Reviews ethical and legal issues concerning the application of informed consent in psychotherapy in relation to (1) controversies in defining an informed consent; (2) ethical and legal responsibilites of psychotherapist obtaining informed consent; (3) potential ethical and legal liabilities for not implementing informed consent doctrine; and (4)…

Defines contextual therapy as therapeutic synthesis of family (relational), biological, and individual (psychotherapy) methodologies. Translates the ethics of "relational responsibility" into intervention methods and strategies. Explores consequences of the therapies as a common denominator for the three philosophies. (Author/ABB)

Reviews early attempts to classify the field of family therapy, including Haley's caricatures, the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry's classification, and others. The new paradigmatic model proposes a classification of the field of family therapy in terms of three therapeutic paradigms: the historical, the structure/process, and the…

Introduces and tests an eclectic model of psychotherapy aimed at alleviating problems of single divorced mothers, including what was believed to be an underlying dependency. Model includes psychodynamic and behavioral techniques. Used a repeated single-subject design to evaluate the treatment model. (Author/ABL)

Evaluated treatment effects in single session process using problem-focused approach and solution-focused approach. Findings indicated significant difference between two approaches when dealing with client's perceived problem improvement, outcome expectancy, session depth, session smoothness, and session positivity. Found no significant…

Describes technique of in-therapy consultation used in symbolic-experiential psychotherapy. Presents the rationale behind the technique followed by a description of the stages used in the intervention: history taking, structuring, trial of labor, and termination. Discusses the need for research to validate empirically the utility of the…

Presents a theoretical construct (prostrate-detonate-dominate-ingratiate) to explain the development and maintenance of wife-battering. Ties the construct to research evidence and, along with clinical observations, uses it to develop a rationale for a type of therapy deemed effective with wife-batters: group marital Relationship Enhancement.…

Describes how dialectic metatherapy may be used to integrate various dimensions of human development as they pertain to symptom formation and therapy. A dialectical conceptualization of therapy allows one to systematically organize individually and systematically oriented ideas. Points out the paradoxical nature of therapy and how to use this…

The upward or downward social class mobility of a family member can result in tensions between the individual and the rest of the family. Explores the issue of class, identifies common situations in which class tensions occur within families, and discusses clinical implications. (JPS)

Presents two conference reviews. The first review by G. Mary Bourne reviews the conference "Accessing Inherent Resources in Individuals and Families" held in Minneapolis in September 1986. The second review by Michael E. Kerr reviews the conference "Twenty-Third Georgetown University Symposium on Family Theory and Family Psychotherapy" held in…

Reviews the types of elective mutism and proposes common characteristics of elective mutists' families. Examines the potential for a redefinition of the term "elective mutism." Concludes that family dynamics are an integral part of the problem and need to be considered in a comprehensive treatment plan. (BH)

Examined why a particular adolescent in a family is referred for psychotherapy, using a systems approach. Results showed differences between the distance-sensitive family and the consensus-sensitive family regarding the function of the symptom and the process of selecting of the sibling as the index patient. (WAS)

Examined changes in response control patterns exhibited by five married couples who participated in two brief psychotherapy groups. Used the Ericson-Rogers Relational Coding System to score the control direction of interactions between group members. Found individual flexibility increased for each of these relationships over the course of group…

Presents flow chart of the process of psychotherapy with couples as way for practitioners to integrate various models of marital therapy into their treatment. Discusses sequentially basic steps and questions to be addressed; resolution of each stage is considered important for movement to following stages. Notes flow chart allows intervention…

Highlights role of the therapist in family therapy impasses involving interactions of the client-family and the therapist. Asserts that the essence of the therapist's role in impasses is ignorance and fear and recommends that family therapy teachers help therapists develop wisdom and courage. (Author/NB)