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Spouses (N=6 couples) participating in an Association of Couples for Marriage Enrichment-type discussion group increased their level of marital adjustment and improved their communication more than spouses (N=10 couples) in an assessment-only control group. Coding of sessions revealed that therapists' statements and participants' responses were significantly related across time. (Author/NRB)

To help the agency counselor, who might be unfamiliar with couples therapy, conduct intake interviews with couples, objectives for the intake are described and an eclectic framework for understanding problems of couples is proposed. Couples should be assessed according to commitment, satisfaction, and complicating factors. Commitment depends on satisfaction plus investments in the relationship minus alternatives to the relationship. Satisfaction depends on closeness (intimacy), communication, conflict resolution, cognitions, and confession- forgiveness. in the second section, 12 steps are suggested for conducting intake interviews, in the third section, an organizational framework for writing the intake report is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section presents abstracts of studies about family therapy. The studies include "Determinants of Family Treatment Choice and Satisfaction in Psychiatric Emergencies," by Shawn L. Morgan, "Mental Therapy: A Viable Treatment for Depression and Marital Discord," by K. Daniel O' Leary and Steven R. H. Beach and "Spouses' Impressions of Rules for Communication in Public and Private Marital Conflicts," by Elizabeth Jones and Cynthia Gallois.

The article comments on several articles concerning family psychotherapy published in various journals. These include "Psychotherapy and Mandated Reporting of Child Abuse," by Holly Watson and Murray Levine published in a 1989 issue of the "American Journal of Orthopsychiatry," and "Outcomes of Systemic/Strategic Team Consultation: I. Overview and One-Month Results, by Robert-Jay Green and Mary Herget, published in a 1989 issue of "Family Process."

The Kvebaek Family Sculpture Technique (KFST) is a symbolic figure placement procedure for family assessment. Family members arrange blocks representing themselves on a standard grid to depict the emotional distance or closenss they feel toward each other. However, published evidence for convergent validity of the technique is scant. This study compared KFST emotional distance with cohesion measured by the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III (FACES III). Families (N = 31) having at least one adolescent and two parents participated. KFST distance was significantly related to FACES III cohesion, suggesting some convergent validity for the KFST. Potential uses of the KFST for family therapy are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an overview of several articles with topics related to family therapy, that were published in various journals. Articles summarized include "Financing Outpatient Mental Health Care: How Much Does Insurance Actually Help?" by Steven Walfish and Lisa Janzen published in the "American Journal of Orthopscychiatry," "The Categorical Representation of Personality Disorder: A Cluster Analysis of DSMIII-R Personality Features," by Leslie C. Morey published in the '"Journal of Abnormal Psychology" and "Is the Counselor an "Active Ingredient" in Substance Abuse rehabilitation? An Examination of Treatment Success Among Four Counselors," by A. Thomas McLellan, George E. Woody, Lester Luborsky and Leslie Goehl published in the "Journal of Nervous and Mental disease."

The article presents abstracts related family psychiatry, including "Childhood parental death and adult psychopathology," by P. W. Ragan and T. H. McGlashan, "Predictors of depressive mood in mothers of clinic-referred children," by R. Forehand and W. Furey and "Effects of marital role problems and the self-concept on wives' depressed mood," by R. B. Schafer.

A list of studies related to family therapy is presented. It includes "Effects of Parent Loss: Interaction With Family Size and Sibling Order," by A. Sklar and R. Harris, "Clinical Significance of Improvement Resulting From Two Behavioral Marital Therapy Components," by N. S. Jacobson and W. C. Follett, and "Mothers and Fathers: Expectations for Infants," by D. Kliman and C. Vukelich.

The article presents abstracts of article related to family psychotherapy They include "Evaluation of family trainees: Acquisition of cognitive and therapeutic behavior skills," by Ellen Pulleyman and Rodney Shapiro and "The impact of structural family therapy training on conceptual and executive therapy skills," by Flora Zaken-Greenberg and Greg J. Neimeyer and "The problem of gender in family therapy," by Rachel T. Hare-Mustin.

The article presents abstracts of medical research. They include "Critiquing the new epistomologies: Toward minimum requirements for a scientific theory of family therapy," "On incorporating the therapist in a scientific theory of family therapy," and "The all-too-short trip from positive to negatives connotation."

An abstract of the article "The relationship of marital adjustment to agoraphobia treatment outcome," is presented.

Two abstracts related to family relations are presented. They include "Transition to what? New parents' problems in the first year," by Margaret K. McKim and "The stresses of parenthood reexamined," by Jacqueline N. Ventura.

An abstract of the article "Courtship violence: Toward a conceptual understanding," by William E. Thompson is presented.

Two abstracts related to marriage and the family are presented. They include "Toward marriage and divorce among young women as a function of their mother's marital status," by Keri L. Kinnaird and Meg Gerrard and "Starting and stopping spontaneous family conflict," by Samuel Vuchinich.

An abstract of the article "Date rape and sexual aggression in dating situations: Incidence and risk factors," by Charlene L. Muelenhard and Melaney A. Linton is presented.

An abstract of the article "The impact of parental divorce on college student development," by Fredrick G. Lopez is presented.

Two abstracts related to clinical psychology are presented. They include "Outcomes of treatment for alcohol problems: Current methods, problems, and result," by Peter E. Nathan and Anne-Helene Skinstad and "Long-term effects of family-based treatment of childhood obesity," by Leonard H. Epstein, Rena R. Wing, Randi Koeske, and Alice Valoski.

An abstract of the article "Beyond objectivism and relativism: implications for family therapy research," by B. J. Atkinson.

