Jon Winek

HEALING RITUALS FOR COUPLES RECOVERING FROM ADULTERY

Recovery from the trauma of adultery is a process that is full of points where the couple can get stuck. We describe an experiential model that utilizes healing rituals. We start with a general exploration of the use of rituals in marriage and family therapy. The key elements of effective rituals are described. We describe stuck points in these relationships including: 1) knowing the details, 2) releasing the anger, 3) showing commitment, 4) rebuilding trust, and 5) rebuilding the relationship. Ritualized interventions are described for each of these stuck points.

A SYSTEMS/DIALECTICAL MODEL OF SUPERVISION: A SYMBOLIC PROCESS

Although there has been a proliferation of models of supervision in the marriage and family therapy literature recently, most tend to focus on methods rather than on the process of supervision. The model presented here is grounded in developmental concepts and focuses on student learning through a dialectical process of cognitive and emotional growth and incorporates three stages: 1) developing relationships; 2) breaking impasses, and 3) orchestrating changes. Students discover that supervision becomes isomorphic with relationship issues that arise in their therapy sessions. Dialectical in nature in that each stage is characterized by the resolution of contradictory emotions, the supervision process helps supervisees experience emotional shifts in their interactions with others, referred to as “emotional restructuring.”

Support Network Intervention Team: A Key Component of a Comprehensive Approach to Family-Based Substance Abuse Treatment

The Support Network Intervention Team (SNIT) is an approach designed to assist multi-agency-involved families with a variety of issues. The SNIT provides structure helpful to a family addressing issues resulting from substance abuse. It is a strength-based approach that invites the family system to include a variety of support persons along with their professional helpers. This intervention is part of a comprehensive approach to family-based substance abuse treatment. This article explores issues of development and implementation of this approach. Typical issues and concerns in such an approach are also discussed. A case report is provided for clarity and illustration.

Constructions of Therapy, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender; An Anthropological Metaphor

This article develops an anthropological metaphor for conducting therapy with families of a racial and/or gender identification different from that of the therapist. This metaphor is grounded in constructionism. It is suggested that when gender and/or racial issues arise in the course of therapy, the therapist must avoid both adhering too stringently to cultural/racial stereotypes, as well as ignoring such stereotypes altogether. Committing either of these errors not only does a disservice to the family, but jeopardizes the therapy. It is also suggested that such issues must be dealt with openly in order to maximize the effectiveness of the interventions.

Group psychotherapy as a technique for assisting ego-impaired children and adolescents

This paper describes an approach to working with egoimpaired children and adolescents. The structure and process of psychotherapy groups within a residential program are discussed. We describe how insight-oriented groups act as a collective superego, thereby encouraging maturation. Functions of the group relating to socialization, milieu issues, peer issues, family relationships, personal issues, selfesteem, empowerment, and special issues are discussed. The focus of the discussion is on the structure and process of the groups. Brief clinical vignettes are utilized to illustrate components of the approach.

Engaging Families and Other Systems in School-Based Treatment Lessons from an Interdisciplinary Treatment Team

This article explores how systems theory can be utilized to inform an interdisciplinary team working with student/clients in a school setting. Specifically, postmodern family therapy theory is utilized as a framework to understand how specific parts of the whole of a school can be engaged in a conversation to construct solutions for student/clients’ problems. We develop a preliminary phase model of engagement and illustrate the model with a case example.

Changing Self-Destructive Habits: Pathways to Solutions with Couples and Families

Changing Self-Destructive Habits: Pathways to Solutions with Couples and Families by Mathew D. Selekman, MSW, and Mark Beyebach, PhD, is a well-written and insightful guide to a brief family therapy approach to treating self-destructive behaviors. By coincidence, I was in need of a text for my upcoming class titled “Substance Abuse and Families Systems.” I was so impressed with this book that I was excited to adopt it as one of the main texts for the class. This class is an elective for master’s-level marriage and family therapy, community mental health counseling, and social work students. This book would also make an excellent text for an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in substance abuse and family systems. To me, one of the issues in the substance abuse field is that practitioners can become black and white in their thinking about their theory of addiction. We can lose track of our mission to help a person with an addiction in an academic debate about the origin of and path to recovery from that addiction. A clear strength of the book is its broad “both/and” approach. It describes how and in what instances addiction can be a disease with a pronounced biological component as well as how in some instances addictive behavior can be the result of maladaptive habit. The organization of the book is logical and develops the argument for this approach as it flows through the first three chapters. The authors lay out the assumptions that provide the foundations of the authors’ perspectives. Chapter 1, titled “Self-Destructive Habits: A Collaborative StrengthBased Brief Family Therapy Approach,” lays the foundation for the rest of the book. My only critique of this book is the density of the first chapter, and as I write this, I realize this is an unfair critique. The density is a function of the breadth and depth of materials covered. It explores selfdestructive behaviors comprehensively from societal and period effects to mental health/relationship issues and down to biological/brain issues. As I read this chapter, I was grateful for the illustrations and diagrams. These added clarity to a robust and comprehensive presentation.