Single Motherhood Via Donor-Insemination (DI): Separation, Absence, and Family Creation

The formation of single motherhood by choice via donor-insemination became one of the alternative family structures in recent years. This paper presents the construction of pre-maternal processes, decision-making and the actual preparation for motherhood via a clinical case study. The therapeutic process is developed through mutual co-construction of patient-therapist relationships that implement analytic relational concepts. The absence of the paternal figure generates a unique creation of familial emotional space. The lack of a conceptual, as well as, a clinical body of knowledge leads both therapist and patient to find new boundaries and meaningful bonds for this family structure.     

Same-Gender Couple Therapy: Creating New Objects in Intimacy and Parenehood Transition

The formation of same-gender couple and parental relationships is described and analyzed from a combined relational and couple therapy. The parenthood transition of a homosexual couple into a family structure, that includes two biological parents and a stepfather, creates tremendous turbulence and crises. The couple link is transformed throughout critical and major changes from a two-ness unit into a four- one, which develops unique relationships with the mother and the baby. This paper presents how therapists can treat and intervene in both intra-psychic gender crises as well as inter-psychic breakdowns of the couple shared reality. The therapeutic processes highlight the transformative changes that the homosexual couple has to experience in order to accept the loss of previous accomplishments in gender identity and love relationships. In addition, therapy helps to disentangle co-joint couple objects while creating new shared spaces.Aviva Mazor, PhD, is at the Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv, 69978, Israel (A-mazor@netvision.net.il). She received a PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her current research is in combined relational and family therapy with alternative families, separation processes from multigenerational perspective, and the post-traumatic effects of holocaust child-survivors.     

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Among Ethnically and Racially Diverse Emerging Adults: Do Factors Unique to the Minority Experience Matter?

This study investigated clinically-significant non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), defined as five or more lifetime episodes of NSSI, among racially and ethnically diverse emerging adults with a focus on factors unique to the minority experience. Seven hundred and nine emerging adults at an urban university, 85 % of whom were non-White, completed questionnaires assessing NSSI, racism, ethnic identity, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) characteristics such as impulsive behavior, emotion and interpersonal dysregulation and identity disturbance, suicidal behavior, and current depression and anxiety symptoms. Overall, 13 % of the sample reported a history of clinically-significant NSSI. Asian and White emerging adults reported significantly higher rates of NSSI than Hispanics and Blacks. Logistic regression analyses revealed positive relationships between BPD characteristics and NSSI and current anxiety and NSSI, which were not attenuated by increased ethnic identification. Experience with racism did not predict NSSI in the multivariate model. These findings are discussed as they pertain to current understanding and prevention of NSSI among racial and ethnic minority emerging adults.     

Relational Couple Therapy with Post-Traumatic Survivors: Links Between Post-Traumatic Self and Contemporary Intimate Relationships

The present article describes a clinical case study of relational couple therapy with post-traumatic spouses. Survivors, who were infants and toddlers during the Holocaust, disclose tremendous difficulties in their intimate relationships. The early loss of parental figures, and cumulative traumatic experiences throughout survivors' lives in the post war era hampered their capacity for intimate partnership despite its ultimate necessity. Relational couple therapy creates an unfamiliar experiential space with the couple's bond. This experiential space enables each partner to change destructive emotional patterns within one's inner psychic reality as well as the couple's emotional system. In addition, the therapeutic triangle creates partial transformational boundaries between past traumas and the couple traumatic bonds.     

Spouse Bereavement Processes of Holocaust Child Survivors: Can One Differentiate a Black Frame from a Black Background?

This article highlights the relation between the mourning processes of Holocaust war orphans and their expected bereavement processes in later life when a spouse dies. The relation between the two processes is explored through a clinical case study. In addition, we define the concept of subtle mourning as an adjustment in the bereavement process. We assume that orphans, who survive after genocide, suffer a lifelong sense of bereavement. They create a subtle mourning process which can be disclosed much later in their lives when they must cope with the death of a spouse.     

Do government brochures affect physical activity cognition? A pilot study of Canada's physical activity guide to healthy active living

Health Canada has published national physical activity (PA) guidelines, which are included in their 26-page Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living (CPAG). To date, the use of CPAG as a motivational instrument for PA promotion has not been evaluated. The purpose of this study was to determine whether reading CPAG 1) increased motivational antecedents to engage in regular PA, and 2) increased regular PA intention and behaviour over 1 month. Participants included 130 randomly sampled Canadian adults (18 years or older) who were randomly mailed pack ages consisting of either 1) a questionnaire and a copy of CPAG, or 2) a questionnaire. Questionnaire items pertained to participants' sociodemographics, previous PA behaviours (Godin Leisure-Time Questionnaire) and PA motivation (theory of planned behaviour). Participants were then sent a follow-up questionnaire pertaining to their PA behaviours throughout the previous month. Results revealed significant interactions between the guide condition and previous activity status on instrumental behavioural beliefs about strength activities and subjective norms about endurance activities (p < 0.05), but all other factors were not significantly different. It was concluded that among previously inactive people, receiving this guide may change some informational/motivational constructs, but key motivational antecedents (affective attitude, perceived behavioural control) and outcomes (intention, behaviour) seem unaffected.     

The On‐Site Mentor of Counseling Interns: Perceptions of Ideal Role and Actual Role Performance

This study examined the role of the ideal on‐site mentor and the actual mentor's role performance, as perceived by 158 mentor counselors and 171 school counseling interns. Results indicated that the ideal mentor's professional traits were given priority by both groups and that the teacher role was the most salient among role domains. In the actual role performance, the 2 groups differed regarding the perceived contribution of the mentor‐specific behaviors in each examined role domain.     

Lonnie Athens revisited: The social construction of violence

Researchers are continually looking for the definitive answer to the question of what causes violence; whether it is a product of biology or socialization or, perhaps, a bit of both. Lonnie Athens, a criminologist, is known primarily for his theory about the unique transforming process gone through by individuals to become dangerous, violent offenders. Athens, himself, said that discourse about the etiologies of violent behavior cannot be broken down into a dichotomous model; either bio-physiological or socialization, but rather should be conceptualized more holistically. This paper analyzes Athens's theory within a greater context of leading theories about violence.