This study aimed to investigate the understanding and strategies of mothers of children with autism concerning the utilization of digital technology. The research utilized a qualitative descriptive method. A total of 20 mothers were interviewed. The data were analyzed using the thematic analysis method with Taguette software. The results were categorized into four themes: digital technology use by children with autism, screen interaction duration, two aspects of digital technology, and assistive technologies suggested for educational applications. Families with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) indicate that their primary motivations for utilizing electronic devices are for feeding or soothing, typically commencing usage from birth or, at the latest, by the age of two. This study indicates that families restrict the active screen time of children with ASD to one to three hours, while imposing no limitations on passive screen time. Families acknowledge the educational and developmental advantages of electronic gadgets utilized by their children; yet, they also indicate potential detrimental effects related to behavioral issues following device usage. Moreover, they have stated that assistive technologies developed through the “Video Modeling Teaching Technique,” “Computer-Assisted Instruction Technique,” and “Learning Through Play” can facilitate the growth of children diagnosed with ASD.
UndocuBlack individuals hold intersecting identities as migrants, undocumented, and Black people. These overlapping experiences deepen marginalization and oppression, increase mental health difficulties, and decrease access to mental health care, leading to worsened outcomes. Using the framework of Critical Race Theory, this article illustrates the importance of clinicians assessing the role of racism in the mental health care landscape and understanding the compounded effects of immigration status on mental well-being. Therapists should address the barriers to accessing professional mental health services at both the community and client levels. At the community level, clinicians should actively work to restructure bureaucratic health systems and policies that reinforce racism, nativism, and xenophobia. At the client level, when working with undocuBlack individuals, partners, and families, mental health providers should (1) practice cultural humility, (2) seek a client-centered understanding of racial positioning, (3) acknowledge undocumented immigrant isolation, and (4) honor ethical responsibility to the community.
Narrative therapy is well known for its extensive repertoire of practices that deconstruct cultural influences, foster respectful relationships, and enhance clients’ agency. These practices rely on a decentered and influential therapeutic posture that positions therapists as experts in asking questions and clients as experts in their own lives. While foundational, this posture offers limited guidance for navigating affective nonverbal expressions, which are constitutive of therapeutic interactions in family therapy. The term co-centering has been proposed to describe the affective micro-adjustments therapists make in response to clients’ moment-to-moment experiences (Beaudoin, 2023a, 2023b, 2024; Beaudoin Monk, 2024). However, the specific practices through which co-centering is enacted have not yet been articulated. This article advances the concept by delineating three interrelated levels of micro-practices that can make co-centering more explicitly teachable in family therapy clinical training. Clarifying these micro-practices supports both beginning and experienced therapists in responding with greater intentionality to families’ affective and nonverbal processes.
Extant literature exploring postpartum depression (PPD) primarily focuses on individual risk factors, individual psychotherapy treatment, and psychotropic care. Recent work has started to recognize the importance of including partners and family members in maternal mental health care to improve outcomes. The authors critically examined 12 articles to understand the theoretical foundations, methodologies, and effects of varying levels of family involvement across said work. We applied a systemic lens to increase understanding of family interventions to improve PPD outcomes and applied a tiered model approach to expand on scholarship that translates family science research into these care practices. Results show strong support for family involvement in PPD interventions. Perinatal mental health impacts whole family systems, not just birth mothers, and leveraging social supports may positively impact postpartum outcomes. We conclude with suggestions for clinicians and researchers to further examine diverse experiences and explore nuances in family interventions for this population.
Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) may be an individual problem, yet the effects are systemic. Research indicates that romantic relationships in particular often bear the brunt of OCD symptoms. This study analyzed online couple stories collected from the forum, Reddit, to create a grounded theory exploring both the difficulties and solutions of being in a romantic relationship that involves someone who has OCD from the individual, partner, and relational perspectives. Difficulties included categories of managing obsessions and intrusive thoughts, control seeking and reassurance, coping with symptoms, and navigating fights around OCD behaviors. Solutions highlighted the importance of coping strategies like medication and therapy, clear communication around symptoms, openness to feedback and education, and fostering positive traits like kindness, understanding and respect in the relationship. Implications for therapists include inviting partners into the therapy room to explore the complex relational experience of OCD and the emotions both partners have around the OCD. Therapists can also provide psychoeducation around helpful behaviors and ways to support partners.
