Behavioral family therapy symposium

Abstract

The Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center (AECOM/MMC) Department of Psychiatry and the Gralnick Foundation/ High Point Hospital jointly sponsored the Second Annual Einstein Symposium on November 7, 1985 commemorating the centennial year of Yeshiva University. The symposium, focusing on Behavioral Family Therapy, opened with the presentation of the Einstein Award for Research in Psychiatry to B. F. Skinner by Herman van Praag, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry. After Skinner's discussion of the role of emotions in behavior analysis, several nationally renowned clinical researchers in the field of behavioral family therapy presented findings of their recent work.     

A plea for more intervision

The author presents an argument for tolerance, mutual understanding and reconciliation in psychotherapy, instead of a continued emphasis of schools. Psychotherapists' work with clients is proposed as a likely area for mutual understanding, rather than continued emphasis on their particular theories and academic matters. Psychotherapeutic intervision groups in which a small number of therapists voluntarily discuss their cases with peers from various backgrounds have become increasingly common again in recent years.Slightly revised version of a presentation made at the Georgetown Family Center Symposium in November 1995.     

Book review

Abstract

Chronic Illness: From Experience to Policy, edited by S. Kay Toombs, David Barnard, and Ronald A. Carson. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 1995. 221 pp. ISBN 0-253-36011-0. $27.95 hardback. Reviewed by Lee Combrinck-Graham.

S. Kay Toombs is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University and author of The Meaning of Illness.

David Barnard is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Humanities at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. He is coauthor of Nourishing the Humanistic in Medicine: Interactions with the Social Sciences.

Ronald A. Carson is Professor and Director of the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas in Galveston. He is coeditor of Medical Humanities Reviews.

Lee Combrinck-Graham is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Behavioral Health Medical Director of Oxford Health Plans, and Editor of Children in Family Contexts and Children in Families at Risk. She is the author of Giant Steps: Therapeutic Innovations in Child Mental Health.     

Two recent interpretations of Plato's Parmenides

William F. Lynch, S. J. An Approach to the Metaphysics of Plato through the Parmenides, Georgetown University Press, 1959, 255 pp. $ 6.00

Robert S. Brumbaugh, Plato on the One. The Hypotheses in the Parmenides, Yale University Press, New Haven 1961, 365 pp. $ 6.50.     

Twelve-Year Review of Major Family Therapy Journals: Topic Areas,Authors' Characteristics and Publishing Institutions

Topics of interest, authors' characteristics, and institutions in three major MFT journals (American Journal of Family Therapy, Family Process, and Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy) from 1992 to 2004 were reviewed. The findings indicated that most authors had earned a Ph.D. and worked in a university setting as a faculty member. Publishing institutions were equally distributed throughout the United States. Six topics areas accounted for 42% of articles written including (1) Theory; (2) Techniques and Interventions; (3) Assessments and Instruments; (4) Ethnic, Minority, and Cross-cultural Issues; (5) Violence, Abuse, and Incest; and (6) Training and Supervision. As in the earlier reviews, faculty and/or students from Purdue University and Brigham Young University authored the highest percentage of papers.     

Book reviews

Abstract

Reviews of Women and Health: Feminist Perspectives, edited by Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger. London, UK and Bristol PA, USA: Taylor & Francis, 1994, 209 pp. ISBN: 0 7484 0149 0, $24.95. Reviewed by Laurie Lynn Stange.

Laurie Lynn Stange is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies with a specialization in marriage and family therapy at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.     

A Review of “Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents”

Abstract

The New Hypnosis in Family Therapy, by Daniel L. Araoz&;Esther Negley-Parker. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1988, 304 pages, $30.00

The Family Interpreted, by Deborah Anne Leupnitz. New York: Basic Books, 352 pages, $22.95.

