Hiring family therapists for a research project via videotaped interviews: A brief report

The authors describe an interview procedure devised for use in hiring therapists for a research and demonstration project in which the employers viewed videotaped interviews of applicants responding to a standard set of questions posed by an on-site researcher/interviewer. The approach is considered potentially useful for agencies to use in hiring therapists with a systemic orientation.     

Gender identity and family relationships: Perspectives from incestuous fathers

The purpose of this study was to understand how incestuous fathers constructed their gender identities and family relationships and to determine how these perceptions were linked to incest. Analysis of intensive interviews with 20 incest offenders suggested that incest occurred in context of entitlement stemming from masculine gender constructions and family experiences which lead to conflicts regarding control and intimacy and a build up of failure. Case illustrations and implications for clinical practice are addressed.     

Aiding the parolee adjustment process: A systemic perspective on assessment

Addressing the mental health needs of inmates and parolees is a complex process. The authors have found a family systems approach useful in conceptualizing the complexities of the adjustment process faced by parolees. The inmate/parolee is embedded in a number of complex systems that present difficulties related to boundary maintenance, hierarchy struggles, and family-of-origin loyalties. The authors suggest crucial areas for assessment and some common dysfunctional systems dynamics that are encountered.     

Divorce in the kibbutz: Affective responses to separation

This article is part of a comprehensive research project in which the central characteristics of the process of divorce in the kibbutz were examined. It appears that the framework of the kibbutz, free as it is from socio-economic pressures and boundary factors not directly connected with the marital relationship as such, provides an excellent and perhaps unique opportunity to investigate the pure emotional effects of the marital breakup.     

Rationale and directions for an increased emphasis on the therapeutic relationship in family therapy

This paper argues the need for an increased emphasis on the therapeutic relationship in family therapy. The ways in which the field of family therapy has eschewed the importance of the therapeutic relationship are discussed. Therapeutic alliance research from the field of individual psychotherapy and research on the importance of relationship factors to family therapy are reviewed. Suggestions for family therapy theory, practice, and research are presented.An earlier version of this article was presented at the 1992 Western Canadian Conference on Family Practice.     

A gender-informed model of couple and family therapy: Relationship enhancement therapy

The key elements of gender-informed couple therapy are discussed with an emphasis on the significance of empathy and dialogue and the structuring of a context in which both can occur. Relationship Enhancement therapy, a psycho-educational and client-centered approach developed by Guerney (1977) is described and illustrated as one method of operationalizing a constructivist-systemic approach to couple therapy in which a conversation toward profound changes in gender relationships can take place.     

Myths of brief family therapy task intervention

The steps of brief treatment promoted by Watzlawick, Weakland and Fisch (1974) and Haley (1976, 1987) elude the novice family practitioner, especially in deriving end-of-the session task interventions from earlier assessment. The gap between the suggested procedure and the beginning clinician's results is just starting to surface in brief therapy research. This paper compares the above authors' interactional and problem-solving approaches, contextualizing their theories in light of training issues emerging from preliminary research. The ensuing myths of brief family therapy task intervention typically espoused by the neophyte are thus demystified, making what experience teaches more accessible.     

Alcoholism treatment and marriage and family therapists: An empirical study

This article reports on results of a mail questionnaire study conducted among 257 members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (132 respondents, response rate of 51%) on their attitudes toward alcoholism issues (acceptance of alcoholism as a disease, treatment philosophies used with clients and/or families, and acceptance and use of Alcoholics Anonymous as a resource). Results indicated that 69% of respondents (as compared with 42% formerly) considered alcoholism a disease after MFT education. A combination of individual, family therapy, and AA (81.1%); family therapy (66.7%); and AA only (60.6%) were most often used. Controlled use of alcohol by clients in treatment was believed to be unethical by 43.2%, legal by 39.4% and ineffective by 54.5%.