An increased emphasis on the importance of including spirituality and religion in counseling places systemic family therapists in a unique position due to their relational focus. However, research indicates a lack of graduate training to ensure competence in addressing this dimension. This article offers possibilities for integrating spiritual and…

This study sought to advance the growing body of research on communication and instruction outside of the college classroom by exploring the rhetorical and relational goals of religious leaders facilitating premarital education about sex (i.e., sexuality, sexual health, and intimacy). Specifically, 47 evangelical Christians who had taught…

The main purposes of this study are to examine the effects of the psychoeducation programme structured on Masnavi stories based on positive psychology, prepared by the researcher, on marital harmony to improve this through a psychoeducational programme and to increase their satisfaction with life. The research was an experimental study based on…

The aim of this study is to examine graduate students' opinions regarding marriage and premarital education programs. The participants of the study are 22 graduate students (12 female and 10 male) attending different programs at a public university in Izmir, Turkey. The data for the study were collected through a standardized interview form…

This theoretical essay outlines the hermeneutic of Divine relationship, a theological lens through which Christians can develop a deeper appreciation for God's inherently relational nature and desire to be in relationship with all of humanity. In addition to the nature of God, this hermeneutic highlights the nature of human persons, sin and…

Family practitioners come from many walks of life and may include students, provided they are sufficiently prepared or supported through hands-on learning experiences. In this study, we report the outcomes of community different-sex couples who participated in a free, six-week, student-facilitated Marriage Enrichment Workshop between 2015 and…

Objective: This article describes the validation of the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Process Assessment Scale (RSIPAS) across five helping professions. The RSIPAS was originally developed to measure clinical social workers' self-efficacy, attitudes, perceived feasibility, behaviors, and overall orientation toward integrating clients' religion…

Despite efforts to boost mental health treatment-seeking behaviors by combat veterans, rates have improved relatively little since 2004. Previous work suggests that trust and confidence in the mental health community may be a significant factor. This study explored how professional titles may impact trust and confidence among active-duty U.S. Army…

Counselors and marriage and family therapists work with individuals, couples, and families on issues related to sexuality. However, clinicians may be underserving their clients by "not" having adequate training and preparation to work with clients with these presenting issues. One mitigating factor in the treatment of sexual problems is…

Some couples seek counseling to address warning signs. They may not be facing a relationship crisis but may be more concerned about where they are headed. Hence, a marriage makeover may not necessarily be needed, but instead couples in counseling may benefit from something rejuvenating. In such cases, brief interventions or techniques may be…

This study is an investigation into the contribution of counseling providers to the success or failure of marriages. The purposive and the simple random sampling methods were used to select eight churches and 259 respondents (married people) in the Techiman Municipality. The instrument used to collect data was a 26-item questionnaire including a…

This brief report responds to the relative dearth of information available about MFT doctoral dissertations. A preliminary analysis of one COAMFTE [Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education] program is detailed. Suggestions for future action are offered. (Contains 1 table.)

We examined the utility of naive ratings of communication patterns and relationship quality in a large sample of distressed couples. Untrained raters assessed 10-min videotaped interactions from 134 distressed couples who participated in both problem-solving and social support discussions at each of 3 time points (pre-therapy, post-therapy, and…

Assessing and measuring client motivation to change has been of great interest to therapists and researchers in a variety of fields. This article presents the results of an exploratory factor analysis of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA), a measure of motivation to change, in a sample of individuals in couple therapy. Four…

The concept of Japanese Bushido and its seven virtues were introduced by the authors in this article for the practice and application of couple communication. The Bushido Matrix Worksheet (BMW) was created for enhancing couple's awareness and understanding of each other's values and experiences. An activity and a case study to demonstrate the use…