Search

A wealth of studies demonstrate the associations between nature contact and well-being, and gradually, nature-based solutions are becoming more widespread in mental health care and recovery. While emotion-focused therapies generally show promising results, evidence of nature-based family therapy is still scarce. In a forthcoming clinical trial at Sørlandet hospital in Southern Norway, we will compare indoor and outdoor provision of emotion-focused multi-family therapy. The foundation of emotion-focused therapeutic work with families is a deep belief in the healing powers of families, where resources within the "ecosystem" of a given family can be reactivated and nudged towards establishing a greater sense of harmony and connectedness over time. According to a Gibsonian understanding of affordances, humans respond to possibilities and limitations within an environment, where affordances in the context of this article arise from a systemic interplay between nature, participating families and facilitators. In this exploratory inquiry, we are particularly interested in the myriad ways nature may influence four core principles in emotion-focused therapy, including (a) emotion awareness, (b) emotion regulation, (c) reflection on emotion, and (d) emotion transformation. In this perspective article, we propose hypotheses and working metaphors in relation to everything from emotions' multiple purposes to the delineation of facilitators' accepting, empathic and curious stance. First and foremost, we attempt to generate a preliminary account of nature's potentiality to tug at our heartstrings and offer a supportive environment for the novel provision of emotion-focused family therapy in the outdoors.

Moving beyond both a neoliberal as well as a 'heroic' conception of how the International Baccalaureate (IB) might 'make a better world', this paper focuses on the transformative potentiality of IBDP classroom pedagogy from the perspective of an experienced and critically minded educator, whose praxis has evolved across more than three decades of teaching IBDP courses in elite, well-established international schools around the world. In the IBDP teacher's account, particular attention is placed on the relational qualities of the (ideal) classroom culture and on the tensions between learner autonomy, teacher and learner authenticity and the critical imperative to interrogate privilege. We seek to provide a generative case for researchers and educators to reflect and find greater precision on the desired ends, possibilities and limits of critical and progressive pedagogies in school classrooms under contemporary conditions constituting our 'world in trouble'. More specifically for stakeholders of the IBDP, we offer up a promising orientation to IBDP classroom pedagogy in pursuit of the IB mission.

The main objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of a Structural Family Therapy (SFT)-based psychoeducation program on family functioning in families of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study was an experimental study based on the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test model, with experimental and control groups. Family functionality, which was the study's dependent variable, was measured with the Mc Master Family Assessment Device (FAD). The independent variable of the research was the psychoeducation program applied only to the experimental group. The research consisted of parents who have children between 7-10 years of age diagnosed with ADHD. An 11-week psychoeducation program developed by the researcher based on SFT was offered to the experimental group. Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests were used to analyze the data. The results obtained from the study found out a significant difference (p<0.05) between the post-test scores of the control and experimental group. In addition, a significant difference (p <0.05) was found between the FAD scores of the parents in the experimental group before and after the experiment. The results show that the SFT-based psychoeducation program for parents is effective in increasing family functionality.

Children of all ages and around the globe can experience depressive symptoms. However, certain symptoms of depression can be expressed in distinct ways from depression in adulthood. While many individualistic approaches are utilized to treat depression in childhood, family systems modalities can be utilized with effectiveness since family factors can contribute to depressive symptoms (Ghandour et al., 2019). Family systems theories often examine and address the interactions between family members and the context in which the interactions occur. Specifically, structural family therapy has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing childhood depression symptomology (Jiménez et al., 2019). Structural family therapy focuses on boundaries, hierarchies, and subsystems within a cultural context. The purpose of this literature review is to propose that structural family therapy is appropriate for addressing depression in childhood. Additional discussion includes structural family therapy being appropriate for various cultures around the globe. Major depressive disorder is a common mental disorder affecting children of all ages (James et al., 2018) and becomes higher in prevalence for children who have entered puberty (Costello et al., 2006). Mental health problems in childhood, such as depression, have been shown to have a more negative effect (e.g., a reduction in work resulting in a lower SES outcome) in the person's adult life when compared to the effect of physical health issues (Delaney & Smith, 2012). Furthermore, depressive disorders were found to be one of the leading causes for disability in 2017 (James et al., 2018). Individuals who experienced depressive symptoms at an early onset typically had poorer quality of life, more depressive episodes, greater medical psychiatric comorbidity, more suicide attempts, and more significant symptoms severity than those with later ages of onset of major depressive disorder (Zisook et al., 2007). Given the research demonstrating the negative effect that early onset of depression has on an individual, it is imperative to consider interventions. Family systems therapy has been demonstrated to be an effective approach for addressing depression in childhood (Jiménez et al., 2019; Tompson et al., 2017; Trowell et al., 2007). Due to the reliance of children on their caregivers, it is prudent to involve the family in addressing mental health concerns (Steinberg, 2001). While many approaches operate from an individualist approach (see Bernaras et al., 2019), consideration of the family is significant since children with a primary caregiver who rated their own mental health as fair or poor in mental or emotional health had an increased rate of depression at 13% (Ghandour et al., 2019). The purpose of this literature review is to propose structural family therapy as an effective modality for treating children with depressive symptoms.

