Theory development is an intentional process by which marriage and family counselors may bridge the gap between research and practice. The theory building process includes inductive and deductive forms of reasoning, qualitative and quantitative approaches to knowledge development, and diffusion of innovations. Grounded theory provides an…

Recovery from a mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a challenging process for injured persons and their families. Guided by attachment theory, we investigated whether relationship conflict, social support, or sense of belonging were associated with psychological functioning. Community-dwelling persons with TBI (N = 75) and their…

This paper explicates the implications of my research on conflict management for self improvement and for practitioners who work to improve the conflict management of others. I also note how my experiences with practitioners have informed my research.

This interview with Dr. Szapocznik reveals the importance of building an intervention on the foundation of empirical evidence and family systems theory. Szapocznik is the director of the Center for Family Studies and professor at the University of Miami. He is a chair of the National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse. Szapocznik is also the…

The purpose of this article is to illustrate how theory and particularly the theoretical perspective of social constructionism can influence the ways in which scholars conduct qualitative research studies in the area of family systems. The authors argue for the importance of theory in qualitative research projects and promote researchers' clear…