered experiences. We propose that this pattern of themes, in a pronatalist sociocultural context, points to a remaking of the figure of an extraordinary person from childhood, through to their current partnership, and into the future. These findings have implications for practitioners working with VC couples as they construct their identities, partnerships, reproductive decisions, life trajectories, and life projects.
Family forms such as foster, adoptive, and blended families where there may be two maternal figures are increasingly common. The relationship between the two women is complex, and it is argued that envy is an affect that may be present yet difficult to acknowledge and work through. Envy is a powerful and painful emotion that can override feelings of compassion, love, and gratitude. Consequently, because envy blocks emotions such as gratitude and generosity, while it is in play, the formation of cooperative relationships between the women are inhibited with potentially deleterious consequences for the family. This article explores contemporary understandings of envy, its potential sources and effects, and implications for counselling and therapy, so that women can be supported to negotiate these relationships if and when they encounter conflict.
Gamers are a growing population and video game culture remains unfamiliar to the majority of counselors. Little scholarship exits that would aid counselors in gaining awareness and knowledge about gamers and video game culture. Such information has implications for counselors to better meet the needs of gamers, their partners, and families seeking counseling. The authors discuss elements of gaming culture including a brief history, population characteristics, terminology, healthy and unhealthy gaming, and implications for counselors.
The purpose of this article is to identify how family-focused, community-based interventions can be implemented with refugee families in order to enhance their well-being and adaptation to their new communities. Past efforts at delivering these family support interventions using the Prevention and Access Interventions for Families (PAIF) framework to refugee families are reviewed. Through the case study application, recommendations for supporting refugee families are provided.
Many clients drop out of therapy before reaching their goals; and research has yet to develop a thorough understanding of the factors that lead to dropout. Some have suggested that experiencing therapy as helpful or productive is key to therapy persistence. A small body of qualitative research has investigated client perspectives about things that happen during therapy sessions to produce change or therapy productiveness. The present study describes the process of developing and refining an instrument used to measure client perception of therapy productiveness in a sample of participants seeking therapy with a marriage and family therapist. Seventy-two participants engaged in therapy and completed the Productive Processes Inventory (PPI). Procedures used to establish reliability and validity are presented and discussed. Results of a principle components analysis revealed three factors. Results support the potential usefulness of the PPI as a measure of therapy productiveness.
Counseling programs utilize supervision to train ethical and effective professionals. Faculty supervisors may incorporate systemic interventions into their supervision of students from mental health, school counseling, and marriage and family therapy tracks, as students may encounter systemic clients in their tenure as therapists. Further, many existing supervision models focus on supervisee development and neglect the developmental considerations of supervisors. The systemic dual-developmental supervision model integrates systemic supervision to address the developmental needs of not only the supervisee but the supervisor as well.
Genograms are familiar tools used in counseling as a means to explore an individual’s family system. With advancements in technology, more sophisticated avenues have been introduced to further explore family systems, history, and ancestry. African Americans in particular benefit from these new enhancements as a means to explore core identity development. This article introduces the ancestral identity model which serves as a compass for counselors in exploring client identity development using familial and ancestral connections.
This qualitative study examines gay and bisexual adolescent experiences with parental and family support using a phenomenological inquiry approach. Four themes related to peer support emerged from the data including (1) coming out was necessary; (2) initial reactions of parents are most often not positive; (3) lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth view religion as a barrier to support from parents; and (4) LGBTQ youth want explicit support from parents and family members. Implications for counselors working with parents, families, and individuals are discussed.
Infertility is a worldwide problem that affects many individuals. As men and women age, the likelihood of conception begins to decline, resulting in an increased prevalence of infertility. Treatments of infertility focus on biological interventions. Those that continue to struggle with infertility may also seek mental health treatment. Men and women in midlife may experience a struggle between generativity and stagnation, often including the struggle between parenthood and childlessness. Narrative therapy is a mental health theory that emphasizes examining sociopolitical stories influencing clients and deconstructing these discourses. Possible therapeutic interventions are explored to bring about subjugated stories to increase generativity.
Utilizing a community sample of 58 couples (116 individuals), we tested a brief couples counseling approach, the Integrative Model of Brief Couples Counseling (IMBCC). Participants received 4–6 sessions of couples counseling conducted by graduate students during their supervised field experience. We assessed participants’ marital adjustment and psychological distress at pretest and posttest. Results indicated significant decreases in psychological distress and improved marital adjustment following couples counseling utilizing the IMBCC. Further research utilizing randomized controls is suggested.
