A comparison of a hypnoanalytic/behavior modification technique and a cotherapist‐type treatment with primary orgasmic dysfunctional females: Some preliminary results

An investigation was conducted with primary orgasmic dysfunctional females, comparing a newly‐developed integrated hypnoanalytic/behavior modification technique to a cotherapist/couples‐type of treatment and to a nontreatment condition. All experimental and control subjects completed pre‐post instruments designed to measure orgasmic success through subject validation. A 4‐year follow‐up analysis indicated that the integrated technique was more successful than the cotherapist approach in eliminating primary orgasmic dysfunction; there was no success at all in the nontreatment condition. The findings suggest that working with deeper personality dynamics in conjunction with behavior modification is a more effective method of treating the disorder than the cotherapist/couples‐type behavioral approach. Further, the necessity for accumulating careful follow‐up data and replicating treatment methods in a treatment‐outcome study is discussed.     

Couples Therapy for Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem accompanied by substantial morbidity and mortality. Despite its documented impact on health, there is no widely recognized treatment of choice. Some studies indicate that couples suffering from situational violence may benefit from couples therapy, but professionals are cautious to risk the possibility of violent retaliation between partners. After a comprehensive literature search of 1,733 citations, this systematic review and meta‐analysis compiles the results of six studies to investigate the effectiveness of couples therapy as a treatment for violence. Preliminary data suggest that couples therapy is a viable treatment in select situations.     

Dual-earner couples and the decision to work less: A conceptual model

This paper examines the factors that affect the decision made by dual-earner couples concerning the possibility of one (or both) partners working a reduced-hours schedule. We rely on a comprehensive review of the literature on part-time work among dual-earner couples and on the factors that affect the decisions couples make about their work hours as well as preliminary findings from our ongoing study to consider two key questions: (1) What factors do dual-earner couples take into account when they consider whether one or both might work a reduced-hours schedule? (2) If the couple decides that one partner will work a reduced-hours schedule, how do they decide which partner reduces the hours of employment? Most previous research has focused on the centrality of gender in the decisions that couples make concerning the hours that they work. However, our review of the literature and the preliminary findings of our current research suggest that there are other factors that affect (directly or indirectly) the couples' decisions related to part-time options. Based on this review we present a new decision-making model for two-earner couples that will have implications for future research and policy initiatives. This paper is particularly timely for several reasons: the number of dual-earner couples continues to increase; there is some indication that more employees would choose to reduce their work hours if that were a viable option; and recently, managers and professional workers have become more vocal about their interest in part-time career options.     

Shared housing among young adults: avoiding complications in domestic relationships

One pathway by which young adults in the Western world are navigating housing difficulties is to pragmatically share costs by living or flatting with peers. The current study sought to add to the limited literature on this lifestyle through the application of discursive psychology to understanding the social dynamics of relationships in the intimacy of these households. Data was drawn from interviews with experienced New Zealand house sharers aged 20–35. Analysis is presented of two spontaneous discourses, which emerged, both dealing with competing tensions on the merits of living with couples or single people and friends or strangers. Whereas couples are not averse to sharing with other couples, single people tend to elect to share with unattached individuals. Favouring friends as housemates was the norm among town dwellers, while city folk were more open to flatting with strangers. Talk was driven by the unquestioned value associated with having a working living arrangement, demonstrating the acute awareness young adults have of potential problems that can destabilise or sustain domestic harmony. Valuable insight is provided into the complexity of shared housing relationships as well as contemporary young adulthood.     

Shame and the Psychosocial Costs of Contemporary Work: Implications for Career Intervention

This article explores the concept of shame and integrates it into career development and career counseling. The article begins with an overview of shame from a diverse conceptual framework, describing shame as a self-conscious emotion that occurs in response to interactions or events that evoke embarrassment, humiliation, self-doubt, and psychological distress. We discuss the prevalence of shame in work-based interactions and contexts, which is referred to as work shame. Building on this integrative review of shame within the working context, we describe the counseling implications and provide a case study to illustrate the ways in which shame emerges in clients' lives and potential strategies to resist and transcend shame.     

