Individuals in marriages and long term committed relationships often turn to friends and family members for support and input about relationship problems. Given their lower use of mental health services, these confiding relationships may be particularly important to African Americans. The goal of this study was to evaluate an educational…

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…

Counselors working in the areas of marriage and family counseling and therapy are expected to work effectively with couples and families experiencing a variety of issues and problems. Structural, strategic, and transgenerational family therapists may seem to be operating in similar manners, and it appears that many practicing family therapists go…

Marriage and family counselors can play important roles for both the person with schizophrenia and his or her family. This article provides a resource for family counselors that includes a clinically relevant summary of the schizophrenia literature, its associated family burden, and applicable interventions and issues. (Contains 64 references.)…

In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 clergymen highly involved in assisting divorcing couples, in an attempt to discern their attitudes toward intervention in divorce. Respondents viewed divorce as a traumatic experience involving four discrete psychological stages. (Author)

Discusses the fast growing profession of mediation for couples undergoing separation and divorce. Discusses questions of consumers concerning how the process works, how long it takes, and its costs and questions of professionals, concerning the process, the qualifications of mediators, and referral for mediation. (Author/ABB)

Spouses frequently depict changes in important aspects of marital relationships as threats to the permanence of those relationships. However, the effects on permanence are better explained in terms of the partners' viewpoints or ways of interpreting the changes. Six common polarities of viewpoint illustrate this point. (Author)

Family theory is related to work with marital dysfunction, with three areas highlighted: (1) therapist's view of his place in family; (2) child's place in marital strategy; and (3) place of blame in marriage struggle. A model to differentiate "good guys" and "bad guys" is presented. Presented at New York State Psychological Association, Spring…

Summarizes problems specific to remarrying families with children including complex kinship networks, ill defined roles, and financial and legal issues. Focuses on the family counselor's involving an attorney in services to remarrying families, with discussions of pre-marital agreements, inventories, living trust, estate planning, post-marital…

Defensive projection is discussed as a mechanism important in understanding interpersonal relations. Projections are seen as an important source of both misperception of spouse and reduced self-awareness, leading to resentment and a rigid marital system. In conjoint marriage counseling, the counselor may intervene to correct perceptual distortion.…

The chairman of the Board of Marriage Counselor Examiners of New Jersey offers his views on what marriage is, what it should be, and some ways in which counselors can facilitate change. (CJ)

Client demands for immediate relief plus restrictions on the duration of therapy brought about by managed care are pressures that influence the marriage counselor. This article discusses the use of the TFA model as a viable, solution-focused approach to marriage counseling. (Contains 19 references.) (Author)

Current research about violence in intimate relationships suggests that at least two qualitatively distinct types of violence exist. This new knowledge challenges the dominant conceptualization of intimate violence as solely a manifestation of patriarchal male dominance. Following a review of the research and analysis of illustrative clinical…

This monograph focuses on practical information and offers guidelines for professional counselors who practice marriage and family counseling. It discusses the importance of specialized training for professional counselors to ensure working ethically with couples and families, and it reviews divorce, child custody, and child abuse and neglect,…

Presents a contract and rationale for use with couples who recognize that their marriage is on the edge of divorce. The couple can choose to live separately under controlled and structured conditions. The counselor plays an active part as mediator and facilitator. (Author)