Background: Previous literature pinpointed the limitations of behavioural treatment in helping families of people with intellectual disabilities to transit lifecycle adjustment and suggested the contributions of systemic intervention made to this population. Methods: This study aimed to explore the applicability of structural family therapy to helping Hong Kong Chinese families of adolescents with intellectual disabilities from the perspective of family members. Nine members from four families of adolescents with intellectual disabilities were recruited. Family or individual interviews were conducted. A thematic analysis was adopted for data analysis. Findings: The families experienced two major changes after the therapy, that is, sharing the care responsibilities among family members and using more open communication styles in the family. Structural family therapy was found to be helpful in mediating family problems and promoting the active involvement of adolescents with intellectual disabilities in family interactions. However, the family participants expected clear guidance for the future development of adolescents with intellectual disabilities in a family treatment process. Conclusions: Structural family therapy can be a promising approach to working with Chinese families of adolescents with intellectual disabilities.

The suspension of social services in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the caregiver strain for families of adolescent children with intellectual disabilities, possibly aggravating their family relationships. This article reports on an online Multi-Family Group (MFG) conducted during the pandemic for Hong Kong Chinese families of adolescents affected by mild-to-moderate intellectual disabilities. A thematic analysis of the experiences of the participating service users revealed three positive effects of the intervention model: "improved family relationships," "mutual helpful influences occurring among families," and "a new understanding of family members with intellectual disabilities." The therapeutic group process used to promote family development is illustrated by a group vignette. The challenges and the practical considerations for conducting an MFG online are discussed.

Background: Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, mental health care has largely transferred its services to online platforms, using videoconferencing (VC) or teletherapy. Within the field of family therapy, however, there is little evidence on the feasibility of using VC, especially when working with whole families at the edge of care. Objective: This study investigated the feasibility of remote Functional Family Therapy (FFT), using a mixed-method approach. Method: Study 1 consisted of semi-structured interviews with 23 FFT professionals (18 female) about their experience of providing remote FFT during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 2 included monitoring data of 209 FFT clients (46% female, Mage = 14.00) who participated in FFT during the pandemic. We compared families who received mainly in-person, mainly remote or a mix of remote and in-person on client-reported alliance, drop-out, therapist-rated outcomes, and treatment intensity using MANCOVA's and chi-square tests. Results: In Study 1 two themes emerged around experienced challenges, namely 'Feeling in control' and 'Engagement and alliance'. Two other themes emerged around adaptations, namely 'Being more on top' and 'Connecting in different ways'. In Study 2, we found that the therapeutic alliance was not related to using VC. Also, families had less between-session contact during the Engagement and Motivation Phase when receiving mainly VC, but had more sessions and longer therapy when receiving a mix of in-person and remote therapy. Conclusions: The current study suggests that providing systemic family teletherapy to families on the edge of care is feasible. Further development of systemic family teletherapy is warranted.

Parents and guardians often have more fear than their students about the journey off to college. They are unsure about fit, cost and value, distance, health and safety, an empty nest, and more. COVID-19 has added even more factors into the mix. The pandemic drastically changed the way many colleges deliver instruction, as well as the ways students and their families evaluate prospective schools and determine a path forward. This article looks at the challenges, new outreach efforts, addressing concerns, and helping families move forward in the college selection process. Focusing on the fundamentals of college selection can help families move ahead in the process, even in these unprecedented times.

At the first and only public Montessori charter school in New York City, teachers create learning environments, materials, and lessons that help students guide themselves to find information needed to arrive at a necessary learning outcome. The sudden shift to online instruction in March 2020 required parents, teachers, and administration to maintain business-as-usual in an unfamiliar modality--online instruction. This case study reflection article focuses on the planning strategies identified and implemented that shifted the school to teaching and learning online during the COVID-19 pandemic while working to keep the Montessori philosophy alive, despite the expansion to the online modality. Existing research, the process of shifting to the online modality, maintenance of the Montessori approach, and the inter-institutional support provided to the charter school by a community college are reviewed. Once mandated to move to online instruction, strategies employed show that maintaining students' natural desire to learn and active discovery are central objectives in tandem with supporting the relationship-centered culture in the machine-oriented online-learning environment. This dual focus is critical because children's development is maximized when they are engaged in secure, mutually collegial relationships (Greenfield & Suzuki, 1998). It was concluded that building community among children and teachers, as well as between administration, teachers, families, and a partnering community college were valued and deemed critical to sustaining the rigorous curriculum and relationship-based school culture during the pandemic crisis.

