Work and Family Conflict: An Often Overlooked Issue in Couple and Family Therapy

Despite the systemic interaction, family-based journals, as well as intake and assessment forms most frequently used by couple and family therapists (CFTs), have given a limited amount of attention to the issue of work and family conflict. Moreover, a review of the literature indicated that many CFTs perceive themselves as inadequately prepared to assist couples and families with work and family conflict. Addressing this apparent limitation, the present study identified various work stressors that contributed to family conflict (WFC), and the family stressors that contributed to work conflict (FWC). Results revealed significant predictors of WFC and FWC. Implications for CFTs and recommendations for changes in academic training and supervision are provided. The authors would like to thank Dr. Gary Bischof, Associate Professor of Counselor Education and Marriage and Family Therapy program Director at Western Michigan University, for editorial comments made on a previous version of this paper.     

Experiential Family Therapy: An Innovative Approach to the Resolution of Family Conflict in Genetic Counseling

Experiential family therapy is an intuitive approach that utilizes active, multisensory techniques. These techniques, such as role plays and drawings, increase the family's expression of affect and uncover new information. Increased affect and uncovered information stimulate change and growth in the family system. Experiential techniques are especially useful when more traditional, verbal-based communication is not effective. In this article, I will present a pediatric case in which the patient, a 7-year-old boy diagnosed with autism, was referred to the genetics clinic to rule out the presence of an associated genetic disorder. I will then describe a hypothetical second counseling session with the same family and suggest how three experiential family therapy techniques: family drawing, empty chair technique, and continuums might be used in the session to help resolve a marital conflict between the patient's parents.     

Exploring Conflict Culture in the Family: Consistency and Continuity of Conflict During Family Meal Discourse

Conflict discourse in the context of everyday activities of families during mealtimes was examined with a view to determining consistency and continuity on two occasions one year apart. In particular, the use of authority, the part played by each member of the family, and the ways in which conflicts were terminated was addressed. Data derived from Jewish families was considered not only to enable comparisons to be made with data derived from the broader community, but to illuminate the issues pertinent to the exploration of conflict within the family. It was observed over a period of time that there was a continuity of conflict culture within each family. Additionally it was found that generally, family conflict interactions terminated in standoffs rather than resorting to full blown conflicts and the outcome was, on the whole, favourable to all parties, with conversations continuing to be pursued without further conflict. In some instances termination of the episode was through an external agent, rather than a family member. The key part that family members play in deflecting conflict, especially the part played by mothers and siblings was noted. The extension of existing conflict coding schema to account for different types of authority moves, so as to discriminate between authority based on status and that which invokes an idea of shared responsibility or a common code of conduct is recommended. A further extension of the coding schema to account for paralinguistic aspects of communication is suggested.     

Marital Conflict Among Parents: Implications for Family Therapy with Adolescent Conduct Disorder

Conduct disorder is associated with several causative and maintaining factors, with family functioning being an important one. This is especially true in the Indian context, where a lot of the problem behaviors manifested by adolescents with conduct disorders are in the family context. Marital relationship of the parents is a key aspect of family functioning, affecting a number of other dimensions of family functioning, including adolescent adjustment. The paper highlights the role of parents’ marital conflict in the emergence and maintenance of adolescent conduct problems. The importance of family therapy in managing adolescent conduct disorder is discussed through case examples from India. Shalini Anant, MPhil, PhD Scholar, Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore 560029, India. Ahalya Raguram, PhD, Additional Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore 560029, India. Address correspondence to Shalini Anant (shalinianant@gmail.com).     

Development of Family Therapy and Systemic Therapy in Germany

The roots of systemic therapy in Germany date back to the sixties. Systemic therapy is one of the most widely applied forms of psychotherapy and counseling in Germany. The majority of therapists and counselors in child guidance centers, couples therapy counseling centers and youth protective services have been trained in systemic therapy. A high number of clinical psychologists, social workers and medical doctors have received training in this model of therapy. In the beginning, multigenerational, experiential, as well as structural-strategic and Milan systemic approaches were popular. Today, the post-modern systems concepts, solution-oriented and narrative approaches and self-organization theory appear to be predominant. Some centers provide research and training in behavioral and psychodynamic family and couples therapy. However, systemic approaches are clearly leading the field with over 10,000 people who have received systemic training and about 150 training institutes across the country. The critical attitude shared by many leading figures towards empirical research has limited its success in university programs. In addition, training is usually provided in the form of post-graduate courses rather than at academic institutions. Currently, three journals and one online-journal publish articles on various systemic topics. Many publishing houses have a series of books on systemic therapy and one publishing house specializes exclusively on systems oriented books. In 2008, systemic therapy gained recognition as an evidence-based treatment. Four years later, the appropriate authorities have not initiated the process of assessing it as a treatment paid for by public health insurances. In consequence, systemic therapy is not available on a large scale in the public outpatient psychotherapy system. Some additional remarks are provided on the history and current situation of systemic therapy in Austria and Switzerland.     

Family Therapy in China

This paper aims to provide an overview of the family therapy in mainland China, by analyzing its development, current situation and future directions. The authors argue that the history of family therapy can be understood as three stages: introductory stage from 1985 to 1994, “blossoming” stage from 1995 to 2004, and “fast growing” stage from 2005 to present. In every stage, we can see clear differences in each of the following fields: training (including training programs in universities and workshops held by companies or institutes), academics (including research articles, professional books and conferences), and general public environment (including media and policies). We also outline the development of China’s first university system family therapy training program as an example and evidence of family therapy’s significant present and future development in mainland China. Based on this, we highlight some points for future improvement in family therapy in mainland China, including developing indigenous theories and practice models, reinforcing training and research programs in university systems, and improving accreditation standard for all family therapists.     

Constructivism and Family Therapy

Personal construct and family systems theories can profit from an exchange of ideas concerning the relationship between their personal and interpersonal aspects of construction. This article examines three possible points of contact between the two orientations. First, we suggest that personal construct psychology could profit from addressing the important contributions of the family context to the development of each individual's system. Second, we address the impact of the person's constructions on the larger family system. Third, we suggest that the family system itself develops a system of shared constructions that define and bind its identity and interactions. Each of these areas of interface carries implications for therapy, and specific intervention techniques corresponding to each of these are discussed.     

Feminism and Family Therapy

Feminism has had a profound effect on contemporary culture and on thinking in most academic fields, including psychoanalysis. Interestingly, until very recently it had made virtually no impact on the theory and practice of family therapy. This paper proposes an explanation for this peculiar phenomenon and argues that family therapy has been considerably handicapped by its insularity from the feminist critique. Utilizing feminist scholarship in psychoanalysis, history, and sociology, the paper analyzes the structural contradictions in family life that family therapists have essentially ignored and then outlines their clinical implications. Key points in the discussion include the argument that systems theory is an inadequate explanatory matrix from which to build a theory of the family, that the archetypal "family case" of the overinvolved mother and peripheral father is best understood, not as a clinical problem, but as the product of a historical process two hundred years in the making, and that power relations between men and women in families function in terms of paradoxical, incongruous hierarchies that reflect the complex interpenetration between the structure of family relations and the world of work. This conceptual model then provides the basis for an analysis and critique of sexual politics as they emerge in the prototypical clinical situation.