Family Evaluation, by Michael Kerr&;Murray Bowen. New York: W. W. Norton, 416 pages, $29.95

Family Therapy Techniques for Problem Behaviors of Children and Teenagers, by Charles E. Schaefer, James M. Briesmeister&;Maureen E. Fitton. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 482 pages, $28.95

Family of Origin Therapy, edited by Alan J. Hovestadt&;Marshal Fine. Rockville, MD: Aspen Publications, 1987, 106 pages, $29.67

Siblings in Therapy: Life Span and Clinical Issues, edited by Michael D. Kahn&;Karen Gail Lewis. New York: W. W Norton, 1988, 469 pages, $34.95

A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development, by John Bowlby. New York: Basic Books, 1988, 205 pages, $16.95

Developing Ericksonian Therapy: State of the Art, edited by Jeffrey K. Zeig&;Stephen R. Lankton. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1988, 523 pages, $50.00

Journey with Grandpa: Our Family's Struggle with Alzheimer's Disease, by Rosalie Walsh Honel. Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press, 243 pages, $16.95

The Divorce Decision: What It Can Mean for Your Children, Your Finances, Your Emotions, Your Relationships, Your Future, by Gary Richmond. Waco, TX: Word Book Publishers, 1988, 215 pages, $8.99     

Getting a New Lease on Life

Abstract

A significant number of marriages today arc interchurch, that is, marriages in which each spouse belongs to a different Christian church or denomination. The limited research on interchurch couples suggests that they are more at risk for divorce than same-church couples. A qualitative study and a national telephone survey were conducted by the Center for Marriage and Family at Creighton University to better understand interchurch marriages. Based on findings from these studies, clinical implications for premarital counseling with interchurch couples are presented. The findings suggest not only how to work with interchurch couples, but how religion can potentially impact all couples regardless of their denominational affiliation.     

A Review of “Risk Management: Clinical,Ethical, & Legal Guidelines for Successful Practice”

Abstract

Between Mothers-In-Law and Daughters-In-Law: Achieving a Successful and Caring Relationship, by Helene S. Arnstein. New York: Dodd, Mead&;Company, 1985, 225 pages, $8.95 paperback

When Living Hurts: Directives for Treating Depression, by Michael D. Yapko. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1988, 217 pages, $22.50

The Illustrated Manual of Sex Therapy, 2nd ed., by Helen Singer Kaplan. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1987, 181 pages, $22.50

Reforming the Law: Impact of Child Development Research, edited by Gary B. Melton New York: The Guilford Press, 1987, 307 pages, $30.00.

Doing Things: A Guide to Programming Activities for Persons with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, by Jitka M. Zgola. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 149 pages, $20.00 hardcover, $8.95 paperback

Domestic Revolutions: A Social History of American Family Life, edited by Steven Mintz and Susan Kellogg. New York: The Free Press, 1987, 244 pages, $22.50

Handbook of Measurements for Marriage and Family Therapy, by Norman Fredman&;Robert Sherman. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1987, 218 pages, $27.50     

The word "bioethics": the struggle over its earliest meanings.

An article by Warren Reich in the December 1994 issue of this journal concludes that the word "bioethics" and the field of study it names experienced a "bilocated birth" in 1970/1971 under Van Rensselaer Potter, at the University of Wisconsin, and André Hellegers, at Georgetown University. Further historical inquiry confirms (1) that there were, from the start, some major differences -- even clashes -- between the Potter and the Hellegers/Georgetown understandings of bioethics; and (2) that the Hellegers/Georgetown approach came to be the more widely accepted meaning of the term, while Potter's idea of bioethics remained largely marginalized. However, this inquiry also results in a third, unanticipated, conclusion: that Hellegers (in contrast to the dominant model offered by the Georgetown scholars) actually proposed a global approach to bioethics, bringing his vision much closer to Potter's evolving view than previously has been acknowledged.     

a review of working world: careers in international education,exchange, and development

Sherry L. Mueller and Mark Overmann. (2008). Working World: Careers in International Education, Exchange, and Development. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. 246 pages, $24.95 List, ISBN 978–158901–210–3.     

The Qualified Pronoun Count as a Measure of Change in Family Psychotherapy

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the original Multiple Family Psychotherapy group at Georgetown University, Department of Psychiatry. The author, a clinician, used the technique of content analysis of recorded interviews and developed a “change ratio” which is called the “qualified pronoun count.” Although “therapeutic improvement” is not the main goal of the treatment strategy under research here, ordinarily anyone that exhibits the kind of change in differentiation from “family ego mass” ( 1 ) reflected in this study, also experiences diminution or remission of symptoms. Preliminary findings indicate this new system of observing change is useful in determining variations in differentiation, and that these families did change.     