The efficacy of group therapy as a counselling method is examined. Factors that reinforce the effectiveness of group therapy include the necessity of communication amongst the human species, the longevity of the practice of group work in the field of therapy, and the empirical research suggesting the success of the method. Barriers to the success of group therapy are considered, such as public misconceptions, ethical challenges and problems with maintaining confidentiality. A balanced appraisal of both the pros and cons are deliberated. Group therapy is determined to be a valuable method of counselling.

The national epidemic of increasing imprisonment rates in the United States, also known as mass incarceration, disproportionally impacts communities of color. Additionally, the needs of children of incarcerated parents have been neglected. This study examined whether topics pertinent to mass incarceration and the impact on families are being addressed in counselor education programs. Of the 95 counselor educators who participated in the study, results indicated that the majority did not have training to work with families of the incarcerated and did not include information about working with families of the incarcerated in their courses. In addition to exposing students to discussions of implicit bias and data on mass incarceration, specific treatment modalities and protocols need to be developed and validated.

Background: A strong therapeutic alliance or working relationship is essential for effective face-to-face family-based psychotherapy. However, little is known about the use of VC on alliance in family-based therapy. The recent COVID-19 pandemic led to a national lockdown during which most family-based therapy transferred to VC. Objective: The current study analyzed the development and strength of alliance prior and during lockdown for multi-stressed families participating in Multisystemic Therapy (MST). Method: Alliance with the therapist was reported monthly by 846 caregivers (81% female). Using latent growth curve models (longitudinal approach), the development of alliance was estimated for families participating in MST prior to the lockdown, transferring to VC early in treatment or late in treatment. Using regression analyses (cross-sectional approach), lockdown (yes/no) was included as predictor of alliance. In these analyses, type of family (regular; intellectual disability; concerns regarding child abuse or neglect) and gender of caregiver were included as moderators. Results: Both analytical approaches showed that alliance was not affected by VC, except for families with concerns of child abuse, who reported lower alliances during lockdown. However, these results where no longer significant when controlling for multiple testing. Conclusions: Strong alliances can be developed and maintained during family-based VC sessions with multi-stressed families. However, for some subgroups, such as families with concerns of child abuse, VC might not be suitable or sufficient. Future research needs to investigate the potential and limitations of using VC with families.

This chronological review of the literature is a summary of primarily non-empirical articles that explore the specific approach of dyadic (paired individuals or conjoint) interviewing. The evolution of dyadic interviewing is highlighted including the strengths and cautions of this approach beginning in 1942. The review of the literature is organized around the evolution from defining the dyad in the interviewing context to redefining the unit of analysis in the most recent articles in 2016. From this chronology, we make specific recommendations for using dyadic interviewing, as well as present ethical and analytical considerations culled from the collective knowledge and experience of multidisciplined scholars across the literature. Impacts on the dyad as well as the researcher are also addressed. Considerations of identity such as gender and ethical consideration of location, confidentiality, dynamics of the dyad, and issues of transference and countertransference are addressed in the presented recommendations.

Most research on developmental prevention programs stems from Anglo-American countries. However, in German-speaking European countries, there is also a broad range of family-oriented programs to promote child development and prevent behavioral problems. This article presents a meta-analysis of n = 79 studies on family-based prevention that had a comparison group and were performed in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland. Overall, the data contained 10,667 parents and showed a significant positive mean effect of the programs (d = 0.31). The mean effect for parent related outcomes (d = 0.40) was larger than for measures of child behavior (d = 0.20). There was much heterogeneity across studies and very few had follow-ups of more than one year. Moderator analyses revealed particular influences of methodological study characteristics, e.g. larger effects in smaller samples and less well-controlled studies. Most results of our meta-analysis are similar to what has been found in the English-speaking world. However, as in international practice, the evaluated programs seem to be not representative for everyday prevention reality where many programs are not evaluated at all. Our study confirms the need for more high-quality and long-term evaluation as well as cross-national comparisons and replicated moderator analyses.

LGBTQ+ youth are at elevated risk for suicidality, substance use, and other mental health concerns. Evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions are often the first line treatment for mental health concerns. However, there is limited research examining the effectiveness of such interventions among LGBTQ+ adolescents. This systematic review synthesizes extant literature examining psychotherapeutic interventions for LGBTQ+ adolescents with mental illness and/or substance use. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, studies were assessed for inclusion eligibility. Researchers consulted three electronic databases, yielding a total of 666 results. Ten studies, with interventions ranging from drug use prevention to school-counseling, met inclusion criteria. Seven studies implemented adaptations to standard intervention protocol to make intervention content more accessible to LGBTQ+ clients. Outcomes included decreased depressive symptoms, substance use, and social isolation. Significant design and methodological limitations were present across most studies, with four using a case study design and only two using a randomized controlled trial design. The review highlights preliminary evidence supporting the use of mental health interventions for LGBTQ+ youth. However, more rigorous research is needed to determine if adapted interventions that include population-specific concerns of minority stress are more effective than treatment as usual.

