The Family Journal

Covenant marriage represents an effort by some religious groups and state legislatures to strengthen the institution of marriage. The construct of covenant marriage extends the concept of the marriage contract to a lifelong commitment between the partners within a supportive community, especially among evangelical Christians. Characteristics of covenant marriage, potential strengths, and criticisms of the movement are offered in the review.

This program evaluation was conducted by interviewing 40 low-income participants in a relationship education (RE) program for stepfamilies to determine specific benefits of a group-formatted intervention. The benefits that were most often identified were learning from others and having personal stepfamily challenges normalized. Participants also reported the group format facilitated social support. Participants enjoyed the opportunity to share their own approaches and solutions with the other stepfamilies. Identifiable benefits of group-formatted stepfamily education are delineated as are implementation considerations for working with large groups of low-income stepfamilies. Specifically, recommendations regarding trust and logistics are provided.

The adventure-based counseling (ABC) approach integrates counseling and experiential education in an outdoor environment and the Multiple Family Therapy Group (MFTG) treats multiple families concurrently. This article presents the history, theoretical basis, benefits, and challenges for each of these approaches. A proposed model integrates both approaches for an innovative, multi-month intervention for MFTGs. Additionally, the article presents treatment implications along with benefits, challenges, ethical considerations, and modifications for use with individual families.

Typologies of intimate partner violence were developed to describe the heterogeneity of abusive men. They contrast with the traditional feminist ideology of abuser etiology that holds all violence is the result of power and control. Over the past 15 years, a large body of knowledge about typologies has amassed, mostly in sociology journals. Thus, very little typology research has been published in counseling journals. This article synthesizes empirically based typological research and introduces the continuum of conflict and control—a conceptual training model to help couples counselors understand the differences among violence within relationships.

This study examined relations between family cohesion and adaptability (as measured by the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales-III) and the formation of trust and intimacy (assessed with the Measure of Psychosocial Development) among adolescents in residential treatment. Bivariate correlation revealed a significant association between family cohesion and adaptability and psychosocial stages of trust and intimacy. Regression analyses revealed that family cohesion predicted trust, and that trust is significantly influential in the formation of intimacy. Discussion and treatment implications are included.

Several authors emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary approaches to working with students, families, and their communities. However, existing school—community collaboration programs have not provided a model for direct clinical services to families using collaborative partnerships with counselors. The authors propose one training model that would allow counselors from different specialties to work together as clinicians, with families, as they provide Parent Education programs.

Unlike perceptions toward professional counseling, public opinions do not typically associate marriage and family counseling or therapy with treatments of mental disorders. The current survey of college students in this sample confirmed that most would not recommend, specifically, marriage and family therapists (MFTs) for mental health evaluations, psychiatric symptoms, intelligence and personality assessments, drug abuses, among others. The only situation for which students would most recommend an MFT is issues pertaining to marriage and the family. Implications for professional promotion and credentialing include enhancing the visibility, availability, and qualifications of marriage and family counselors (MFCs) or therapists especially through educational venues such as schools as well as media outlets.

The Communication Patterns Questionnaire—Short Form (CPQ-SF) is an 11-item self-assessment of spouses’ perceptions of marital interactions. A cited reference review of the CPQ-SF literature revealed no formal assessment of its psychometric properties and that researchers are imprecise in their use, reporting, and referencing of the measure. Toward improving the use of the CPQ-SF in research and practice, the factor structure and psychometric properties of this scale were examined with data collected from a diverse sample of 477 married individuals. Three latent constructs were identified: criticize/defend, discuss/avoid, and positive interaction patterns. Suggestions for a more precise use of the CPQ-SF in research and practice conclude the article.

The aim of this study was to obtain a culturally adapted Spanish version of the American Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES IV). For this purpose, rigorous procedures were used in the retro-translation process and in the subsequent empirical study. The sampling consisted of 455 university students and a balanced scale of 13 items (α = .87) was obtained; a scale that can be used independently. Moreover, the study was rounded off with a 6-factor model that includes 2 central scales—cohesion and adaptability—and 4 extreme scales—chaotic, rigid, disengaged, and enmeshed—each one with 4 items. All the scales proved to have good psychometric qualities and suitable convergent, concurrent, and content validity, yet it will be necessary to go more deeply into the rigid scale. The construct validity was supported by a confirmatory factorial analysis with sound fit indexes (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.046, normed fit index [NFI] = 0.94, the comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.97, and the goodness-of-fit index [GFI] = 0.92). In its Spanish version, FACES IV is a useful instrument for family assessment, although further studies need to be carried out so as to confirm the results obtained.

The Family Apperception Test (FAT) is a projective assessment procedure based on the family system theory. FAT allows the subjects’ affects and feelings about their family to be assessed. The original version and its French translation removed some of the conceptual and psychometric limitations of previous projective tests and family assessment procedures but several questions remained. The current study proposes several modifications to the conceptual background, administration, coding procedure, and standardization of the FAT, which considerably improve its psychometric properties. Data were collected on 168 typical and clinical children in the French-speaking part of Belgium. The results provide significant evidence for inter- and intra-assessor reliability; the factorial analysis and the internal consistency of the revised version were good; the FAT enabled us to discriminate between typical children and those in the clinical sample. The discussion focuses on the interest and limits of the quantitative coding procedure, based on several categories conceptualized as risk versus protective factors. The FAT is characterized by a complementary approach—both quantitative and qualitative—to the children and their families.

One consequence of the current economic climate is that many couples are choosing to keep living under the same roof despite divorce and emotionally detaching. The current article focuses on some of the economic implications and also introduces a checklist that can assist couples in making agreements and identifying issues that are or are not negotiable.

Cultural sensitivity and cultural competence in the selection of culturally sensitive treatments is a requisite for effective counseling practice in working with diverse clients and their families, particularly when clients present with health issues or medical problems. Described here is a strategy for selecting culturally sensitive treatments (cultural interventions, culturally sensitive interventions, or culturally sensitive therapy) based on a comprehensive assessment of cultural factors, personality dynamics, family dynamics, and health or medical conditions. A case example is provided that illustrates this strategy.

Larry Golden started the marriage and family therapy program at Our Lady of the Lake University and was founding chair of the Department of Counseling at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He has contributed substantially to the literature in marriage and family counseling. This interview secured his unique perspective on developments in the field.

Adolescence is a pivotal developmental stage for establishing patterns of behaviors that can last a lifetime. Adolescents’ choices have a significant impact on future opportunities. Education can have tremendous influence on the overall success of an individual. For example, a quality education can affect employability, which indirectly influences economic status; therefore, influencing access to health care and community resources. This literature review will examine the effect of family, peers, and teachers as it relates to adolescent motivation to achieve academically. The authors have investigated adolescent academic motivation from a cross-cultural prospective, exploring four diverse ethnic groups: European Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans. The research indicates that though developmentally, adolescents share common characteristics, unique dynamics are considered by counselors when addressing academic motivation within ethnic groups.