Surveyed members of the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (N=426) regarding the utilization of marital and family therapy models in clinical work. The number and percentage of respondents using each model specified were assessed. Rankings denoting prevalence of the eight models were derived from first-choice responses. (JAC)

Responds to calls from feminist scholars to address potential biases against women in theories of family therapy. Summarizes findings from studies of female development and integrates findings into expanded model of Bowen's family systems theory. Includes case example comparing expanded model with traditional application of Bowen's theory.…

Suggests that the Milan systemic approach probably reflects a significant advance in family therapy and possibly in psychotherapy in general. Provides a historical overview of the development of the approach, an articulation of some major assumptions and background theory, and a brief description of the overall pattern of practice. (Author/JAC)

Explores the sociopolitical implications of the new epistemology and the Milan approach, concluding that, while second order cybernetics has greater potential to incorporate a radical social analysis, it has, nevertheless, failed to do so. The application of second order cybernetics in family therapy appears to be constrained by the sociopolitical…

Examines the maxim commonly held and generally supported in the divorce therapy literature that the preferred treatment in divorce therapy is individual counseling, and considers conjoint and family treatment as viable alternatives. Assesses how a therapist's theory of divorce therapy dictates the treatment unit adopted. (JAC)

Examines Russell and Morrill's proposal to integrate rational-emotive therapy (RET) and systemic family therapy by combining RET's disputation and Mental Research Institute's reframing. Contrasts RET's disputation and Mental Research Institute's reframing across key clinical issues. Suggests that models combining these schools' techniques be…

Reviews and contrasts 23 interpersonal personality theory (IPT) and 19 relational control theory (RCT) studies of observable client-therapist interactions in brief individual and family therapy. Notes that, although results do not consistently confirm either model, evidence tends to support IPT in context of individual therapy and RCT in context…

Q-sorts by experts were used to compare four structural/strategic/systemic therapy models. Results suggest that the models share a practical, strategic orientation to change, emphasizing reframing, but attach different importance to history, inference, abstraction, and contextual breadth. (Author)

This chapter discusses the development of an approach to counseling that allows counselors to incorporate family counseling into their individual counseling practices. The six-stage counseling process that is presented draws upon a broad-based behavior therapy/social learning theory approach. The stages of this process are identified as: establish…

Argues that there are severe and insurmountable problems in attempting to maintain a systemic perspective in family therapy. Advocates decentering family therapy to a more peripheral space within social network perspective. (Author/NB)

Examines the development and implementation of a specific model for providing family counseling to immigrant and refugee families. Discusses the influence of narrative theory in its ability to address the challenges of ethno-cultural diversity and the imbalances of power inherent in cross-cultural counseling. Highlights the dynamics of a…

Presents an overview of a research-informed family resilience framework, developed as a conceptual map to guide clinical intervention and prevention efforts with vulnerable families. Outlines key processes that foster resilience and innovative family systems training and service applications. (JDM)

Describes the potential dysfunctional aspects of open family systems and uses a unified theory to build a composite clinical picture of the disabled open family. The unified theory is shown to be useful in planning strategy and choosing techniques for treatment of open families. Several treatment issues are highlighted. (JAC)

Presents a model for organizing family issues and family treatment. Schutz's Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO) model is offered as a framework for organizing family issues into inclusion, control, and affection categories, constituting a logical hierarchy of core issues to be dealt with in treating multiproblem families. (JAC)

Describes diagnostic perspectives for viewing dysfunctional families. Presents three general types of models (process, structural, and historical) and organized them along a continuum from most descriptive to most inferential. Presented at the 39th Annual Conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, October-November…