Background: Several studies have reported that children of parents with mental illness have 41-70% chance of developing mental health problems. This has encouraged an increase in preventive interventions directed at these children. Objectives: This systematic review aimed to describe preventive psychological interventions addressed to children of parents who are suffering a mental disorder. We identified the aims of these treatments, their approach and components. Sociodemographic characteristics of the subjects and outcomes were examined. Method: Psycinfo and Pubmed were consulted using the PICO process. We included studies in English or Spanish describing a preventive psychological intervention. Results: 16 studies were included. Most studies were focused on promoting resilience and increasing children's understanding of the parent's disorder. Psychoeducation was included in 87,5% of treatments. Family, multifamily and children group interventions were equally used as approach. Conclusions: Psychoeducation emerged as an indispensable component of the interventions. Other frequent components comprised skills training, emotional regulation training, and playful activities. Most therapies were carried out in a group setting. Specifically, a multifamily approach is regarded as the most efficient. Most of the studies yielded significant results.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relation between the parents Cognitive Distortion and Arab children academic achievements in Israel. 52 fifth grade Arab Children and their parents from Israel were participated. The results indicated that parent's cognitive distortion related negatively to children academic achievements; there is a negative correlation between father's Cognitive distortion and children academic achievements and between mother's Cognitive distortion and children academic achievements. The current research concluded that Parent's Cognitive distortion has a greater relationship with children academic performance. The researchers recommend that appropriate measures, including cognitive mutual counseling program (parents and Children) should be put in place for the Children to achieve both their short-term and long-term educational goals.

Despite efforts to boost mental health treatment-seeking behaviors by combat veterans, rates have improved relatively little since 2004. Previous work suggests that trust and confidence in the mental health community may be a significant factor. This study explored how professional titles may impact trust and confidence among active-duty U.S. Army soldiers (n = 32). Consistent with previous research, eight vignettes were used to solicit ordinal (ranked) trust and confidence scores for mental health professionals. Highest confidence and trust were seen in clinical psychologists and licensed professional counselors, followed by psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists; however, deviations were seen for each individual vignette and the manifested symptoms depicted. Scores for trust and confidence were strongly correlated and both appear to impact soldiers' treatment-seeking decisions.

Aim: There is a growing evidence-base for the effectiveness of Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) in enhancing communication within relationships. Existing meta-analyses and systematic reviews include VIG within wider evaluations of similar interventions. This paper reviews the use of VIG within families, with a focus on its longer-term effectiveness. Method: A systematic literature review (SLR) was structured using PRISMA. It evaluated studies' methodological quality, appropriateness and relevance of focus, as well as reported outcomes. Findings: The SLR identified nine high- or medium-quality studies, of which six included follow-up measures. The review found that there is emerging evidence of positive outcomes being maintained beyond families' final shared reviews. Increased attunement and attachment in parent-child relationships were reported up to 20 months post-intervention. Limitations: Most studies used very small samples. Studies also varied in their descriptions of how VIG was carried out, potentially compromising intervention fidelity. Twenty-two outcome measures were used across nine studies, highlighting the need for more homogeneity in the conceptualisation and measurement of outcomes. Inconsistency in samples, outcomes measures and time points for data collection means that conclusions drawn from this review are done so tentatively. Conclusions: Increased attunement and attachment were reported consistently across a range of samples, indicating support for the proposed mechanisms for the effectiveness of VIG. However, long-term effectiveness studies are needed to demonstrate maintenance of these effects.

This study examined the cost-effectiveness of standard parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) and three adaptations: intensive-PCIT (I-PCIT), small group PCIT, and large group PCIT. This study used cost-effectiveness analyses to calculate average cost-effectiveness ratios, which represents the average cost for one family to change one standard deviation on each outcome measure: externalizing behavior problems, positive parenting skills, negative parenting skills, child compliance, and parenting stress. While it had the lowest initial set up cost, results indicated that standard PCIT was the least cost-effective option in reducing child disruptive behaviors and in increasing child compliance. Large group PCIT was the most cost-effective in increasing positive parenting skills and child compliance and in reducing negative parenting skills and parenting stress. I-PCIT was the most cost-effective in reducing child disruptive behaviors and the second most cost-effective option in increasing positive parenting skills and child compliance and in decreasing negative parenting. As large group and I-PCIT were the most cost-effective in different domains, both could be recommended to parents as treatment options. Future research should confirm our cost-effective results within community settings.

The present study aimed to identify the level of owning a field training students majoring in psychological counseling at the Hashemite University of professional and family counseling skills in light of achievement and gender variables. The subjects of the study comprised of (100) subjects of field training students in the second semester of the academic year 2014-2015. A questionnaire was used in this study to identify the professional counseling skills and another questionnaire for family counseling skills. Results of the study have shown that field training students majoring in psychological counseling at the Hashemite University own professional and family counseling skills moderately. The results also indicated that the level of students' possession of the professional and family counseling skills rises as GPA rises and that females are more equipped to those skills, compared with males.