Research on siblinghood is relatively new and has expanded during the past decade. It deals mostly with mixed-gender siblings and does not relate to gender at all. The present study is unique in that it focuses on identical gender siblinghood, both female and male, and its relationship to aspects of siblinghood and family relations in adulthood. Eighty-nine women and 67 men from Israel participated in the study. Participants answered four self-report questionnaires: a demographic questionnaire; an Emotional Intelligence Trait Scale used to measure self-efficacy; Furman and Buhrmester’s Sibling Relationship Questionnaire; and Olson, Portner, and Lavee’s Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale. Measures of conflict were higher in the female than in the male cohort, and cohesion was higher in the male than in the female cohort. Other findings reveal that among firstborn siblings, the level of perception of conflict is higher than among middle siblings.
Although principles of nonviolence have been applied in sociopolitical arenas, they can also be helpful in understanding intimate partner relationships. This is because couples who handle conflict in a constructive way are often using techniques and ideas congruent with nonviolent philosophies. Relationships that handle conflict by becoming aggressive could potentially apply principles of nonviolence to help them address problems in constructive ways. The purpose of this study was to explore qualitative data that described intimate partner dynamics (including conflict, violence, appraisals, and safety) to better understand how individuals apply principles of nonviolence in their partnerships to achieve healthier relationship outcomes. Three qualitative data sets were analyzed using grounded theory methodology. From this secondary analysis, emerged categories and concepts that illustrate the ways couples demonstrate nonviolence principles in these relationships. The first main category was awareness, which included accountability, reflection, commitment, and justice. The second category was action, which included the concepts of authenticity, resistance, repair, and care. These are shown in a process model that in undergirded by the category of context, which includes interaction, gender/culture, and family of origin. Implications for clinical practice and research are provided.
Anticipatory grief is a natural process in response to an expected loss. Anticipatory grief not only affects the life of the person diagnosed with a terminal illness but the family and systems that they belong to. As a family transitions from anticipatory grief through bereavement, changes and adjustments will affect the relationships within the family system. In this position paper, the advantages of supporting the entire family through use of a family systems theoretical framework, as opposed to treating members of the family individually, will be explored.
Weak management of interpersonal conflicts can lead to dysfunctional relationships with relevant consequences for couple and family well-being. Our purpose was to devise a single dimension scale to assess conflict management in romantic relationships. We focused on five relevant conflict aspects: competition, collaboration, avoidance, accommodating attitude, and compromise. Study 1 (N = 405) confirmed the existence of a single latent dimension, which was defined as the Conflict Management Scale (CMS), and consists of 8 items unbiased by gender. In Study 2 (N = 205), the CMS convergent validity with attachment, empathic self-efficacy, satisfaction, and decision-making in the couple was analyzed. In Study 3 (N = 120), the CMS was administered to 60 heterosexual couples in order to further examine the validity of the newly developed single dimension scale. Results showed that the CMS might be considered a valid and handy tool for planning couple and family therapies.
Due to a dearth of qualitative research on the experience of friends, nonparental family members, and romantic dating partners of those struggling with eating disorder symptoms, we undertook a phenomenological inquiry into this issue. After interviewing 12 participants who had a friend, family member, or romantic dating partner with eating disorder symptoms, we identified four main themes: (a) compassionate emotions toward the individual with eating disorder symptoms with a subtheme of concomitant emotions of frustration and/or anger, (b) sharing the burden of concern for the struggling individual, (c) intervening with boundaries, and (d) detrimental impact of the eating disorder on the relationship with the struggling individual and the participant’s own body image and/or eating behaviors.
This article explores how systems theory can be utilized to inform an interdisciplinary team working with student/clients in a school setting. Specifically, postmodern family therapy theory is utilized as a framework to understand how specific parts of the whole of a school can be engaged in a conversation to construct solutions for student/clients’ problems. We develop a preliminary phase model of engagement and illustrate the model with a case example.
