Beyond the Frying Pan: Addressing Work Issues with Women in Therapy

In recent years, mental health practitioners have been exploring how women are balancing work and family. Given how this issue affects womens experiences in the corporate world and at home, marriage and family therapists are attempting to consider this concern as they treat female clients individually and within relational systems. Few articles and studies have examined the issues female employees face in the workplace and how the issues influence the therapeutic process. In this article, the authors examine the organizational, sociological, and cultural challenges women deal with at work and apply these areas to the therapeutic context. The authors present a case study of a female client enduring a difficult work situation, discussing how to view and approach this case from a feminist family therapy perspective.     

TREATMENT OF SELF-INJURY AND HAND MOUTHING FOLLOWING INCONCLUSIVE FUNCTIONAL ANALYSES

Numerous studies have used functional analyses to prescribe interventions for severe behavior disorders. The majority of these studies have focused on behavior that is clearly maintained by socially mediated reinforcement, such as contingent access to attention, tangibles, or escape from instructional demands. However, a significant proportion of functional analyses do not yield conclusive results. We examined interventions for 3 children with severe disabilities following inconclusive functional analyses. First, preferred stimuli were identified for each child via a stimulus preference assessment. Second, a functional analysis was conducted for 2 of the 3 children. High rates of aberrant behavior were seen even (if not especially) in no-interaction sessions. The 3rd child was observed for several consecutive no-interaction sessions; behavior persisted in this condition. Third, interventions based on environmental enrichment were analyzed in an analogue setting. For all of the children, environmental enrichment decreased aberrant behavior if preferred stimuli were used in the procedure. To obtain further reductions in aberrant behavior, explicit reinforcement of toy play was required for 2 children, and a brief (5-s) time-out was necessary with 1 child. Finally, effects of treatment carried over to the school or home environment following teacher or family training. Results are discussed in the context of basic reinforcement principles and future directions for research.     

A systematic review of relationship maintenance: Reflecting back and looking to the future

Relationship maintenance processes include a wide range of activities and cognitions that romantic partners engage in to sustain or enhance their relationships. In this article, we review literature from the past two decades (2002–2021). We focus on key definitional and conceptual issues in the study of relational maintenance. Guided by a lens of intersectionality, we then perform a theoretically-driven review of the empirical articles published over the last 20 years paying careful attention to the nature of the samples, methods, and privileged research questions. We conclude by offering a reflection on the current state of this literature and provide suggestions for future research.     

Dyadic processes of relational turbulence theory

This study tested dyadic processes of relational turbulence theory (RTT) in heterosexual marriages. We tested propositions 1, 2, and 5 of RTT, which propose that uncertainty about the marriage biases cognitive appraisals, and that interference from a partner heightens negative emotions, both of which culminate in relational turbulence for spouses. Guided by these propositions, husbands' and wives' (N = 510; 255 marital dyads) dyadic cognitive and emotional processes were estimated using the actor-partner interdependence mediation model. Consistent with theoretical propositions, we found evidence for actor-actor indirect effects; for both husbands and wives (a) the effect of spouses' relationship uncertainty on their own relational turbulence was mediated by their own biased cognitive appraisals, and (b) the effect of spouses' experienced interference on their own relational turbulence was mediated by their own anger from communicating in the marriage. However, controlling for actor-actor indirect effects, partner-defined processes (i.e., actor-partner and partner-actor indirect effects) uniquely explained husbands' and wives' relational turbulence.     

Spouses' responses to the dietary nonadherence of their partners managing diabetes

The association between patients' dietary nonadherence and spouses' involvement in patients' diabetes diet was examined, with spouses' anxiety about nonadherence considered as a mediator of this association. Daily diary data from 128 older adult patients with type 2 diabetes and their spouses were analyzed using multilevel models. Results revealed that on days when patients reported less adherence to their diabetes diet than usual, spouses reported greater anxiety about patients' diabetes management, which, in turn, was related to greater spousal persuasion and pressure the same day. The association between patients' nonadherence and diet‐related support on the same day was not mediated, however, through spouses' anxiety. The findings contribute to an understanding of spouses' responses to patients' nonadherence to their diabetes regimen.     

