The Double ABCX Model and Children's Post-Divorce Adaptation

Abstract

This article addresses the adaptation of children to divorce utilizing the post-crisis components of the Double ABCX Model of Family Stress by providing an overview of the post-crisis components of the model, integrating research on children's post-divorce adaptation into the specific components of the Double ABCX Model, and recommending applications for assessment, explanation, and therapy in relation to children's post-divorce adaptation. The variables examined include: parental divorce as a stressor (x); the children's pile-up of demands (aA); children's existing and new resources (bB); children's perception of the stressor, pile-up, and resources (cC); and children's post-divorce adaptation (xX).     

Relational Ethics and Moral Blindness: Startling Incongruities in Couple and Family Life

This article explores the common experience of working with couples and family members who describe their partners and children as important to them yet at the same time are cavalier, neglectful, ignorant, and even destructive in dealings with their loved ones. People who fail to relate ethically are said to be prone to have stagnant relationships, become corrupt in seeking solutions to moral problems, be more depressed, have poorer health problems, and experience lower quality relationships. This article describes ethical fading and moral blindness in couples and families and in our work as therapists. It argues a relational ethics frame that fosters ethical sensitivity and stronger moral identity both in ourselves and others is an important addition to our therapeutic repertoire.     

La metafora: the power of metaphors and creative resources in working systemically with families and children with autism—a conversation with Carmine Saccu

Metaphors are valuable tools of expression, which give meaning to situations and allow the spontaneous processing of feelings and emotions. As therapists, we can support clients to develop and create their individual metaphor to explain their own meaning of experiences or communicate their perception of problems. Creativity provides us with a rich landscape to explore, expand, and enrich ourselves as therapists and consequently our clients. As systemic therapists, we are responsible for the co-creation of a human process, which has at its core safety in allowing expression, connection, and movement. Through a respectful and curious approach, we can develop pathways to tap organically into our ‘creative selves’ while reaching into our clients' creativity and selves as catalysts for connection and positive change. Creative resources and therapies have been successfully used in psychotherapy to enhance the mental and emotional well-being of children, particularly children with autism who have limited verbal capacity or who are non-verbal. These children also wish to be understood in expressing their thoughts and feelings; however, they use other methods of communication – sometimes obvious, sometimes not. Therefore, it is important that a therapist can access diverse ways to support the child through this process. The creative use of animals in therapy neutralises spaces, eliciting calm, safety, and healing. This is particularly the case when working with this group of children. This paper is derived from my conversation with an elder statesman of the family therapy profession, Professor Carmine Saccu. He is a jovial master storyteller who craftfully communicates via metaphors. Through creative means, play, and humour, he has developed a remarkably unique way of working with children, especially non-verbal children with autism. He uses his canine, co-therapist Mafalda, as a powerful resource and intervention strategy to safely elicit engagement and connection in the therapeutic space.     

Working with families living with autism: potential contributions of marriage and family therapists

This article introduces marriage and family therapists (MFT) to some of the common issues faced by families that have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). First, autism is defined and common myths surrounding it are discussed. Next, relational challenges are presented that families report experiencing during early childhood through the elementary school years, adolescence and the transition into adulthood, and the later years of the family life cycle. Real-life stories are included to illustrate the potential contributions that MFTs can make to families that have a child with ASD.     

COVID: Using the DAN Model with Couples to Increase Family Resilience

The COVID‐19 pandemic has massively impacted our society, affecting both wider systems and smaller ones alike. Families across the world have had to adapt to a new style of living, dominated by uncertainty, which is testing their resilience. Within this context, we have asked ourselves, as systemic therapists, what can be done to provide support and a sense of understanding to families. In this article, it is argued that therapeutic tools taken from a manualised intervention to promote resilience in couples can provide valuable help to families who are struggling in this difficult time. This intervention, developed at the Iscra Institute in Modena, Italy, is called Digital, Analogic, and Narrative (DAN). The tools used in the DAN model are described in this paper and their application in practice is illustrated through a case study.     

Ten adaptive strategies for family and work balance: advice from successful families

Despite negative media images and social dynamics insensitive to the lives of many dual-career couples, research shows that these families are largely healthy and thriving. In this study, we investigated the adaptive strategies of middle-class, dual-earner couples (N = 47) with children that are successfully managing family and work. Guided by grounded-theory methodology, analysis of interview data revealed that these successful couples structured their lives around 10 major strategies: Valuing family, striving for partnership, deriving meaning from work, maintaining work boundaries, focusing and producing at work, taking pride in dual earning, prioritizing family fun, living simply, making decisions proactively, and valuing time. Each adaptive strategy is defined and illustrated through the participants' own words. Clinical applications for therapists working with dual-earner couples are offered.     