The rapid development of Internet and social networking services in the last decade have augmented the possibilities to engage in activities online that can be classified as infidelity and introduced new challenges into the practice of couple and sex therapists. Building on Hertlein and Piercy’s literature review, this article provides a critical review of the literature on Internet infidelity published in the last 10 years. The aim with the review is to present the current state of knowledge in this field compared to the situation in 2006. The review includes research articles and theoretical papers on the definition of Internet infidelity, factors contributing to it, the impact of online infidelity on couples and families, and treatment models and issues. A discussion of implications for both future research and therapeutic practice is presented at the end of the article.
This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the experiences of adults adopted as children. Individual and follow-up interviews were conducted with four participants. We identified six primary themes related to family experience and a better understanding of adopted children, adults as well as special issues that might be considered in family counseling. Implications for counselors are discussed in this article.
This research investigated the impacts of social media use while being with a partner on the perception of relationship problems experienced by the other partner. The results from the partial least squares regression indicated that individuals who perceived that their partners used social media excessively tended to report a higher perception of lack of caring, loneliness, and jealousy. However, only lack of caring was found to be the key reason that significantly explained the intention to break up. In addition, the analysis of the moderating effect revealed interesting evidence showing that the perception of relationship problems associated with social media use of own partners appeared to be more severe for the respondents who reported that they used social media less intensively than their partners. Conversely, for the respondents who reported that they used social media to a greater degree than their partners, the impacts on the perceived relationship problems were significantly lessened.
Approximately 90% of the American population has grown up with at least one sibling, and this is often the longest lasting relationship most people will have in their lives (Milevsky, 2011). Yet, the sibling literature is still burgeoning and significant gaps exist regarding ways that the sibling subsystem may be affected by intrafamilial abuse. The current article examines sibling roles, relationships, and functions through the lens of family systems theory and gives an overview of research conducted on siblings, with special focus on studies about siblings in abusive families. We then propose a theoretical typology of sibling subsystems that may develop in an abusive family system. Implications for research, theory, and clinical practice are discussed.
The literature on stepfamily functioning pays far more attention to issues of stepparenting than issues of marital success. However, the marital bond is equally important to support stepparenting success and provide the couple with a solid foundation for the family once the stepchildren have departed. To date, any literature concerning stepfamily marriage seems concentrated on the experience of wives in stepfamilies, relegating the experiences of husbands to an afterthought. In an attempt to redress this oversight, this article provides insights into the challenges facing husbands in stepfamilies, with implications for clinicians seeking to strengthen the marital relationship in stepfamilies.
Objectification and sexualization of women starts at a young age and carries with it negative consequences for a woman’s self-worth. A person’s self-worth is one component on the Wheel of Wellness, but it can affect many other aspects of an individual. The lack of self-worth that a woman may experience can affect her ability to enjoy her sexual experiences with her partner and inhibit her from reaching a state of connecting with her spirituality, especially during sexual encounters. The lack of enjoyment for a woman can then affect the partner’s enjoyment and, in turn, can affect the enjoyment of the relationship. This article discusses incorporating Adlerian and feminist theoretical perspectives into the practice of couples counseling in order to address relational issues related to a process of self-objectification.
This article proposes a research methodology that is newer to the field of couple and family therapy (CFT) research called interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). Researchers exploring CFT research continue to establish the efficacy of couple and family interventions in a context that favors a positivist view of phenomena. This research continues to be critical for establishing the role of CFT in the field of mental health as well as further clarifying which interventions are best for specific clinical issues and when. IPA offers researchers the opportunity to explore how couples and families make meaning of their experiences from an intersubjective perspective. Meaning making is central to understanding couples and families as well as part of the many clinical approaches to working with couples and families. Despite the importance of meaning, few research methodologies allow for this central concept in CFT to be the focus of exploration. The following article outlines one such methodology and the possible use of IPA in CFT research.
The present study examined the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Dyadic Almost Perfect Scale (DAPS). The Turkish version of DAPS and Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) was administered to 263 (157 female and 104 male) Turkish university students and 2 participants didn’t specify their gender. Internal reliability was calculated and Cronbach’s α coefficients ranged between .87 and .90. Criterion validity (Pearson correlation) between the DAPS and the MPS ranged from .27 to .50. Additionally, a confirmatory factor analysis result revealed good model fit indices for the three-factor model of the DAPS. The findings suggested that the Turkish version of DAPS can be reliably used to measure participants’ expectations for their partners or significant others among a Turkish sample.
