The future of systems therapy: Shedding myths and facing opportunities.

Couples treatment for major depression: critique of the literature and suggestions for some different directions

“…In the USA, the issue has been raised repeatedly about Ph.D.-level psychologists, even those graduating from training programmes approved by the American Psychological Association (Crits-Christoph et al, 1995). In many areas of the USA as well as in other countries, the typical therapist working with couples is not a psychologist, and many couples therapists graduate from programmes and receive continuing education and consultation and supervision in which the importance of evidence-based treatment is not emphasized (Coyne and Liddle, 1992;Crane and Hafen, 2002;. We do not know whether the limited outcome studies available generalize only to the few couples approaches that have been evaluated or to couple-oriented approaches more generally.…”

Ensuring consumer safety. Predictive testing for Huntington disease: Response to Dr. Seymour Kessler, “reinventing the wheel”

“…Additional support for my position can be found in the analyses by Coyne and Liddle [1992] of "The Future of Systems Therapy: Shedding Myths and Facing Opportunities" and by Gurman and Kniskern [19921 of "The Future of Marital and Family Therapy," which appeared recently in the journal Psychotherapy's special issue on "The Future of Psychotherapy." Coyne and Liddle [1992] observe that "[slystems theory is not yet associated with a large body of research" and Gurman and Kniskern [19921 comment on the lack of contributions by marital and family therapists in advancing "theory, research, and clinical practice" involving two common areas of psychiatric dysfunction-CUSeS about all sorts of things, When you suddenly Huntington's disease. 1'11 have to find something the early pioneers in systems therapy were viewed as trangement from these disciplines [eX., PsYcholoD, sTAs1s9 SELF IN THE AND SHAME Kessler faults the Canadian researchers particularly for what he perceives as a failure to take into account "the phenomenon of organized systems of belief about the self in the context of families."…”

“…Consequently, this reading ofGssler's letter prompts me to comment briefly on the historical background and evolution of family systems theory* Systems theory entails "a fundamental shift from viewing the family and other life contexts in terms of patients to viewing patients in terms of their involvement in their significant life contexts" [Coyne and Liddle, 19921, especially their interpersonal relationships [Ransom, 19891. Historically, a large number of "mavericks who suffered personal and professional espsychiatry, family medicine, social work, and psychiatric nursing], but who received their degrees and initial professional training from them" [Coyne and Liddle, 19921. Approaching "Paradigmatic Parity": Family Systems Theory in Perspective Utilization of family systems concepts has made a major intellectual contribution to the development of marital and family therapy [Coyne and Liddle, 19921. Moreover, training in family systems concepts is increasingly common in clinical psychology, psychiatry, social work, nursing, and other mental health and medical training programs [Gurman and Kniskern, 19921. However, as Kessler surely realizes, systems therapy is only now beginning to approach "paradigmatic parity with the more conventional [and individualistic] approaches to psychotherapy," such as the psychodynamic, humanistic, behavior, and cognitive traditions [Coyne and Liddle, 19921. As I state in my editorial, "Mamily systems theories would seem to offer a particularly productive clinical research approach since one contribution of systems theory to the mental health field has been to shift thinking about human behavior from the frame of individual causality to the perspective of human behavior as a complex interactive process" [Chapman, 1992, references omitted]. Additional support for my position can be found in the analyses by Coyne and Liddle [1992] of "The Future of Systems Therapy: Shedding Myths and Facing Opportunities" and by Gurman and Kniskern [19921 of "The Future of Marital and Family Therapy," which appeared recently in the journal Psychotherapy's special issue on "The Future of Psychotherapy." Coyne and Liddle [1992] observe that "[slystems theory is not yet associated with a large body of research" and Gurman and Kniskern [19921 comment on the lack of contributions by marital and family therapists in advancing "theory, research, and clinical practice" involving two common areas of psychiatric dysfunction-CUSeS about all sorts of things, When you suddenly Huntington's disease.…”

“…Moreover, "marital and family therapy is now firmly established on the psychotherapy scene" [Gurman and Kniskern, 19921. Recently, a panel of 75 mental health experts using Delphi methodology forecast that psychotherapy based on systemic theory (as well as eclectic, cognitive, integrative approaches and, to a lesser extent, psychobiological, behavioral, and feminist perspectives) will likely expand in the next decade, whereas "historically oriented, comparatively passive, and long-term approaches" to psychotherapy are expected to decline [Norcross et al, 19921. To enhance these opportunities for expansion during the next decade, Coyne and Liddle [1992] contend that systems theorists will need to "shed old myths, temper past claims, and develop a stronger role for research in the approach's legitimation. "…”

Efficacy of Family Therapy for Drug Abuse: Promising but Not Definitive

“…However, there are other important topics of concern for family therapy, many of which pertain to the field's very foundation (Reiss, 1988;Rowe, 1994;Tarter & Vanukov, 1994). Some of these have been brewing for some time (Coyne & Liddle, 1992;Liddle, 1985;Rosenblatt, 1994). Focusing on the family treatment of drug abuse specialty reveals certain of these evolutionary developments.…”