The Common Factors Model was introduced in 1992 by Michael Lambert suggesting that four factors that exist in all forms of psychotherapy are what account for positive therapeutic outcomes. The four common factors posited by Lambert include: Extratherapeutic Factors, The Therapeutic Relationship, Hope and Expectancy and Specific Factors. Marriage and family therapy is one form of psychotherapy that has taken an interest in The Common Factors Model and dedicated various amounts of research to understand connections between the two philosophies. Despite the efforts to understand common factors that exist in marriage and family therapy, very little research has been done studying the relationship between the common factor Hope and Expectancy, and marriage and family therapy. The current study aimed to fill that gap, by exploring the relationship between marriage and family therapy, and the common factor hope and expectancy through the lens of Snyder’s Hope Theory. In this study, a mixed methods sequential embedded designed was implemented to examine the relationship that exists between marriage and family therapy and the common factor Hope and Expectancy. The results indicated that levels of hope and expectancy were high in parents/guardians who were going to start participating family therapy with their child. The high levels of hope and expectancy were likely due to the activation of an interaction between extratherapeutic factors and hope and expectancy. Some of the extratherapeutic factors involved in the interaction were specific to marriage and family therapy, while others can be found in all forms of psychotherapy.

Much has been written about family therapy training and supervision from the perspective of teachers and supervisors. However, the perspective of family therapy trainees is not well represented in the literature. Research employing student responses is common, but results are offered from the perspective of the trainers of family therapy and the subjective experience of students is frequent ly left untapped . One area of training and supervision, basic therapy skills, offers no perspectives from family therapy trainees. This research examined trainee perspectives concerning basic family therapy skills and made comparisons to trainer perspectives regarding the same skills. The findings indicate that some differences exist in those skills valued as most important to students when compared to the same skills evaluated by their instructors. Students place value on self attributes and joining skills whereas teachers and supervisors value professional ethics and the students ' knowledge base when ranking skills.

This study examined the effectiveness of a systemic cybernetic counselling approach with 3 females with bulimia nervosa. Bulimia nervosa is a relatively recent diagnosed condition (1980). Thus, little is known about the efficacy of different treatment approaches. The systemic cybernetic counselling approach (White; de Shazer) which informs family therapy represents a potentially powerful form of treatment in that it allows a complex construction of the problem. The research design employed a multiple (3) single case study approach with embedded units of analyses. The 3 women, aged 17 to 27, were seen over a 2-3 month period for 4-8 one hour sessions. Predicted patterns of non-equivalent dependent variables were compared with empirically based patterns over time. Continuous (including pre-, post-treatment and long-term follow up) assessment of frequency of bingeing/purging was established as well as ratings on other dependent variables - psychometric measures (Eating Disorders Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Coopersmith Self Esteem Inventory), affective self reports and reports by others. Results show that all three clients eliminated bingeing/purging by post-treatment. Two clients maintained this improvement on all dependent measures at long-term follow up. The most marked improvements were associated with the least severe pre-treatment scores. In the case where the whole family attended counselling sessions, the number of sessions was reduced. On the basis of the results, systemic cybernetic counselling procedures hold promise for the successful treatment of bulimia nervosa.

