Interviewing Ron Perry: Keeping the Conversation Going

Throughout his long career in counselling and family therapy, Ron Perry has seen enormous ups and downs in the field. He studied with, and worked alongside, family therapy masters such as Virginia Satir, Jay Haley, MRI and the Milan team and his dedication to counselling and psychotherapy culminated in an Order of Australia medal in 2005. In this conversation, Ron provides an intimate understanding of family therapy emphasising the value of teams and interventions that achieve good outcomes for families.     

Illuminating Clinical Supervision—Past,Present and Future: An Interview with Dr. Lawrence Shulman

In an interview with Dr. Lawrence Shulman, he presents his insights on clinical supervision from a social work and interdisciplinary perspective. Dr. Shulman is a luminary in social work and interdisciplinary supervision, developing the Interactional Model of Supervision. In reflecting on his career in social work research, education, and practice, he shares his thoughts regarding the importance of process-oriented supervision as a needed focus for research and practice. Supportive of integrating art and science in social work practice, he offers his perspectives on the current state of supervision in the evidence-based era.     

Interview With Michael Kerr

The following article was written by Dr Michael Kerr in response to questions put to him by Barbara Fraser; Linda Mackay and Lu Pease when he visited Australia two years ago. These three family therapists took it upon themselves to prepare this interview in recognition of Dr Kerr's unique vantage point on Bowen Theory and family therapy. Michael Kerr was trained by Murray Bowen in the 1970s and subsequently went on to work as faculty at the Georgetown Family centre. He succeeded Bowen as director of the centre where he has devoted his professional life to the understanding, application and extension of theory. He is the co‐author with Dr Bowen of Family Evaluation: An Approach Based on Bowen Theory (Kerr & Bowen, 1988), which remains the most esteemed text on this theory. He is also the editor of Family Systems: A Journal of Natural Systems Thinking in Psychiatry and The Sciences. Bowen's Family Systems Theory grew out of years of research from the 1950s‐1970s, which included observations of inpatient families with a schizophrenic member and using data from Bowen's own interactions with his family of origin (Bowen, 1978). The theory continues to be influential in family therapy with its most well‐known contributions being the process of triangling, the intergenerational transmission of family patterns and the concept of differentiation of self. (Brown, 1999). The following discussion from Dr Kerr brings a fresh perspective on the current applications and developments of this systems theory     

Thomas Szasz' “critical reflections on child psychiatry”: An alternative view through a systemic lens

In “Critical Reflections on Child Psychiatry,” Thomas Szasz (1979) argues that children are without the rights afforded adults, that children are often coerced into therapy, and that most children do not appear to benefit from psychotherapy. Szasz raises many pertinent questions for mental health professionals working with children. However, his arguments appear to be based on literature limited to traditional psychodynamic approaches. His position also neglects to consider literature in the developmental psychology and legal fields. This paper, written from the cognitive developmental and the family systems perspective, provides another examination of the important issues raised by Thomas Szasz.     

Ethical Adoption Practice

Abstract

Dr. Paul Denhalter completed his doctoral candidacy research on adoptive family attachment and entitlement. Nineteen parents were interviewed about what elements of adoptive family life contributed to a sense of entitlement. The act of care giving increased entitlement; negative comments from others about adoption tended to decrease it. In his social work practice, Dr. Denhalter counseled adoptive and birth families and advocated education, counseling and support for successful open adoption relationships. His positive perspective on adoption included his father's adoption at age five. Dr. Denhalter was critical of the current trends in adoption that have pathologized adoption for political purposes. He emphasized the results of the Search Institute's study that had positive conclusions about adopted children as well as a blueprint for successful adoptive families to follow.     

COMMODORE PERRY AND THE JAPANESE: A STUDY IN THE DRAMATURGY OF POWER

A study of face-to-face interactions between Commodore Perry and his subordinates on the one hand, and Japanese on the other, reveals that Perry consistently displayed power in a well-calculated manner in order to make the Japanese open the country. The Japanese were completely manipulated by him, and they yielded to his demand and opened the country. The American and Japanese documents of the time are analyzed in terms of Goffman's dramaturgical approach. Symbolic interactionism can be a useful approach in understanding international relations or social change.     

At the Heart of Therapy: A Conversation With Ron Perry

Ron Perry has recently retired from his position as Director of the Institute of Counselling in Sydney, a position that he held for 35 years. Over the course of his career, his interest in all aspects of counselling, and his enthusiasm for family therapy, led him to attend numerous training programs and workshops overseas as well as in Australia. Like others at the time, he progressed through the ‘new’ models of therapy as they evolved over the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He has been a consultant to many individuals and groups across Sydney, and was a trainer and supervisor for 10 years with Margaret Topham's Family Therapy Institute of Australia. In 2005 Ron was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for ‘service to the community as a counsellor, particularly as one of the founders of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia’.     

