Multi-Family Group Therapy for Sexually Abusive Youth

SUMMARY

Although Multi-Family Group Therapy (MFGT) has been a researched intervention for nearly 40 years, clinicians working with sexually abusive youth and their families have only more recently begun to utilize the intervention. We believe MFGT for a sexual offense-specific treatment population is a sophisticated and powerful clinical intervention with unique advantages including economical use of clinician resources, family-to-family transfer of knowledge and mentoring, community-based resourcefulness, and accelerated catalyzing of emotions. This article will provide direction on establishing the MFGT format as well as discuss its goals, curriculum, facilitation priorities, and strategies.     

Negotiating Risk and Promoting Empowerment through Rap Music: Development of a Measure to Capture Risk and Empowerment Pathways to Change

The purpose of this study was to report on the development and construction of the Individual and Community Empowerment (ICE) inventory, a measure seeking to capture the specific pathways by which either risk-enhancing impacts or empowering impacts of rap music manifest. Data were analyzed via structural equation modeling from a convenience sample of 128 high school and college students. Results found that respondents elicited (1) empowering themes that related to them individually and to the broader community and (2) high-risk themes that may promote risky health behaviors. Implications about research and practice relevance of the ICE inventory are discussed.     

Personality Typologies for Conservative Christians in Intensive Marital Therapy

In our study we used a two-step cluster analytic approach to identify personality typologies for conservative Christians seen in intensive marital therapy (N = 207). Sixteen Personality Factor Fifth Edition results revealed significant personality differences based on gender as well as five significantly different personality clusters: (1) abstract, deferential, trusting, and tolerates disorder; (2) reactive and deferential; (3) reserved, abstract, serious, grounded, traditional, and self-reliant; (4) grounded; and (5) socially bold, abstracted, forthright, and open to change. Conclusions are drawn related to how these results compare with other personality studies in the literature and how these differing personality types might fit together in Christian marriage dyads.     

Same-Sex Marriage and the Boundaries of Diversity: Will Marriage and Family Therapy Remain Inclusive of Religious and Social Conservatives?

The expanding legalization of same-sex marriage in the Western World may pose significant challenges for the relationship between many religious and socially conservative marriage and family therapists and their professional associations. In the present analysis, I look to the field of moral psychology, particularly Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory, to provide greater clarity regarding the nature of this tension and a resultant tightening of the boundaries of acceptable diversity that could ensue. I then outline some concerning indicators from mental health associations relative to their potential willingness to tolerate conservative perspectives in meaningful ways and identify some specific areas of possible tension for conservative therapists trying to integrate their deeply held moral values into ethical practice with same-sex couples, with a specific reference to the viability of “conscience clauses” and values-based referrals. I conclude with some recommendations through which the field of marriage and family therapy can reduce the potential for conflicts and thereby reassure these clinicians that they continue to be welcomed even if their vision of marriage differs from that which is formally endorsed by their professional associations.     

Being neither Pollyanna nor Henny Penny: Responding to McDonald and Jones

Abstract

This paper provides an account of the earliest contributions to family theory and practice by social workers, beginning in the late nineteenth century. The paper argues that the first widespread practice of ‘family work’ by the helping professions was carried out by social workers, primarily women, despite this being rarely acknowledged in the family therapy literature. An analysis of gender and its place in the development of professional status and the ownership of ideas is provided.

Summary

This paper has traced the place of the family in social work theory and practice since the beginnings of the profession, with a particular focus on theoretical developments in social work in the United States. A number of points have been argued. Firstly, there is significant historical evidence that social workers, most of them women, pioneered family work many decades before the term ‘family therapy’ was invented. This directly challenges the claim made by a number of family therapy historians that work with families was pioneered by psychiatrists in the 1950s and 1960s. It is argued here that this discrepancy is largely a result of differences in professional power and gender status.

Secondly, it is argued that the impact of psychoanalytic theory on social work was profound, not only in terms of how it might have distracted the profession from further developing its early family systems focus, but also in how its multidisciplinary practice tended to place social workers, again mostly women, in somewhat limited and prescribed positions.

In addition, it is argued that social work's emphasis on the family and family intervention has waxed and waned due to these concepts not appearing to fit neatly into divisions between fields of practice, such as casework, group work and Community development. While social work struggled with finding a place for the further development of family social work theory, the rapidly growing domain of family therapy quickly colonised this field of practice, giving little credit to the ground already laid by social workers.     

Socioeconomic Factors in Menopausal Women's Use of Hormone Replacement Therapy

This study examines if education, income, and medical insurance coverage are primary factors in determining whether menopausal women use hormone replacement therapy (HRT). To accomplish this purpose, the author conducted a survey of 62 women between 30 and 60 years of age. These women completed a self-administered questionnaire that provided both quantitative and qualitative information. The results suggest that these socioeconomic factors increase the likelihood that menopausal women will receive treatment with HRT. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.     

The Ethical and Clinical Implications of Utilizing Cybercommunication in Face-to-Face Therapy

Information and communication technology has created a new way for individuals to communicate and has entered a number of professional practices, including clinical social work. This article explores the potential ethical and clinical implications when cybercommunication is used in conjunction with traditional face-to-face clinical social work practice. Specific challenges addressed include confidentiality, professional boundaries, effective and competent practice, and unanticipated contact. The authors discuss how information and communication technology is emerging as an inevitable component of the therapeutic exchange, influencing in-person social work practice and the ways that practitioners interact with their clients.     

Predictors of forensic CBT group attendance and program completion

With the increased focus on rehabilitation, county probation agencies may contract with community-based programs to provide treatment services. Forensic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (F-CBT) is often used in group work to address probation client risk factors and prevent recidivism. This study examined demographic and risk factors of 534 adult probation clients referred to an F-CBT program to determine predictors of program intake, participation, and completion. Results showed that probation type, higher risk neighborhood of residence, and recidivism risk score were predictors of intake completion, but only recidivism risk scores predicted program completion. Implications and methods to increase program engagement are discussed.     

The Helpfulness of Holistic Arts–Based Group Work with Children Living in Foster Care

This article discusses practice-based research that is exploring the helpfulness of holistic arts–based group work for the development of self-awareness and self-esteem in children living in foster care. The group program is arts based and encourages children to explore their beliefs, feelings, and behaviors. Examples of group exercises are provided, challenges in developing this group program are discussed, and qualitative research findings are presented, which are based on the analysis of fifteen 6-week groups. Findings indicate that children learned new skills, improved coping abilities, connected with feelings, and felt more positive. Practitioners are encouraged to consider how arts-based group work can help children in care.     

Patient-Centered Approach to Building Problem Solving Skills Among Older Primary Care Patients: Problems Identified and Resolved

This article describes problems identified by older primary care patients enrolled in Problem Solving Therapy (PST), and explores factors associated with successful problem resolution. PST patients received 1 to 8, 45-min sessions with a social worker. Patients identified problems in their lives and directed the focus of subsequent sessions as consistent with the steps of PST. The 107 patients identified 568 problems, 59% of which were resolved. Most commonly identified problems included health related issues such as need for exercise or weight loss activities, medical care and medical equipment needs, home and garden maintenance, and gathering information on their medical condition. Problems identified by patients were 2.2 times more likely to be solved than those identified by a health care professional. Using PST in primary care may facilitate patients in addressing key health and wellness issues.