Intercultural Therapy with Latino Immigrants and White Partners

SUMMARY

Interethnic and interracial marriages of Latinos and White Americans are on the rise and will continue to reshape the identities of individuals, couples, families, and communities. Clinicians working with these intercultural couples find no systematic training to address what is becoming a significant segment of our society. Couple therapists, however, cannot be culturally competent and effective based solely on knowledge of some dimensions of a couple's cultural backgrounds. Using clinical and theoretical ideas, the author defines clinical work with these couples as an explicit intercultural exchange. Our task as clinicians requires a rethinking of our conversations with these couples. It involves a caring therapeutic approach that is sustained on relational and systemic levels, and intercultural conversational skills inspired by clinical and other literatures that are explicitly dedicated to work with cultural difference and the “other.”     

Infertility

ABSTRACT

Infertility can be a stressful condition. It affects one out of six couples in the United States-at least ten million people. Whether conceived naturally or through enhanced fertility measures, 20% of clinical pregnancies end in miscarriage. This study will explore the experiences of women who have lived through infertility and the meanings they associate with it. The author used a qualitative research method that utilized a phenomenologist perspective. In this study four women were interviewed in-depth. The use of a self-reflexive journal by the author informed the research questions. The findings include emotional reactions, gender differences, support, learnings, benefits, advice, and strength related to the experience. This research may be significant for couple therapists and the medical community in understanding the experience of infertility.     

Supporting Transgender and Sex Reassignment Issues

SUMMARY

For the care provider unfamiliar with supporting transsexual and transgender persons, as well as their partners, it becomes an imperative to be able to identify this population's unique needs, transition concerns and relationship dynamics. New challenges arise as transgender clients become more prevalent within the GLBT community and contact community clinical resources. These include distinguishing between sexual orientation and the complexities of gender identity; differentiating actual transgender issues and ordinary relationship concerns; and recognizing characteristics of strong relationships versus those doomed to fail when one or both partner's needs can no longer get met.

This article reviews an abundance of stereotypes adversely affecting transgender individuals, relationships and which can taint the treatment environment. At a core level, there exists the need for care providers to recognize when having a transgender identity stops being a disorder, such as when the client is no longer gender dysphoric, and where the care provider needs to advocate the individual's right of self-determination. This includes recognizing when situational depression or anxiety and social discrimination are the actual root of ongoing individual and relationship concerns. With basic transgender knowledge, effectively supporting transgender persons and their relationships is possible for cross-specialty providers, and is recommended.     

Clinical Issues with Gay Male Couples

SUMMARY

Although gay male couples share with all couples three essential tasks of couplehood-creating boundaries in order to form a couple identity, negotiating closeness and distance, and accommodating to their individual differences-gay male couples face special complications in each task. These complications, examined herein, are largely the result of the marginalization gay men experience from living in a homophobic culture, and male gender acculturation that makes male-to-male intimacy difficult. A model of brief couple therapy for gay men is presented that is designed to honor, as well as challenge, the relationship the men have co-constructed and specifically addresses the difficulties men have in maintaining intimate bonds. A case study illustrates the treatment of clinical issues presented by male couples.     

A Review of Eating Disorders in Athletes

SUMMARY

The current review aims to evaluate the literature on eating disorders and athletes with the purpose of making recommendations for sport psychologists and other relevant personnel on how to proceed in identifying, managing, and preventing eating disorders in school settings. Whereas the intention of this review is to make recommendations for secondary educational settings, research on other populations such as collegiate and young adult athletes was also reviewed where helpful or where information on adolescent athletes was not available. Recommendations for prevention and intervention include ongoing education of athletes and coaches regarding nutrition, body composition, and performance, using appropriate screening to detect eating disorders, and use of a sport management team to aid in athlete recovery.     

Soup,Stitches, and Song

Abstract

This article discusses ways that clinical practitioners can utilize creative strategies in working with clients who are experiencing grief following the death of their adolescent child. It presents a brief literature review regarding this specific type of parental grief as well as practical and helpful ways to utilize books, songs, and tangible projects in the grieving process.     

Let it be: expatriate couples' adjustment and the upside of avoiding conflicts

This research examines the moderating effect of conflict avoidance on the relationship between conflict and psychological adjustment among 45 expatriate couples at two points in time. We propose a model based on the actor–partner interdependence model, which assumes both intrapersonal and interpersonal effects, to address simultaneously the effects of one's own and the other's avoidance behavior. We found substantial support for our model, especially for expatriate spouses. As expected, and only for expatriate spouses, avoidance moderated the conflict–adjustment relationship such that both one's own and one's counterpart's avoidance behavior diminished the negative effect of conflicts. Because these effects were observed only at T2 and psychological adjustment decreased from T1 to T2, our research suggests that the impact of expatriation-associated interaction particularly manifests itself in the long run.     

Multifaceted Approaches in Spouse Abuse Treatment

SUMMARY

The understanding of spouse abuse has changed considerably in the last 30 years, shifting from a perspective based on individual psychopathology to that of a pervasive social problem. Current treatment solutions for stopping violence are limited to those that address resocializing the batterer. Several states often restrict the use of state funds for batterers' groups and forbid couples treatment as a primary treatment option in spite of the fact that most couples choose to remain in their relationships in the presence of repeated violence. This article argues for broadening options to include a specific type of couples treatment as a part of a coordinated community response to remediate domestic violence. Solution-focused therapy is described as an example of treatment of relationships that makes safety a priority and is not victim-blaming. It is suitable treatment both for couples who wish to stay together and those seeking a safe way to separate.