Contrasting four major family therapy paradigms: implications for family therapy training

Four major paradigms of family therapy are contrasted: affective-experiential, structural, strategic and Milan. The differences are defined according to the way in which therapists think and behave in relation to their premises about change, and they are discussed under the following headings: historical roots and understanding of symptom formation; therapists' stance and techniques used in change; focus, goals and locus of change; and time perspective in change. Some suggestions are made with regard to training family therapists based on the differences that emerge when contrasting these models of family therapy.     

Book reviews

Current Psychology -     

Marital dissolution and distress in a psychiatric population: A longitudinal design

There has been interest in recent years in the relationship between marital distress and psychopathology. It has been rare, however, for investigators to follow patients after their release from the hospital and observe the course of their marital relationships. The present study included patients meeting criteria for three DSM III DISORDERS (MAjor depressive, bipolar, and schizophrenic) and a normal control sample, all of whom are participants in an ongoing longitudinal study of children at risk for psychopathology (Stony Brook High-Risk Project; Weintraub & Neale, 1984). Marital Adjustment Test (MAT; Locke & Wallace, 1959) scores were collected on patients at entry into the project (Phase I) and at a three year follow-up (Phase II). Course of marriage was defined as negative if the couple's marital adjustment was rated as poor at Phase II or resulted in divorce or separation at Phase II. It was found that only the depressed group differed from the normal group in having significantly worse course of marital relationship; 84% of the depressive couples showed a “negative” course of marital change over time. However, all three patient groups had significantly higher rates of divorce by Phase II. MAT scores at Phase I successfully predicted course of marital relationship for all diagnostic groups. Implications for aftercare of psychiatric inpatients are discussed.     

A New Theory of Content II: Model Theory and Some Alternatives

This paper develops a semantical model – theoretic account of (logical) content complementing the syntactically specified account of content developed in A New Theory of Content I, JPL 23: 596–620, 1994. Proofs of Completeness are given for both propositional and quantificational languages (without identity). Means for handling a quantificational language with identity are also explored. Finally, this new notion of content is compared, in respect of both logical properties and philosophical applications, to alternative partitions of the standard consequence class relation proposed by Stelzner, Schurz and Wiengartner.     

Perception of relative pitch with different references: Some absolute-pitch listeners can’t tell musical interval names

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effect of absolute-pitch possession on relativepitch processing. Listeners attempted to identify melodic intervals ranging from a semitone to an octave with different reference tones. Listeners with absolute pitch showed declined performance when the reference was out-of-tune C, out-of-tune E, or F#, relative to when the reference was C. In contrast, listeners who had no absolute pitch maintained relatively high performance in all reference conditions. These results suggest that absolute-pitch listeners are weak in relative-pitch processing and show a tendency to rely on absolute pitch in relative-pitch tasks.     

Twelve irrational ideas that drive gay men and women crazy

Applying the insights of rational emotive behavior therapy to the contemporary situation of gay people, this article provides an outline of the main irrational ideas which lead to emotional disturbance in gay men and lesbians. The author suggests that escalating preferences for sex, love, justice, approval and acceptance into absolutistic demands and needs is at the root of much disturbance in gay men and lesbians. By learning to be more rational, non-utopian and non-demanding, the author hypothesizes that gay men and lesbians can arrive at a philosophy of life which leads to greater personal happiness, less emotional disturbance and greater political effectiveness. Ken Mylott has a B.A. in philosophy. He works as a L.P.N. and free-lance writer in Lake Worth, Florida. This is his first article in a professional journal.     

The role of personality in crowding research

An analysis of variance was carried out on Ss who were tested with a letter-cancellation task under four experimental conditions, two levels each of crowding and disconfirmation of expectancy. Eight types of Ss were distinguished based on sex and high or low scores on E and N. The crowding situation and disconfirmation of expectancy was found to affect extraverts significantly more than introverts, as predicted by the Brebner-Cooper model. It was confirmed that personality is an important variable in crowding research.