Shame in the Clinical Process with LGBTQ Clients

This commentary integrates the literature on the social and psychological dynamics of shame and discusses its relevance to the clinical process, especially with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and queer clients. It is argued that engagements with shame, especially where sexual desire, sexual orientation, or gender identity is a foremost consideration or conflict, may be the most important factor in producing and maintaining the therapeutic alliance. Shame, a social emotion, is considered in the light of work done in sociology, psychology, neuroscience, and psychoanalysis. Future directions for clinical research are suggested.     

Methodological triangulation in researching families: Making sense of dissonant data

The research literature on triangulation has paid little attention to the problematic of 'making sense of dissonant data'. Nor has there been much discussion around the use of the technique of triangulation when researching families. Through a presentation of research findings gathered from self-report questionnaires and in-depth interviews with couples and families the possibilities of convergent, complementary and dissonant data and their interpretation are explored. The paper reflects on the ontological, epistemological and methodological tensions that must be negotiated when working with triangulated data. It is argued that given the multi-faceted context and intimate subject matter in family and couples research there is a high likelihood of dissonant findings. Recommendations are made for family researchers interested in the technique of triangulation to consider the context and process of their research in the interpretation of their data. Despite the challenges that triangulation throws up for researchers, it is argued that working within a post-positivist paradigm, triangulation enables analysis which is both more complex and more meaningful.     

Shame and the city – ‘looting’, emotions and social structure

The sociology of violence is an emerging field but one in which there remains a tension between structural explanations and phenomenological‐situational ones that focus on the micro conditions of violence. This article proposes an analytical framework for connecting these levels through a critical appropriation of Scheff's theory of the shame‐rage cycle. It argues that while shame is a significant condition for violent action, Scheff does not have a theory of violence in itself but treats the connections between shame‐rage and violence as largely self‐evident. While emotions such as shame have agental properties, as Scheff and others argue, these need to be situated within structural and cultural conditions that are likely to evoke shame. Moreover, to develop Scheff's approach further, violence needs to be understood as being communicative and invoking normative justifications, which mediate the effects of shame‐rage. This analysis is developed with reference to recent instances of collective disorder, especially the English riots in August 2011, which is based on published research and media accounts from participants. The acquisition of consumer goods through ‘looting’ was public performance in spaces where a ‘moral holiday’ permitted a brief revaluation of the social order. Through this example the article shows how an underlying configuration of inequality, exclusion and shame coalesced into events in which the violence was a form of performative communication. This articulated ‘ugly feelings’ that invoked normative justification for participation, at least at the time of the disturbances. The discussion provides an integrated account of structural‐emotional conditions for violence combined with the dynamics of situated actions within particular spaces. It aims to do two things – to provide a framework for analysing the structural and affective bases for violence and to offer a nuanced understanding of ‘violence’ with reference to public disorder.     

Habitus,social elevation,and the channel of shame‐fear: The decision to expand Guinness advertising

This article explains the relationship between social habitus, social mobility and shame feelings using Elias's theoretical frame of figurational sociology. Much work to date has centred on Bourdieu's theoretical formulations and while there are clear parallels with Elias, significant differences exist. Elias identified how shame functions as a key channel for the transmission of social tensions generated by the structure of social relations into the social habitus of individuals. We explain how apparently rational decision‐making in organisations obscures the emotional dynamics of shame and fear connected with processes of social elevation, habitus change and shifting power relations between social classes. Our empirical case concerns the brewer Arthur Guinness & Sons Ltd and the decision in 1927 to sanction a direct advertising campaign in Britain for the first time.     

A Re-Conceptualization of the Working Alliance in Cross-Cultural Practice with Non-Western Clients: Integrating Relational Perspectives and Multicultural Theories

This article will addresses a gap in the literature regarding the working alliance in cross-cultural treatment. The paper draws on references from current relational theories and multicultural conceptual and empirical sources to re-conceptualize the definition of the working alliance to include cross-cultural dynamics between Asian clients and European-American therapists as a case in point. The paper includes an overview of the working alliance, and a proposal for the inclusion of specific relational domains that this author has found to be important for the definition of the working alliance. These domains are empathy, mutuality, the dynamics of power and authority, the use of self, and the process of communication. A case vignette is included to illustrate these discrete domains. The paper opens new directions for clinical practice and research in the area of the working alliance in cross-cultural counseling.     

