Family therapy without the family: a framework for systemic practice

This paper contrasts the basic tenets of systemic thinking with some guiding principles of the psychodynamic approach, and outlines specific techniques which family therapists can use when seeing individuals. It is argued that a useful systemic framework can be maintained if the therapist aims to keep the therapy system 'open' for relevant others to join at any time.     

Short Paper Section The reliability of video viewing of family therapy interviews*

The use of video-taped material is common in family therapy practice and training. It is assumed that the video material conveys the same impression as when the interaction is viewed ‘live’. In this study the same eight interviews were viewed by two groups of experienced therapists, one group ‘in vivo’ and the other ‘via video’. The groups were required to rank concepts derived from Structural Family Therapy as relevant to each of the interviews. On six of the eight interviews there was substantial agreement in the ranking of concepts by the two groups lending general support to the assumption that judgements of family interactions are not influenced by the medium through which they are observed.     

Admissions interviews at university as counselling tools

Little research has been conducted on the university admissions interview, and with increasing selection ratios there has been a tendency for universities to dispense with interviews altogether. This paper argues for a re-assertion of the interview as a valuable component of the admissions procedure, not necessarily to improve institutional decision-making but for the guidance and personal decision-making of candidates. The rationale for treating admissions interviews as opportunities for counselling are reviewed, and the advantages for both candidates and institutions are outlined.     

Vigilance, personality and strength of the nervous system

Numerous attempts have been made to explain the overall level of performance and the change in performance over time in vigilance tasks in terms of the proposed inverted U relationship between performance and ‘arousal’. The present experiment investigated the effects on vigilance performance of the following variables: introversion, neuroticism, time of day, accessory sensory stimulation, ‘signal frequency’ and time on task. Some measures of subjective state and body temperature were also included. The behavioural measures of overall performance revealed interactions involving neuroticism and time of day, and between neuroticism and frequency. This may reflect the operation of response bias factors, though these may be influenced by ‘arousal’. There were also main effects for several of the factors which may have practical significance. There was a significant effect of time on task on all the behavioural measures but no clearcut effects of personality on the vigilance ‘decrement’. It is argued that the latter may not provide the most satisfactory test of the inverted U model and its relationship to personality. However, interactions between noise and time on task for some of the measures may have practical importance. Measures of subjective state showed a fall in the reported level of ‘arousal’ accompanied by a rise in reported ‘stress’ and ‘anxiety’ with time on task. Body temperature was higher after the task than before.     

Training family therapists in observational skills

A study was conducted to develop procedures for training observational skills using concepts derived from structural family therapy. Experienced family therapists provided operational definitions of key concepts in family interaction, and videotaped segments of interactions were prepared which exemplified the concepts. A group of trainee family therapists was compared with a group of experienced therapists in the way they applied the concepts to interaction sequences in therapeutic sessions. In demonstrating that inexperienced trainees can be instructed relatively rapidly to identify and use structural concepts, the results suggested that this analytical approach to the training of family therapists shows considerable promise.     

d-Amphetamine-chlorpromazine antagonism in a food reinforced operant

Dose effect curves for d-amphetamine and chlorpromazine were obtained with rats on a milk reinforced FR 10 schedule. A dose of d-amphetamine (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) which completely suppressed all responding for 60 min was administered simultaneously (concomitant with the pretreatment times) with various doses of chlorpromazine. The d-amphetamine-induced cessation of responding was removed by several of the doses of chlorpromazine with maximal antagonism occurring at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg i.p. This dose of chlorpromazine, when administered independently, produced no observable side effects and showed no effect on the FR 10 schedule. One animal appeared to develop tolerance to the repeated dosages of d-amphetamine.     

A survey of referral problems in 59 Ohio school districts

Feedback for the school psychologist is vital to construct and maintain remedial or preventative programs in the public schools. This study was undertaken to see if referral data would be useful as a source of such information.

Referral forms were solicited from school psychologists in 59 Ohio school districts and an analysis was made of their contents. The data obtained indicates that referral information can be used to provide school psychologists clues pertaining to referral procedures and the types of children and problems referred.

Specifically, this study indicates a greater need in the area of communication among pupil personnel workers. Further, it indicates that the psychologist in the school deals largely with problems of an academic nature thus offering a direction for in-service programming. Finally, the data reveals an interesting trend in the area of mental health which could possibly be an area of fruitful research.