In this study, 273 couples therapists were surveyed regarding their alignment with the beliefs, values, and intervention strategies of Imago Relationship Therapy (IRT). The Likert-type scale survey utilized 46 items reflecting 6 key domains important to the theory and practice. All domains reflected a minimum of 50% therapist agreement while 4 of the 6 domains reflected 75% or greater therapist agreement. Due to reported agreement with a majority of IRT domains, these findings suggest (1) potential common factors between IRT and couples therapists of diverse theoretical approaches and (2) a rationale for the consideration of IRT as an area of study for academics researchers and a model of training in marriage and family therapy programs.
Michael C. LaSala, PhD, is a nationally and internationally renowned expert on gay and lesbian youth and their families. He is currently the director of the MSW program and an associate professor at the School of Social Work at Rutgers University. His research interests are the couple and family relationships of gay men and lesbians, and his current work examines the role of gay and lesbian family relationships in coping with stigma and also parental influence on gay youth’s safe sex behaviors. Dr. LaSala’s published book, entitled: Coming out, coming home: Helping families adjust to a gay or lesbian child (Columbia University Press), describes the findings and practice implications of a National Institute of Mental Health–funded qualitative study of 65 gay and lesbian youth and their families. Other examples of Dr. LaSala’s work can be found in Social Work, Family Process, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Families in Society, Journal of GLBT Family Studies, and Journal of Lesbian and Gay Social Services. Dr. LaSala completed a Fulbright Fellowship during which he taught family therapy courses at Tallinn University in Estonia and where he also investigated the impacts of stigma on Estonian lesbians and gay men. He has been keynote speaker at national and international family therapy conferences and is also the author of a blog for Psychology Today entitled: Gay and Lesbian Well-Being. Dr. LaSala has practiced clinical social work for 30 years, is committed to practice-informed research, and continues to practice part-time as a licensed clinical social worker at the Institute for Personal Growth in Highland Park, New Jersey. Dr. LaSala can be reached at mlasala@ssw.rutgers.edu
The mother–daughter relationship is embedded in a rich cultural and social context and is critical for maintaining identity and mental health over women’s adult lives. This article describes the development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of the Adult Daughter–Mother Relationship Questionnaire (ADMRQ). Research was conducted in three phases: (1) summary statements about mother–daughter relationships were extracted from 48 mother–daughter in-depth interviews from a variety of ethnic groups. These formed a draft questionnaire; (2) this initial questionnaire was circulated to 10 psychotherapists to assess face and content validity; and (3) the questionnaire was completed by a sample of 147 students and community-dwelling women including a subsample of 34 women who were currently in psychotherapy. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three major factors in the ADMRQ accounting for 49.4% of the variance: both positive and negative affect, ambivalent feelings in the relationship, and interdependency relationships. Cronbach’s αs of additive scales ranged from .625 to .927. Test–retest reliability was established.
Since marital distress is a multidimensional phenomenon, research efforts directed at identifying meaningful groups of individuals with common characteristics based on their dissatisfaction in various relationship domains are important. In addition, it is important to examine this association not only among White majority-group couples but also among other ethnic groups, such as Mexican American couples, who may differ in terms of cultural values and customs. A latent profile analysis (LPA) of Caucasian and Mexican American newlyweds’ (N = 278) self-reported marital distress identified four such groups. These groups showed a continuum of dissatisfaction as well as varying degrees of differences in partners’ views of traditional versus nontraditional gender roles. The classes resulting from the LPA were related to individuals’ mental health. Those individuals who found themselves in groups with higher distress also experienced higher levels of anxiety and depression than those individuals who found themselves in groups with lower distress. Although more research is clearly needed among larger and more diverse samples, the present findings may be useful to the field of marriage and family therapy in that they may guide prevention and intervention efforts in the field of marital distress and mental health.
Biosocial factors, such as attachment, temperament, adaptability, genes, and neural functioning, have been mainly ignored by couple therapists. The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between biosocial factors and therapeutic interventions. The main focus of therapy from a biosocial perspective is changing the brain of each partner. Suggestions for interventions aimed at changing the brain include implicit and nonverbal interventions; understanding the role of emotion in rational thinking; altering and reducing the impact of negative emotions; increasing positive experiences; improving romantic and sexual functioning; and improving the whole person including the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual dimensions.