An abstract of the article "Enhancement of health-giving family support versus treatment of family pathology," by R. H. Falloon, Jean Pederson and Manhal Al-Khayyal.

An abstract of the article "Marital stability in alcoholic-spouse relationships as a function of drinking pattern and location," by N. J. Dunn, T. Jacob, N. Hummon and R. A. Seilhammer.

An abstract of the article "Expressed emotion in families: A critical review," by J. Kanter, H. R. Lamb and C. Loeper.

An abstract of the article "The role of family in the nurture and protection of the young," by William J. Bennett.

An abstract of the article "The role of family in the nurture and protection of the young," by William J. Bennett.

An abstract of the article "Child abuse and psychotherapy research: Merging social concerns and empirical investigations," by John W. Fantuzzo and Craig T. Twentyman is presented.

An abstract of the article "Family therapy techniques in mediation," by Donald T. Saposnek is presented.

An abstract of the article "The aftermath of rape: profiles of immediate and delayed treatment seekers," by B. D. Stewart, C Hughes, E. Frank, B. Anderson, K. Kendall and D. West is presented.

An abstract of the article "The marriage relationship during the transition to parenthood: A review and a model," by E. L. Worthington and B. G. Buston is presented.

An abstract of the article "Myocardial infarction and its influence on male sexual function," by C. B. Dhabuwala, A. Kumar and J. M. Pierce is presented.

An abstract of the article "The interaction of divorce, suicide, and homicide," by D. Lester is presented.

An abstract of the article "Mandating family responsibility for elder members: Costs and benefits," by Nancy Gilliland is presented.

An abstract of the article "Expressed emotion: From predictive index to clinical construct," by Harold W. Koeningsberg and Robert Handley is presented.

The article presents the topic published in the 1986 issue of the "Social Casework," which focuses on family treatment in the loss of adoptive families, by L. C. Berman and R. K Bufferd. It discusses the consequences of adoption from the point of view of the adoptive parents, the adopted child, and the birth parents. The three groups may experience the feelings of loss. Several family systems techniques are recommended for the treatment of family loss that have adoptions in their background. Some of these techniques are family history taking, genogram and circular questioning.

The article presents a topic published in the 1986 issue of "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology." The article "Differentiating Bulimic-anorexic From Normal Families Using Interpersonal and Observational Systems," by L. H. Humphrey, R. F. Apple, and D. S. Kirschenbaum, examines the involvement of family dynamics in some psychosomatic eating disorders. The cognitive behavioral marital interaction coding system and the structural analysis of social behavior are used to determine differences between anorectic-bulimic and normal families. It is claimed that both coding systems used in the study were about three-quarters successful in categorizing families.

The article presents a topic published in the 1986 issue of the "Archives of General Psychiatry." The article "Home Safety With Families Being Treated for Child Abuse and Neglect," by V. J. Barone, B. F. Greene, and J. R. Lutzker, discusses measure to make home environment safer for children. The authors have presented a multifaceted program to help troubled families in caring their children. The program employed a multiple baseline design for three types of home dangers, including poisons, suffocations, and electrical accidents. Further, the program represents an advance in the protection of the neglected child, and it increased safety awareness through cuing dangerous areas.

The article presents a topic published in the 1986 issue of "American Psychologist." The article "Inpatient Alcoholism Treatment: Who Benefits," by W. R. Miller and R. K. Hester, compares the inpatient and outpatient treatments of alcoholism. The authors examine the effectiveness of two treatment settings for alcoholic patients. Further, the study concludes with some admonitions and policy proposals concerning allocation of funding and third party reimbursements that favor inpatient settings for treatment of alcoholics. The authors also suggest that the health care planning must be governed with research evidence than financial interests.

An abstract of the article "In and out of family systems: A psychotherapeutic view," is presented.

An abstract of the article "Wives prefer reading: Stress and female sexuality," is presented.

An abstract of the article "A triangular theory of love," is presented.

An abstract of the article "Special series: Current issues in the evaluation and treatment of sexual disturbance," is presented.

An abstract of the article "Individual marital therapy: A critical reappraisal," is presented.

An abstract of the article "Parent-child relations and the etiology of depression: A review of methods and findings," is presented.

An abstract of the article "Events of parental divorce: Stressfulness ratings by children, parents, and clinicians," is presented.

An abstract of the article "Meta-analysis of paradoxical interventions," by Kenneth A. Hill is presented.

An abstract of the article "Twelve-month follow-up of psychotherapy for opiate dependence," G. E. Woody.

An abstract of the article "Benefits of a family-oriented approach to adolescent treatment," by Daniel P. Jansen.

An abstract of the article "Satisfaction with social support during crisis: Intimacy and self-esteem as critical determinants," by Steven E. Hobfoll, Arie Nadler and Joseph Lieberman is presented.

The article presents two abstracts "A brave new world for private practice," by Jonathan Adams and "Why I love private practice," by Frank Pittman.

An abstract of the article "The usefulness of cognitive restructuring as an adjunct to behavioral marital therapy," Donald H. Baucom and Gregory W. Lester is presented.

The article presents the topic published in the 1986 issue of "Psychotherapy," by Rachel T. Hare-Mustin and Jeanne Marecek. It discusses the gender issues in psychotherapy in which the authors identify autonomy and beneficence as values that conflict the context of therapy. The authors look into the gender implications of the notion of autonomy as a luxury available only to the upper level of the socioeconomic status. It is inferred that men pay a heavy price for isolation and alienation but for women, the price of striving for the sex role may confirm or not maintain their lack of power.