Because of its political and philosophical launching ground (Arredondo & Perez, 2006), cultural competence did not begin as an empirical research program, and as a result, there remains disagreement about how to define and measure cultural competence. Although the application of cultural competence remains unclear to some psychologists (Fuertes et al., 2006), it is now common knowledge that the therapeutic alliance is a statistically and clinically significant contributor to effective therapy. This pilot study merges two prominent bodies of literature, cultural competence and therapeutic alliance, with the underlying assumption that a culturally competent counselor will be able to provide effective service through the therapeutic relationship (Pope-Davis et al., 2002). This pilot study was designed to provide information about the relationship between therapists' self-reports and their observed behaviors regarding cultural competence (CC), examine how therapists' CC facilitates the formation of working alliances, and examine the role of CC in predicting parent-child discrepancy in alliance. Participants were family therapists and family members involved in a multi-site clinical trial study (Parent Study) evaluating Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT™; Szapocznik, Hervis, & Schwartz, 2003). A total of 14 therapists from 8 community treatment programs from across the country were included in the rating portion of the study. The Parent Study included African American and Hispanic families with adolescents ages 12-17, mostly referred from the juvenile justice system. Scores from Roysircar's Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI; 1994) and Cultural Diversity Observer Rating Scale (CDORS; 2005) were compared. Observed therapeutic alliance was evaluated using the Vanderbilt Therapeutic Alliance Scale-Revised. The associations were evaluated with 3 multilevel univariate linear models using HLM software. Since 6 of 14 therapists (43%) completed the MCI, the pilot study was completed without self-reported competence as a predictor of therapeutic alliance (only CDORS was used). The results of this study failed to provide support for the hypothesized relationships between cultural competence and therapeutic alliance. These results are discussed in light of the methodological limitations of this study and suggestions are made to improve future investigations in this area.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Text in Afrikaans / The development of the person of the therapist is increasingly being highlighted in systemic therapeutic training. This emphasis on the person of the therapist can be traced back to the rise of constructivism. Constructivism represents the viewpoint that reality is created rather than discovered. As a result the therapist's contribution to the therapeutic process is considered cardinal. The personal style of the therapist is once more placed under the limelight. Exactly how this variable must be handled to ensure optimal efficiency is still unclear. Suggestions in this regard are mostly related to some therapeutic model. The objective of this study, on the contrary, is to determine the value of a more general approach. A procedure developed by the University of South Africa, accentuating the person of the therapist, has been evaluated. / Opleiding in sistemiese terapie word al hoe meer gekenmerk deur die ontwikkeling van die persoon van die terapeut. Die beklemtoning van die persoon van die terapeut kan veral na die opkoms van die onstruktivisme teruggevoer word. Hierdie denkrigting verteenwoordig die standpunt dat die werklikheid eerder geskep as ontdek word. Gevolglik word die terapeut se bydrae tot die terapeutiese proses as van deurslaggewend beskou. Die persoonlike styl van die terapeut word dus opnuut onder die soeklig geplaas. Hoedat hierdie veranderlike egter hanteer moet word om optimale effektiwiteit te verseker, is egter nie duidelik nie. Meeste voorstelle hou direk verband met een of ander terapeutiese model. Met hierdie studie is daar egter gepoog om die waarde van 'n meer algemene benadering te peil. 'n Prosedure wat met verloop van tyd aan die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika ontwikkel is, is gevolglik verder - en wei vanuit die gesigshoek van die terapeut - ondersoek. / M.A. (Voorligtingsielkunde)

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There are 5.7 million people in India who are living with HIV/AIDS and many more are indirectly affected by the epidemic (families, children). Since HIV/AIDS is a growing problem, further research for prevention and treatment is needed. Family therapists possess an important role in the AIDS crisis given that some family therapy models have been shown to work well with HIV issues. Although there is a need for family therapy in India, the profession of family therapy is in its infancy. This study attempts to understand what marriage and family therapy interventions work best with Indian clients especially those who are HIV positive. Psychoeducation, directive therapy, addressing the presenting problem and systems therapy (particularly focusing on the couple husband-wife system) are interventions found in this study to be most utilized by Indian therapists with their clients. / Ph. D.

In this study, I explore the ways in which feminist family therapists encourage exploration of, resistance to, and collusion with, oppression. I explore qualitatively the critical dialogues, both inner, and with others, that feminist family therapists employ to address oppressive systems. My research questions are: a. How do family therapists who identify as feminist describe how their feminist identities and ideas about feminism have evolved over time? b. How do feminist family therapists report stories of their own resistance to gender-based oppression? c. How do feminist family therapists report stories of their own collusion with the oppression of others? And d. How do feminist family therapists encourage clients to examine oppression and collusion of oppression of others? I use tape-recorded, one-on-one interviews with a theoretical sample of self-identified feminist participants who have demonstrated rigorous attention to feminist inquiry and practice in the field of family therapy. Consistent with a contemporary grounded theory methodology, generation of theory is based on constructivist methods, which recognize that there are multiple coexisting realities and not one objective truth (Charmaz, 2000). By way of constructivist grounded theory analysis the following four categories emerged: (a) Actions and Strategies of a Feminist Family Therapist, (b) It's a Sensibility: The Development of a Feminist Identity, (c) Recognizing Oppression and Injustice: A Quest for Liberation and (d) Resisting: Exploring Why, How, and at the Risk of Which Consequences. / Ph. D.