THE "ALIENATED" PARTNER: RESPONSES TO TRADITIONAL THERAPIES FOR ADULT SEX ABUSE SURVIVORS

Childhood sexual abuse affects both survivors and partners; however, the common therapy modalities for survivors (individual and individual group therapy exclude their partners. In-depth interviews with the husbands of survivors were used to examine partner issues around the survivor's therapy. Several thems, both positive and negative, emerged from the qualitative analysis of the in-depth interviews. The authors suggest that therapists should consider integration conjoint couple therapy as an adjunct to, not a replacement for the traditional modalities of individual and individual group therapy for adult survivors.     

Internship training in marriage and family therapy: a survey of doctoral program objectives and implementation

This article presents the results of a survey that examined the implementation of the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) internship requirement by accredited doctoral Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) programs. Representatives from each of 10 doctoral MFT programs provided responses to questions regarding program objectives for internship training. Respondents also provided subjective impressions regarding the effectiveness with which established internship goals are accomplished, associated benefits and difficulties, and adequacy of the standards. Results suggest that although most programs perceive the internship requirement as beneficial, many express concern regarding the effects of the internship requirement on other aspects of training and in relationship to the overall goals for doctoral MFT education. Conclusions and recommendations are offered based on the mixed findings.     

Parent and Peer Attachment in Minority Males at High Risk for Delinquency

Juvenile delinquency and high risk behaviors have been linked to disturbances in attachment. The present study examined parent and peer attachment in 67 African American males and 97 Latinos (ages 12–17, M = 14.7 ± 1.3) attending an alternative school. The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment was used to identify 3 attachment style groups: “Isolated,” “Disconnected,” and “Connected.” Controlling for age, attachment group membership predicted differences in delinquent behaviors, as did ethnicity. Further, on the Youth Self-Report of the Child Behavior Checklist, attachment group membership predicted differences in both the Internalizing and Externalizing Scales. Implications for interventions with each identified attachment group are discussed.     

Challenge and Urgency in Defining Doctoral Education in Marriage and Family Therapy: Valuing Complementary Models

In this overview, I comment on the strong theme of the need to define and improve the quality of doctoral education in marriage and family therapy that pervades the three essays. Deficits in research training are the central concern, although the essayists take different perspectives on the nature of the research training needed. The different perspectives can be understood in terms of three different models of doctoral education. The institutional model focuses on professional training with little financial support for students and lower expectations for faculty research. The community of scholars model emphasizes a balance of research and practice with students required to attend full-time and financial support provided. Research is a mix of faculty- and student-driven and is often focused on professional issues. The star researcher model often held out as the ideal, although not yet represented in marital and family therapy (MFT), emphasizes faculty externally funded programmatic research with students working on and supported by faculty grant funding. The value and role of all three models in MFT doctoral education are described and discussed.     

Business games and implementation research

This paper reviews some recent research in OR implementation and suggests that a new approach is required, which will take fuller account of the perceptions of managers concerned with the problem. Research games in business settings seem to offer a means for such approach. Some lessons learned from a business game used in this way are described and their implications for modelbuilders are discussed.     

An Attachment Primer for Couple Therapists: Research and Clinical Implications

According to attachment theory, humans are relational beings and even a child's earliest experiences with caregivers have a profound effect on emotional development and an overall approach to relationships. With increasing regularity, couple therapy has utilized attachment language as a conceptual tool, but more work is needed to understand the full clinical implications of attachment theory. These include understanding the intergenerational nature of attachment and adapting the delivery, timing, and pace of interventions to client attachment strategies. In this article, we summarize the origins of attachment theory, its measurement, the role of attachment in couple relationships, attachment stability and change, and ways that attachment informs therapy process and intervention. We hope that this article will provide an impetus for couple therapists to expand their conceptualization and use of attachment in their clinical work and for couple researchers to conduct more clinically relevant, attachment‐oriented process research.     

Changing emotion: the use of therapeutic storytelling

Even though using metaphors in a therapeutic context is common, there are very few studies that address their effects. This study examines the effects of storytelling in therapy. After discussing a problem in a current relationship, 42 female participants were randomly assigned to receive either a story or psychoeducational information. Results indicated that both treatments were equally successful in reducing amounts of negative affect and negative feelings toward the relationship. In addition, each story was able to facilitate a change in emotional valence. Finally, participants saw no difference between the depth and smoothness of each session. Examples on using storytelling within different models of marriage and family therapy are provided.