The processes by which women and men decide not to have or rear children are lengthy and complex. Analysis of data from qualitative interviews with 21 women and 10 men reveals two primary themes in adults’ descriptions of their decision not to have children: (1) that the decision was a decidedly conscious decision and (2) that the decision occurred as a process as opposed to a singular event. The features of these two themes are considered, as are their gendered dimensions and social and practical implications.
Teaching students and supervisees to develop family case conceptualizations has been a major challenge for many instructors and supervisors. However, when presented with cases that compare and contrast a family case conceptualization with an individual case conceptualization, the learning process is greatly facilitated. Both individual and family case conceptualizations are defined. Two cases are presented with both individual and family case conceptualizations; one involves a complex medical condition.
The present study examined the relationship between reports of childhood parentification, current romantic relationship constructive communication, and adult attachment-related cognitions in 57 college participants. Results from analyses indicated that childhood emotional parentification was negatively associated with constructive communication and positively correlated with young adult avoidant and anxious attachment-related cognitions. Multiple mediation analyses revealed that anxious attachment-related beliefs were shown to have a significant indirect effect on the relationship between emotional parentification and romantic dyadic constructive communication. Clinical implications of the current findings are discussed.
Decision-making at home and during deployment was examined for 161 spouses of service members (SMs) who were deployed overseas, using baseline spouse reports. Four types of decisions were included: minor household, major household, financial, and decisions about children. Communication methods used during deployment were also examined. With deployment, spouses reported that decision-making changed significantly for all four types of decisions. Decision-making at home was predominantly as a couple; during deployment, more decisions were by the spouse. However, decision-making stayed the same at home and during deployment for 1/3 to 2/3 of families, dependent on the type of decision, and these couples tended to make decisions together. Availability of communication methods that allow rapid exchange of information may contribute to couples managing decisions together. Before deployment, practitioners should discuss current family decision-making and communication patterns and expectations during deployment. During deployment, spouses can be encouraged to take on responsibilities that will help build their independence and facilitate smooth functioning of family life. At the same time, encouragement to continue, as much as possible and appropriate, familiar decision-making during deployment and at home may help ease the SM’s transition from deployment to home.
Research in filial therapy has provided strong support for its efficacy in improving parent–child relationships. While studies have extensively examined the impact of filial therapy training on parent and child participants, to date, no study has examined the training experiences of filial therapists. Using a mixed methodological approach, we examined the impact of supervised filial therapy training on graduate counseling students’ play therapy attitudes, knowledge, and skills. Twenty-three students voluntarily participated in the study. We conducted paired-sample t-tests to evaluate the impact of a filial therapy course on students’ scores on the Play Therapy Attitude–Knowledge–Skills Survey. From pretest to posttest, there were statistically significant improvements and a large effect size on students’ scores in the knowledge and skills subscales. To gain a deeper understanding of participants’ experiences and explore their perceptions of the supervised filial training, we also utilized individual interviews. Participants discussed their reactions to leading a filial therapy group and participating in supervision. They also described the impact of the training on their beliefs about parents, children, and the dynamics of parent–child relationships. We discuss limitations and implications of the study.
Despite significant growth and development of the counseling profession, there continues to be less emphasis placed upon systemically oriented training and counseling approaches that consider international contexts. Experts have identified a need to tailor culturally congruent couples and family-based approaches to specific international sociocultural contexts, and therefore couples, marriage, and family counselors in training (CMFC-ITs) need to be better prepared to collaborate with clients from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Intersectional experiential learning environments are suggested as a means to encourage students to consider how they might approach couples and family counseling in diverse international contexts. Experiential learning environments have the potential to promote knowledge, cross-cultural awareness, and skill acquisition for CMFC-Its, while simultaneously advancing dialogue regarding the training and practice of systems-based international counseling approaches through collaboration with international experts, local practitioners, educators, and cultural insiders. A case example of an intersectional experiential learning environment is provided to assist counselor educators in tailoring and coconstructing experiential learning environments appropriate to their contextual circumstances.
This article is written to focus on the need for the client and counselor to have a will that focuses on who has access to the client’s counseling records. Specifically, the focus is on the importance for the client to indicate who has access to his or her records following his or her death or incapacitation. In addition, this article focuses on who has access to the counselor’s records if the counselor should die or be incapacitated. The authors believe that it is the ethical responsibility of the counselor to discuss wills. Case examples are provided and recommendations are made.
