Discrepant Alcohol Use,Conflict, and Couples Satisfaction in a Community Sample

Abstract

Discrepant alcohol use between partners has been shown to impact couples’ relationship functioning, emphasizing couples therapists’ need for careful assessment and informed treatment. This study recruited 514 participants from online crowdsourcing platforms to participate in an online survey. Participants were predominantly male (62.4%), heterosexual (76.1%), and Caucasian (47.6%). Ages ranged from 18 to 65 years and mean age was 33. Results indicated a negative association between couple satisfaction and both alcohol-related conflict and discrepant alcohol consumption. Being female combined with higher levels of alcohol discrepancies and couple satisfaction predicted increased alcohol-related conflict.     

Christian Pastors’ Perspectives and Insights on the Practice of Family Therapists Referring LGB Clients: Exploring the Role of Religion

Abstract

This qualitative study explored Christian pastors’ perceptions and insights for family therapists who refuse to work with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients by consistently referring them. Twenty-one pastors from diverse Christian traditions were interviewed. Thematic analysis identified the following themes related to the pastors’ perceptions of the practice of referring LGB clients: (1) Best Interest of the Client and Therapist, (2) Discriminatory Practice, and (3) No Referrals will be Provided. The following themes represent pastors’ advice for family therapists: (1) Develop a Well-Thought-Out Referral Plan; (2) Be Accountable for Your Own Beliefs; and (3) Engage in Conversations.     

Play-Based Activities in Family Counseling

Traditional family therapists often work with family members of similar cognitive levels and exclude small children from the therapeutic process. Recent research indicates that children and families benefit when all family members can be involved in counseling (e.g., Thompson, Bender, Cordoso, & Flynn, 2011). Using an integrative intervention model, this article will focus on specific play-based activities which can be used to effectively include children in family therapy. A developmental, step-by step protocol is introduced and specific play-based activities are discussed.     

Keys to the development of the role of grandparents in current Spanish society / Claves para el desarrollo del rol de abuelo y abuela en la sociedad española actual

Abstract

Current demographic changes and work-family reconciliation difficulties in Spain have resulted in an increase in the arrangement of grandparents caring for their grandchildren. However, in order to ensure that the relationship between both generations is a privileged interaction that promotes successful ageing, furthering our knowledge of the challenges that this field of study faces is necessary. On this basis, the purpose of this article is to review the theories regarding this family relationship, which, together with the empirical research into this area, comprise the basis of a three-pronged proposal that includes the keys or challenges to studying the role of grandparents: (1) the heterogeneity and multidimensionality in the study of this role; (2) the complex interaction of positive and negative aspects that produce significant ambivalence in grandparents as a reaction to their experiences in this role; and (3) the influence of the baby boom generation grandparents’ new characteristics.     

On the archetypes in information systems development: An exploration

In this paper I examine possible archetypes that embody the role that systems analyst play in different models of systems development and briefly review attendant epistemological and ontological assumptions.     

Canada 2001: Alternative futures for the Canadian communities

The global “problématique humaine” is described in terms of the “grand issues” of population, resources, development in the rich and poor countries, and the environment. Three competing paradigms about the future and their implications for the Canadian communities are examined, and a model is offered showing interrelationships between the different Canadian communities, organizational levels, and various societal/environmental activities. A comprehensive programme of future‐oriented studies is proposed.

This article is a shortened version of a monograph to appear as one of a series entitled Queen's Studies of the Future of the Canadian Communities, published by the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. The research was funded by the Donner Canadian Foundation.     

REFLECTIONS: EDUCATION AND OUR SHARED FUTURE

Based on a comparative study, this paper highlights and analyses commonalities and differences between an Oriental systems approach, WSR, and two Western counterparts, TOP and MMD. It is suggested that cultural differences among systems approaches might probably have been overshadowed by both commonalities between Western and Eastern traditions and differences within the same cultural tradition. It will be further proposed that by being more consciously open to and learning from each other, systems approaches in the East and the West may have more to offer for dealing with the complexity which confronts humankind.     

Cases to cases: A study of psychotherapy

The background to the study was a research project on psychotherapy (279 subjects) in the context of the Finnish Student Health Service. Patients were divided into three groups by duration of treatment. For each group, a hypothetical case was constructed. The hypothetical case in relation to short-term treatment (less than six months) is someone whose temporarily disturbed mental balance is supported by the therapist. The hypothetical case in relation to medium-term treatment (one to two years) exhibits recovery through release from self-objects. The hypothetical case in relation to long-term treatment (two to five years) was marked by the partial working through of object relationships.     

It is never the right time: How to help a mother to separate from her young child

In this paper I have described a short-psychotherapy treatment with a mother, a 3-year-old girl, and occasionally a father, over the difficulty in separating and settling down at nursery. The mother's unresolved mourning for the early miscarriage of her second baby was one important factor. She held on to the company and comfort provided by the little girl, who had become the vessel of maternal projections. Filled with Poppy's projections, the mother had also felt unable to withstand and process them. Mr Green was a conflictual element in the family, rather than a supportive husband and father, and Poppy's care and problems were left with the mother. Nine sessions unblocked the situation and allowed Poppy to settle down at a private nursery.