This study examined preferences for counseling topics to discuss in individual, group, and family counseling among young adults with cancer, as well as their ranked preferences for attending individual, group, and family counseling. A sample of 320 young adults with cancer (18-39 years old) completed an online survey containing items relevant to young adults' psychosocial needs. Participants rated anxiety, finances, sad feelings, sexual and intimacy concerns, and stress management as most helpful for individual counseling; finding social support and getting information about one's medical situation as most helpful for group counseling; and no topics as most helpful for family counseling. Participants rated individual counseling as their primary choice of counseling modality, followed by group counseling, and lastly family counseling. Counselors may help young adult clients by familiarizing themselves with the unique experience of being diagnosed with cancer at an early age, as well as providing age-specific in-person support and counseling group opportunities.

This article will present an ongoing Erasmus + Innovative Academic Course on Integrative Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, IACIIC-ASD, implemented betweeen 2017/2019 by the West University of Timisoara (WUT) Department of Educational Sciences, in partnership with Universita degli studi di Firenze (UNIFI), Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu (ULBS) and Sveuciliste u Zagrebu Edukacijsko-Rehabilitacijski Fakultet (ERF). The need for an internationaly developed course in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is high because all of us must stay in tune with current theoretical and methodological approaches to provide best quality training for the future specialists. The ASD is one of the most researched domain in special education and related fields and the parents and specialists feel a constant need to find new solutions and modern therapeutic methods for best addressing the children needs. By proposing a course that will present the most recent theories and findings in the field and will discuss the best options in educating the children with ASD we aim to train better professionals and increase the future specialists' competence. Also, this course will be accessible via an on-line platform so becoming an open/course for all interested parties. The virtual clinic for ASD will be a virtual scientific environment where students, academics, specialist and parents can exchange knowledge, expertise, experiences and good practices.

This exploratory study examined race/ethnicity, income, and employment status (including underemployment specifically) as predictors of relational distress for members of a couple in a predominantly low-income, historically marginalized racial-ethnic (HMRE) background sample (N = 671 couples). Results of a dyadic multiple regression using structural equation modeling did not show an effect for underemployment on relational satisfaction, but effects for employment status and race differed significantly. Findings strengthen the demand for holistic and integrative approaches to multi-couple group career counseling and career development for disproportionately higher numbers of HMRE couples and families.

Introduction: Despite the high prevalence of mental health issues for young people with intellectual disability (ID), young people with ID can struggle to receive the mental health support they need. The aim of this study was to examine a new community-based, clinical mental health service for young people (12-25 years) with co-occurring ID and mental illness, and to explore the outcomes for young people and experiences of families who received service from the new program. Methods: Two studies were conducted using qualitative and quantitative research methods. First, using the Health of the Nations Outcome Scales (HoNOS), a quantitative longitudinal study was conducted to measure any changes in young people's behavioral and social issues, mental health, and levels of impairment, from the being accepted to the service till the completion of care (n = 23). A second study involved qualitative interviews with parents/carers who attended the service (n = 10) that were analyzed to look for emerging themes in parents'/carers' experience of the service. Results: Results of study 1 indicated that young people's behavioral issues and social problems decreased from the time of admission to their completion of carer. Further, results of Study 2 revealed that parents/carers considered the mental health and behavior of their child had improved from being in the program. Parents also valued the person-centered, multidisciplinary, co-ordinated approach of the service, and viewed the new program as an improvement on previous services they had experienced. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary support for the efficacy of the new program and suggests future specialist dual disability services may look to a family-focused, multidisciplinary approach that includes assessment, treatment, and management as an effective treatment model.

Helicopter parenting is a relatively new phenomenon that describes a specific kind of overparenting that is focused on the well-being and success of children that can impact young adults' general sense of life satisfaction, overall mood, and the development of necessary life skills. Using Bowen theory, the author will illustrate through a case study, how hyperattentive parenting can be conceptualized as a function of the family projection process, more specifically how triangles are used to diffuse anxiety in the parental system due to marital strife or transitions in the family life cycle. The author will use Bowen theory to highlight how one person can take responsibility for managing oneself in family relationships and work on emotional maturity in relationship to others. Finally, the author suggests that Bowen theory may be useful to college counselors who may be seeking a conceptual framework to work toward theory-based interventions for treating emerging adults.

Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a chronic disease, some types of which may have morbidity and mortality. That is why the patients must receive multidisciplinary care in case any complications arise. Families must be informed about the disease, about home care and receive genetic counselling. The importance of genetic counselling cannot be stressed enough, since both M.C. and his younger brother were diagnosed with EB. If the family had received genetic counselling, this tragic situation could have been prevented. Home care education for the families of EB patients is also of great importance. Relatives of the patient must also be educated about wound care, infection control, patient nutrition and physical treatment. They must also be educated about how to use the medications and about bandaging, dressing, Vaseline bandages, antiseptics, bathing procedures, and the use of antibiotic cream ointment. It was obvious, therefore, that the nursing care given at home enhanced both the patient's and the family's quality of life.

