Sandy Magnuson

Challenges for Higher Education Couples in Commuter Marriages: Insights for Couples and Counselors Who Work with Them

This inquiry focused on the experiences of dual-career couples who maintain two homes to attain career satisfaction. Data were collected during conjoint interviews with five commuting couples. Findings included support for the potential strength and satisfaction of commuting relationships. Trust, commitment, regular communication, and quality shared time were endorsed as factors contributing to successful distance marriages. Cited challenges and disadvantages included loneliness, financial costs, and adverse reactions from others.

The Professional Genogram: Enhancing Professional Identity and Clarity

An adaptation of the family genogram to enhance professional self-awareness is presented. Applications for academic and clinical settings are described.

Constructing Genograms with Lesbian Clients

Intergenerational family therapy has been used to treatclients with many different experiences and presenting problems. We propose that genogram construction may be a useful technique for increasing levels of differentiation inclients with a lesbian sexual orientation. A description,rationale, and illustration of how genogram constructionmay be used by family counselors to treat lesbian clients isprovided.

Creating a Dynamic Simulation to Teach Systemic Concepts and Theories of Family Counseling in an Introductory Course.

The authors describe a teaching strategy for an introductory family counseling course. An evolving vignette features afamily in various developmental stages. Intergenerational transmission possibilities are introduced when trainees work with client issues in culminating role-plays.

Marital Counseling: An Integrated Brief Therapy Approach

Advantages ofandpotentialpitfalls in integrated approaches to marital counseling are addressed. The authors present a sequential approach to marital counseling in which they integrate various approaches without jeopardizing internal consistency antd uniformity in treatment.

Gaps and Reconnections in the Mother–Adult Child Relationship

This article features a therapeutic counseling technique that can be used with clients who struggle with painful relationships with their mothers. Instead of focusing solely on unmet needs, this technique helps clients gain more realistic perceptions of their mothers, with the premise that clearer perceptions will lead to honesty and acceptance. On the basis of Bowen’s theory of intergenerational family therapy, the strategy provides a context and common language for examining mothers’ strengths and shortcomings. In addition to the authors’ “gaps” technique, other family systems strategies to help clients reconnect with their mothers are briefly described. Although the counseling technique is explained in the context of mother-child relationships, it is equally applicable to other important family-oforigin relationships, including fathers and their adult children.

Collaboration between Couples Counselors and Physical Therapists When Treating Dyspareunia: An Untapped Partnership.

Vocabulary and popular treatments related to sexual performance difficulties experienced by males have become familiar through increased media coverage, advertisements, and psychopharmacological advances. Conversely, dyspareunia, vaginismus, vestibulitis, and other terminology related to sexual difficulties encountered by females may be less familiar to the lay population and to professionals. Dyspareunia is “an acute recurrent pain associated with sexual intercourse. . . . [It] is a chronic problem lasting many years, or even a lifetime” (Meana, Binik, Khalife, & Cohen, 1999, p. 498). Dyspareunia “is usually described as being superficial or deep, and can be due to infection or allergy, following trauma, postmenopausal changes, congenital defects, neoplasms, and poor sexual technique” (Polden & Mantle, 1992, p. 311). A primary feature of dyspareunia is pain experienced with vaginal penetration (Bachmann & Phillips, 1998). Although the duration and intensity of dyspareunia vary, it is experienced by as many as 15% of women (Meana et al., 1999). Determining etiology may be difficult; however, women’s beliefs about the causes of their dyspareunia often contribute to the severity of their pain and distress (Meana et al., 1999). For example, women who attribute their difficulty to psychosocial impairment appear to experience greater levels of pain, distress, and marital conflict. Because of its invisible and somewhat inconsistent nature, dyspareunia is difficult to diagnose and treat (Theve-Gibbons, 2000). In addition, there is a spectrum of such syndromes, and they may occur simultaneously (Steege, 1998). In fact, when dyspareunia occurs “over time, everything hurts, and the patient loses the ability to discriminate one source from another” (Steege, 1998, p. 3). Other pervasive losses experienced by women afflicted with dyspareunia may be invisible as well. For example, dyspareunia often coincides with depression, sleep disturbance, and sexual dysfunction (Steege, 1998). Other manifestations may include shame and diminished feelings of femininity, dignity, and self-esteem, particularly when the pain impedes satisfactory sexual relationships (TheveGibbons, 2000). Etiology of dyspareunia may be related to psychosocial or physical factors; in fact, dyspareunia is a diagnostic category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) (American Psychiatric Association, 1994; Hiller, 1996). The purpose of this article is to enlighten counselors who work with couples about manifestations of physiologically based dyspareunia and to suggest ways counselors may collaborate with physical therapists who practice in the medical community, particularly those who specialize in services for women. We acknowledge that both females and males can experience dyspareunia (DSM-IV); however, our focus will be on treatment of dyspareunia for women.

A Death in the Family Brings Insight to a Family Counselor

This article features one segment of an intergenerational family counselor’s journey in understanding her own family. Her father’s death and the impending funeral became a wellspring for new understanding and recognition of family patterns.

Interventions Requiring Purchase of Materials: Cautions and Considerations

Family counselors and counseling supervisors often encounter questions about professional ethics that are not directly addressed in codes or guidelines. This article features International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors Ethics Committee members’ response to a counselor’s question related to the design of clinical interventions that require clients to purchase materials with personal or family funds.