Remarriage Between Divorced People with Children from Previous Marriages: A Proposal for Preparation for Remarriage*

This paper discusses the special attributes of the legally reconstituted families formed when divorced persons who have children from their previous marriages remarry. The remarriage family is identified as a high risk group for which society has not as yet established norms. Interviews with 70 couples suggest that the stress for couples and families involved in divorce and remarriage would be prevented or reduced through remarriage preparation courses.     

Parents' Experience and Adjustment to Their Adult Children's Divorce

Fifty-two parents, ranging from 54 to 87 years of age, participated in a qualitative assessment of their experience of their adult children's marital dissolution The Double ABCX Model provides a framework for identifying the hardships encountered, the resources called upon to help, the meaning attributed to the divorce, and the level of adaptation possible. Practical implications for professionals working wilh families in later life are provided.     

FAMILY THERAPY WITH INTELLECTUALLY AND CREATIVELY GIFTED CHILDREN

Few family therapists have expertise in the psychology of giftedness, and little research has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of family therapy with talented children and their families. The purposes of this paper are: (1) to provide family therapists with information on the unique psychosocial stressors associated with giftedness and (2) to stimulate further research and development on the efficacy of family therapy in alleviating distress and actualizing potential in gifted and talented children and their families. The paper provides a critical overview of the existing research literature on gifted children and their families. First, current conceptualizations of giftedness are described. Then the research literature on the characteristics of intellectually and creatively gifted children and their families is reviewed with an emphasis on the endogenous (individual) and exogenous (systemic) factors that can create or exacerbate psychosocial problems. Finally, we suggest an eclectic, eco-systemic approach to three common concerns that bring gifted children and their families to therapy.     

Depression,the Family,and Family Therapy

The potential contribution of family therapists to the treatment of depression remains underdeveloped. Family therapists need to articulate how changes in family functioning might benefit depressed persons, as well as how other problems in the families of depressed persons tend to go unrecognised. Furthermore, family therapists need to be alert to how undetected depression in adults and children may interfere with their ability to meet their goals with families who seek therapy for other persons. This article provides family therapists with (1) an overview of the nature and experience of depression; (2) an introduction to antidepressant medication; (3) a summary of research findings relating depression to its family context and (4) a brief overview of developments in the marital and family treatment of depression.     

Strengthening Social Work Approaches Through Advancing Knowledge of Early Childhood Intervention

Early childhood professionals—social workers, educators, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, pediatricians, and others—create the foundation for a life-long duration of experiences that families, who have children with disabilities, will have with various professional groups. The nature of the early childhood interventionists' interaction, treatment, services or supports of the child and the attitudes conveyed to families during these critical early years may be a significant factor in the willingness of families and young adults to continue to pursue therapeutic and supportive services. With insights into early intervention best practices, social workers are likely to find themselves in a preferred position to plan appropriate family-focused intervention strategies that may encourage success and prevent complications or a worsening of specific initial conditions among children with disabilities.     

Woman Abuse and Conjoint Therapy: Therapists' Experiences of Engagement

ABSTRACT

Treatment approaches with couples in which woman abuse is a factor have been the subject of much attention and concern in the therapeutic community. We used focus groups to examine therapists' experiences of what they see as impeding or facilitating their ability to engage therapeutically with heterosexual couples when a man has used violence. Results were coded along four categories: contextual issues, the person of the therapist, client characteristics, and strategies for enhancing engagement. Results point to the difficulties therapist participants experienced engaging with males who have been violent with their partner. Strategies which therapists used to enhance engagement are illuminated. We discuss differences between the experiences of male and female therapists, and implications for clinical work and future research.     

Training mental health practitioners to work with adoptive families who seek help

The lack of appropriate therapeutic resources for adoptive children and their adoptive families who seek treatment is a national problem. The mental health community has failed to recognize the specific knowledge and expertise that therapists must have if they are to help this population. This article describes the initiative taken by one organization to attack this problem in its state.     

A Family Matter

Abstract

The 2004 debate over civil marriage for same-gender couples highlights issues faced by mixed-orientation couples after one of the spouses comes out as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The disclosure becomes a family matter as their spouses and children cope with the new information and antigay attitudes. The majority of couples divorce. A minority stays married for three years or more by developing strategies that enhance the relationship, offset outside pressures, and sustain the family circle. Peers provide the most support, while therapists are often unfamiliar with sexual orientation, mixed orientation couples, or societal attitudes that impact families with a gay, lesbian, or bisexual parent. This article provides that information so that professionals can help these couples improve the quality of their lives and develop skills to create a future in which homosexuality, same-gender relationships, and gay parenting are more widely accepted and legalized. This development would decrease the number of mixed-orientation marriages with closeted spouses and increase the potential for both types of families to form lasting marriages and strong family units.     

