Evidence-Based Practice in Family Therapy and Systemic Consultation II

Evidence for the effectiveness of family-based treatments from critical literature reviews and controlled trials is considered for the following list of adult-focused problems: marital distress, psychosexual problems, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, alcohol abuse, chronic pain, and the family management of neurologically impaired adults. Evidence-based practices which may be used within the context of marital and family therapy and systemic consultation arising from the review are discussed.     

问与答

编辑同志:有一件事情我想问一问,就是现在在各地流行着一种叫作“易医象数”的疗法,说穿就是用他们编的6位数默念就能治病(不用吃药打针),连艾滋病、癌症都能治,不知有没有科学根据及道理。它发源于山东青岛一带,现全国各地都有不少人相信它。绝大部分是老年人,其中老太太及上少数女人为多。希望贵刊对它是真是     

Schizophrenia and the Family: II. Adverse Effects of Family Therapy

Theoretical formulations of the past thirty years have championed the hypothesis that family interaction contributes heavily to the etiology of schizophrenia, a position that has dominated contemporary family therapy even in the absence of solid empirical confirmation. The possibility that sociogenic modeling of schizophrenia is not only incorrect but even harmful to families, and to the relationship between families and clinicians, has never been taken seriously, despite its implications for the practice of family therapy. The author describes untoward effects of the sociogenic hypothesis in his own ten-year experience with families of chronic schizophrenics and examines pertinent reports in the family therapy literature, offering the reinterpretation that many communicational aberrations are adaptations to two therapist attributes: (a) failure to absolve the family of initial causal responsibility, and (b) failure to inform the family about the nature of the illness.     

The Evolution and Modern Practice of Interpersonal Process Family Therapy

This article recognizes rapprochement between intervention theories, and asserts that contemporary recognition of the effects from the therapist-client relationship supports that family therapists should embrace interpersonal process. Specific guiding principles are posited.     

《问答宝卷》解析——江南无为教觉性正宗派的传世经卷

清同治年间,浙江金华人潘三多创立的"觉性正宗派",是江南无为教发展后期的重要教派。潘三多针对姚文宇"灵山正派"无为教的种种弊端,提出大胆改革,主张回复无为教原始教义,被教徒尊为四祖。《问答宝卷》的发现,对挖掘觉性正宗派历史,揭示潘氏宗教思想,推进江南无为教历史研究具有重要意义。     

箱庭疗法应用于家庭治疗的理论背景与临床实践

心理咨询与治疗领域出现了整合的趋势,将箱庭疗法应用于家庭治疗是这一趋势下的成功尝试。箱庭疗法应用于家庭治疗的理论背景是家庭治疗与游戏治疗的整合以及箱庭疗法在团体治疗中的应用。箱庭疗法应用于家庭治疗的临床实践包括家庭评估、家庭治疗、夫妻治疗、家庭治疗师督导,这些临床实践的开展为儿童青少年心理咨询与治疗方法的发展提供了有益的启示。     

Human‐Animal Bonds II: The Role of Pets in Family Systems and Family Therapy

The vast majority of pet owners regard their companion animals as family members, yet the role of pets in family systems and family therapy has received little attention in research, training, and practice. This article first notes the benefits of family pets and their importance for resilience. It then examines their role in couple and family processes and their involvement in relational dynamics and tensions. Next, it addresses bereavement in the loss of a cherished pet, influences complicating grief, and facilitation of mourning and adaptation. Finally, it explores the ways that clients' pets and the use of therapists' companion animals in animal‐assisted therapy can inform and enrich couple and family therapy as valuable resources in healing.     

Family Secrecy in Family Therapy Practice: An Explorative Focus Group Study

The aim of this focus group study was to explore the experiences of family therapists working with family secrecy. Our study highlights that family secrets present important and compelling challenges for family therapists. Furthermore, our study reveals that there seem to be some basic strategies family therapists use in dealing with these challenges in therapy sessions. One basic strategy is that family therapists try to guard their position of being a trustworthy therapist for each family member by avoiding becoming stuck in family secrecy. Furthermore, therapists explore ways to guide the family toward the disclosure of the secret in order to alleviate the toxicity of the secrecy. This highlights the importance of the systemic model and how influential this perspective is in family therapy practice. Some participants, however, have in addition a second strategy they sometimes use: talking with the family about secrecy without aiming to disclose the secret. In the discussion section of the article we reflect on the possibility that in the strategic choices family therapists make conceptual issues might be involved. Furthermore, we stress the importance of further research.     

Third‐Order Thinking in Family Therapy: Addressing Social Justice Across Family Therapy Practice

We contend that the field of family therapy is undergoing a notable shift from second‐ to third‐order thinking. We offer theoretical support and examples to demonstrate how third‐order thinking provides a framework for integrating heightened sociocultural attunement into family therapy practice. We discuss the importance of third‐order thinking relative to being prepared to invite families into third‐order change. Finally, we offer a case example to show specific guidelines for third‐order practice.     

Illness, Family Theory, and Family Therapy: I.Conceptual Issues

This article examines and clarifies controversies about the concept of illness in the field of family therapy. We contend that illness, as traditionally understood in all cultures, is a relational, transactional concept that is highly congruent with core principles of present-day family theories. Family therapists need not buy into a biotechnical, reductionistic reframing of illness as disease. Rather, it is more appropriate to conceptualize and work with illness as a narrative placed in a biopsychosocial context. Such a narrative includes how shared responsibility for coping and for finding solutions can take place, without becoming involved in disputes about causal models.