Handbook of family therapy

Integrative, research-based, multisystemic: these words reflect not only the state of family therapy, but also the nature of this comprehensive handbook. The contributors, all well-recognized names who have contributed extensively to the field, accept and embrace the tensions that emerge when integrating theoretical perspectives and science in clinical settings to document the current evolution of couples and family therapy, practice, and research. Each individual chapter contribution is organized around a central theme: that the integration of theory, clinical wisdom, and practical and meaningful research produce the best understanding of couple and family relationships, and the best treatment options. The handbook contains five parts: Part I describes the history of the field and its current core theoretical constructs Part II analyzes the theories that form the foundation of couple and family therapy, chosen because they best represent the broad range of schools of practice in the field Part III provides the best examples of approaches that illustrate how clinical models can be theoretically integrative, evidence-based, and clinically responsive Part IV summarizes evidence and provides useful findings relevant for research and practice Part V looks at the application of couple and family interventions that are based on emerging clinical needs, such as divorce and working in medical settings. Handbook of Family Therapy illuminates the threads that are common to family therapies and gives voice to the range of perspectives that are possible. Practitioners, researchers, and students need to have this handbook on their shelves, both to help look back on our past and to usher in the next evolution in family therapy. Integrative, research-based, multisystemic: these words reflect not only the state of family therapy, but the nature of this comprehensive handbook as well. The contributors, all well-recognized names who have contributed extensively to the field, accept and embrace the tensions that emerge when integrating theoretical perspectives and science in clinical settings to document the current evolution of couples and family therapy, practice, and research. Each individual chapter contribution is organized around a central theme: that the integration of theory, clinical wisdom, and practical and meaningful research produce the best understanding of couple and family relationships, and the best treatment options. The handbook contains five parts:• Part I describes the history of the field and its current core theoretical constructs• Part II analyzes the theories that form the foundation of couple and family therapy, chosen because they best represent the broad range of schools of practice in the field• Part III provides the best examples of approaches that illustrate how clinical models can be theoretically integrative, evidence-based, and clinically responsive• Part IV summarizes evidence and provides useful findings relevant for research and practice • Part V looks at the application of couple and family interventions that are based on emerging clinical needs, such as divorce and working in medical settings.Handbook of Family Therapy illuminates the threads that are common to family therapies and gives voice to the range of perspectives that are possible. Practitioners, researchers, and students need to have this handbook on their shelves, both to help look back on our past and to usher in the next evolution in family therapy

FOCUS ON ETHICS Ethical Considerations in Treatment of Personality Dysfunction: Using Evidence, Principles, and Clinical Judgment When the Evidence Base Is Scant: Some Considerations in the Ethical Treatment of Personality Dysfunction

Clinical work with clients suffering from personality disorders can be among the most challenging for psychologists. These clients may have a wide range of clinical presentations, and many practitioners may lack the specialized training needed to provide successful treatment to these clients. Clinicians are faced with several challenges in making treatment decisions that are ethically informed and based on available research findings. Because of the relative dearth of evidence-based treatments for these clients, clinicians are encouraged to use a cost-benefit analysis approach when weighing the benefits versus disadvantages of specific interventions and treatment approaches. Recommendations for effective and ethical treatment of clients with personality dysfunction are provided that are based on an empirically grounded framework. Three expert commentators provide insights into the state-of-the-art of clinical work with these clients

Confirming, Validating, and Norming the Factor Structure of Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change Initial and Intersession

Progress or feedback research tracks and feeds back client progress data throughout the course of psychotherapy. In the effort to empirically ground psychotherapeutic practice, feedback research is both a complement and alternative to empirically supported manualized treatments. Evidence suggests that tracking and feeding back progress data with individual or nonsystemic feedback systems improves outcomes in individual and couple therapy. The research reported in this article pertains to the STIC® (Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change)—the first client‐report feedback system designed to empirically assess and track change within client systems from multisystemic and multidimensional perspectives in individual, couple, and family therapy. Clients complete the STIC Initial before the first session and the shorter STIC Intersession before every subsequent session. This study tested and its results supported the hypothesized factor structure of the six scales that comprise both STIC forms in a clinical outpatient sample and in a normal, random representative sample of the U.S. population. This study also tested the STIC\u27s concurrent validity and found that its 6 scales and 40 of its 41 subscales differentiated the clinical and normal samples. Lastly, the study derived clinical cut‐offs for each scale and subscale to determine whether and how much a client\u27s score falls in the normal or clinical range. Beyond supporting the factorial and concurrent validity of both STIC forms, this research supported the reliabilities of the six scales (Omegahierarchical) as well as the reliabilities of most subscales (alpha and rate–rerate). This article delineates clinical implications and directions for future research