Three Models of Clergy Systems: Analysis of Couple Processes and Spiritual Meaning

This study explores how parts of the clergy system interact in response to congregational and familial demands. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with twenty-four clergy and their spouses identified three clergy system models based on the spiritual meaning and relational dynamics between the clergy, their spouses, and the congregations: The living sacrifice model emphasizes service to the congregation at the expense of personal and familial needs; the faithful spouse and parent model focuses on family needs over the congregation and practices several disciplines to maintain such a focus; and the peacemaker model seeks as much as possible to satisfy their congregation and their family by intentionally juggling their demands. Results illustrate how relational processes and spiritual meaning contribute to how clergy systems respond to systemic demands and pressures.     

Relating the Couple and the Logos

SUMMARY

With intent to evoke unaccustomed thoughts, two levels of discourse on communication are brought together. The first level focuses on the work of Virginia Satir, especially her placing the abstractions of several psychodynamic mechanisms in the realm of operationalized styles of communication. The second level concerns a Nordic myth which 1 interpret as revealing that the tools of communication are hard won, communication is complex and multi-leveled, and understanding is a numinous event. Examples are given of the deeper meaning strata of several words relevant to couples therapy, reflecting the logos as revealed in mytho-poesis.     

Couple Crises and the Trigenerational Family

ABSTRACT

A trigenerational approach to couple crises is presented. Key ideas are developed from the work of Bowen, Framo and Whitaker on families of origin; Bowen sends partners back to their own families; Framo invites the extended family into the session with the couple; Whitaker enlarges the unit of observation to include more family members, increasing family resources. For the author, the early phase of therapy is diagnostic, so extended family members are invited to provide information as consultants. One couple'S crisis is reviewed m detail. Issues arising from inviting the couple'S parents and siblings, their children, and the value of individual sessions for the partners are examined using the trigenerational framework.     

Couple Therapy and Addictions

Abstract

Therapies for alcoholism, substance abuse, and other addictions traditionally focus on characteristics of individuals such as behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. These kinds of programs tend to target problems inside the abusing person rather than a relational system. Treatments that are more recent locate the problems within systems of people. Regardless of the locus or cause of the abuse or addiction, seen as arising from disease processes, systemic dynamics, or other mechanisms that lead to unfortunate habits and behaviors, utilizing the individual's partner or family in therapy has become an important part of successful treatment. This article reviews models of couple treatment for alcoholics and substance abusers in terms of initiation into treatment, primary treatment, and relapse prevention.     

Couple Enrichment Approaches

Abstract

Contemporary couple enrichment approaches are classified and select programs described. The research on their effectiveness is summarized and their usefulness as primary interventions or as adjunct interventions for couples in therapy is highlighted. Directions for future research and practice are suggested.     

The Embodied Couple

SUMMARY

Herein is described the use of a specific physical posture for couples to assume for the purpose of assessing the dynamics of their relationship. Its careful and artful use creates a microcosm of the couple's interactive style, revealing significant behaviors and feelings in the therapist's presence.     

Couple Therapy and Spirituality and Religion

Abstract

The current state of the art of the integration of couple therapy with spirituality and religion is presented. Each of three waves of this integration identified in this article have seen an increase in the literature in this area, although only a limited amount in each wave has addressed couple therapy specifically. In the first wave, from 1990–1994, articles set forth arguments for why spirituality should be integrated in therapy. During the second wave, 1995–1999, publications focused on the ways that including spirituality in therapy can enhance as well as harm the therapeutic process. In the third wave, 2000-present, attention has shifted away from whether to include spirituality to how it should be included, and the literature of this period features many practical interventions and suggested guidelines for integrating spirituality and religion into therapy and training. The article concludes with recommendations for further developing the integration of spirituality and religion into couple therapy models, research, and training.     

The Meaning of Lives and the Meaning of Things

Meaning in life is an important aspect of human well-being and motivation. But as the notion of ‘meaning in life’ is not easily assimilated to that of semantic meaning, it is difficult to define. While meaning in life is standardly discussed in terms of meaningful ways of living, I here take the alternative approach of discussing the meaningfulness of things for agents. I claim that such meaningfulness, or significance, consists in the ways in which things invite agent-relevant responses. Meaningfulness in that sense is important for understanding, not just meaning in life for mature human beings, but also meaning for children, meaning in the arts, the continuity between ‘mere’ living and living meaningfully, and the connection between meaning in life and semantic meaning.     

Life Meaning and Sign Meaning

Abstract

Philosophers once dismissed questions about meaning in life as conceptually confused. Only language and related phenomena, it was thought, can have meaning; thus, to ask about the meaning of life is to misapply the concept. Recent work by Susan Wolf, Thaddeus Metz, Aaron Smuts, and others has brought new attention and respectability to the topic. However, while talk of life meaning is no longer considered nonsense, most theorists continue to assume that such talk has nothing to do with meaning in the ‘sign’ sense that applies to language. In this paper I argue that this assumption is not well justified and that reflection on the example of Sherlock Holmes's life can help us to see why.     