Emotion regulation is influenced by family of origin (FOO) factors into adulthood and is important for healthy romantic relationships. The current study explored whether emotion regulation would mediate the relationship between FOO and relationship quality (RQ) for oneself and for one’s partner. Data from 68 mixed-gender adult couples were analyzed using an Actor Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIMeM) to examine whether emotion regulation mediates the relationship between FOO environment and positive/negative RQ using the Positive–Negative Relationship Quality Scale (PNRQ). Results suggest that emotion regulation mediated the relationship between family of origin environment and partner’s negative (but not positive) relationship quality perceptions. Having just one partner in the relationship with poor emotion regulation can lead to both partner’s perceptions of the relationship being bad. Clinicians can help clients to understand contextual information about their partner’s early family life which could promote empathy and intimacy, and enhance the quality of the relationship. Utilizing this systemic lens helps to emphasize that by working on one’s own emotion regulation skills, improvement of the overall relationship and the impressions of one’s partner is possible.
Infidelity is one of the most significant relational crises, yet many couples successfully rebuild their relationship. Existing literature has largely emphasized individual resilience, leaving relational processes underexplored. This paper presents findings from a study that utilized deductive qualitative analysis (DQA), a qualitative methodology designed for theory testing and refinement (Author, 2024). Informed by a constructivist epistemology, we utilized DQA procedures to explore the ways in which resilience factors contribute to the healing process for couples who have stayed together following infidelity. In-depth interviews with 31 couples were analyzed, identifying both evidence of established resilience constructs (deductive analysis) and additional resilience themes (identified inductively) central to the process of recovering from infidelity. Study findings indicate six core components of couple resiliency. While affirming some previously identified constructs of resilience (open communication, individual healing, meaning making, and reinvented normalcy), the analysis revealed additional constructs of therapy, relational healing, and the importance of healing as an ongoing process, which provides a refined illustration of how resilience is enacted in the aftermath of infidelity. As clinicians understand and cultivate relational resilience with their clients, they will more effectively help couples navigate the process of healing following infidelity.
Eating disorders are one of the most lethal mental health disorders, and rates continue to increase. While eating disorder research has primarily focused on individual etiology and treatment, the role of parental figures in the transmission of food and body messages and the effect of those messages is not well understood. To contribute to a modern, nuanced understanding of how food and body size messages are transmitted through families, we conducted an inductive, qualitative content analysis. We sampled Tik Tok posts describing adults’ perceived experiences of receiving food and body related messages from parental figures. Five themes emerged related to childhood experiences, awareness of familial attitudes about food and body size, and identifying individual perspectives of family’s belief about food and body. Implications for future research and clinical practice are presented and discussed.
Self-compassion can be understood as cultivating a gentle and understanding relationship with the self. The benefits of self-compassion for romantic relationships as well as for LGBTQ+ individuals have been well-established in the literature. However, no studies to date have examined the association between self-compassion and relationship quality for queer couples. Furthermore, given the established negative connection between internalized stigma and relationship quality, it is important to consider how internalized stigma may affect this association. Thus, the following research question was tested: What are the associations between self-compassion, internalized stigma, and relationship quality for queer couples? A sample of 143 queer couples was recruited to complete an online survey that assessed the variables of interest. The data was analyzed using an Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model to identify the mediating role of internalized stigma on the associations between self-compassion and relationship quality. This model yielded significant indirect effects, thus supporting the idea that internalized stigma helps to explain the relationship between self-compassion and relationship quality for queer couples. The clinical implications of this study highlight the importance of addressing internalized stigma in queer couples who aim to increase relationship quality. One such way of addressing internalized stigma may be via self-compassion interventions. Future directions and additional clinical implications are discussed.
The global prevalence of the neurodevelopmental condition of autism spectrum disorder has notably risen in recent decades. Autistic individuals experience distinctive and recognizable patterns of differences in the areas of language and communication, social relationships and emotional responses, and sensory use and interests across age and ability levels. Within families, the expression of the individual’s autistic pattern of brain style differences is inextricably linked with family dynamics, including multiple and complex stressors affecting each individual within the family as well as the dynamics between members. Although individual therapeutic interventions targeting behavioral outcomes have been extensively explored, family-centered therapeutic interventions that address the interplay between autism and family dynamics are less widely explored. This paper proposes a systematically developed, theoretically grounded and practice-informed approach for clinicians to provide brief narrative family therapy. The model places the autistic family member’s distinctive worldview, communication style, and sensory differences in the forefront of supporting positive and empowering shifts in the family story.
This study explores how partners experience the transition to parenthood, examining men’s and women’s experiences individually and as a couple. Although the transition to parenthood has been widely studied, most research focuses primarily on mothers, with limited attention to fathers’ experiences or to how couples jointly navigate childbirth as a relational and systemic process. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, this research centers men’s voices while situating the couple as a relational dyad. Participants were eight heterosexual couples who had a baby within the past year, representing varied ages, relational lengths, ethnic backgrounds, and birth experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted individually and jointly, yielding 24 interviews capturing both personal and shared perspectives. Analysis produced a disruption–response–becoming framework, interpreted through attachment theory, that conceptualizes childbirth as a systemic disruption that activates uncertainty, vulnerability, and support needs. Couples responded through dyadic regulatory processes, supporting and adjusting to one another during childbirth and the early postpartum period. These interactions shaped emerging parental identities, responsibilities, and relational patterns within the couple. Findings highlight the importance of recognizing both partners’ attachment needs during the transition to parenthood. Clinical implications include strategies for therapists to support mutual responsiveness, facilitate processing of the birth experience, and strengthen dyadic coping in early parenthood. This study contributes a systemic perspective on the transition to parenthood, underscoring childbirth as a relational process influencing both individual and couple development.
Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) practitioner training is ongoing in diverse cultures around the world. Uganda is one of the latest additions to the list of growing countries with its first ever EFCT externship and core skills training held in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Yet, applicability of EFCT to non- Western cultures is still in question. Establishing cultural and contextual fit is a necessary first step to evaluating the efficacy of the model in this setting. In this clinical/conceptual paper we propose a systematic cultural adaptation for EFCT using the eight dimensions of Bernal’s (1995) Ecological Validity Model: Language, Persons, Metaphors, Content, Concepts, Goals, Methods, and Context. We highlight some of the challenges an EFCT trainer or practitioner may have to consider when implementing EFCT in the Ugandan context. These include gendered rules on emotional expression, power imbalances between men and women, low uptake of couple therapy in the population, and greater interest in solving problems rather than processing emotions. To address these challenges, we propose modification of expectations for emotional expression, exploration of power dynamics, and practical framing of therapeutic goals. EFCT researchers and practitioners may seek to adopt recommendations outlined in this paper. Furthermore, the strategy for adaption and the identified challenges may be instructive to anyone adapting EFCT to different cultures.
Researching participants’ experiences through a qualitative, multiperspective design presents distinct ethical challenges, particularly when including both partners and their therapist during ongoing couple therapy where violence is a central concern. Situated within a publicly funded therapeutic context, this study examines these challenges through interviews with eight clients and five therapists, which were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Four key themes emerged: (1) When Understanding Accumulates: Confidentiality and Safety as Emerging Ethical Tensions, (2) Motivation, Recruitment, and Power in Interconnected Relationships, (3) Consent in Motion: An Iterative and Ongoing Process, and (4) Research Ripples: Reflexive Spillovers into Ongoing Therapy? The findings indicate that ethical dilemmas often emerge as situated “branching points”, decision-making junctures in which relational and systemic interconnections continually reshape participants’ vulnerability and researchers’ responsibilities. These branching points cannot be adequately addressed and managed through procedural safeguards alone. To navigate such dilemmas, the study describes a triadic process involving: (1) cultivating ethical sensitivity and attentiveness to emerging branching points; (2) interpreting these situations through reflection and dialogue to form provisional ethical impressions; and (3) mobilizing resources to respond with context-aware action. Overall, the study highlights that ethical research in sensitive, multiperspective contexts involves ongoing ethical judgment rather than the identification of a single “right” course of action. Ethical research practice is shown to require sustained reflexivity, responsiveness, and care as research unfolds alongside complex relational and systemic processes.
In the present study, the relationships between differentiation of self, the quality of friendship, anxiety and depression were analyzed. In addition, it was analyzed which dimensions of differentiation of self significantly predicted anxiety, depression and the quality of friendship. The sample comprised 221 Spanish adults, 160 women and 61 men, who completed the Differentiation of Self Scale-Revised, two subscales of the Network of Relationships Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. The results revealed significant relationships between differentiation of self and the other variables. Moreover, I position and emotional cutoff explained 28
Hyper-connectivity, influenced by the rapid expansion of digital communication technologies, has significantly altered human relationships, fostering unprecedented engagement. Yet, it has further intensified feelings of loneliness and social isolation. This study investigates the contradictory and multidimensional relationship between hyper-connectivity and loneliness through a systematic thematic analysis of digital communication. It analyses important topics including the changing notion of intimacy, the struggle of connected isolation, and the psychological effects of online versus face-to-face relationships by drawing on literature from the areas of sociology, psychology, and media studies. By systemically examining the gap between expanding digital connectivity and declining emotional well-being, this study contributes to ongoing debates on digital social life. The results show that although online platforms make things more accessible and widely connected, they tend to emphasize on rational scope over emotional depth, which results in fewer emotionally fulfilling and meaningful experiences. Likewise, the constant pursuit of approval in digital settings and the maintenance of deliberately constructed online identities lead to elevated feelings of loneliness, perceived inadequacy and emotional distress. By examining 180 publications and selecting 38 for an in-depth evaluation, this study highlights how critical it is to examine how contemporary technology affects mental health in a continuous and structured way. In a more technology-dependent society, the results emphasize that effective communication practices and policy initiatives that promote genuine, emotionally rich human bonds. Findings aim to help policymakers, mental health professionals, and technology developers in creating solutions that emphasize genuine human connections and overall health.