Book Review

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, the clinical evaluation of family systems has been spearheaded by Robert Beavers and his colleagues at the Southwest Family Institute in Dallas, Texas. Out of their research and clinical work has evolved the Beavers System Model for Family Assessment (BSM). The BSM is a collection of three instruments the first of which was the Beavers-Timberlawn Family Evaluation Scale (1972) featured in the widely popular book, No Single Thread (Lewis et al, 1976). The Centripetal/Centrifugal Family Style Scale shortly followed (1974), and more recently (1983) the Self-Report Family Instrument was added to the BSM. Although the focus of the following critique is on the Beavers-Timberlawn Family Evaluation Scale (BT), the measure is designed to be used in conjunction with the other scales to more fully identify the health/competence of a particular family.     

The Treatment of Children Impacted by the World Trade Center Attack

Abstract

This article presents, from a developmental perspective, the authors' experiences treating children and families who were traumatized by and who lost relatives in the World Trade Center attack. The treatments took place within the Trauma Treatment Development Center, National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, New York, of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. Case vignettes address treatments for toddlers, preschool, and school-age children and adolescents. Family, individual cognitive-behavioral, school, social, and parenting treatment strategies utilized are discussed.     

Health Care Reform and Psychologists in Medical Schools: Stress, Challenge, and Change

Psychologists from 45 academic health science centers throughout the United States and Canada gathered at Georgetown University for a national conference November 2–5, 1995 organized by the Association of Medical School Psychologists. This paper introduces the proceedings of that conference described in the next four articles in this issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings[Volume 4, number 1]. Papers prepared by the working groups focus upon clinical services, education and training, research, and governance and administration within the academic medical setting.     

Family constellations and friendship systems

An individual friendship system is composed of the friends a person has had and/or still has. Individual friendship systems can be characterized objectively in similar ways as can family constellations. The data of a questionnaire study of individual friendship systems and respective family backgrounds of more than 400 subjects revealed greater differentiation and variation with age as well as with the presumed absence of conflict, disruption, and loss in a person's social development. Various interactions between family backgrounds could be traced. To illustrate the practical use of characteristics of a person's individual friendship system two clinical cases matched for age and family background, one with a mild neurotic problem and the other severely disturbed, were compared.Based on a lecture first given at the Family Therapy Symposium of Georgetown University, Washington, DC, on November 9, 1986.     

An interview with emily and john visher

Abstract

Making an Issue of Child Abuse: Political Agenda Setting for Social Problems, by Barbara J. Nelson. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984, 269 pages, $27.50.

Child Abuse: A Community Concern, edited by Kim Oates. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1984, 336 pages, $25.00.

Death and Grief in the Family, edited by Thomas T. Frantz. Rockville, MD: Aspen Systems Corporation, 1984, 122 pages, $18.00.

A Child Dies: A Portrait of Family Grief, by loan Hagan Arnold &; Penelope Buschman Gernuna. Rockville, MD: Aspen Systems Corporation, 1983, 162 pages (price unknown).

The Single Child Family, edited by Toni Falbo. New York: Guilford Press, 1984, 304 pages, $27.50.

Adolescent Crises: Family Counseling Approaches, by Eva Leveton. New York: Springer Publishing, 1984, 285 pages, $24.95.

The Narcissistic and Borderline Disorders: An Integrated Developmental Approach, by J. F. Masterson. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1982, 256 pages, $20.00.

The Battered Woman Syndrome, by Lenore E. Walker. New York: Springer, 1984, 272 pages, $21.95.

Human Sexuality: Contemporary Controversies, edited by Harold Feldman 6 Andrea Parrot. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1984, 333 pages.

Family Relationships in Later Life, edited by Timothy Brubaker. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1983, 272 pages, $25.00, paperback $12.50.

Overcrowding in the Household, An Analysis of Determinants and Effects, by Walter R. Gove &; Michael Hughes. New York: Academic Press, 1983, 326 pages, $39.00.

Origins and Evolution of Behavior Disorders, by Stella Chess &; Alexander Thomas. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1984, 320 pages, $30.00.