May–December Lesbian Relationships: Power Storms or Blue Skies?

SUMMARY

What are the implications when there is considerable difference in the ages of partners in a lesbian couple? May–December lesbian relationships are those where partners are at least 10 years apart in age, and where both partners are over 30. These relationships have been either neglected or valorized in the psychological literature. Differences in socially ascribed power, women's socialization against acknowledging power, the value the lesbian community places on egalitarianism, and the interaction of other privileges, combine to impact these couples. The fluid nature of power dynamics in May–December lesbian relationships is highlighted and explored. Finally, ways that age-variant lesbian couples can navigate these power differentials in healthy ways are addressed.     

Discernment Counseling for “Mixed‐Agenda” Couples

This article describes discernment counseling, an approach to working with couples where one partner is leaning toward divorce and the other wants to preserve the relationship and work on it in couples therapy. These “mixed‐agenda” couples are common in clinical practice but have been neglected in the literature. The goal of discernment counseling is clarity and confidence regarding the next steps for the relationship, based on a deeper understanding of each partner's contributions. Sessions emphasize individual conversations with each partner. An analysis of 100 consecutive cases found that about half of the couples chose to start couples therapy in order to reconcile, with most of the rest choosing the divorce path. Longer term follow‐up information is also presented.     

Mothering,Guilt and Shame

Even as research continues to explore mothering experiences and social psychologists consider the costs of guilt and shame, few empirical works have examined the relationships among mothering, guilt and shame. The idea that guilt and shame are necessary components of mothering is widespread. A few sources take seriously the emotions of guilt and shame nor has considerable thought been given to the social nature of guilt and shame. Rather than accept a purely psychological explanation of guilt and shame, I investigate the institutional and interactional dynamics that fuel women’s drives to perform as ‘the good mother’. In particular, I explore the ‘good mothering’ ideology that places mothers at risk of guilt and shame and then two social and institutional spaces where guilt and shame are likely to be prevalent.     

Work,parenting and gender: the care–work negotiations of three couple relationships in the UK

Changes globally mean that there are now record numbers of mothers in paid employment and a reported prevalence of involved fathering. This poses challenges to mothers and fathers as they negotiate care–work practices within their relationships. Focusing on interviews with three heterosexual couples (taken from a wider UK qualitative project on working parents), the paper considers care–work negotiations of three couples, against a backdrop of debates about intensive mothering and involved fathering. It aims to consider different configurations of work and care within three different couple relationships. We found that power within the relationships was negotiated along differential axis of gender and working status (full- or part-time paid work). We present qualitatively rich insights into these negotiations. Framed by a critical discursive psychological approach, we call on other researchers to think critically about dominant discourses and practices of working, caring and parenting, pointedly how couples situated around the world operationalise these discourses in talking about themselves as worker and carers.     

Mexican American and Other Hispanic Couples’ Relationship Dynamics: A Review to Inform Interventions Aimed at Promoting Healthy Relationships

Public policy initiatives have set out to promote healthy relationships among low-income racial and ethnic-minority couples. Interventions used, however, are based on decades of research with primarily White, middle-class, college-educated couples and have yielded disappointing results. The aim of this literature review is to provide the reader with the current state of knowledge on relationship dynamics among the fastest growing ethnic-minority group in the United States: Mexican American (MA) Hispanics and other Hispanic subgroups. Thirty-seven empirical journal articles focusing on the following domains of interest were reviewed: (1) patterns of union formation and dissolution, (2) ideals and views about marriage, (3) relationship satisfaction and quality, (4) communication and conflict, and (5) unique themes. MA couples have higher marital rates, a decreased risk of marital dissolution, and report greater relationship satisfaction than African American couples. First-generation and less acculturated MA couples have a decreased risk of experiencing marital dissolution and dissatisfaction than second- and third-generation MA couples. Cultural variables such as family values and religion seem to play an important role in MA and other Hispanic couples’ relationship satisfaction and stability. In the interest of enhancing the effectiveness of intervention efforts directed at these couples, future research should focus on elucidating the mechanisms by which acculturation impacts MA couple functioning, examining the impact of other facets of relationship quality (e.g., emotional intimacy, support) on marital satisfaction, broadening samples to include other Hispanic subgroups, and exploring the types of services and method of delivery that MA and other Hispanic couples would like to receive. Limitations and strengths of the existing literature are discussed.     