School counselors are expected to form collaborative relationships with the families of students. Yet, school counselors have limited knowledge about families to form these partnerships, as a descriptive content analysis of the family coursework requirements in CACREP-accredited school counseling programs in the southern region revealed that most programs do not mandate family coursework. Implications for the preparation of students to engage in school-family collaboration are discussed.

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the relationship between Optimism, Religiosity and Self-esteem with Marital Satisfaction and Life Satisfaction in married university students. The research method was a descriptive study kind of correlation. The sample group included 200 married students that were selected using a simple random sampling method. For collecting data, Attribution Style Questionnaire, Religious Attitude, Cooper Smith Self-Esteem Questionnaire, Enrich Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire and Satisfaction with Life Scale were used. The findings indicated that marital satisfaction not life satisfaction was predicted by Optimism, Religiosity and Self-esteem. Religiosity showed the greatest relationship with marital satisfaction. Based on this study, family therapists should consider the role of religious or spiritual couple's attitude as a vital factor in revealing and solving the marital conflict. Consistency and inconsistency of the results were discussed.

Young children in the child welfare system are inherently vulnerable to disruptions in early attachment, and abrupt changes of placement can function as trauma triggers. In this article, the authors present a case from a Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) Learning Collaborative which exemplifies the potential trauma of placement changes, and how CPP is uniquely suited to support children and caregivers before, during, and after a placement change. They examine the elements needed at each stage of CPP-foundation, core intervention, and termination--to promote a healthy transition. Concurrent attention to the facilitating attuned interaction (FAN) model of reflective practice is a tool to help CPP practitioners navigate the difficult emotional experiences involved in these transitions.

In this pilot study, we examined whether a 2-day Emotion-Focused Family Therapy workshop strengthened parental self-efficacy, satisfaction and beliefs regarding their ability to help their children regulate emotions and reduce the children's symptoms of behavioural- or psychological difficulties. Twenty-three caretakers with 17 children (9 boys) aged 6 to 12 years old completed the workshop. Pre, post and 3-month follow-up data on the Parents' Beliefs About Children's Emotions -- Guidance scale and Parenting Sense of Competence scale, as well as pre and 3-month follow-up data on the Child Behaviour Checklist parent form, were used to assess the effects of the intervention. Parental self-efficacy significantly increased, the caretakers' satisfaction in the parenting role significantly increased but faded after 3 months and the caretakers' beliefs that children can guide their emotions on their own were significantly reduced. Finally, oppositional defiant problems in the children significantly declined.

Couple-based interventions that address domestic abuse are an emerging area of practice within the UK. These interventions require a detailed assessment process that can clarify risk and needs and screen out couples for whom such intervention is unsuitable. Steps to Safety is a new intervention, grounded in attachment and trauma theory, for couples with a child under five or an expected baby who wish to end abuse within their relationship and improve their parenting and co-parenting. An 18-month feasibility study was undertaken to review the utility and implementation of different components of the assessment and treatment process. Study methods included the analysis of measures completed by parents during the assessment; case record data; surveys completed by the practitioners after each appointment; and qualitative interviews with managers and practitioners. Study findings provided learning about the acceptability of the measures and screening tools to both couples and practitioners, and how the implementation of the assessment could be improved. Two measures, the Abusive Behavior Inventory and the PARTNR scale, were used to screen couples for violence that had crossed a critical threshold and instrumental violence, or both, and the combination of these two tools is recommended. However, the assessment overall was found to be time-consuming and often very demanding for both parents and practitioners. Barriers to completing assessments were varied. Reasons for case-closure during assessment included lack of engagement, levels of risk increasing, denial of domestic abuse, refusal to participate in elements of the programme, and children being removed from the parents' care. A key theme was the importance of balancing the priorities of engaging parents alongside rigorous processes that ensure safety. A model of dynamic assessment may assist with this.

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy is an empirically based, behavioral parent training program for young children exhibiting disruptive behaviors. Parent--Child Interaction Therapy shows promise for treating disruptive behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder. Treatment processes (i.e. treatment length and homework compliance), parenting skills, parenting stress, and behavioral outcomes (i.e. disruptive and externalizing behaviors and executive functioning) were compared in 16 children with autism spectrum disorder and 16 children without autism spectrum disorder matched on gender, age, and initial intensity of disruptive behaviors. Samples were statistically similar in terms of child receptive language, child race and ethnicity, parent age, gender and education, and number of two-parent families in treatment. Families received standard, mastery-based Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Both groups demonstrated significant and clinically meaningful improvements in child disruptive and externalizing behavior and executive functioning, parenting skills, and parenting stress. Length of treatment, homework compliance, and parent and child outcomes did not differ significantly between groups. A subset of children with autism spectrum disorder also showed significant improvements in social responsiveness, adaptive skills, and restricted/repetitive behaviors. This study replicates and extends prior research by demonstrating that children with and without autism spectrum disorder experience similar benefits following Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Findings may expand the availability and dissemination of time-limited, evidence-based interventions for autism spectrum disorder and comorbid disruptive behaviors.

