Questionnaires were sent to a national random sample of the clinical membership of the American Association of Marriage and Family Counselors (N=465) to ascertain their attitudes and practices toward clients involved in sexually open marriage, secret affairs, and recreational swinging. Counselors' biases toward such clients are discussed. (Author)

An open letter to anyone finding herself or himself involved in a homosexual-heterosexual marriage from one who has been there. (Author/HMV)

This journal section contains 25 articles dealing with the field of sexual counseling. Each approach to sexual problems is deeply involved in refining its own theoretical statements, developing its clinical techniques, and implementing a research program. This issue should be helpful to persons wanting a broad look at the field of sexual…

Describes the Marital Studies Program focusing on intervention modules and specific assessment procedures. Then looks at a specific case study and describes how therapeutic objectives for the couple are accommodated within the over-all system. Comments on this article are included at the end. (Author/EJT)

A four-day workshop dealing with problems related to human sexuality and relationship counseling followed the assumption that impact and desensitization at the personal level increases the participants' ability to apply the material covered to their particular counseling setting. Initially, desensitization was facilitated through the use of…

The author contends that marriage counselors must be aware of the changing roles for women and the implications those changes have for contemporary marriage counselors. He presents an historical overview of the American woman's place in society, followed by a review of her status today. He also examines women's place in the social and helping…

This paper discusses the problems of affection versus intercourse in a male/female relationship, with differing degrees or periods of sexual interest listed as the most frequent sexual problem reported by students studied who were living together and by married couples. The problem occurs when one partner is refused while trying to initiate sexual…

Attacks on family life programs are generally directed toward the qualifications of teachers. Thus, the author focuses on the need for clarifying and refining current selection procedures, and points up that such procedures, in the past, have involved a combination of techniques with considerable reliance upon professional criteria. It is noted…

This article presents a description of the authors' experiences in a university counseling center with therapy groups for individuals who had undergone male-female partnership failure. The impact separation and divorce have on individuals, resulting adjustment stages, and corresponding group goals are highlighted. Common concerns and feelings…

An edited case presentation of marital therapy of a couple whose child was the original problem. The first theme is that therapy consists of stages involving critical transitional points that need to be appropriately timed. The second is the use of tasks to bring about structural realignment within the family. (Author)

This paper presents a brief description of the development of education and training in marriage and family therapy, with special attention, historically, to the marriage counseling/marital therapy branch of the field. The outcome of decades of experience is reflected in a core curriculum. (Author)

In response to soaring divorce rates and liberalized divorce laws, the author proposes a new role for social workers--divorce mediator. Social work skills can be used to lessen the pain couples who are dissolving marriage at the same time that husband and wife are helped to face the future. (Author)

Marriage contracts are being increasingly accepted by courts, and an informal process of contracting as a mode of clarifying expectations of marriage and partners is advocated by lawyers and marital therapists. Premarital consultation regarding legal and emotional issues could be an area of constructive collaboration for mental health and legal…

The classification of couples' intrapersonal interaction styles assessed in terms of clinical judgment was compared with assessment based on the Pair Attraction Inventory. The degree of agreement was highly significant on five of the seven inventory categories; this was considered to be evidence for the validity of the inventory. (Author/JKS)

In part one of this two-part paper, skills which distress couples need in order to more effectively solve their marital problems were enumerated. In this section, the technology for helping couples to learn to solve problems more effectively is discussed. (Author)