Freud's Psychosexual Stage Conception: A Developmental Metaphor for Counselors

In this article, the author conceptualizes the counseling process and its outcome by comparing it metaphorically to Freud's psychosexual stage conception of personality development. Specifically, he focuses on resemblances between the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages of both Freud's conception and the counseling process. Suggestive of the heuristic quality of metaphorical comparisons, new meanings can be drawn from these resemblances, leading to fresh insight into the nature of the counseling relationship.     

Descendants of holocaust victims and perpetrators: Legacies and dialogue

This paper summarizes the themes that often plague the lives of holocaust survivors and which were dealt with in a special roundtable dialogue in Budapest, Hungary, in August 1994. Some history of what happened to survivors after World War II is provided, followed by a summation of a teaching case and the dialogue among invited therapists from Germany, Hungary, and Israel who were either holocaust survivors and/or treating holocaust survivors. The dialogue focused on burdensome and troublesome issues that need to be discussed between and about survivors of both victims and perpetrators in an effort to ultimately enable therapists to treat this population with greater insight, compassion, and efficacy.She was the first president of the International Family Therapy Association, is a past president of the American Psychological Association's Division of Family Psychology, and author of many books and articles on family centered topics. Reprint requests should be sent to Dr. Kaslow     

Irrational beliefs and self-esteem: Predictors of depressive symptoms in children?

The role of self-esteem and irrational beliefs in predicting depressive symptoms in 965 children aged 8 to 13 years was investigated using multiple regression analysis. The results provided empirical support for a cognitive basis for depression in a large non-clinical sample. Three irrational beliefs together with self-esteem accounted for 28% of the variation in childhood depressive symptoms. For boys, 24% of variation in depressive symptoms was attributed to two irrational beliefs and self-esteem, whilst for girls 32% of variation was accounted for by three irrational beliefs and self-esteem. Global beliefs about self as a person were found to be predictive of depressive symptoms in conjunction with irrational beliefs. Therapeutic implications are discussed. Currently, Dr. Burnett is Senior Lecturer in Research Methods within the School of Learning and Development at the Queensland University of Technology as well as Director of the Research Concentration in Cognition in Learning and Development.     

The role of professional societies: Codes of conduct and their enforcement

In discussions of professional standards and ethical values it is reasonable to consider who will develop the codes of conduct and guidelines for behavior that will reflect the standards and values of the community. Also worthy of consideration is whether the standards or guidelines are enforceable, and how and to what extent they will be enforced. The development of guidelines or professional codes of conduct is a responsibility that has been adopted by many professional societies. Useful to this discussion is an examination of the rationale behind the development of ethical codes by professional societies. The Ethics in Science Committee of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) has examined the codes of some of its member societies and some observations regarding them are pertinent. The nature and uses of ethical statements, codes and guidelines developed by professional societies are multiple and diverse. Their enforcement raises both practical and ethical concerns. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Engineering Foundation Conference on “Ethics for Science and Engineering Based International Industries”, Durham, NC, USA, 14–17 September 1997.     

Premarital counseling: A needs assessment among engaged individuals

Although engaged individuals are the primary consumers of premarital counseling, no previous research has explored their perceptions regarding marriage preparation. This article reports what engaged individuals believe are the important areas to address when preparing couples for marriage. It also explores other attitudes and preferences that engaged individuals have toward marriage preparation.     

The logic of delusion

Piagetian concepts explaining normal mental development are applied to delusion, a major psychiatric disorder of thought which can result in bizarre conduct. Piaget constructed problems in which the errors of six to eight year old children fit the standard textbook definition of delusion surprisingly well. When we examined cases of delusional individuals, we concluded that their apparent irrational and bizarre conduct could be explained as problem-solving errors like those of Piaget's young children. In contradistinction to existing theories, we define delusion as a regression under stress to the logic of children of a particular age range, and that what appears bizarre and irrational is the result of an adult attempting to filter experience through a child's logic.Under a different title this paper was presented at the Biennial Congress of the World Federation for Mental Health in Mexico City in August, 1991.     

Treating emotionally disturbed youth: A comparison of home-based and outpatient interventions

The purpose of this study was to compare home-based and outpatient treatment for families with an emotionally disturbed child. Following treatment, both groups reported improvement in child and family functioning. Guidelines are offered to therapists working with families-at-risk of having a child removed from the home.John J. Zarski, PhD, is coordinator of the Marriage and Family Therapy Training Program and Leslie Barnes Fluharty, MS, is a doctoral student in counseling psychology at the University of Akron, Akron, OH.     

Familial dyadic patterns in defenses and object relations

The Defense Mechanisms Inventory was administered to 308 sets of marital couples, and adult sons or daughters. The inventory yields five defensive clusters as well as a composite object relations measure. Correlational analyses were aimed at determining the extent to which defensive and object relations styles generalize within the family. Results showed consistent similarities across the family in object relations styles and in acting out defenses. Dyadic analyses showed striking similarities between Husband-Wife, Father-Son, and Mother-Daughter, but not for Father-Daughter and Mother-Son dyads. Results are discussed in context of modeling, sex role, and systems theory.Data from this study were presented at the American Psychological Association annual convention, August, 1991, in San Francisco, CA.     

Stress and family health

This study investigates the difference between perceived everyday individual stress and levels of family health. Subjects completed the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES III), the Derogatis Stress Profile, and a personal data form. Quota sampling of 121 subjects was used to obtain 25 subjects in each of three groups: balanced, mid-range, and extreme family types. Individuals identified as members of mid-range families reported less overall stress than balanced or extreme family members. Significant differences appeared between the balanced and mid-range groups. Balanced individual family members reported slightly higher levels of stress than extreme family members.