Families and family therapy in Germany

The author describes some of the effects of decades of life under a dictatorship for East Germans and the effects on family life and family therapy of changes following the recent reunification of Germany. A case example illustrates some intergenerational family problems associated with the changes. Contrasts are drawn between East and West Germany and family therapy's present stage of development is depicted in both parts of the reunified country. Germany has approximately 10,000 trained family therapists, a minority of whom work in private practice. The largest amount of family and couples therapy is performed in agencies.Portions of this material were first presented in a poster session at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy annual conference in Miami Beach, 1992.     

Cultural competency in genetic counseling

Incorporating a cross-cultural curriculum into genetic counseling training programs demonstrates a professional conviction of genetic counselors that cultural issues are important in genetic counseling. Funded by the Special Projects Fund in 1993 from the National Society of Genetic Counselors and the Kitson Fund from the Department of Social, Organizational, and Counseling Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, theHandbook of Cross-Cultural Genetic Counseling was developed to provide genetic counseling programs a curriculum to teach cross-cultural genetic counseling. The theoretical rationale for the development of a cultural curriculum is presented. By expanding cultural knowledge, developing an awareness of oneself and others, and increasing the repertoire of culturally relevant counseling skills within a socio-political context, genetic counselors will be able to better serve all clients seeking genetic counseling.     

An integrated mindfulness and acceptance-based program for young elite female basketball players: Exploratory study of how it works and for whom it works best

In order to better understand how an integrated mindfulness and acceptance-based intervention works and for whom it works best, study objectives were to examine (i) the trajectories of mindfulness skills and performance-related outcomes during the intervention, and athletes’ perceptions of the impact of the intervention; and (ii) the potential moderating effects of personality characteristics on changes in targeted variables associated with the intervention. The sample consisted of 40 young elite female basketball players (M = 16.33, SD = 0.75 years) from three incoming groups at the French Federal Basketball Center over a 3-year period. All players participated in a 15-week Mindfulness BasketBall Integrated program. They completed online questionnaires measuring personality traits 10 months before the intervention, as well as pre-, mid- and post-intervention measurements of mindfulness skills, intensity and directional interpretation of stress, and performance satisfaction. They also participated in semi-structured social validation interviews conducted one month after the intervention. The results of the multilevel growth curve (MGCA) and thematic analyses revealed how the mindfulness skills and performance-related outcomes evolved over the course of the intervention and how these changes were perceived by the athletes. Specifically, the MGCA showed significant linear increases in acceptance, positive stress direction, and performance satisfaction. The complementary social validation data indicated perceived improvements in mindfulness skills and performance. The MGCA also showed that baseline personality traits moderated the effects of the program on acceptance and experience of stress. These findings may be used to inform the design of more effective integrated mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions.     

COMPARISON OF PROTOTYPE AND ROTE INSTRUCTION OF ENGLISH NAMES FOR CHINESE VISUAL CHARACTERS

This study compared prototype and rote instruction of English names for Chinese visual characters. In the prototype condition, participants were taught the meaning of the prototype that served as the distinctive feature of multicomponent characters. In the rote condition, participants traced the character and wrote its translation. Participants learned more rapidly and maintained more words in the prototype condition.     

SEQUENTIAL APPLICATION OF MAJOR HABIT-REVERSAL COMPONENTS TO TREAT MOTOR TICS IN CHILDREN

In this study, we sequentially administered up to four components of the habit-reversal treatment to 4 children with motor tics within a multiple baseline design. The habit-reversal components included (a) awareness training; (b) awareness training and self-monitoring; (c) awareness training, self-monitoring, and social support; and (d) awareness training, social support, and the use of a competing response. Results demonstrated that the combined use of awareness training, social support, and competing response training was effective in eliminating motor tics in 2 of 4 children, that awareness training alone was effective for 1 child, and that a combination of awareness training and self-monitoring was effective for the 4th child. The treatment and ensuing improvement were found to be socially valid. We discuss possible explanations for these results and recommend directions for future research.     

CHOICE-MAKING TREATMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN'S SEVERE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

The choice-making behavior of 5 young children with developmental disabilities who engaged in aberrant behavior was studied within a concurrent operants framework. Experimental analyses were conducted to identify reinforcers that maintained aberrant behavior, and functional communication training packages were implemented to teach the participants to gain reinforcement using mands. Next, a choice-making analysis, in which the participants chose one of two responses (either a mand or an alternative neutral response) to obtain different durations and qualities of reinforcement, was conducted. Finally, treatment packages involving choice making via manding were implemented to decrease inappropriate behavior and to increase mands. The results extended previous applications of choice making to severe behavior disorders and across behaviors maintained by positive and negative reinforcement.     

Sensitizing Medical Residents to Fantasies and Alignments in the Family: Mastering Psychosocial Skills in the Medical Encounter

In this paper, it is proposed that a) psychosocial medicine is best taught in a setting that provides technical and emotional support, while seizing for teaching only those moments when the learner is most receptive; and b) that the setting should avoid the development of a separate psychosocial skills curriculum, but should take the student where he or she is and integrate the psychosocial skills into his or her everyday biomedical practice. The paper gives specific case examples in which family based psychosocial issues were preeminent in the clinical problem-solving medical residents faced.     

An Ecological Approach to Enhancing Parenting Skills in Family Therapy

To increase the effectiveness of parent education interventions, family therapists can address those factors that shape the way in which parents interact with their children. This article presents ecological theory as a framework that can help clinicians expand the range of their parent training efforts. In order to assess the utility of ecological theory for clinical practice, the present study empirically explored the ways in which selected characteristics of parents, children, and the family context related to mothers' parenting behavior. Specific recommendations for family therapists who employ parent training techniques are offered.     

AUGMENTING SIMPLIFIED HABIT REVERSAL WITH AN AWARENESS ENHANCEMENT DEVICE: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

The chronic hair pulling of a 36-year-old woman with moderate mental retardation was initially treated with a simplified habit-reversal (SHR) procedure that consisted of awareness training, competing response training, and social support. When SHR did not produce large and sustained reductions in hair pulling, an awareness enhancement device was added, and it reduced hair pulling to near-zero levels in two settings. The results are discussed, and directions for future research with this device are provided.     

TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE: ON DREAMING THE IMPOSSIBLE

Abstract. My comment on Ethics in an Age of Technology, volume 2 of Ian G. Barbour's Gifford Lectures, acknowledges the excellence of Barbour's depictions of the social-cum-technological problems facing humanity in the coming millennium. Barbour's proposed solutions, too, are reasonable—but usually presuppose fundamental reforms in social values, especially within the powerful industrialized societies. Without further analysis of technology and values, this seems to make such solutions “impossible dreams.” My thesis is that clear analysis of the ideal aspects of technology (as itself the embodiment of knowledge and values), plus clues from Alfred North Whitehead on the dynamics of social change, can reinforce hope even in “impossible” dreams. First, technology, though embodied in solid material machinery and powerful social institutions, is no more “solid” than constant reaffirmation of the values behind it (as was the case with the Berlin Wall). Second, great ideals, over time, have the power to help create the conditions of their own possibility. Social change is both “pushed” by coercive forces (e.g., climate changes) and “pulled” by great values (e.g., human dignity). Therefore there are practical benefits to be gained from attending to, and celebrating, even currently “impossible” dreams as they work to make themselves possible.