Multi-Level Couple Therapy: Applying a Metacommunicational Framework of Couple Interactions

Excerpts from a couple therapy case are cited to illustrate the practical significance of a multi-level framework in understanding couple interactions. The clinical implications of the metacommunicational framework, as a metaphor for examining and understanding relational processes, are discussed. Also, the pragmatics of following “process” at a variety of levels when working with punctuational differences, developing therapy strategies and goals, and measuring the progress of couple therapy are discussed.     

Individual and Couple Patterns of Self-views and their Implications for Working with Premarital Couple Relationship Dissatisfaction

A sample of 520 Australian heterosexual couples participating in the PREPARE premarital program completed the multidimensional PREPARE relationship assessment inventory (Olson D. H. Prepare-Enrich Counsellor’s Manual. Brisbane, Australia: Prepare-Enrich, 1996) providing measures of couple relationship satisfaction and individual levels of self-confidence, assertiveness, avoidance, and partner dominance. Multiple regression analyses indicated that, after controlling for idealistic distortion and couple relationship status, high individual male and female self-confidence and assertiveness, and low individual male and female avoidance and partner dominance, were all significant independent predictors of couple satisfaction. Couples in which both partners were high on self-confidence were significantly more satisfied than couples in which one or both of the partners were low on self-confidence. A similar result was evident for couple patterns involving mutually high assertiveness, low avoidance or low partner dominance, relative to couple patterns in which one or both partners were unassertive, highly avoidant or high in partner dominance. These aspects of self-view point to a salient evidence-based intrapersonal and interpersonal context in which to conduct couple therapy.     

Wittgenstein on the Experience of Meaning and the Meaning of Music

On the basis of some ideas of Wittgenstein’s, an argument is presented to the effect that the ability to feel or to experience meaning conditions the ability to mean, and is thus essential to our notion of meaning. The experience of meaning, as manifested in the “fine shades” of use and behaviour, is central to Wittgenstein’s late conception of meaning. In explicating the basic elements involved here, I first try to clarify the notion of feeling and its relationship to meaning, emphasising its central role in music as explanatory of its use in language. The feeling of words, in this sense, is an objective feature of their meaning and use, and should be distinguished from feelings as psychological processes or experiences that may accompany the use of words. I then explain its philosophical significance by arguing that word‐feeling, and the “experience of meaning,” are basically instances of Wittgenstein’s general conception of aspect and aspect‐perception, which are important elements in his later conception of meaning and of thought. The nature of this experience is explicated in terms of grasping internal relations and relevant comparisons, which is manifested in a “mastery of a technique,” or “feeling at home” in a certain practice. In this sense, I argue, the ability to experience the meaning of a word is essential to the very intentionality of our thought and language. The ability to experience meaning is also a precondition for using words in a “secondary sense,” which is of great significance in itself. I conclude by pointing to the application of these notions of understanding, feeling and experience, as well as their explication in terms of comparisons, internal relations and mastery of technique, to music, where they are so apt and natural.     

Development and Validation of the Couple Communication Satisfaction Scale

Abstract

The study presents the development and validation of a new Couples Communication Satisfaction Scale (CCSS). The CCSS observes each partner’s level of satisfaction with various aspects of their communication. An exploratory factor analysis revealed five factors that addressed their own communication presence, own emotional experience, their partner’s responsiveness, their partner’s contribution, and communication characteristics. A confirmatory factor analysis was also conducted to validate the five-factor structure. Findings revealed high levels of reliability in the sample and across genders. Measuring couple communication satisfaction may be helpful in providing a more complete picture of couple communication processes.     

Couple and Family Therapy Within the Current Pan-Canadian Context

Canadians take numerous approaches to couple and family therapy due in part to Canada’s diversity of people and geography, as well as the influence of the health care context, a central facet of our national identity. Tracing back to Nathan Epstein, the founder of family therapy in Canada, there continues to be a strong tradition of couple and family therapy within Canada which has international reach. Formal training in family therapy, as well as couple/marital therapy occurs largely outside of the scope of degree granting programs and university settings. The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy has a strong presence in Canada, with six divisions across the country. Popular models of practice for Canada’s couple and family therapists include cognitive-behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy, narrative therapy, emotionally-focused therapy, and Bowenian/intergenerational therapy. A growing number of training opportunities are becoming available across Canada, and the practice of couple and family therapy is becoming institutionalized as one of the core competencies for professions such as psychiatry. In this article, we examine the context of family therapy in Canada by examining its history, the unique accreditation standards, qualifications and organizations associated with family therapy, the relationship between couple and family therapy, and future directions for this field of practice.