What we say we do: results of the 1997 UK Association of Family Therapy Members Survey

This study represents the first UK national survey of family therapists and systemic practitioners. The aim was to provide demographic information of systemic practitioners/family therapists and also to describe their clinical practice. The sampling frame used was the UK Association of Family Therapy membership list and all members were sent a postal questionnaire. The response rate was 33% with 495 out of 1500 questionnaires returned. Among the major findings were: systemic practitioners/family therapists are most likely to work for an NHS trust, to use family therapy techniques/systemic ideas predominantly, and to treat a broad range of client issues. They are also most likely to work with families, and therapy is relatively short term (five to eight sessions) regardless of whether they treat families, couples or individuals. Most family therapists/systemic practitioners use some measure of outcome, although frequently this will be feedback from clients. Supervision is sought by the majority of AFT members. In spite of some methodological limitations, the study provides interesting insights into the training and practice of UK family therapists and systemic practitioners which appears to differ in some respects from our American colleagues. It also provides a baseline for future surveys, making it possible to describe the developments of family therapy and systemic practice in this country.     

HIV/AIDS and the family: a review of research in the first decade

Most studies of the psychosocial implications of HIV/AIDS have been focused on the individual. This paper reviews the small but growing body of research into the impact of HIV/AIDS on the family system. Special reference is made to definitions of the family, same-sex relationships and the African family. The impact of HIV/AIDS on the family is discussed in terms of social stigma, isolation and secrecy, stress and coping, social support, communication and disclosure, responses to illness, and changing structure and roles in families. It is anticipated that in the 1990s, the study of the family will become a dominant topic in HIV/AIDS-related research.     

The Practice of Counselling HIV/AIDS Clients

AIDS/HIV has been described as one of the most pressing medical and social problems of this century. A review of the psychosocial and counselling literature relating to it indicates that the predominant psychotherapeutic approach with clients is symptom-focused and presents psychological problems as being inevitable in the course of illness. A systems approach is considered to have a good fit' with HIV-related problems because of issues relating to unpredictability, relationships, interaction, complexity and secrecy which arise in the course of the illness and its management. Some of the counselling tasks of an AIDS counsellor are set out. Consideration of these can help the system (client, family, health care team, counsellor) both to define problems and to find solutions to them without resorting to prior assumptions about either.     

Genograms in counselling practice: Constructing a genogram (part 2)

In Genograms in counselling practice: a review (part 1), recent literature on the use of genograms was reviewed and the efficacy and utility of genograms in counselling practice was examined. This paper outlines how a family genogram is constructed in a counselling setting. An approach to introducing the relevance of a genogram to the client is described as is the method of gathering and using information. The therapeutic use of genograms is also discussed.     

Financial and practical implications of counselling psychology training: A student survey

It is common knowledge that students make considerable sacrifices in order to pursue a course of study, and there is no reason to belive that counselling psychology trainees are any differnt in this regrd. The results are presented of a survey of 56 postgraduate students in the greater London area which addressed some of the practical and financial implications of counselling psychology training. While none of the respondents was registered on a BPS recognised course, the majority intended to become Chartered Counselling Psychologists. Many t rainees had considerable debts as a consequence of having to pay tution fees, for personal psychological counselling and in some cases to for the supervision of their practical work with clients. Most trainees found that they had to set up their own practice placements, which were unpaid, and had difficulty doing so. The majority of respondents devoted, on average, 30 hours per week to their studies while nearly 60% had a paid job (not related to counselling) to help them cover their expenses. Inplications are discussed for conunselling psychology training in the 1990's and beyond.     

Stress Sensitization and Adolescent Depressive Severity as a Function of Childhood Adversity: A Link to Anxiety Disorders

The goal of the present study was to determine whether exposure to adversity in childhood contributes to a differential threshold at which stressful life events provoke depressive reactions in adolescence. In addition, to address empirical and conceptual questions about stress effects, the moderating effect of anxiety disorder history was also explored. This examination was conducted in a sample of 816 children of depressed and nondepressed mothers, who were followed from birth to age 15. Information on adversities experienced in childhood was collected both from mothers during the first five years of their youth's life and from the youths themselves at age 15, and included information on the mother's relationship with her partner, maternal psychopathology, as well as youth-reported abuse. Results indicated that youths with both greater exposure to adversity in childhood and a history of an anxiety disorder displayed increased depressive severity following low levels of episodic stress compared to youths with only one or neither of these risk factors. The results are speculated to reflect the possibility that early anxiety disorders associated with exposure to adversity in childhood may be a marker of dysregulated stress responses, and may help to account for the comorbidity of depression and anxiety in some individuals.     

Prime, Frame, and Source Factors: Semantic Valence in Message Judgment

Healthcare communication is an area that offers great benefits in the promotion of preventive health behavior. Given that physical activity can significantly reduce risk factors that are associated with major chronic diseases, it is paramount to examine the promotion of physical activity through appropriate message designs. This study employs priming theory, the framing postulate of prospect theory, and the source factor to examine effective message design in the promotion of exercise. Overall, it shows that semantic consistencies between prime and frame, as well as frame and source, are more conducive to message persuasion. Hence, the contention of framing by the type of health behavior ( Rothman & Salovey, 1997 ) is moderated by prime and source factors.     

Sequential compatibility effects and cognitive control: does conflict really matter?

Although it is widely accepted that control mechanisms are necessary for human behavior to be adapted, very little is known about how such mechanisms are recruited. A suggestion to fill the gap was put forward by M. M. Botvinick, T. S. Braver, C. S. Carter, D. M. Barch, and J. D. Cohen (2001), who proposed the conflict-loop theory. This theory has been successful in accounting for the reduction of compatibility effects after an incompatible trial: The level of conflict being, on average, higher during an incompatible trial, more control occurs after such a trial. The authors have tested this prediction by sorting the trials on the basis of amount of conflict (quantified by the electromyographic activity) they presented. A reduction of the compatibility effect was observed after incompatible trials, but it was independent of the level of conflict on previous trials, suggesting that the conflict does not trigger changes in executive control. Consequences for the conflict monitoring model are discussed.     

Partial advance information,number of alternatives,and motor processes: an electromyographic study

We present evidence that advance information reducing the number of stimulus-response alternatives in a choice reaction time (RT) task can shorten the very latest motoric stages of RT. Effects of such advance information on late stages of RT have been demonstrated recently by Osman, Moore, and Ulrich (Acta Psychol. 90 (1995) 111), Leuthold, Sommer, and Ulrich (J. Exp. Psychol: Gen. 125 (1996) 307), Müller-Gethmann, Rinkenauer, Stahl, and Ulrich (Psychophysiology 37 (2000) 507). These studies found that advance information shortens the portion of the RT interval following onset of a movement-related brain potential (lateralized readiness potential). Osman et al. and Müller-Gethmann et al. also examined the portion of the RT interval following the start of electromyographic (EMG) activity and found no effect of advance information. Based on Osman et al.'s null result, Leuthold et al. speculated that advance information may shorten only the RT stages preceding EMG activity. This conclusion, however, is questionable because of limitations in the EMG measures employed by both Osman et al. and Müller-Gethmann et al. We have reanalyzed the results of a previously reported experiment (Acta Psychol. 101 (1999) 243) to show that advance information can in fact affect the rate of recruitment of motor units in the prime mover of the responding limb.