A Tandem Approach: Marriage Counseling as Process in Tandem with Individual Psychotherapy

More attention must be paid to the marriage and family unit in the mental health field (Haley, 1975), however, working exclusively with that unit and ascribing the cause of behavior solely to the interpersonal system would only perpetuate another kind of one-sidedness. This paper presents a tandem approach, a form of combined treatment, that maintains a balanced perspective of the individual and marriage and family unit, provides a synthesis for intrapsychic and interpersonal theories of the causation of behavior, integrates the techniques of the modalities of individual psychotherapy and marriage counseling, and expedites the solution of underlying intrapsychic and interpersonal problems     

The Intractability of Reputation: Media Coverage as a Complex System in the Case of Martha Stewart

This study examines media reputation—the representation of a person or organization in the media—from the standpoint of complex systems. It analyzes news releases and print media coverage about Martha Stewart from 1982 through 2007 using computer-assisted semantic network analysis. The study concludes that Stewart's media reputation showed characteristics of a complex system, including the gradual emergence of patterns of representation, the buildup of internal dissonance, a crisis point followed by the emergence of new patterns, and resistance to outside influences. These characteristics constrain efforts to shape reputation but can also provide warnings about a changing reputation long before it becomes obvious in media coverage.     

Cybercounseling Online: The Development of a University-Based Training Program for E-mail Counseling

ABSTRACT

The development of a university-based cybercounseling certificate program through the continuing education department of a graduate faculty of social work is described. This web-based program consists of two levels: introductory and advanced, and offers experienced face-to-face counselors training in an asynchronous, e-mail form of cybercounseling. Ethical issues such as cross-jurisdictional concerns, client appropriateness, and counselor insurance are discussed. A system developed to provide online e-mail security through web-based access and encryption is highlighted. Several techniques for e-mail counseling such as presence, and spacing and pacing are discussed and illustrated. Demographics of learners and feedback from graduates are presented and lessons learned are discussed.     

Redirecting sexual orientation: Techniques and justifications

This essay reviews efforts to alter sexual orientation using behavioral, psychodynamic, hormonal, pharmaceutical and surgical methods. The essay also examines various justifications offered for such therapy and shows how these have changed as a pathological interpretation of homoeroticism has been abandoned. While such therapy was once justified in language of psychopathology, some current justifications for conversion therapy now treat the matter of therapy as a matter of personal choice and do not invoke the language of pathology at all. That a formal medical rejection of a psychopathological categorization of homoeroticism has not altogether eliminated efforts to redirect sexual orientation suggests that it is ultimately a moral and not medical devaluation of homoeroticism that at bottom drives continuing efforts to control and redirect sexual orientation.     

‘Just being selfish for my own sake . . .’: balancing the views of young adults with intellectual disabilities and their carers in transition planning

In contrast to other forms of family caregiving, becoming the parent or carer of a child with an intellectual disability (ID) implies an ongoing responsibility beyond the attainment of chronological adulthood ( Meyers et al., 1985 ; Todd and Shearn, 1996 ). At the same time, a discourse of self‐determination pervades policy around transition to adult services in ID in England ( Valuing People, 2001 ). In this paper we present a subset of data from a project which aimed to examine how the process of transition from child to adult services in ID is managed. Using data from 8 tape‐recorded meetings in which transitions were planned and discussed, we examine what happens when the views of the parent/carer and the young adult are in apparent conflict. Drawing on the growing body of interactional work in the field (eg Rapley, 2004 ; Finlay, Antaki and Walton, 2008 ), we use conversation analysis to examine how professionals manage and negotiate this conflict and how some points of view or courses of action ultimately prevail over others. While the discourse of self‐determination may prevail in English policy terms, we show how the fact that parents or carers ultimately have a key role in enabling the choices of the young person has a significant impact on these interactions.