指向三级预防的婚姻教育

以实证研究为基础的婚姻教育是一种预防取向的心理教育模式, 近40年来被广泛研究和全面推动。婚姻教育在形成和发展时期主要面向婚前阶段中产阶级高功能伴侣, 是一种广泛性预防。针对贫穷等处境不利伴侣的选择性预防和处于抑郁早期伴侣的指导性预防是当前研究的重点。基于三级预防模型的婚姻教育在理论基础、研究方法等方面还存在诸多不足, 未来婚姻教育的进一步发展应从理论与研究、项目设计与实施等方面展开深入研究。     

Marital satisfaction in covenant versus standard marriages: Is there a difference?

After the rapid increase of the American divorce rate in the late 20th century, one of the most conspicuous efforts of the marriage movement in the 1990s that was used to increase marital stability was the legislation of the covenant marriage license, a more restricted marriage license issued in three different states of the U.S. To investigate the marital life of newlywed covenant versus standard couples, a large-scale 5-year couple study was conducted between 1998 and 2003 in Louisiana. The present study uses this large-sample, multiple-wave, multiple-group dyadic dataset to examine differences in co-development and divorce rates in 297 covenant and 380 standard mixed-sex couples using a multiple group growth curve modeling and survival analysis. We examined differences in marital trajectories between covenant and standard couples as well as between husbands and wives in each marital group. The results show (1) that the couples in both groups experienced, on average, declines in marital satisfaction, and such a decline was slower in covenant husbands than their wives as well as those in standard marriages, and (2) that co-development in marital satisfaction was more prominent in standard marriages than in covenant marriages, meaning standard couple's marital satisfaction declined at a more similar rate than that of covenant couples. We provide possible explanations and discuss practical implications.     

Reconstructing Hymens or Constructing Sexual Inequality? Service Provision to Islamic Young Women Coping with the Demand to be a Virgin

In Islamic culture, there is an imperative demand that women should be virgins on their wedding night. Service providers in The Netherlands are increasingly confronted by Islamic young women who find themselves in serious difficulties because they are no longer virgins, and are about to enter a forced or arranged marriage. These young women report a diversity of problems such as loneliness, social isolation, depression, despair, suicidal feelings, identity problems and serious conflicts with parents. In this article we focus attention on the circumstances that can result in these types of difficulties, and also critically consider the kinds of help that young Islamic women are given. Attention is paid to the question of whether existing forms of service provision, especially surgical reconstruction of the hymen, take sexual and other inequalities into account.     

The analysis of the homoerotic and the pursuit of meaning

This paper explores the dynamic tension between an evolving collective phenomenon and the nature of analytic process. Specifically, the focus will be erotic experiences which acquire a meaning through the culture at large, a meaning that may not be supportable when that material is subjected to psychological analysis. This stimulates a conflict between the symbolic attitude and the cultural perspective of the time. While the struggle between the individual and collective consciousness always emerges in analysis, the subject of same-gender sexual relations has become such a controversial and divisive issue in the current political environment that views toward homosexuality demand powerful allegiances and identification with either historic or contemporary ideas. People now identify as 'gay' and tend to see themselves as something akin to a race or perhaps alternative gender. Sexuality and relationship between same gendered people tends to be viewed through the lens of civil rights and the undeniable need for social equality. In this far-reaching and expanding collective phenomenon, psychology, in its support of human rights and accommodation to emerging trends, may be diminished in its capacity to pursue the meaning inherent in these human experiences. The position developed in this paper is that psychological experience, whether in the imaginal realm, dreams or personal consciousness, must be available for full analysis. Clinical experience and dreams are used to amplify this challenge to dynamic analytic practice.     

Combined Individual/Marital Therapy: A Conflict Resolution Framework and Ethical Considerations

This paper illustrates how couple and individual treatment formats can be intertwined. A conflict resolution theoretical framework structures treatment around three goals: (1) relieving symptoms (anger, depression, and marital distress), (2) facilitating resolution of the couple's conflicts, and (3) building communication and conflict resolution skills. The literature review focuses on why combining individual and couple therapy is often important for married clients. Two Bicycles, an illustrative case incorporating both conjoint and individual interventions, is presented and analyzed with regard to when each format seems beneficial. Ethical and practical issues raised by dual format treatment include potential harm, informed consent, dual roles, confidentiality, and time and financial costs.