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At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to: Articulate ways that we all – across a myriad of guildmemberships, license-types, and field/practice orientations – can do better work when we work together

Guided by the limited previous literature of adolescent sexual debut and father behaviors, this study examined the influence of father warmth, involvement, and monitoring on adolescent age of sexual debut and likelihood of sexual debut before age 16. Participants and measures were drawn from the Flourishing Families Project and included 346 families and variables from measures completed by adolescents and their parents. A zero-inflated Poisson model was used to test the relationship between father variables and adolescent sexual debut. Gender differences were also analyzed. The findings indicate that an increase in father warmth correlates with a decreased age of sexual debut for adolescent sons and daughters. Results also suggest that an increase in father engagement is related to an increase in the age of debut. However, this variable was also associated with increasing the likelihood of debut for adolescent sons. No significance was found between father monitoring and the age or likelihood of debut. Findings suggest that father variables, independent of mother behaviors, uniquely influence adolescent sexual debut; these effects seem to be protective in some circumstances, while increasing risk in other instances. Implications for future research is considered.

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effect of couple's attachment behavior on family-of-origin (FOO) issues and body mass index (BMI). Previous research has indicated that family and couple relational factors may influence BMI. The vulnerability and stress model provided a theoretical framework for understanding how attachment behaviors may give greater adaptability to managing vulnerabilities from family stress. 1214 couples between the ages of 18 and 70, who identified themselves as in a serious relationship were surveyed using the RELATE questionnaire; both partners responded. Results indicated that there was a significant association between FOO stress and adult BMI for both males and females. There was also an association between attachment behaviors and female BMI, but not male BMI. Finally attachment behavior did not moderate the relationship between FOO stressors and BMI. Clinical implications include using clinical models that focus on intergenerational problems when weight concerns are presented in therapy and, for women especially, focusing on couple attachment behaviors when there are weight concerns.

Little is known about the role that personality and emotional readiness factors may play in participation and outcomes of premarital education programs in varying formats. Data collected via the RELATionship Evaluation Questionnaire (RELATE: Busby et al., 2001) was used to analyze how personality and emotional readiness factors affect perceived change and helpfulness in self-directed and workshop formats of premarital education for 384 individuals who participated in such interventions. Depression was significantly and negatively related to participant perception of positive change and helpfulness in a workshop setting. Kindness was positively and significantly related to perceived positive change in both workshop and self-directed formats, and income was negatively and significantly related to perceived positive change in workshop settings. Anxiety was significantly and positively related to perceived helpfulness in workshop settings. Implications of these findings are discussed. More research is needed to compare these results to other formats of premarital interventions, such as classes and counseling formats, and to more diverse population samples.

The goal of this research was to understand the potential challenges and benefits of an integration between art and sex therapies. Three interviews were performed: two with certified art therapists, one with a certified sex therapist, in order to understand how each of these professionals has chosen to approach issues of sexuality and creative expression within his or her practice. The data from the interviews was critically compared within and between each interviewee, producing three overarching themes that provide a framework for understanding the potential benefits and challenges of this integration. These three themes are defined as: 1) The importance of theoretical training and scope of practice in unlocking sexuality; 2) Opening the door to sex and sexuality in clinical work using creative expression; and 3) Concerns and challenges for the clinician using artistic expression with sexuality. Through discussion of these themes, it was found that there is great potential for an integration of the two therapies, provided clinicians have access to appropriate training, as well as a deeper understanding of individual attitudes toward sexuality as provided by cultural experience.

This study uses heuristic research as the basis for an art exploration into the experience of exposure to traumatic events leading to complex trauma, from early adolescence to adulthood. This paper reviews the existing literature about Islamic religious fundamentalism, political violence and war. The literature on risk factors and the effect on this type of trauma psychology, human rights and women’s rights are discussed. The literature review considers psychological treatment considerations and existing art therapy literature. In the data gathering phase the researcher employs the Art Therapy Trauma Protocol to examine the residual of violent experiences; this includes a series of paintings created using the bilateral stimulation process. After a period of incubation, the data is further culled and analyzed by using filtering with suggested symbolic meaning from various theorists and literature and personal interpretation drawn from dominant themes. This analysis happened during Illumination and Explication phases of the study. The finding of this study supports that the effect of the traumatic life experiences during adolescence has caused splitting in the researcher. This research asserts that using the art therapy method (ATTP) in combination with the heuristic methodology has helped the researcher to gain clarity about herself and provided a new perspective and schema about self and the world. The research process has helped the researcher to gain a holistic sense of herself as thriving after the traumatic life experiences rather switching between the split selves of the victim and survivor.

This paper is an account of the discoveries made during a heuristic study in which the researcher sought clarification of the personal meaning of caring for others as an art therapist in contrast with the experience of caring for oneself. After reviewing the potential dangers of burnout and compassion fatigue and examining various self-care strategies the researcher explored the personal meaning of this topic utilizing heuristic methodology. The process of collecting data consisted of a daily art-making task with varied media covering a two-week period. The researcher was able to highlight the importance of incorporating regular use of self-care into a daily routine to counterbalance the stressors, both personal and those associated with the art therapy profession.