Chronic illness in couples: a case for emotionally focused therapy

The onset of chronic illness is one of the most pervasive health problems facing North Americans today. Only recently have researchers and clinicians seriously examined chronic physical conditions in the context of close relationships. This article briefly reviews the literature on chronic illness in adult couples. Initially, the focus is on the reciprocal link between close relationships and chronic physical conditions. A number of clinical approaches for working with chronic illness in couples are outlined, a particular case is made for the utility of emotionally focused therapy, and a case study is presented.     

Queer Chicano Families: The Importance of Converging Literature on Queer Families,Chicano Families,and Chicano Queers

Despite growing literature on Latino families and Latino queer identities, there has been relatively little empirical research on Latino same‐sex families. Likewise, emerging empirical research on gay and lesbian couples tends to focus on the experiences of middle‐class, well‐educated, White couples. I argue that combining theoretical and empirical works on sexuality, Chicano studies, and queer studies can assuage this lack of diversity in each body of literature. This work first examines current literature on Latino families, with a focus on Latino familism. This is followed by a brief examination of current literature on queer Chicanos. Lastly, it will discuss queer families and the lack of current literature on Latino same‐sex couples, in order to present a course of action for further research on the intersectional social location of queer Chicano families.     

Facilitating Transition Among Transgender Clients: Components of Effective Clinical Practice

Although transgender clients seek services in a number of settings in which social workers practice, there is a dearth of scholarly literature available to guide effective clinical practice with this population. When transgender issues are included in the practice literature, the trend has been to consolidate the needs of transgender clients with those of the larger lesbian, gay, and bisexual community or to simply focus on increasing the comfort level of clinicians working with this population. This is concerning because transgender individuals represent a vulnerable subgroup of clients with unique and specific treatment needs related to the transition experience. Social workers play a critical role; they may serve transgender clients and their families in many ways: as advocate, educator, diagnostician, and individual, couples or family therapist. The purpose of this article is to identify several key components of trans-specific clinical practice and the role of social workers in supporting and facilitating client transition. Specifically, the authors will discuss: (a) relevant definitions and terminology, (b) emerging issues related to depathologizing the needs and experiences of transgender individuals, (c) the critical elements of trans-specific clinical assessment, and (d) clinical advocacy associated with the medical legal and social aspects of the transition process. Specific recommendations for trans-affirmative social work practice will be offered.     

HOME-BASED MARITAL THERAPY FOR MULTIPROBLEM FAMILIES*

This paper describes a project designed to reach low-income, multiproblem families, utilizing couples therapy in the home. By targeting a population of young couples under the age of 30 and with children no older than 7 years, the project aimed at prevention of severe family dysfunctioning and child disturbances. The major characteristics noted in the literature on multiproblem families are reviewed here, as are the treatment goals and techniques with such families. Most programs working with multiproblem families have focused primarily on the parental functioning in family therapy, and little has been reported on work with the couple in multiproblem families. The project described here used home visits by a male-female therapist team, including frequent individual and couple sessions. Therapeutic techniques based on modeling, role playing and demonstration were emphasized. In addition, tasks which increased the individual and couple functioning of the spouses were designed and successful completion was reinforced. An attempt was made to integrate the couple into the community and to create a network of support outside of the family, including friends and community services.     

Trainee multicultural case conceptualization ability and couples therapy

Previous literature on the assessment of multicultural counseling competence has been concerned only with counselors' abilities when working with individual clients. We expanded this line of research by investigating trainees' multicultural case conceptualization ability in the context of working with couples. Despite the fact that trainees self-reported a high level of multicultural competency, trainees were largely inattentive to racial factors in their case conceptualization responses to vignettes involving both African American and European American clients presenting for couples therapy. On the whole, despite didactic, clinical, and extracurricular training in multiculturalism, marriage and family therapy trainees did not sufficiently incorporate cultural factors into their clinical case conceptualizations. We discuss implications for teaching, practice, and future research.