After receiving a cancer diagnosis, couples commonly face significant difficulties such as adjusting to new family roles, diminishing cohesion and communication, and increases in marital conflict. Latina breast cancer survivors report feeling less emotional support from their partners and an intimate partners’ level of distress can have a deleterious influence on the cancer survivor. The current study explores the influence of breast cancer on Latino male partners. Analysis of the data resulted in nine domains that provide significant insight into participant experiences. Results of this study also suggest several implications for counselors.
Expectations influence experiences and are an important factor in interpersonal exchanges. Within therapy, client expectations are a common factor contributing to client change. It is important for both clinicians and researchers to explore the breadth and nature of their clients’ expectations for treatment in order to provide personalized and effective care. Furthermore, client expectations may be predictive of client outcomes and thus may be a worthwhile target for intervention. Despite the importance of understanding client expectations, little research has been done on this topic in the field of marriage and family therapy. This may be due to a need for a robust measure for client expectations that goes beyond studying individual adult clients and which is also feasible to administer. This article provides information about existing measures in the mental health field and suggests guidelines for the development of a measure that would be appropriate for the field of marriage and family therapy.
In this article, Regina R. Moro and Rebecca G. Scherer interview Dr. Kok-Mun Ng on the topics of cross-cultural attachment, the internationalization of the counseling profession, and the importance of systems theory.
Although economic disadvantage is linked to poor relationship quality and increased individual distress, emerging literature supports couples and relationship education as effective at improving relationship quality for low-income couples. However, relationship education’s influence on individual distress for low-income couples has not yet been determined. We provided relationship education using the Prevention Relationship Enhancement Program curriculum to 96 low-to-moderate income married couples with children and examined changes in relationship quality and individual distress pre, post, and 3–6 months after intervention. We found significant improvements in relationship satisfaction and significant individual distress decreases. Implications are discussed.
This study explores whether differentiation of the self, a concept suggested by Bowen, can explain and predict the tendency for romantic jealousy. It also looks into gender differences in the expressions and reactions to romantic jealousy. Data were gathered from married couples (242 participants), utilizing self-report questionnaires that measure emotional, cognitive, and behavioral expressions of jealousy, evaluate the respondent’s level of differentiation, and collect background data. The findings show that participants with lower levels of differentiation reported higher levels of jealousy. Women reported higher levels of emotional arousal, had a stronger cognitive tendency to interpret a variety of situations as arousing jealousy, and were inclined to invest more in attempting to preserve the couple relationship. Implications of these findings for future research and practice of clinical couple therapy are discussed.
Home-based counseling is increasingly an alternative mode of providing counseling services for children and families, reduces barriers to accessing traditional counseling services, and has also been shown to be effective. As such, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe the competencies needed to provide such counseling services. This study yielded five categories of competencies—necessary knowledge sets, case conceptualization, counseling behaviors, flexibility in session, and professional dispositions and behaviors. We also outline implications for counseling practice, counselor education, and public policy.
This exploratory study used qualitative methods to gain a richer understanding of the relational dynamics in modern swinging relationships. Swinging was defined at the onset of the study as sexual activities that married couples engage in with people other than their spouses. Twenty people (10 couples) volunteered and were interviewed using computer-mediated communication. Symbolic interactionism provides the theoretical framework for the study. Within the construct of relational dynamics, themes of power and decision making, commitment to swinging, and privacy about swinging emerged.
The reflecting team (RT) process was once a common practice in couple and family therapy training programs. This qualitative case study utilized the interview process to gain understanding about a couple’s perspective of the RT process. Categories constructed included (a) characteristics of the RT and (b) reactions to reflections. These findings underscore the need for additional research that specifically addresses these themes and aims to help counselor educators and counselors in training better understand and serve their clients. While this study supports many of the previous research findings, it adds the elements of encouraging listening, fostering hope, and facilitating engagement in the reflective process.
Our study investigated the relationship among daughters from father-absent homes, daughters’ age of menarche, and daughters’ first sexual intercourse. This study was conducted as a paper-and-pencil survey with a total of 12 questions answered by 342 undergraduate female students. Results indicated that females from father-absent homes reported experiencing menarche significantly earlier than females from father-present homes; significant correlations at the p < .001 level were found between first reported menarche and first reported consensual intercourse. There was a significant group difference found between father-present and father-absent homes in terms of the age at which participants reported the first onset of their menarche. As there was a significant correlation between onset of menarche and age of first intercourse, it could be surmised that pubertal timing could serve as a mediating factor between father absence and initial engagement in sexual activity.