A survey of homework use, experience of barriers to homework, and attitudes about the barriers to homework among couples and family therapists

Homework is a therapeutic process that has strong theoretical and empirical basis, but existing research has focused on "compliance" rather than considering the broader and more clinically meaningful construct of "engagement." Absent in the literature is empirical study of the barriers to engagement or study of homework use among couple and family therapists (CFTs). The current study investigates the frequency and type of homework, as well as the influence of homework compliance, quality of compliance, and experience of barriers to compliance on CFTs' attitudes and beliefs toward barriers to homework completion for couples and families. Results indicated CFTs (N=226 AAMFT Clinical members) use homework more often with couples than with families, and CFTs report greater homework compliance and quality of compliance for couples when compared to families. A path analysis examining compliance, quality of compliance, and barriers to compliance as predictors of attitudes/beliefs toward barriers revealed no significant findings. A discussion presents implications for future research and practice for homework in couple and family therapy.     

Twenty american families' stories of adaptation: adoption of children from Russian and Romanian institutions

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how 20 families have adapted after adopting children between the ages of 3 and 5 years from eastern European institutions. The researcher visited a Romanian orphanage and then interviewed 20 families about their experiences with the adoption process and with family adaptation postadoption. Several themes emerged from the parents' stories regarding their search for support and resources to aid in parenting their children. Family therapists who are interested in working with families who adopt internationally from institutional settings can learn from the stories of parents.     

Particular polyglots: multilingual students with autism

Many American children with autism live in multilingual environments. Yet an almost diametric contrast exists between the advice of practitioners and the recommendations found in scholarly literature. Whereas practitioners almost unanimously counsel that children on the autism spectrum be exposed to English alone, an increasing number of scholars have argued the potential benefits for these children of learning their parents’ native language as well. This paper argues that, in fact, language recommendations for children on the spectrum should fall somewhere between these two poles and be tailored to individual children and their families.     

A Preliminary Investigation of the Effectiveness of Attachment Therapy for Adopted Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder

The purpose of this preliminary investigation was to examine the effectiveness of attachment therapy for adopted children diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). Although attachment therapy is widely utilized in the practice community, outcomes of such therapy have not been well documented. In this study a pretest–posttest one-group design was used with a sample of 24 adopted children who received attachment therapy from trained, licensed therapists. Therapy was funded by the Georgia Office of Adoptions under a contract with a non-profit adoptive parent advocacy group which provided training of therapists and direct services to families. RAD was measured with the Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire (RADQ), Third Edition; functional impairment was measured with the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS). Statistically significant decreases in scores on the RADQ and CAFAS from pretests to posttests indicate improvement for the children who received therapy. In spite of methodological limitations, the current study adds to the limited knowledge about effective treatment for RAD.     

Family Mediation: A Guide for Family Therapists

Family therapists often see separating parents who need to agree on co‐parenting arrangements. This article provides a guide to current research and practice in family mediation. The limited available research suggests mediation is a useful approach for some separated parents and their children, but often is not successful with highly conflicted parents, parents with mental health problems, parents struggling to accept the separation from their partner, or parents with unrealistic co‐parenting expectations. We analyse ways in which mediation might be enhanced, and discuss the potential roles of family therapists to support separating families to negotiate positive co‐parenting.     

Social Constructionism and Supervision: Experiences of AAMFT Supervisors and Supervised Therapists

A phenomenological research process was used to investigate the supervision experience for supervisors and therapists when supervisors use a social constructionist perspective. Participants of the one‐to‐one interviews were six AAMFT Approved Supervisors and six therapists providing counseling to individuals, couples and families. The findings suggest supervisors were committed to their self‐identified supervision philosophy and intentionally sought out congruence between epistemology and practice. The shared experience of therapists indicates they associated desirable supervision experiences with their supervisors’ social constructionist perspective. Our findings also indicated that supervisors’ and therapists’ understanding of social constructionism included the more controversial concepts of agency and extra‐discursiveness. This research has taken an empirical step in the direction of understanding what the social constructionist supervision experience is like for supervisors and therapists. Our findings suggest a linkage between epistemology and supervision practice and a satisfaction with the supervision process.