The purpose of this article is to critically examine the emerging discourse of religion and spirituality in family research to clarify how each construct is defined and to make visible hidden ontological, epistemological, and culturally situated assumptions. The use of the term spirituality has increased dramatically in published articles and has undergone a distancing from religion. This separation creates a dichotomy that associates religion with conservative traditions and spirituality with liberalism and individualism, thus aligning the emergent spirituality discourse with dominant Western values.

The purpose of this article is to evaluate a pedagological tool for student's study of death and bereavement. Previous research suggests that students may be more willing to discuss issues associated with death through written correspondence rather than through oral communication. However, despite these efforts there are still students who experience great difficulty in expressing themselves fully in class by no fault of the teacher but merely due to the student's own disposition. Based on the data, it appears as if journal writing may offer a way around this difficulty. Data were collected from two sites: a private college in New England and a Midwestern state university. Common themes that students stated effected their experiences with death included reactions of significant others to the death in question, the funeral services provided, and the familial events postfuneral. The limitations and benefits of using journaling as a pedagological tool for a bereavement course are discussed. Using projects such as this one may help students to accurately display their learning to the professor while still bringing in their own perceptions of death.

Increasing numbers of couples struggle with infertility. Couples debating whether or not to utilize assisted reproductive technologies (ART) face many difficult decisions. These decisions can be influenced by religious values and ideologies. The purpose of this article is threefold: to (a) review the ethical choices that couples face when deciding whether or not to use ART; (b) review the stated ideologies of Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam in regards to ART; and (c) discuss how knowledge of ethical choices and religious ideologies concerning ART can assist marriage and family therapists who work with couples facing infidelity.

Narrative letter writing is used in therapy as a powerful therapeutic tool. Letters written to the client can help rewrite his or her story, as well as help clients realize that they are their own agent of change. Women, feeling powerless in a male dominant society, may need to feel that they have the strength within to change. Providing the client a nickname can help maintain confidentiality, and can also strengthen his or her drive. Mythology can serve as a tool for therapists in selecting a nickname for the client. Matching a God or Goddess to a client can be a therapeutic tool.Narrative therapy has made letter writing and development of personal agency important steps in therapy (Freedman & Combs, 1996;Macdonald, 2001;White & Epston, 1990). In this article we outline how mythic figures and legends can be utilized to create powerful therapeutic letters for clients who are seeking help conquering addiction, depression, and family issues. In the real therapeutic examples below, we draw from Greek mythology, but we also present mythic figures from other cultures that could be useful with clients of various races and backgrounds. Family therapists recognize that metaphors and symbols can be powerful tools in the therapeutic setting. We believe melding the use of mythology as metaphors with the narrative technique of letter writing has the potential to tap hidden resources within the client.

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