Irrational beliefs and conflict-handling orientations

Before a series of conflict-resolution and communication-skills workshops, measures were obtained on the dependent variables of conflict-handling orientations and on the independent variables of irrational beliefs. The population was rather general, i.e. nonstudent, nonclinical and non-volunteer, who were the managers and the engineers of three enterprises. Correlation analysis showed that irrational beliefs underlying anger, anxiety, frustration, guilt and other negative emotions were correlated with different conflict-handling orientations. On the basis of the obtained results a series of workshops was conducted in the format of Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET).Mikhael I. Timofeev, Ph.D., is a senior lecturer at the Inter-Branch Institute of Advanced Training, St. Petersburg Technical University, Politechnicheskaya, 29, St. Petersburg, 195251, Russia.     

Co-creating shared realities with couples

We are presenting a unique approach to understanding couples and relationships based on social constructionist principles. It is our belief that individuals possess constructions of reality with regard to relationships and must co-create a reality in which both partners participate. The implication of this theoretical principle is that differences between partners are not as important as the negotiation of such differences. One thousand premarital couples were examined to determine the effect of levels of flexibility and perceived differences on the quality of their relationships. Data analysis revealed that levels of flexibility were a significant factor in couples' abilities to cocreate a successful shared reality.Portions of this paper were presented at the annual conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, October 1992, Miami Beach, FL.Both authors were primary contributors to this paper.     

Ethnocentrism and beyond: Letters between a family therapist and an advocate of alcoholics anonymous

Both family therapists and advocates of 12-step programs are vulnerable to ethnocentrism, a one-way zeal that can inhibit collaboration and make it difficult to appreciate other ways to help individuals with drug and alcohol problems. Included is a series of letters between a family therapist and an advocate of Alcoholics Anonymous which illustrates the problems inherent in such ethnocentrism. An alternative position is also discussed which involves professional collaboration and an appreciation of the strengths of both traditions.Fred P. Piercy, PhD, is professor of family therapy and director of training and research in the family therapy doctoral program, Department of Child Development and Family Studies, at Purdue University.The letter writer's name and identifying information have been changed to protect his identity. This paper is not about Jim but about certain issues his letters raise for all of us.     

Countertransference and the developing family therapist: Treatment and supervision issues

All therapists experience reactions toward clients, which have traditionally been called countertransference. Such reactions toward families pose special issues for beginning and developing family therapists. This clinically based and clinically oriented article describes some of the reactions, clues pointing to their existence, and indicates some of the ways beginning and developing family therapists and their supervisors and consultants can deal constructively with these reactions.     

Marriage and family therapy education: Emerging trends and issues

The field of marriage and family therapy has enjoyed unparalleled growth during the last decade. This rapid growth has been the catalyst for several emerging educational trends that warrant close attention. This paper examines nine emerging trends in MFT education with attention devoted to a number of critical issues.     

Manufacturing multiple meanings of addiction: Time-limited realities

This article explores how clinicians, patients, and addiction as a youthful science manufacture meaning. Explanations of addictive behavior and addictive disease are viewed as constructs, ideologies, or ways of making meaning. This analysis considers the controversy—over whether addiction qualifies as a disease—to be primarily a matter of epistemology and social perception. Since there is no widespread agreement about what isease means in general, it is not possible to determine whether or not addiction is a disease in particular. The discussion also envisions how treatment for addicted clients might be reformulated as a transactional process utilizing the range of relevant theoretical models as time-limited reframes of addictive reality instead of dichotomizing addiction as either a disease or not.The authors extend thanks to Michelle Bowdler, Nancy Costikyan, Blase Gambino, Teri Loughead, Janet Mann, Peter Monius, Arthur Robbins, and Mitchell Young for their helpful assistance, suggestions, and comments on earlier drafts of this article.     

AX murderers,dragons, spiders and webs: Therapeutic metaphors in couple therapy

Using metaphors in psychotherapy is not a new practice. Metaphor has long occupied the interests of theorists and practitioners of psychoanalysis. Recently, influenced by the work of Erikson, metaphors have been utilized by non-analytic therapists. This paper explores the historical background of metaphors, examines the components of metaphors, explores metaphors and the social construction of reality, and presents a discussion of the use of metaphor in couple therapy.     

Counselor values—Client freedom

A framework for an approach to counseling which respects the freedom of clients and yet leaves them open to the consideration of different value systems is presented. The framework is based upon values shared by many counselors and a stage model of counseling compatible with different theoretical approaches. It is hoped that consciousness of shared values and continuing dialogue will lead to a greater commonality of values.Michael J. O'Brien is Professor of Psychology at Loyola University of Chicago. He is active in the undergraduate Applied Psychology Program where there is a dual emphasis on theory and practice. For eleven years he was director of the M.A. program in Counseling Psychology for religious workers. (It is now a part of the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola.) His thinking on values has developed through the realization of the central part values in counseling. This article strives to synthesize devergent approaches to the question of values.     

The 1979 division 27 award for distinguished contributions to community psychology and community mental health: Emory L. Cowen

Summary The metaphor of the paper's title offers a framework for a brief summary. Effective wooing of primary prevention requires that we take seriously, and adhere to, its clear, sensible defining guidelines; systematize, and further develop, its generative base; use that base to guide the formulation of new primary prevention programs; further develop frameworks to promote informed choices of programs derecions from among many attractive possibilities; and be more hard-nosed as program evaluators. That type of courtship should improve our love life with — and perhaps even, science of — primary prevention in mental health. Editor's Note: Emory L. Cowen was honored at the 1979 annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in New York, New York, on September 4, 1979, receiving the Division of Community Psychology Award for Distinguished Contributions to Community Psychology and Community Mental Health. The selection was made by an Awards Committee composed of all the past-Presidents of the Division. Dr. Cowen was introduced by Jack M. Chinsky of the University of Connecticut, and Julian Rappaport of the University of Illinois at Urbana—Champaign.This paper bears some (superficial) resemblance to a talk given at division 27's Distinguished Contribution Award ceremony, during the 87th Annual APA Meetings, New York, N.Y., 9/4/79. This draft is surely lengthier, more convoluted,no more informative, and muchless fun than the spoken version. Conceivably, the main accomplishment of my incessant revisions will prove to be the significant incapacitation of 10 gifted typing fingers attached to the hands of Sharon DeVita — the prime initial victim of my obsessionality. To Sharon, who suffered the indignity and boredom of eternal retypings, my boundless gratitude for her patience, forbearance, and good cheer, well beyond the call of duty.Preparation of this paper was done under support of a grant from the NIMH Experimental and Special Training Branch (MH 14547-02-03), which the author acknowledges with gratitude.