Combining Individual Psychodynamics With Structural Family Therapy

This paper presents an integrative framework for combining some central aspects of individual psychodynamics with structural family therapy in a meaningful way. The framework derives from a developmental perspective; it relies on the concept of integrative levels of organization and on the goals of therapy as viewed from a developmental perspective. A case example is also presented that exemplifies a combined approach and demonstrates its utility.     

Family Therapy in France: An Australian Perspective

This article is an exploration of family therapy in France by an Australian social worker and family therapist. It also reports on the 2010 European Family Therapy Conference and includes an interview with Dr Mony Elkaïm that provides an overview of his work. All this is discussed in terms of its relevance for family therapists in Australia. It is followed by a brief response from Dr Elkaïm.     

The Disneyfication of Dr Seuss: faithful to profit,one hundred percent?

This essay takes a critical look at the Disneyfication of Dr Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel, 1904–1991), examining how a man whose books encourage critical thinking became a brand name, and is increasingly becoming an affirmation of consumer culture. Since his death, Dr Seuss’s name and characters have been used to promote cereal, credit cards, and action figures (among other things); this strategy has led many to cite Suess’s indifference to money and his reluctance to exploit his characters for commercial gain. And, as this article points out, posthumously licensed products are more likely to encourage consumption for its own sake, whereas ones licensed during his lifetime tend to encourage creative or imaginative play. However, the Disneyfication of Dr Seuss is not strictly a posthumous phenomenon. After losing a 1968 case against companies that marketed ‘Dr Seuss’ products based on his 1932 Liberty Magazine cartoons, Dr Seuss accepted his lawyers’ (and the court’s) conclusion that trademark is more powerful than copyright, and approved the production of a vast array of Seussiana. Drawing on legal research, analysis of the products themselves, conversations with Dr Seuss Enterprises and with his biographers, the article concludes that Seuss’s Disneyfication is a symptom of a legal system designed to benefit capitalism more than moral or artistic values.     

The experience of divorce for the psychotherapy patient—A developmental perspective

In this article the dynamics of divorce are discussed from the perspective of psychoanalytic developmental psychology. This theoretical framework is used to highlight and to explain some typical internal and external responses of psychotherapy patients for whom divorce is an issue. A therapeutic stance is suggested that enables the patient to understand the connection between his or her marital situation, early life experience, and past developmental problems. The patient's preoccupation with the unsatisfactory marital relationship can serve as a catalyst for the strengthening of the patient's overall ego functioning. This article demonstrates Kris' (1951) concept that the material at the psychic surface-in this case divorce-needs to be explored in such a way that the patient's ego is enlisted in his or her total growth.     

Applying the Paradigm of Relational Ethics into Contextual Therapy. Analyzing the practice of Ivan Boszormenyi‐Nagy

Ivan Boszormenyi Nagy introduced with his contextual therapy a challenging theory into the world of family therapy. It is rooted in a relational ethical perspective on human relations and shifts the focus of therapy from pathology to evoking reciprocal care and a genuine dialogue, based on the conviction that inter‐human relations are resources for individual growth and health. This article presents a research project on the practice of the founder himself, to describe how the principles of the contextual theory and therapy can be integrated into concrete therapeutic interventions. Using the Constant Comparison Method, the authors found six clusters of interventions representing methodical elements through which Ivan Boszormenyi‐Nagy applies the paradigm of his approach.     

A BLUEPRINT FOR INCREASING THE RELEVANCE OF FAMILY THERAPY RESEARCH

Family therapy research and psychotherapy research in general have been criticized for their lack of relevance to clinical practice. This paper presents a fivestage model that family therapy researchers can follow to increase the relevance of their work for clinicians and other consumers of family therapy research. Using lessons derived from private industry, the research model is based on a marketing and developmental perspective.     

Creating the Next Wave of Family Therapy

This article is an exploration of family therapy in Australia based on interviews with seven leading Australian family therapists: Max Cornwell, Carolyn Quadrio, Ron Perry, Laurie MacKinnon, Brian Stagoll, Banu Moloney and Jim Crawley. It explores the attributes and qualities of what makes a good family therapist and seeks to understand how the next generation of therapists can generate a new enthusiasm for family therapy.     

