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No description available.

This research study was designed to record and consider lived experiences from marriage and family therapists (MFTs) who have experience with mindfulness as a form of selfcare in sustaining productive professional practices. The primary focus of this project was to understand, through interviews, reports from marriage and family therapists about how they utilize such mindfulness as a form of self-care for their professional practice. This research study has sought insight into whether mindfulness self-care could be helpful in maintaining effective resiliency in professional practice. I used a phenomenological approach, specifically Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) interviewing, to gather reports from participants who identify with practicing mindfulness self-care. This study inquired, among various indicators, about whether or not, in their experience, a select group of family therapists’ professional practice is different, and in what way, when they use mindfulness self-care. This research study has elicited lived experience accounts in interviews to inquire whether these accounts can suggest any benefits, personal or professional, from strategies of mindfulness self-care. In addition to statements that specify benefits these family therapists found for themselves, such as enhanced gratitude for the unique positive qualities in their personal lives, they also indicated a circular benefit in that they were able to better handle the stressors of professional practice and even teach the mindfulness self-care practices that worked for themselves to their clients. These benefits of mindfulness self-care in their professional practice further enhanced their understanding that mindfulness self-care helped fulfill them in their personal lives

The purpose of this study is to develop an interpretative understanding of how discursive therapists’ linguistic actions enhance the couple alliance. Additionally, this study includes an exploration of whether these models hold up to a common factors conversation in the practice of couples therapy. The couple alliance is the central relationship in couples therapy. Previous research suggests that therapists’ actions might have an effect on enhancing this alliance by creating a dyadic orientation. In postmodern/discursive models of practice, therapists’ actions have gone mostly unexplored, leaving therapists with little understanding of what is done in the process of couples therapy that enhances the couple alliance and creates a dyadic orientation. Results from a Conversation Analysis of couple’s cases in Narrative Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and Collaborative Language Therapy suggest the linguistic actions of discursive therapists appear mostly congruent with the claims they make regarding couples therapy. These actions may produce an enhanced couple alliance based on the empirically supported characteristics of a strong couple alliance. Findings also support model-dependent common factors of discursive couples therapy. In all three approaches the couple alliance appears to be enhanced by: (a) developing a symmetrical structure of the dialogue, (b) developing a contextual understanding of the self and the partner, (c) expanding the changes to the larger system, and (d) using thematic summaries. These findings have implications for practice and training in discursive couples therapy. Recommendations for future research include utilizing deductive reasoning in outcome studies to explore the effectiveness of a discursive couples therapy common factors approach to enhance the couple alliance.

The purpose of this research is to explore the experiences of Black doctoral degree holders’ interactions with their White professors in a Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program. There are a number of studies on the effectiveness of White professors and Black graduate students, but few focus specifically on the field of Marriage and Family Therapy. This study employed existential phenomenological methodology to examine Black MFT doctoral degree holders’ perceptions of their White professors. The experiences of six Black doctoral degree holders who attended COAMFTE-accredited programs were examined. The process involved an in-depth semi-structured interview. The study also revealed five major themes describing the meanings of Black doctoral degree holders’ experiences. These five areas of concern were: Perceptions of world: The program; Perception of others: White Professors; Perception of self: Participation; Perception of self: Participants; Implications for Black students; and Implications for White professors. The study suggests implications for future research on the lives of doctoral students, specifically, Black doctoral students’ who are enrolled in marriage and family therapy programs. Recommendations are offered on improving future interactions between Black students and White Professors based on changes by MFT programs, White professors, and Black doctoral students.

The relationship between the therapist and the client is an important consideration for most models of therapy, with all models of therapy emphasizing the importance of establishing a positive therapeutic relationship. Quantitative and qualitative studies have shown that the relationship between the therapist and the client is a predictor of positive outcomes. However, different models define the preferred therapeutic relationship differently. This study was a qualitative exploration of a decentered and influential position of the therapist in narrative therapy. A video of a one-session narrative therapy case conducted by Michael White was analyzed using conversation analysis to answer the following research question: How, if at all, can White be seen to take a decentered and influential position in narrative therapy? The findings of this study provide more knowledge about White’s decentered and influential stance in narrative therapy. It is expected that this knowledge could be useful for education and training purposes, as well as for the improvement of clinical practice.

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Despite calls for increased Adoption Communication Openness (ACO) within the adoptive family, research indicates that families still struggle to accomplish the recommended elements and levels of openness. What could be holding families back from this key process? Three focus groups comprised of 17 adoptive parents of early adolescents (aged 10-14) who were age 0-2 at the time of placement were thematically coded. This inductive analysis revealed the complexity rooted in being —sometimes successfully and sometimes not—communicatively open. Four key themes emerged painting a vivid and rich picture of: a) the breadth and depth of this experience; b) the work entailed; c) the emotionality of it; and d) the grief and loss embedded in it. These results strengthen the understanding of the lived-experience of the adoptive parent thus magnifying the call for not only further research into what drives ACO in the family, but also consistent and supportive pre- and post-adoption services and clinical work.

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It is the purpose of the present thesis to determine the adjustment of a sampling of correspondence club members. The hypothesis is that the social adjustment of these individuals is inferior to that of the individuals used in two personality inventories. In addition, answers to these questions are sought: Is there a common need or problem that motivates these men and women to seek companionship through correspondence agencies? What is their age, sex, cultural and geographical background? What are the physical qualities and economic status of the members and what qualities and status are they seeking in the members they contact?