Therapists’ Contributions to the Alliance in Home-Based Family Treatment: The Role of Alliance Building Behaviors, Personality, and Clinical Experience

Alliance is a robust contributor to the outcome of adult, youth, and family therapy, but little is known about therapists’ contributions to the alliance in conjoint family treatment. We investigated the predictive value of therapists’ personality, clinical experience and observed alliance building behaviors for mid-treatment alliance as reported by therapists and family members. Participants were 77 parents and 21 youth from 57 families receiving home-based family treatment from 33 therapists. Therapist openness to experience and agreeableness as well as therapists’ in-session engagement and emotional connection behaviors predicted more positive therapists’ and family members’ reports of the alliance. Therapist neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness predicted more negative alliance-reports. In-session safety behaviors also predicted more negative alliance-reports, but this finding was only significant for therapists’ and not family members’ reports of the alliance. Clinical experience did not predict quality of alliances. We conclude that training and supervision of family therapists could benefit from focusing on emotional connection with and active engagement of family members in treatment, and from increasing self-awareness of the impact of their personality on alliances with family members.

Five new species of Streptocarpus (Gesneriaceae) from Katanga, D.R. Congo

Background and aims – Five new species of Streptocarpus (Gesneriaceae) are described from D.R. Congo in connection with preparing the family treatment for the Flore d’Afrique centrale.Methods – Standard herbarium practices were applied.Key results – Streptocarpus malachiticola sp. nov. is related to S. compressus and S. goetzei while S. bampsii sp. nov., S. malaissei sp. nov., S. salesianorum sp. nov., and S. schaijesii sp. nov. are related to S. michelmorei and S. solenanthus. The differences with these species are discussed and distribution maps for the new taxa are presented. An identification key for all known acaulescent species from D.R. Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi is provided. The conservation status of new species is preliminarily assessed. All taxa are range-restricted in Upper Katanga and the assessments are as follows: S. malachiticola: EN B1+2ab(iii), S. bampsii: CR B2ab(iii), S. malaissei: EN B1+2ab(iii), S. salesianorum: CR B2ab(iii), and S. schaijesii: EN B2ab(iii). Streptocarpus malachiticola is found on metalliferous rocks while the remaining species are either epiphytes in gallery forests (S. bampsii) or occur on humid rocks in gallery forests.

Assessing Family Functioning Before and After an Integrated Multidisciplinary Family Treatment for Adolescents With Restrictive Eating Disorders

The present study presents an investigation of family functioning in the families of adolescents with severe restrictive eating disorders (REDs) assessed before and 6 months after a multidisciplinary family treatment program that combined psychodynamic psychotherapy, parental role intervention, and triadic or family-centered interventions. Nutritional counseling and neuropsychiatric monitoring of the overall treatment and care process were also provided. Family functioning was assessed using the clinical version of the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTPc), a semi-structured procedure for observing family dynamics, previously validated for this patient population. The LTPc is divided into four phases. In phase 1, the mother interacts with the patient while the father assumes the role of observer. In phase 2, the father plans an activity with the patient while the mother observes. In phase 3, all the family members interact. Finally, in phase 4, the parents talk while the adolescent observes. A significant change emerged in family functioning after the treatment, but only for the interactive phase 2, when the father is required to interact with the daughter while the mother silently observes. The results of this study suggest that a relatively brief multidisciplinary treatment program may significantly improve family functioning in the families of patients diagnosed with severe REDs. Although appropriate clinical trials are needed to further test the efficacy of this treatment, the results also reinforce the concept that treatment programs targeting the individual patient and both the parents should be a first-line approach in adolescents with severe REDs.

Glad you're here

This paper is written in support of the ten-minute film Glad You’re Here, a visually stunning personal film, told through the eyes of an artist. Engaging themes of love and betrayal, hope, belonging and place, Glad You’re Here documents my nineteen--year journey through building a family life, seeing it suffer the damage of mental illness, grief and separation, and then rebuilding with empathy. A story about an extreme moment of crisis has turned into a documentary that deals not just with the subjective but with the important issue of spousal abuse. The story is summarized, and context is provided. Ethical issues in autobiographical film are discussed with regard to motive, consent, and disclosure. Issues specific to filming family, treatment of archival material, and use of place and landscape are considered. The film’s social relevance is contextually set in reference to autoethnography and an existing body of work concerning trauma.

Glad you're here

This paper is written in support of the ten-minute film Glad You’re Here, a visually stunning personal film, told through the eyes of an artist. Engaging themes of love and betrayal, hope, belonging and place, Glad You’re Here documents my nineteen--year journey through building a family life, seeing it suffer the damage of mental illness, grief and separation, and then rebuilding with empathy. A story about an extreme moment of crisis has turned into a documentary that deals not just with the subjective but with the important issue of spousal abuse. The story is summarized, and context is provided. Ethical issues in autobiographical film are discussed with regard to motive, consent, and disclosure. Issues specific to filming family, treatment of archival material, and use of place and landscape are considered. The film’s social relevance is contextually set in reference to autoethnography and an existing body of work concerning trauma.