This theoretical essay outlines the hermeneutic of Divine relationship, a theological lens through which Christians can develop a deeper appreciation for God's inherently relational nature and desire to be in relationship with all of humanity. In addition to the nature of God, this hermeneutic highlights the nature of human persons, sin and suffering, reconciliation, and hope. In each of these areas, God's love for human creation and humanity's need for intimate relationship are underscored. For marriage and family therapists (MFTs), clinicians who are taught to think about the world in terms of relationships, a hermeneutic of Divine relationship can have profound implications for the ways in which they conceptualize and practice family therapy and engage in personal relationship with clients. Given the significance of this hermeneutic for Christian MFTs, this essay also includes considerations for educating MFTs in matters of Divine relationship and training them to integrate the hermeneutic into their practice of marriage and family therapy.

Family resilience is a concept that has wide and deep roots, ranging from the development of the concept of individual resilience to the postulates of general systems theory, including family systems theory and related therapeutic models as well as studies on family stress and coping. Integration of these roots into a comprehensive theory remains incomplete. Consequently, numerous ambiguities in the conceptualization and operationalization of the concept of family resilience remain. This has important implications for both research and the application of the concept to practice. This article aims to contribute to the clarification and understanding of this evolving concept by reviewing the foundations upon which the concept of family resilience has emerged and has been developing. Our work connects family resilience to the concepts of individual resilience, as well as, community resilience, presenting key challenges but also possible solutions in operationalizing indicators of risk, protective factors, and good outcomes. This article discusses the influence of context and dominant social discourses in defining both risk exposure and family adaptation, highlighting community engagement as a core resilience resource. The article concludes by presenting the challenges that remain in the field of family resilience research, especially in light of the relevance of this concept to interventions and practice pertaining to child and youth care practice.

The movie "Ya Sonra" is evaluated in respect to the basic concepts and principles of symbolic-experiential family therapy. Carl Whitaker, who called his approach "Psychotherapy of Absurdity" mainly emphasized the concepts of absurdity, experientiality, and symbolism. Based on the hypothesis that film analysis supports and develops theoretical information, this study aims to reveal the theoretical perspective of symbolic-experiential family therapy, and through the method of film analysis, exemplify the assumptions, perspectives, and emphases of therapy. Emotional deadness, pathology as a symptom of development, the focus person of the problem in the family, marriage greater than its parts, blind marriage, flexibility of roles, the role of therapist, seeing family and client, the objectives of therapy, and the techniques used in therapy are among the theoretical concepts of symbolic-experiential family therapy. To this end, these topics were addressed in the movie "Ya Sonra," which is about a woman in her seventh year of marriage who starts to feel that she does not belong in her marriage with her spouse and that she is seen as insignificant by her spouse. Therefore, she becomes identified as the patient in the family. The sensitivity of the spouses increases as the problem becomes more serious, eventually leading her to leave the house. The breakdown of communication between the spouses during the ensuing process finally results in divorce, due to a gradual increase in misunderstandings between the two. The previously described concepts were exemplified through analysis of the film. As a conclusion, it is believed that this study can serve as a resource to specialists by supporting the theoretical information concerning symbolic-experiential family therapy and exemplifying this approach in practice through the method of movie analysis.

The study is carried out to explore the issues and practices in family counselling among the family counsellors at few counseling centres in Malaysia. Qualitative approach of single case embedded units was used for the study. Data collection was done using in-depth interview, observation and document analysis with 12 family counsellors. The data collected from these interviews, observation and document analysis then analysed using Nvivo 8. The analysis highlighted themes like children issue, family involvement, competency of the counsellors and the use of individual theories. The study also shows that the family counselling prefer to use and focus on the individual counselling and not the system. Therefore training for the counsellors who are practising family counselling should be improved by relevant parties. Family perception that child as the individual who is the root of the problem (inditied patient) in the family should be erased from our thoughts. Family awareness that family counselling intervention is vital in strengthening the family institution and it is a needed intervention in developing excellent generation of Malaysians as announced by relevant parties for family development in Malaysia.

For some decades we can find studies where perceptions and family attitudes toward children with giftedness are discussed, leading to the conclusion that children with these characteristics should be perceived and studied as part of an ecosystem that should include both family, and the college and the inner world of the child. Unfortunately in Mexico, studies about families of gifted children are scarce. Hence, the study has two aims: first, to identify the characteristics of 30 Mexican families, with at least one gifted child; second, to propose educational orientation for their families. Two questionnaires were designed. One of them gathers information about: age of parents, parents' education, number of family members and general characteristics of their gifted children. The other questionnaire collects the opinion about what does it mean for parents to have a talented or gifted child. A program is proposed to work with parents around the more relevant issues regarding their child and the family.

