Mindful of the Intersession Break in Family Therapy: The Time to Think Experiment

The Time to Think Experiment researches the experience of clinicians, consumers, and families of an intersession break, which has been used historically in various models of family therapy training. This qualitative pilot study explores the experiences of 21 clinicians, 19 consumers, and six family members using this break for reflection, across the domains of family and couple therapy, individual therapy, group work, and supervision in a mental health service covering the whole age range. Using a phenomenological design, the analysis included narrative, thematic, content, and comparative techniques. The paper considers the impact of privileging reflection in the therapy process, in a climate where models, work cultures, and general lifestyles may not encourage it. Using the intersession break to create space to ‘be’ in the therapy process is one way to integrate mindful and family therapy practice. The emerging themes of an intersession break to promote a richer and deeper therapy experience, and the apparent shift of responsibility for change from clinicians to consumers is discussed.     

High‐frequency family contact: a road to nowhere for infants

Understanding the practices which support the best interests of infants when placed in out‐of‐home care in the first year of life is a significant challenge. A study based in Victoria, Australia, explored the practice by the Children's Court of ordering high‐frequency contact (4–7 days a week) with the infant's mother and father when they are placed in care in the first year of life. A literature review revealed little attention to the issue of frequency of family contact for infants. An audit of case files of all infants in care in mid‐2007 showed that at 1 year follow‐up, there was no difference in the reunification rate for children with a period of high‐frequency contact and those with less contact with their mothers and fathers. Focus groups revealed deep divisions of opinion about high‐frequency family contact which are played out in the adversarial Children's Court system in Victoria. The study highlights the complexity of understanding and supporting the attachment relationships at this critical period in the infant's life.     

Forced termination: Reconsidering theory and technique

Abstract

Forced terminations typically are described in the therapy literature as grim mourning processes fraught with peril and little benefit. Such endings, although not optimal, are potential opportunities for mastery, growth, and maturation. Overemphasizing the grim aspects of forced termination may impair the departing therapist's ability to sustain a belief in the client's ability to survive loss, use the process productively and, when indicated, transfer to another therapist. Case histories are used to illustrate other constructions and differential interventions during forced terminations.     

What Do Patients Want?: Personal Disclosure and the Intersubjective Perspective

Increasingly clinical work has explored the value of disclosure, particularly personal disclosure, in the therapeutic process. This new found freedom to reveal has also raised alarm amongst some clinicians. This paper explores the current debate surrounding personal disclosure and its relationship to intersubjective perspectives. Clinical vignettes help elaborate the issues, providing an integration of theory and practice, and one that is consistent with social work’s attention to the environment.     

Demand Systems Estimation With Microdata: A Censored Regression Approach

Demand systems estimation increasingly makes use of household-level microdata, mainly to measure the effects of demographic variables. Data based on these household-expenditure surveys present a major estimation problem. For any given household, many of the goods have zero consumption, implying a censored dependent variable. Techniques which do not take this censored dependent variable into account will yield biased results. We utilize a censored regression approach that is computationally simple, consistent, and asymptotically efficient. The results are then presented and compared with those obtained using an uncensored technique.     

壁上画卷

<正>当你在为新家挑选用途各异的装修材料、摆放在各个房间的家具,以及各种质地的窗帘时,是否也将足够的注意力放在了墙面上?作为一栋住宅必不可少的部分,墙在家中所占的比例也绝不算小。墙面若装饰得当,便能将硬装、家具等共同营     

Family member response to violent infant kidnapping

All family members interviewed suffered from chronic posttraumatic stress disorder 5 or more years after an infant kidnapping. Psychiatric nurses should routinely assess for secondary victimization related to any type of traumatic stressor. Nurses should refer parents and families to materials available from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) (http://www.missingkids.com/).     

Traumatic symptomatology characteristics of adult children of alcoholics

Traumatic experience symptomatology, resiliency factors, and stress among young adults who had experienced alcoholism within their family of origin were assessed in comparison to adults who as children experienced traumatic life events other than alcoholism and those who indicated neither problem (parental alcoholism or traumatic life event) during their childhood. These three groups were compared on self-report measures of stress, resiliency, depressive symptomatology, and trauma symptoms. Results indicated adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) had more self-reported stress, more difficulty initiating the use of mediating factors in response to life events, and more symptoms of personal dysfunction than the control group. Results suggest ACOAs may develop less effective stress management strategies and present more clinically at-risk patterns of responses than their counterparts.     

Use of a values history in approaching medical advance directives with psychiatric patients

The Patient Self-Determination Act became federal law in 1990. However, many psychiatric facilities are just beginning to actively address the issue of medical advance directives. The term advance directives, for the purposes of this article, refers exclusively to medical advance directives. Psychiatric advance directives, which are related to issues such as involuntary hospitalization, are beyond the scope of this article.