Behavior modification in marriage counseling

Abstract

Telephone cotherapy via three-way conference call of symbolic-experien-Hal family therapy is presented in a way that captures the spirit of a great pioneer, Carl Whitaker, M.D. The problems of the family, the process of therapy, and the beginning and ending are presented in a manner intended to bring the reader inside the experience. There are particular focuses on the use of family political power by both family therapists and an anguished family member in mobilizing the family for therapy. Impact is demonstrated in helping a family who felt hopeless become hopeful. The family attained a family spirit.     

Innovations in marriage counseling

Love is the result of reciprocity of one's deepest desires and needs (DDN) being met to a reasonable degree. Marriage is the legalizing of the relationship, with the understanding that the contract to satisfy each other is binding and modifiable from time to time. Marital therapy proceeds in an orderly and logical fashion. The mutual complaints are listed in some detail. To reduce the list as much as possible is the goal of therapy. Some complaints are learned to be ignored, others require confrontation. If comfort is not achieved with these options, separation or divorce is the most frequently used option and calls for RET techniques to reduce reliance on neurotic methods. Several strategies crucial to facilitate change are discussed.     

Supervision in marriage counseling

Abstract

The objective of this research was to explore the impact of having a schizophrenic sibling. Fourteen siblings, aged 24 to 46, were interviewed. As a group, the subjects were functioning at high levels of adjustment. All had had a period in late adolescence in which they were separated from their families in surroundings that facilitated personal growth. Among older subjects, there followed a period of reinvolvement, including assuming responsibility for the ill sibling. Guilt was a predominant emotion in their lives. Variations in the intensity of guilt were most often related to ordinal position. Younger siblings, particularly if same-sexed, expressed guilt over being well, whereas older siblings expressed guilt over earlier sibling rivalry.     

Role incongruency in marriage and family counseling

Abstract

Incongruency in role expectations produces strain in the marriage. But this doer not mean that spouses seeking marriage counseling experience more role incongruency than others. By studying 104 couples divided into experimental and control groups, it was found that there was no more. role expectation incongruency in the couples seeking marriage counseling than in those not seeking counseling. It might be that the major difference lies in how couples of both groups handle whatever incongruency may exist. What occurs between spouses can be easily applied to role incongruency among all members of the family.     

Ministers evaluate their training in marriage counseling

Summary The results of the study described above have certain implications for planning future training programs. Teaching in this particular field must be primarily learner centered, rather than subject centered. This is borne out by the choices of the respondents that indicate the importance of understanding of the self, and own attitudes, biases, and feelings as they affect the counselor's capacity within the helping relationship; and the emphasis placed upon the strongly teacher-learner-centered method—supervision—as of primary importance. Thus, supervision, which offers support and understanding to the trainee as he struggles to integrate new knowledge and to develop increased sensitivity to others, greater flexibility, and skill, assumes a tremendously important part of the total training experience. This has implications for the training center in relation to the quality and quantity of supervision available to the training person.The question of insufficient time may have psychological as well as practical implications. The importance of a realistic schedule is ovious. The other aspect of this question may have to do with integration and need for time in assimilating a learning experience that requires change and necessarily involves strongly charged affective components. This raises the question of how to maintain a balance between the inevitable anxiety aroused in a new situation, which motivates learning, and excessive anxiety, which may impede progress if the individual becomes more involved in coping with himself than in learning.The need for more training in family-life education is also indicated.     

A systems perspective to marriage counseling

The influence of General Systems Theory on mental health disciplines and pastoral care has grown rapidly in recent years. The central concepts of a systems perspective-organization, control, and stability, and energy-provide an effective means to address organic, relational, and wholistic dimensions of marriage and marriage counselingThis article reflects research for a dissertation/project, including A Guide for Clergy.     

Cognitive marriage counseling with acutely disturbed in-patients

1980 edition ofThe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III suggests that there is a deleterious interaction between Axes I psychiatric disorders and Axes IV psychosocial stressors such as marital disharmony. With acutely disturbed in-patients, marital problems are often found associated with the psychiatric disorder, but they are usually not treated until after the patient has been discharged to out-patient status. Offering concurrent treatment for both the Axes I disorder and the Axes IV stressors would seem to be a move in the direction of a more efficient and a more comprehensive treatment plan. A ten-session course of marriage counseling based on cognitive theory is now being offered to hospitalized psychiatric patients in a rural Veterans Administration Medical Center. The model does not propose to resolve all marital problems in therapy. The goal is to teach the hospitalized patient and their spouse cognitive principles that will enable them to more effectively resolve their own problems after the patient is discharged. It is anticipated that the cognitive principles learned in marriage counseling will also apply to the resolution of some of the problems associated with the psychiatric disorder. Thus the treatment for the Axes IV stressor enhances the treatment for the Axes I psychiatric disorder. This approach might well shorten the patients' hospitalization and reduce the risk of relapse after discharge. Preliminary results suggest that this course shows promise for both individual and marital adjustment.He holds a Primary Certificate with The Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy, and is working on his Doctorate in Social Work at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.     

Identicom: A new marriage counseling strategy

Abstract

As a way for practitioners to integrate various models of marital therapy into their treatment,a flow chart of the process of psychotherapy with couples is presented. Basic steps and questions to be addressed are sequentially discussed. Resolution of each stage is considered important for movement to following stages. The flow chart, as a device for conceptualizing clients independent of a theoretical approach, allows for intervention strategies to be developed at each process level     

Couples in crisis: Using self report instruments in marriage counseling

Self report inventories are often overlooked as a means of assessment in counseling with couples. A rationale for using self report instruments in working with couples is provided. Case studies are given to illustrate how one such instrument, ENRICH, can be used in developing a treatment strategy, making decisions about referrals, checking treatment progress, and following up on newlyweds.