Families who present for counseling to address child sexual abuse (CSA) benefit from interventions that are evidence-based and meet children’s developmental needs. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) is an empirically supported approach that is structured to include parents or caregivers in parent-only sessions and a family component. This article reviews the CSA literature as it relates to families, provides an overview of TF-CBT and the trauma narrative intervention, and discusses preparation for and implementation of the narrative family session which is illustrated by a case study.
The purpose of this article is to review a selected body of research published over the past 25 years, 1984 to 2008, and focus on what influences the attitudes of people in the United States toward marriage; to critique what is known about how attitudes toward marriage are affected by a variety of factors. A review of 14 studies revealed that research questions were limited in terms of scope. Theoretical guidance has been minimal, with only 5 of the 14 studies incorporating theoretical or conceptual frameworks. Despite these limitations, the findings of the 14 studies showed that offspring’s attitudes toward marriage is highly dependent on the parental/family environment: Those whose parents were having conflicts, were divorced, and were having post-divorce interparental conflict expressed negative attitudes toward marriage.
Although the practice of marriage and family therapy in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) has been gaining popularity since the late 1990s, the establishment of formal marriage and family therapy education in Uzbekistan has proceeded much slower than the other regions of the former USSR. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the quality and quantity of marriage and family therapy education in Uzbekistan by studying a sample of current practitioners. This article provides (a) an overview of Uzbekistan’s culture and family dynamics, (b) the status of current psychotherapeutic services provided, and (c) the availability and quality of education in psychotherapy and marriage and family therapy in that country. Implications for curriculum development and training are included.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant problem in society today. Many approaches have been taken to address the issue and treat the individual or couple. Gottman et al. published groundbreaking research aimed at classifying batterers based on heart rate reactivity. Their finding, that batterers may differ in type, is part of a wealth of recent research leading toward more effective treatment of IPV. Researchers have recently brought about many considerations to the way IPV can be classified and effectively treated by mental health professionals. The purpose of this article is to follow the developments of Gottman and others, as IPV research and treatment has grown over the past 17 years.
Researchers have long been interested in understanding for whom therapy works and why. This study sought to identify ways in which clients differ with regard to treatment outcomes such as treatment length, success, and termination status. Data for this study were taken from the client documents completed prior to the first session of therapy and the therapist-completed termination summary for 305 cases from a university-based marriage and family therapy clinic. Results suggest that soft-mandated and voluntary clients show similar success rates in treatment. Also, cases that terminated unilaterally had the lowest success rates, though rates were approximately equal across modality. This study provides information about treatment across different client characteristics and modalities.
The current study assessed the extent to which parental validating and invalidating behaviors (a) could be reliably measured in parent–adolescent relationships, (b) differed significantly between clinic and nonclinic families, and (c) were associated with measures of adolescent emotion dysregulation, behavior problems, and parent–adolescent relationship satisfaction. Adolescents (N = 29; age range = 12–18; 62% female) and their parents completed a variety of self-report and parent-report measures of adolescent functioning. Ratings of parents’ validating and invalidating responses during video-recorded social support and problem-solving interactions were obtained. Results indicated that parental validating and invalidating behaviors (a) were measured with a high degree of reliability, (b) differed significantly between clinic and nonclinic families, and (c) were correlated, in expected directions, with adolescent emotion dysregulation, externalizing problem behaviors, and adolescent relationship satisfaction. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of both research and potentially improved family interventions.
With structural equation modeling, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health data were used to examine "parental support" and "perception of school" and their relation to Hispanic youth’s substance use (alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana).
In this consensual qualitative research study, the postpartum mood disorder (PMD) experiences of 127 women who have more than one child were explored through an online survey. Implications for practice include an expansion in predictive factors and symptoms when screening for PMD and the identification of prevention and coping strategies useful in the education and treatment of women who experience PMD.