Despite making up the largest ethnic minority in the U.S. (U.S. Census, 2024), Latino couples are greatly underrepresented in national studies of IPV (Sumter, 2006) and in relationship research in general. This study examined pathways to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization, starting with neuroticism and continuing onto couple conflict and relational aggression, using an actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) among a sample of 546 heterosexual Latino couples. Results revealed that neuroticism had both significant actor and partner effects with couple conflict for men and women, and that conflict was significantly associated with their own relational aggression. Relational aggression for men was significantly associated with their own IPV perpetration and victimization and her IPV victimization, whereas relational aggression for women was significantly associated with both their own and his IPV perpetration and victimization. Other gender differences included rates of prevalence in neuroticism and perceptions of conflict, relational aggression, and IPV victimization. Cultural considerations and implications are discussed.
Family roles in trauma recovery are increasingly recognised, yet systemic approaches remain underdeveloped because of limited models and engagement barriers. Single Session Thinking (SST) offers potential for trauma-related family work. This study identified how specialist family therapists were applying the SST approach when working with families affected by a traumatic event/s, and suggests corresponding adaptations to the existing SST session map. Sixteen specialist family therapists experienced in SST and trauma treatment completed a three-round Delphi study, producing practice guidelines and an adapted SST session map tailored to these families. Consensus was established on the foundation of family trauma treatment utilising an SST approach. Practice guidelines and adaptations to the SST session map emphasised containment, collaboration, and trauma-sensitive systemic practice. The adapted SST framework supports attuned, collaborative family engagement in high-demand, brief-intervention settings. Future research should incorporate family perspectives to further validate and refine the model alongside other trauma recovery approaches.
This study explored contextual family therapy as a framework for understanding substance misuse, focusing on relational ethics as a key component. Using cross-sectional survey data from a national registry sample (n = 183) recruited through ResearchMatch, we examined associations between substance misuse and contextual facts (e.g., gender, residence), psychological factors, relational dynamics, and relational ethics. Findings showed that higher scores in relational ethics scores such as trust, justice, fairness and loyalty in individuals in a current romantic relationship were significantly associated with lower substance misuse. Findings also showed that contextual factors such as gender and area of residence influenced substance misuse patterns. These results support the relevance of contextual family therapy in conceptualizing substance misuse, suggesting that both relational and demographic contexts are critical targets for prevention and intervention.
Parents of children with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) face challenges associated with their child’s chronic condition, which can be time-consuming and highly stressful. However, so far, there are no studies assessing parental burnout in parents of children with CF. This study examined correlates of parental burnout in 33 parents of children and adolescents with CF, analyzing their perceptions about their child’s condition, its perceived impact on the family, and parental burnout. The participants were 33 parents who completed self-reported questionnaires regarding their perceptions of the severity of their child’s condition and its impact on their daily lives, the perceived impact of the condition on the family, and parental burnout. Results showed a positive association between parents’ perception of the severity of their child’s condition and parental burnout. Additionally, this association was moderated by the perceived impact of CF on the family. For parents who perceived a higher effect of CF on the family, the association between parents’ perception of condition severity and parental burnout was stronger. This study’s findings contribute to our understanding of the experiences of families with children with CF and improve professionals’ ability to intervene and support them.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health and clinical concern. Research indicates that IPV occurs more frequently among couples seeking therapy than in the general population. However, it is often not disclosed at the time of referral and instead emerges gradually through the therapeutic process. This qualitative study examines the process by which IPV becomes the main focus of conjoint therapy in cases where it was not initially disclosed. Using a multiperspective Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), we conducted and analyzed separate interviews with 13 participants, four heterosexual couples and their therapists, who were engaged in ongoing therapy at the Norwegian Family Counselling Service at the time of the interviews. The analysis resulted in two main group experiential themes that illuminate a dual-journey process towards violence-focused couple therapy comprising two interrelated phases: the Pre-Therapy Journey, which includes the sub-themes: (1) Women’s Agency in Initiating Change, (2) Children as Catalysts for Change, (3) Critical Threshold: Reaching “Enough is Enough”, and (4) The History and Impact of Unsuccessful Help-Seeking Attempts; and the In-Therapy Journey, which encompasses the sub-themes: (5) Is It Violence? Internal and Relational Negotiations and (6) Beyond “Repair”? Relational and Therapeutic Consequences of Long-term Patterns of IPV. Together, these six sub-themes constitute a dynamic and temporally layered understanding of how IPV becomes the primary focus of couple therapy. The discussion introduces the Dual Journey Model, providing a conceptual framework and practical guidance for enhancing clinical and organizational capacity to develop IPV-sensitive and safer couple therapy interventions.
