Steven M. Harris

Family Therapist Comfort with and Willingness to Discuss Client Sexuality

Limited empirical information exists on whether or not marriage and family therapists are having sexuality-related discussions with their clients. When helping professionals ignore client sexuality, the potential for unintended negative outcomes increases. The researchers surveyed 175 clinical members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy to assess how their clinical training and education, their perceived sexual knowledge, and their comfort with sexual material influenced their willingness to engage in sexuality-related discussions with their clients. The results indicate that sexuality education and supervision experiences are the cornerstone for a therapists base level of comfort. It is through sexuality education and supervision that sex knowledge is acquired and comfort levels are increased. Once comfort with sexual discussions increases, then therapists are more likely to engage in sexuality discussions with their clients.

A caregiver perspective of how Alzheimer's disease and related disorders affect couple intimacy

Objectives: Alzheimers disease and related disorders (ADRD) pose a potential threat to the interpersonal and intimate relationships in couples. The objective of this study was to understand the lived experiences of individuals with a spouse suffering from ADRD and how this diagnosis affects intimacy within these marital relationships. Method: This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to capture the lived experiences of caregivers of ADRD individuals. A total of 10 interviews were conducted, with six participants recruited from a neurology clinic and four participants drawn from support groups. Structured interviews with open-ended questions were conducted, with thematic units derived from the interview analysis. Results: All participants reported some strain in the ADRD relationship, with different aspects of the disease affecting closeness and connection within the couple. The quality of the marital relationship prior to diagnosis impacted every participant in some fashion as well as having to adjust to ADRD related behaviors. Outside effects on the relationship, coping with the disease and degree of intimacy were additional themes reported from the interviews, with positive and negative attributes given to these themes. Conclusion: Although the caregiving role can be difficult for a spouse, it does not mean that the ADRD has to always negatively impact the marital relationship. Understanding the role that intimacy can play for these couples and how it might contribute to coping strategies for couples affected by ADRD can be a powerful adjunct to other treatments available.

Look who's talking : Measuring self-disclosure in MFT

While self-disclosure plays a prominent role in the development and maintenance of the therapeutic relationship, most marriage and family therapy clinical research fails to include measures of self-disclosure. A factor analysis of Chelunes (1976) Self Disclosure Situations Survey (SDSS) reduces the number of items in this measure from 20 to six. Researchers are encouraged to consider conducting clinical research with specific attention to the construct of self-disclosure. The revised SDSS could easily be added as part of the self-report information collected in clinical studies.

Fruits of Improved Communication: The Experiences of Hispanic Couples in a Relationship Education Program

Marital and relationship education (MRE) has demonstrated its efficacy as a viable intervention helpful to couples and individuals who receive it. However, an overrepresentation of Caucasian populations existed in MRE research resulting in a need to understand how MRE is received by those in underserved populations. The current study reports the findings derived from focus groups consisting of Hispanic individuals and couples who attended and completed 20 hours of MRE using a PREP-based curriculum. Participants were asked five questions regarding differences they perceived in their relationships as a result of attending the MRE program. While participants agreed that they had learned and acquired new communication skills, they also reported substantial changes in the amount of peace and calm in their homes as well as increased understanding of and patience toward their partners. Additionally, participants reported sharing what they had learned in the MRE with family members who were not in attendance. This seemed to represent an effort to “pay it forward” to their loved ones. This study suggests that the benefits of MRE for these Hispanic families were felt well beyond those who actually attended the MRE program.

Sexual‐moral attitudes, love styles, and mate selection

Students at a southwestern university were surveyed to test the interrelations of three constructs: sexual‐moral attitudes, love styles, and attraction criteria. Following the procedures of the National Health and Social Life Survey, from which the sexual‐moral attitude items were obtained, we conducted a cluster analysis to create attitudinal groupings. We obtained four clusters representing various nuances of liberalism and conservatism. When compared on love styles, the clusters differed primarily on ludus and pragma. Not only did some of the liberal clusters differ from some of the conservative ones on love styles, but there were also some differences within liberalism and within conservatism. Cluster differences also emerged on the attraction criteria.

Factors associated with first session nonattendance at a university-based family therapy clinic

Two hundred four consecutive psychotherapy initiators who called for an initial appointment at a university-based family therapy clinic during a one-year period were examined to see what factors influenced nonattendance. Researchers considered factors such as demographics, substance use, medical and psychiatric involvement, clinic practice, and constellation expected to attend. The 118 (58%) initiators who kept their appointment differed significantly from the 86 (42%) who did not in distance to the clinic, partners age, number of children, marital status, employment, time of appointment, and therapeutic constellation. Divorce, unemployment, having a partner between the ages of 18–24, and having children were significant indicators of nonattendance. An appointment scheduled between 1:00 and 4:59 P.M., seeking conjoint psychotherapy, and living between 6 and 25 miles from the clinic were significant indicators of attendance. Implications for improving initial appointment attendance are presented.

Recognizing and Responding to Partner Violence: An Analog Study

The purpose of this study was to modify a study by Hansen, Harway, and Cervantes (1991) that investigated whether clinicians recognized and responded to indicators of intimate partner violence. In the current study participants included 112 mental health clinicians who read a clinical vignette, then responded to several open-ended questions, while still blind to the purpose of the study. Participants then answered several objective questions about how they respond when treating cases of intimate partner violence. Logistic regressions were conducted for recognition of and response to partner violence to determine significant predictors. While the overall models were significant, few significant individual predictors emerged. The significant predictors included: education, mental health discipline, and theoretical orientation.

Are Clinical Records Really That Important? The Dearth of Research and Practice Guidelines in MFT Literature

In Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT), case notes can play an important role in providing quality care and in maintaining the integrity of the therapeutic relationship. Case notes are invaluable for clinicians on many different levels: clinically, ethically, and legally. In this article, we will highlight the many uses of case notes within the field and will give examples of what problems may occur when case notes are not adequately, thoroughly, and timely kept. We also provide a review of all research-based information available on this topic over a fifteen-year period. The results of the review are disheartening as this area has received no empirical attention in MFT Literature. We call attention to this dearth of information and give suggestions regarding future research and training.

Image-guided otologic surgery

Application of image-guided surgical systems to otologic surgery has been limited by the need for submillimeter accuracy via a fiducial system that is easily useable (i.e. noninvasive and nonobstructive). To overcome these limitations and demonstrate the feasibility of image-guided otologic surgery, a novel fiducial marker system was constructed which attaches to a dental biteblock and has fiducial markers surrounding the surgical field of interest (the ears/temporal bones). Accuracy was tested by fitting the device to a cadaveric skull and embedding targets near anatomically important locations. High-resolution CT scanning (thickness = 0.5 mm) was then performed. Marker and target locations were measured in physical space using an infrared, imageacquisition system. These measurements were used in calculating target registration error—the error associated with identification of the surgical targets. This error was minimized when the maximum number of fiducial markers was used (nine fiducials surrounding each ear). Submillimeter target registration error was repeatedly achieved with five markers surrounding the ear of interest and one marker centrally located on the contralateral side. D 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

I'm just not like that: Investigating the Intergenerational Cycle of Violence

This article reports the findings of a study designed to investigate the following question: How do some childhood witnesses of domestic violence make sense of their nonviolence in adult intimate relationships? The results of in-depth semistructured interviews with adults who grew up witnessing violence but who are not violent in their intimate relationships are reported. External factors and the participants’ attention to the punishments associated with the violence they had witnessed played the largest roles in helping these men see alternatives to acting violently in their own intimate relationships.