Psychotherapy with Psychotherapists, edited by Florence W. Kaslow. New York: Haworth Press, 1984, 202 pages, $22.95.

Innovations in Clinical Practice: A Source Book, Volume 3, edited by Peter A. Keller &; Lawrence G. Ritt. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Exchange, 1984, 482 pages, hardbound $39.95; looseleaf binder, $44.95.

Guiding the Family: Practical Counseling Techniques, by B. B. Grunwald &; H. V. McAbee. Muncie, IN: Accelerated Development, 1985, 346 pages, $17.95.

Applying Family Therapy: A Practical Guide for Social Workers, by Helen C. Masson &; Patrick O'Byrne. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press, 1984, 148 pages, hardbound $20.00; paperback $13.00.

Parent Training, edited by Richard F. Dungel &; Richard A. Polster. New York: Guilford, 1984, 576 pages, $35.00.

New Developments in Behavior Therapy, edited by Cyril M. Franks. New York: The Hawthorne Press, 1984, 589 pages, $45.00 hardbound, $24.95 softbound.

Symptom Reduction Through Clinical Biofeedback, by Ivan Wentworth-Rohr, New York: Human Sciences Press, 1984, 273 pages.

American Family Law in Transition, by Walter O. Weyrauch &; Sandord N. Katz. Washington, DC: The Bureau of National Affairs, 1983, 629 pages, $35.00.

The Denial of Stress, edited by Sholomo Breznitz. New York: International Universities Press, 1983, 316 pages, $25.00.

Stress Reduction and Prevention, edited by Donald Meichenbaum 6 Matt Jaremko. New York: Plenum, 1983, 512 pages, $32.50.

Life-Span Developmental Psychology: Nonnormative Life Events, edited by Edward J. Callahan &; Kathleen A. McCluskey. New York: Academic Press, 1983, 314 pages, $29.50.     

Labeling: A study of an “autistic” child

Abstract

In this issue we are able to present reports from two very different meetings which, nevertheless, have particular significance for the developing field of family therapy, particularly as it relates to theory and practice. The first is a report by Professors Jeanne L. Thomas and Cecil J. Simons of West Virginia University on the eighth biennial conference on Life-Span Developmental Psychology, held in May 1982, in Mor-gantown, West Virginia. This conference was one of a series sponsored by West Virginia University since 1970 dealing with theoretical and empirical issues in the study of life-span human development. This particular conference highlighted two themes involving the impact of specific historical context on family development as well as the influence of the family on the individual's own experience of these historical events. This kind of broad and in-depth exploration of the multiple factors involved in the historical as well as the personal context of an individual's development promises to provide exciting new opportunities for clinicians and teachers in our field.

The second report from James E. Durkin, Ph.D., of Lincoln University deals with a recent conference on Epistemology, Psychotherapy, and Psychopathology in Houston, September 1982, sponsored by the Houston Galveston Family Institute. Outstanding theoreticans and clinicans in the field of family therapy and systems theory were present, and their exciting discussions have been put into an interesting framework by Dr. Durkin, who has his own way of integrating these issues based on his long work in the application of general systems theory to the field of group psychotherapy. —I. A.     

The Section of Psychology: Psychology in an Academic Health Sciences Center's Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry

This paper describes the organization of the Section of Psychology, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown. The organization of psychology is described in terms of the 10 organizational variables for psychology outlined by the Working Group on Governance and Administration from the 1995 Association of Medical School Psychologists, Georgetown Conference. Several aspects of the Department are highlighted that may account for the success of psychology section model including collegial relationship between the disciplines of psychology and psychiatry. The paper describes in detail how the section works, key successes, major obstacles encountered, and future challenges.     

Mental Files and Rational Inferences

Abstract

My goal in this paper is to discuss the ‘Fregean’ account of inferences proposed by Recanati in his Mental Files (Oxford University Press, 2012). I raise the following dilemma for the mental files theory. (a) If the premises of certain inferences involve ‘the same file’ in a strict sense of the expression, then files cannot play the role of modes of presentation. (b) If, on the other hand, the files involved in the premises are ‘the same’ only in a loose sense, then the notion of file sameness plays no role in accounting for rational inferences, contra Recanati’s Fregean account.