Use of the DSM in marriage and family therapy programs: current practices and attitudes

Children and psychotropic medication: a cautionary note

This report addresses how the mental health field is organized in terms of the use of psychotropic medications with children and adolescents, and the ethical challenge this presents to marriage and family therapists.

Supervising family therapy trainees in primary care medical settings: context matters

The purpose of this article is to identify and describe four essential skills for effective supervision of family therapy trainees in primary care medical settings. The supervision skills described include: (1) Understand medical culture; (2) Locate the trainee in the treatment system; (3) Investigate the biological/health issues; and (4) Be attentive to the self-of-the-therapist. Recommendations are also made to help supervisors become better prepared for the questions medical family therapy trainees bring to supervision.

Spectrum and nosology: implications for DSM-V

The authors attempt to show similarities and differences between a spectrum and the DSM-IV perspective in how psychopathology is best represented to clinicians and clinical researchers. Subthreshold symptoms are given little or no attention in DSM; noncriterion symptoms are given none at all. Not otherwise specified disorders may be a widely used category in DSM-IV, but in a spectrum diagnosis there is no similar designation, because use of the whole spectrum of symptoms is possible. Although a DSM-IV categorical disorder may not be the best representation of psychopathology, it is clearly defined and is efficient for the purposes of communication and labeling. Both systems of nosology are essentially atheoretical; comorbidity exists in both, although to a lesser degree in some spectrum models. Data are summarized that clearly demonstrate the need for designers of DSM-V to create a nosology that is, at least in part, dimensional.

Comparisons of marriage and family therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers on job-related measures and reactions to managed care in Iowa

This study compares marriage and family therapists (MFTs) to psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers on job-related measures, such as job autonomy, job satisfaction, burnout, and intention to stay in their present position, as well as on reactions to a managed care initiative in the state of Iowa. Findings indicate that MFTs scored significantly lower than other practitioners on job autonomy and intention to stay in their present position, but there were no differences in job satisfaction or burnout. Marital and family therapists also reported less dissatisfaction with the managed care initiative than psychiatrists, although virtually all practitioners were dissatisfied with the managed-care program. These findings indicate some dissatisfaction within the MFT profession and may be relevant to practitioners seeking to change or expand their practice, as well as to the needs of MFTs in their training programs.