ANZJFT Volume 26 Number 2
June 2005Contents
Abstracts & Sample Articles
In Brief: Coming Events, Jottings and Announcements
View article. [PDF format - 70KB]Editorial: Pilates for Family Therapists: Strengthening the Core
by Helen PavlinView article. [PDF format - 96KB]
Five Useful Questions in Couples Therapy
by Michael MaddenView article. [PDF format - 117KB]
This paper describes an approach to couples counseling in which the use of questioning is the major therapeutic intervention. It describes my journey from using questions to gather information to employing questions as clinical interventions in their own right. It notes that small questions can change the tone, mood and direction of the session, while bigger questions open up the social and moral context of couple life. Five examples of these 'bigger' questions are described. I conclude that successful questions open up new areas for discussion, avoid a narrow 'problem' focus, and stimulate yet more questions.
'I Thought We Came for Therapy!' 'Autobiography Sessions' in Couple Work
by Lê Hoang (Hoang thi Tuyet Lê)View article. [PDF format - 205KB]
Each family builds up its own culture, which is partially invisible to each of its members, and so I invite my couple clients to write their own autobiography as part of a move towards self-differentiation. By emphasising difference in this way, I hope to allow my clients to feel OK about their discomfort, if any, with my ethnicity. I include vignettes to illustrate the process and client response.
The Critical Component of Cognitive Restructuring in Couples Therapy: A Case Study
by Frank M. DattilioView article. [PDF format - 79KB]
This case study is offered as an example of how cognitive-behavioral strategies, namely, cognitive restructuring of couples' schemas and the use of specific homework assignments, may be integrated into the course of couple therapy. The article suggests that all therapeutic modalities, regardless of their theoretical orientation, embrace some form of cognitive restructuring and behavioural instruction as a primary agent of change. Cognitive restructuring is highlighted in particular as a critical component of treatment. Michelle Webster, who practices Emotionally Focused Therapy, responds to Frank Dattilio, and he then replies.
Speaking From the Pained Place: Engaging with Frank Dattilio
by Michelle WebsterView article. [PDF format - 67KB]
Rejoinder to Webster
by Frank M. DattilioView article. [PDF format - 38KB]
Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and Attachment Theory
by Jim Crawley and Jan GrantView article. [PDF format - 166KB]
Emotionally focused therapy for couples (EFTC) is an important framework for couples therapy. It provides an integrative model, drawing upon experiential, systems and attachment theory to understand the dynamics of the couple relationship and to describe the therapeutic process. The aim of this paper is to ask how EFTC uses attachment theory, and whether it draws as fully as it can upon the richness of that theory to inform the process of therapy. This is set in the context of the evolving importance of attachment theory for therapeutic work.
Explorations of Post-Divorce Experiences - Women's Reconstructions of Self
by Gertina van SchalkwykView article. [PDF format - 162KB]
In this paper I explore from a social constructionist perspective the experiences of women when recovering from divorce. Women have a natural resilience and develop unique ways of coping with the experience of divorce through reconstructing themselves in their linguistic and cultural context. Divorced women often face dominant discourses that elicit intense internal discomfort, conflict, and loss of socially constructed self. This can result in their experiencing themselves as less meaningful and worthy as relational beings. I explore the processes by which four women, single again, have experienced these constraints and emerged as reconstructed selves. The discussion is based on qualitative analysis of textual data obtained from written accounts.
In Touch with People, not Paper: An Interview with Doug Sotheren
by Cathy ZervosView article. [PDF format - 290KB]
Doug Sotheren has been conducting well-regarded training courses in relationship counseling for over 25 years, outside a university setting. In conversation with his former trainee Cathy Zervos, he presents his personal philosophy of counsellor training, emphasising the need for trainees to be 'in touch with people' rather than with theory. His whole course is experiential and based on the concept that training (including the way the co-trainers handle their own relationship in front of the group) should model the counselling process itself. He talks about his way of selecting students, and his views on counselling students out of the course where necessary. A long serving member of the AAMFC and former Editor of their Newsletter, Sotheren praises the AAMFC for requiring demonstrated competence in its members.
Case Knowledge: A Thing of the Past?
by Alistair CampbellView article. [PDF format - 61KB]
The art form of the case study is potentially so successful because it enables the author to address a multitude of phenomena from a multitude of perspectives. Of course, as a clinician I am predisposed to case descriptions because the narrative usually locates me well within my own comfort zone. Nevertheless, a well-written case can make the commonplace relevant.
International Congress, Health System Reform, In-Home Therapy and Self-Help! [Letter from Germany]
by Jürgen HargensView article. [PDF format - 59KB]
Poems: Somewhere Else; What’s Going On?
by B. Darracott and Peter K. JordanView article. [PDF format - 37KB]
Review of Models of Madness: Psychological, Social and Biological Approaches to Schizophrenia
by Lois AchimovichView article. [PDF format - 81KB]
Reviews: Independant comment on audio-visual and print materials
View article. [PDF format - 101KB]