Family Context Therapy: A Model for Family Change*

Starting where family group therapy fails, this article breaks new territory in family context therapy. Consolidating the past 14 years of his work, Dr. Bell sets forth a conceptual program and methods to meet problems that earlier forms of family therapy could not reach. Here he provides a model drawn from studies, theories, and personal experience of organizational patterns, interrelations, and change among community institutions that provide settings for family functioning. His new methods are designed to modify the family environment so as to solve family problems and promote beneficial family growth—a framework that may bring together a broad variety of existing family development approaches.     

What clients of couple therapy model developers and their former students say about change, part II: model-independent common factors and an integrative framework

Proponents of the common factors movement in marriage and family therapy (MFT) suggest that, rather than specific models of therapy, elements common across models of therapy and common to the process of therapy itself are responsible for therapeutic change. This article-the second of two companion articles-reports on a study designed to further investigate common factors in couple therapy. We used grounded theory techniques to analyze data from interviews with MFT model developers Dr. Susan M. Johnson, Dr. Frank M. Dattilio, Dr. Richard C. Schwartz, former students of Dr. Johnson and Dr. Schwartz, and each of their clients who had been successful in couple therapy. This article reports model-independent variables, that is, general aspects of therapy that are not directly related to the therapist's model. Model-independent categories include client variables, therapist variables, the therapeutic alliance, therapeutic process, and expectancy and motivational factors, each with several subcategories. We also present a conceptual framework that outlines how model-dependent and model-independent common factors may interact to produce change. We discuss our findings and proposed framework in relation to the current common factors literature in psychology and MFT. We also discuss clinical, training, and research implications.     

Comparing Opinions of People with Developmental Disabilities and Significant Persons in their Lives Using the Individual Supports Identification System (ISIS)

Fifty-two people with developmental disabilities were interviewed using the Individual Supports Identification System (ISIS). This study reports on persons with developmental disabilities, served by the State of Washington Division of Developmental Disabilities, and includes persons whose onset of disability was prior to 18. To be eligible for services, an individual must have a disability that falls within one of the following categories: (1) mental retardation; (2) cerebral palsy; (3) epilepsy; (4) autism; and (5) other types of central nervous system impairment closely related to mental retardation. Interviews were conducted with two groups. The first comprised individuals with developmental disabilities and the second, significant persons in the life of each participant in the first group. A significant person was considered to be someone known by the individual with disabilities for more than 6 months, spending more time with him or her than others. In addition, the significant person must like the individual with disabilities, and have his or her best interests in mind. Seventy-five per cent of significant persons interviewed were parents. Significant persons also responded to a series of ISIS questions. Responses from the individual with disabilities and from the significant person in his or her life were compared in order to determine similarities and differences in perspective. Comparisons focus on issues pertaining to friends and relationships, living environment and daily care needs.     

A blame narrative approach to apologetic crisis management: The serial apologiae of United Airlines

Using the crisis faced by United Airlines in 2017 when the air carrier forcibly removed Dr. David Dao from a flight, this paper uses a blame narrative perspective to focus on the apologetic efforts of CEO Oscar Munoz in his multiple attempts to resolve the public relations crisis faced by the airline. In so doing, it shows that because Munoz and United initially resisted taking responsibly, the airline perpetuated the crisis by issuing multiple apologiae. This was due to the fact that its first narrative denied responsibility and shifted blame, and only when the airline proffered a narrative that took responsibility and apologized did it meet stakeholder expectations-and subsequently resolve the crisis. As such, this paper argues that future directions in apologia studies should focus less on message strategies and instead seek to uncover the broad narratives, blame and otherwise, that inhere in this form of discourse.     

An Interview with Dr. Cornelius Foley: Humor,Palliative Care and Hospice

Dr. Cornelius Foley, a geriatrician, is Director of Parker Jewish Institute, New Hyde Park, New York. Dr. Foley discussed the use of humor in his work in a hospice and palliative care environment with Dr. Kathleen Monahan.     

Into the Wilderness—A Case Study: The Psychodynamics of Adolescent Depression and the Need for a Holistic Intervention

Adolescent depression has become epidemic in the United States, with statistics showing that one in five adolescents may suffer from depression (Brent and Birmaher in N Engl J Med 347(9), 2002). This article examines adolescent depression from a psychodynamic perspective, and identifies the psychodynamics of adolescent depression as the affective correlates that stem from unresolved developmental conflicts, issues of separation/individuation, the search for identity and the development of the true self. This article presents wilderness therapy as a holistic intervention which can be used to address the intrapsychic, developmental and relational factors that give rise to adolescent depression. Wilderness therapy is a modality of mental health treatment that takes place outdoors and utilizes challenge and adventure, group work and other structured clinical interventions. A clinical case study presents wilderness therapy as an effective intervention for adolescent depression that can promote positive self-image and enhanced coping skills, and discusses limitations and implications for social work practice.