Maureen Duffy

Workplace Mobbing: Individual and Family Health Consequences

In this article, the concept of workplace mobbing is introduced and described. The health consequences for the individuals who have been mobbed and for their families are identified and discussed. The contribution of organizational and personality dynamics to workplace mobbing is examined, and possible counseling interventions are presented. The article concludes with two clinical case studies of workplace mobbing in academia.

Workplace Mobbing: Family Dynamics and Therapeutic Considerations

Workplace mobbing is an underreported and understudied public health problem with significant health consequences on victims, intimate relationships, and families. Family and systemic dynamics influence the victims response and recovery from in mobbing. Effective therapy with victims of mobbing, their significant others, and families requires familiarity with family and systemic dynamics. Various therapeutic considerations and interventions are described and illustrated in a case example.

Restorying the Illness Experience in Multiple Sclerosis

The authors describe multiple sclerosis (MS) and the emotional distress it induces in patients and their families. They present a framework for conceptualizing the impact of chronic illness on patients and their families and suggest approaches that could be used in counseling these clients. Several modalities for helping MS patients and their families find meaning in their chronic illness are then described. These include narrative therapy, restorying techniques, and cognitive restructuring.

The Syndrome L Family: A Challenge for Family Counseling and Therapy

I t ismore common thanmost of us arewilling to imagine. It seems that nearly every family has onemember with some sort of learning problem or disability, whether it be an Atten tion Deficit Disorder (ADD) or other learning or cognitive disability. There is a cluster of biologically mediated symp toms and impairments associated with such learning prob lems. This cluster or pattern of symptoms and impairments is routinely viewed as a symptom complex involving only the diagnosed (or undiagnosed) individual family member. Although these conditions are typically framed as individual disorders and treated primarily as such, they have significant impact on families in several ways: in terms of time, finances, career, and relationship. For a number of reasons that will be discussed below, it may be more clinically appropriate and useful to conceptualize these learning problems in terms of family dynamics. At the hazard of creating yet another diagnostic entity, and with trepidation, we can refer to this learning-disordered family as the Syndrome L Family. Unfortunately, family counselors and therapists typically are not yet sufficiently adept at deal ing with such families. Because they are not formally trained to recognize and treat this family-related entity, family coun selors and therapists are less likely to diagnosis it and address it in treatment process. This article briefly describes this syn drome and its impact on families. Then it discusses the chal lenge of this syndrome for the practice of couples and family counseling and therapy

Cancer, Families, and Family Counselors

In this article, the authors examine the role of the family counselor in working with cancer patients and their families. Lifestyle factors such as physical inactivity, obesity, nutrition, and coping styles are increasingly linked causally to the development of cancer. The authors suggest ways in which the family counselor can work proactively with families in the area of cancer prevention. Because new cancer treatment protocols are reducing treatment side effects and increasing length of life after diagnosis, family counselors can also be effective in helping families to view cancer as a chronic disease and to cope more effectively with its impact on their lives. A clinical case example is used to illustrate intervention with cancer patients and their families.