Sharing a multicultural course design for a marriage and family therapy programme: one perspective

The marriage and family therapy (MFT) field has made tremendous progress in acknowledging the importance of multicultural training. Nevertheless, multiculturally committed MFT trainers still struggle with issues of multicultural course design and delivery. In a subject so controversial and which requires a great deal of experience and skills to teach, little has been done in terms of sharing different multicultural course designs and working towards their implementation in MFT programmes. This paper presents a prototype curriculum of an introductory course in multiculturism in counselling for marriage and family therapy students with the overall goal of making trainees more multiculturally aware. It includes a few examples of strategies designed to aid the continuing infusion of multiculturalism into MFT programmes.     

Report of the ACA Ethics Committee: 2000–2001

This report summarizes the activities of the American Counseling Association (ACA) Ethics Committee during the period of July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2001. Summary data of the complaints filed and inquiries received are presented.     

Generalized Break Equivalence II: Contextual Control Over A Generalized Pattern of Stimulus Relations

The Psychological Record - In an earlier work (Gomez, Barnes-Holmes, & Luciano, 2001), it was found that although generalized break equivalence was achieved for 3 subjects (i.e., responding...     

The Body Image Concern Inventory: validation in a multiethnic sample and initial development of a Spanish language version

Dysmorphic appearance concern encompasses preoccupation with a perceived appearance defect, defect checking and camouflaging, and social avoidance. The current study sought to evaluate the internal consistency, factor structure, and convergent validity of a measure of dysmorphic appearance concern, the Body Image Concern Inventory, as well as evaluate the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the instrument. Women recruited as part of a reproductive clinic-based clinical trial completed the BICI and other self-report measures of distress. A total of 1043 women completed the measures in English (M=29 years, range=18-55 years) and 573 women completed the measures in Spanish (M=32 years, range=18-55 years). Both the English and Spanish BICI were internally consistent and correlated moderately with measures of current psychological distress (STAI-S, CES-D). Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the measure's proposed factor structure. Applications of the BICI for future research are discussed.     

Interoceptive and exteroceptive cues in the tolerance of the ethanol ataxic effect in rats

In the current analysis of classic conditioning with regard to the phenomenon of drug tolerance, there is empirical evidence of interoceptive pharmacologic cues and of exteroceptive cues, which are associated with the effect of the drug. The former could overshadow the latter. The aim of the present investigation was to contribute experimental data about the interaction that occurs between these two kinds of cues. For this purpose, a set of interoceptive and exteroceptive cues was presented as conditioned stimulus, together with an unconditioned stimulus that corresponded to the ataxic effects of ethanol. The results showed that the interoceptive cues were associated with the ataxic effect of ethanol, and they produced a tolerance response of the same intensity as the exteroceptive cues.     

The role of values with personal examples in altering the functions of pain: comparison between acceptance-based and cognitive-control-based protocols

The purpose of the present study was twofold. First, to compare the effect of establishing a motivational context of values on pain tolerance, believability, and reported pain, with three experimental conditions: pain acceptance (ACT condition), pain control (CONT condition), or no values (untrained condition). Second, the study aimed to isolate the impact of adding the corresponding coping strategies to both the ACT and the CONT conditions. Thirty adults were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions. The participants went through the pain task in two occasions (Test I and Test II). In Test I, the effects of the ACT-values protocol (which established pain as part of valued action), the CONT-values protocol (which established high pain as opposed to valued action), and the no-values protocol, were compared. In Test II, the effect of adding the corresponding coping strategy to each condition (defusion for ACT vs. suppression for CONT) was examined. Test I showed a clear superiority of the ACT-values protocol in increasing tolerance and lowering pain believability. In Test II, the superiority of the ACT protocol was replicated, while the CONT protocol proved useful to reduce reported pain, in accordance with previous studies.     

Adolescents' aggressive and prosocial behavior: associations with jealousy and social anxiety

The authors examined how relational aggression, physical aggression, and proactive prosocial behavior were associated with jealousy and social anxiety in a diverse sample of 60 middle school students. After the authors controlled for gender and race, jealousy predicted relational aggression and proactive prosocial behavior, but it did not predict physical aggression. Additionally, social anxiety predicted proactive prosocial behavior. Adolescents who were more jealous in their peer relationships also tended to engage in relational aggression and proactive prosocial behavior, and adolescents who were more socially anxious also tended to be proactively prosocial. The authors discuss the implications of these findings and suggest directions for future research.     

Reframing the DSM‐IV‐TR From a Multicultural/Social Justice Perspective

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) represents a medical model that can be reframed for more effective use in counseling. To achieve this goal, the authors describe how they can shift from client diagnosis to case formulation. In describing this shift, the authors offer an example of a theory‐based etiology and relate case formulation to specific counseling interventions.     

Latina/o Children Living With an Immigrant Mother With Depression: Developmental and Cultural Nuances in Recognition and Coping

The psychological experience of maternal depression and its impact on immigrant Latina/o families often goes unrecognized and unaddressed. Children may feel especially helpless and confused about the changes they observe in their mothers’ mood and behavior, and about the deterioration of family relationships. Given the interdependence of family structures of immigrant Latina/o households, maternal depression can be detrimental to Latina/o youth attributions and coping strategies, and to their relationship with their mothers. The quantitative focus of most research on maternal depression in Latina/o samples limits our understanding of family processes in maternal depression. The current qualitative study explores the perceived impact of maternal depression on Latina/o youths’ attributions and coping strategies. This inquiry involved focus groups with 12 participants aged 9–16 years to explore their perspectives on maternal depression. All youth had participated in a 12‐week multifamily group intervention focused on building family and cultural strengths to address maternal depression on immigrant Latina/o families. Findings of the focus groups illuminated the essential experience of youth living with maternal depression, and indicated that there are developmental considerations for how youth recognize and make meaning of maternal depression, and cope with disrupted family life. Additionally, youth reported engaging in these culture‐specific ways of coping: using close sibling relationships and family structure as support, having fathers and extended family members engage in additional and restorative parenting practices, and participating in religious practices to seek refuge from family stress. We propose considerations for intervention and further areas of research.