Beyond home-based family intervention: A multi-family approach toward change

A growing specialty area in the mental health field involves working with emotionally disturbed youth and families-at-risk by providing services in the context of the home environment. A review of the literature provides documentation for family systems, social learning, and ecological interventions with at-risk families receiving home-based intervention but there is an absence of material on the use of multi-family groups with this population. The purpose of this article is to outline the implementation of a multi-family therapy (MFT) component for home-based programs serving at-risk families. Advantages and disadvantages when using MFT are also addressed.The authors are grateful to Linda Pannell for her helpful comments on drafts of this article.     

The role of network therapy in the treatment of relational disorders: Cults and folie a deux

This article discusses the successful outcome of a network intervention in a case of cult-involvement andfolie a deux. The intervention, specifically designed to help a family in which one member had become involved with an individual who claimed to be the Messiah—an involvement that entailed the exclusion and alienation of all other family members—used a team of network specialists and consisted of a pre-network planning meeting, the network meeting itself which included approximately 70 persons over four hours, and several follow-up meetings with network subgroups.     

What's in a therapist's name?

For some years there has been interest in and research on the psychological and sociological influences of names. Little attention has been given to the influence of the names given to mental health professionals. The author describes some of the influence his own name has had on his personal and professional development as well as some of the effects names have had on students and colleagues. A rationale for the exploration of therapists' and clients' names is provided.Except for the name of the author and the names of his family members and those of public figures, all other names used in this article are pseudonyms designed to maintain anonymity and preserve individuals' privacy.     

Attitudes Toward Interracial Dating: Effects of Age,Sex, and Race

Attitudes toward interracial dating were investigated by surveying 400 individuals from an integrated community. As predicted, men were more positive than women, the young were more positive than the old, and Caucasian Americans were somewhat more positive than African Americans in their attitudes.     

HEURISTICS FOR DETERMINING THE OPTIMAL INTERVAL BETWEEN CHECKUPS

Abstract –How often should one check on a system that is at risk for some malfunction? The optimal interval between inspections depends on the likelihood of malfunction, the cost of inspection, and the cost of treatment We develop a mathematical expression for the optimal inspection interval as a function of these parameters and then an approximation for that expression The approximation indicates that as the risk increases or the ratio of inspection to disease cost decreases by a factor of n, the inspection interval should be reduced by n1/2 We also report an experiment indicating that subjects who generate optimal inspection intervals use examples as anchors and then perform adjustments for variations in risk and cost factors However, they do not approximate the appropriate square-root adjustment rule The observed anchor-and-adjust process suggests that normative recommendations may serve as influential benchmarks, even if they are not adhered to directly.     

Memory limitations in the oral reading comprehension of fourth-grade children

Four experimental tasks were devised to locate the nature of memory processing limitations in fourth-grade children's oral reading comprehension. Experiment 1 showed that in the reading of very simple prose children can consciously bring memory strategies into play. Even in simple and short prose passages, however, memory limitations upon performance are operative. Experiment 2 showed that in prose of moderate difficulty “executive” memory processes are impaired, such that children can no longer employ memory strategies to facilitate subsequent recall. Experiment 3 showed that in the reading of passages high in difficulty, even short-term recall is impaired. These results were interpreted as consistent with the La Berge and Samuels theory of automatic information processing in reading.     

The language of feelings

The acquisition of a language of feelings is similar to the acquisition of other language and can be conceptualized within a Piagetian framework. The acquisition of this language of feelings is subject to certain pitfalls that are reflective of various emotional problems. The linguistic poverty for affect that is concomitant with being unable to label feelings points to the need for parents and therapists to be involved in helping the child or patient develop an affective schema. The development of a differentiated, accurate, and flexible language of emotion to both express personal feelings and evoke responses in others is a schematic gift which parents provide. We find that when parents have not provided this, a reparative language developmental task is part of a psychotherapy. A grasp of the interplay of the concepts ofassimilation andaccommodation in Piaget (1952) appears essential to encouraging a healthy language of feelings. Related concepts drawn from Schacter (1965), Laing (1967), Krystal (1979), Kelly (1955) and Malerstein and Ahern (1979) are interwoven in a Piagetian structure for a language of feelings.     

Training mildly retarded individuals to control their anger through the use of cognitive-behavior therapy techniques

Four mildly retarded adults with chronic anger problems were treated with a cognitive-behavioral approach similar to stress-inoculation training. The treatment techniques included a simplified version of rational-emotive therapy (RET), coping self-statements, relaxation training, biofeedback, coping imagery, behavioral rehearsal, and assertiveness training. The treatment techniques varied in each case so as to meet the needs of the individual clients. The emphasis was on the development of self-control as opposed to control through external contingencies, such as rewards and punishments. There were decreases in the frequency of anger outbursts in all four clients. Violent behavior, such as hitting and kicking others, and destruction of property, was totally eliminated. In addition, the clients reported decreases in anxiety and stress-related symptoms. Although experimental research is needed in this area, these preliminary findings suggest that at least some mildly retarded individuals can be taught self-control through a cognitive-behavioral approach.