In an intensive care unit (ICU), patients' families play a very important role; however, they often lack medical knowledge and are extremely anxious, which could affect their ability to take care of the patients. The effects of giving conventional paper-based instruction are limited in terms of improving patients' families' understanding of the facilities and the rules in the ICU and in reducing their anxiety. Therefore, in this study, an interactive e-book was developed to present the nursing education content to ICU patients' family members. An experiment was conducted to compare the learning performances and perceptions of the patients' family members learning with the interactive e-book and those who learned with the conventional approach. The research results showed that the nursing e-book significantly improved the learning performances of the ICU patients' family members, although their anxiety was not immediately reduced. Moreover, the family members perceived that the e-book was useful and easy to use, and generally showed high satisfaction with its use. This reveals the potential of using interactive e-books to improve the quality of nursing service in hospitals.

Weisman and Montgomery completed an overview of reviews to evaluate the status of research concerning functional family therapy (FFT). Despite reporting modest effects on delinquency, substance use, and secondary outcomes, the authors conclude that the research base supporting FFT is tenuous and that it "may not be advisable to continue adopting FFT without reexamining and testing the effects." We present a critique of their flawed analysis and question their inconsistent and potentially harmful recommendations. At present, clinicians provide FFT services in over 340 sites in 12 countries with more than 50,000 youth/families. More than a dozen independent cost analyses suggest that these communities save more than US$1 billion annually in social service costs from avoided incarcerations and more than US$4 billion in avoided victim costs. These youth and families, and their communities could experience serious harm if policy makers adopted Weisman and Montgomery's recommendations. [For "Functional Family Therapy (FFT) for Behavior Disordered Youth Aged 10-18: An Overview of Reviews," see EJ1204963. For "Response To: A Critical Review and Call for Revision of Weisman and Montgomery's Review of Functional Family Therapy by Michael S. Robbins, Charles Turner," see EJ1205029.]

Purpose: This overview of reviews analyses the existing evidence base of functional family therapy (FFT), which is a manualized, family-based intervention for youth with behavioral problems and their families. FFT has been implemented among youth aged 10-18 at risk of, or presenting with, behavioral problems such as delinquency, violence, substance abuse, sexual perpetration, and truancy. Method: A multipronged search was conducted across 15 databases, 10 websites, and expert contacts in February 2018. Results: The search yielded 159 hits of which 31 were included and critically appraised. Included reviews were published between 1986 and 2018 and the number of included studies ranged from 1 to 18 (including 20-5,344 participants). Main effects of the intervention on core outcomes (recidivism and substance abuse) were modest and out-of-home placement was not reported. Secondary outcomes were also modest but generally positive. Conclusions: Findings demonstrate that overall quality of reviews is low, which makes any certainties about FFT inconclusive; this overview provides a concise, valid, and methodologically sound synthesis of the research into FFT, which requires more rigorous investigation. [For "Call for Revision of Weisman and Montgomery's Review of Functional Family Therapy," see EJ1204964. For "Response To: A Critical Review and Call for Revision of Weisman and Montgomery's Review of Functional Family Therapy by Michael S. Robbins, Charles Turner," see EJ1205029.]

The present study uses a national sample (N = 3769) and a latent profile framework to examine profiles of school social workers who engage in various levels of ecologically oriented practices at school and in the home and community. Three profiles emerged from the data that consisted of school social workers who reported engaging in low, medium and high levels of ecological practice behaviors across school, family, and community domains. Further examination revealed that school social workers fitting into the profile marked by high levels of self-reported practices at school, with families, and to facilitate community-school linkages were more likely to have a graduate degree, work in a state with certification standards, and have 10 or fewer years of experience compared to school social workers in the other two profiles. Additionally, school social workers who reported high levels of ecological practices were more likely to use evidence-based assessments, programs/practices, and engage in universal school-level prevention efforts more frequently compared to those in the low and medium profiles. Practical implications include the need for pre-service and targeted in-service training as well as policies that support minimum--if not lofty--competencies and state or national certification standards for school social work professionals.

Objective: This article describes the validation of the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Process Assessment Scale (RSIPAS) across five helping professions. The RSIPAS was originally developed to measure clinical social workers' self-efficacy, attitudes, perceived feasibility, behaviors, and overall orientation toward integrating clients' religion and spirituality in practice. Method: The current study examines the internal consistency and criterion, discriminant, convergent, and factorial validity of this instrument with a sample of clinical social workers, psychologists, nurses, counselors, and marriage and family therapists in Texas (N = 550). Results: Findings support the reliability (a = 0.95) and various forms of validity, with an improved fit in the factor structure among this more diverse sample. Conclusions: The RSIPAS may be used among these five helping professions to identify training needs or evaluate training efforts related to the integration of clients' religious or spiritual beliefs in mental and behavioral health treatment.