The literature on parent–adolescent attachment relationships has proliferated in recent years and has found associations between secure, positive attachment and lower mental health difficulties, more meaningful relationships, and increased career and educational success. In contrast, those adolescents who have failed to form meaningful attachments with caregivers appear to struggle in these areas. It is important for family counselors to understand the role that attachment plays across the life span, but particularly in adolescence, as new relationships develop and relationships change. In addition, family counselors may struggle with boundary issues in counseling situations where insecure attachments are of clinical concern. Thus, this article serves as a review of the most current theory and research in the area of parent–adolescent attachment, as well as implications for family counselors—specifically, incorporating attachment into their conceptualization of cases where the adolescent is the identified client and establishing and maintaining appropriate boundaries with their adolescent clients.
There is a need to better understand family processes related to recovery from past stressful life events. The present study aimed to investigate links between perceptions of parental awareness regarding stressful life events, continued event-related rumination, and current symptoms of depression. Students at a diverse, urban university completed a Life Events Checklist and a semistructured interview regarding family processing of stressful life events, as well as self-report measures of event-related rumination and depression. Results indicated that perceptions of mothers’ and fathers’ awareness of sadness regarding stressful life events as well as mothers’ and fathers’ verbal event processing predicted symptoms of event-related rumination and depression. Results support the inclusion of perceptions of parental awareness in the understanding of how emerging adults continue to cope with past stressful life events.
There exists a need to better understand the applicability of Marriage and Relationship Education (MRE) initiatives with diverse populations. This study presents findings from focus groups with Latino men and women (N = 16) who participated in MRE classes. A critical theory approach guided the researchers who used grounded theory methodology to analyze the group transcripts. From the participant’s words, two types of meaning categories were generated. The first category, "Cultural Values," included shared values or cultural influences that were identified as relevant to how participants experienced the MRE course. These included values such as familismo or cultural obligation. The second category was "group benefits," which included concepts that described ways that the MRE experience was helpful to the participants (e.g., emotional awareness and motivation for change). These categories and concepts are presented in a model depicting the cultural values as an overlay through which the group benefits were filtered. The model offers implications for class content (e.g., relevant portions of the curriculum) and process (e.g., the importance of offering the courses in Spanish). Other implications for research and practice are given.
A sample of 191 married students from 23 Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs-accredited programs participated in a survey designed to examine factors that affect the marital satisfaction of counseling graduate students. Results indicated that attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and dyadic coping accounted for 67% of the variance in marital satisfaction. Additionally, dyadic coping partially mediated the relationships between both attachment dimensions and marital satisfaction. Findings provide direction for future research and practical implications for counselors, educators, and graduate students.
Single-parent families represent a growing segment of the family households in the United States today and while some literature has addressed racial differences, information focusing on single parents of multiracial children in the United States is virtually nonexistent. Single-parent multiracial families (SPMFs) must not only contend with societal challenges related to their single-parent status but also racial issues related to their multiracial children. This article will address some of the unique challenges encountered by SPMFs and offer suggestions to counselors and other mental health professionals working with this unique population.
The demand for family counselors implementing crisis intervention and grief counseling in hospital trauma units continues to increase. Thus, this article provides a review of the nature of family counselors working with individuals and families affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI) and medical trauma in hospitals. Specifically, the article presents (a) unique aspects of crisis intervention and grief services provided in hospital trauma units, (b) effective rapport building strategies for family counselors working with families in crisis from TBI, (c) multidisciplinary collaboration in hospitals, (d) diagnostic approaches and common mental health disorders following TBI, (e) ethical issues working in hospitals, (f) family-focused grief therapy and stages of grief interventions, and (g) implications with a case example of a family counselor working with a family affected by TBI.
An instrumental qualitative multiple case study design was conducted on 3 single mothers raising multiple heritage children concerning issues involved in being a single mother and attempting to juggle socializing their children among two different cultures. Using constant comparison analysis, themes were assigned by analyzing the single mothers’ interview responses to determine the advantages and disadvantages that single mothers might face while raising multiple heritage children. Results indicate an array of pertinent issues single mothers might face while attempting to juggle family and social issues pertaining to raising a multiple heritage child on their own. Recommendations for counselors working with single mothers of multiple heritage children are presented.
With the increase in children adopted from Russia, family therapists in the United States face the dilemma of helping adoptive families care for their child and build a healthy family unit. This article familiarizes family therapists with children’s unique experiences in Russian institutionalized care and its impact on children’s social–emotional development, behavior, and attachment patterns. Implications for family therapists working with families adopting Russian orphans are discussed.