Some articles mark watershed shifts in how we think and how we approach and interact with topics at hand. They not only mark the beginning of what some might describe as a paradigm shift, but they also initiate what in hindsight is a cascade of new ideas and approaches. In this case, the topic at hand was the practice of family therapy, yet its influences rippled across a wide range of approaches to human problems and their resolution. John Weakland's article “’Family Therapy’ With Individuals” is one of those articles.

Introduction to the Special Section in Honor of the Mental Research InstituteJ. Scott FraserJ. Scott FraserProfessor Emeritus, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.Address correspondence to J. Scott Fraser, PhD, 4973 Steineman St., Clayton, OH 45315. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:October 2020https://doi.org/10.1521/jsyt.2020.39.2.17PDFPDF PLUS ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations AboutREFERENCESBateson G. (1972). Steps to an ecology of mind: Collected essays in anthropology, psychiatry, evolution, and epistemology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Google ScholarBateson G. (1979). Mind and nature: A necessary unity. New York, NY: Dutton. Google ScholarFisch R., , Weakland J., , & Segal L. (1982). The tactics of change: Doing therapy briefly. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Google ScholarHaley J. (1963). Strategies of psychotherapy. New York, NY: Grune & Stratton. Crossref, Google ScholarHaley J. (1966). Problem-solving therapy. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Google ScholarHaley J. (1973). Uncommon therapy: The psychiatric techniques of Milton H. Erickson, M. D. New York, NY: Norton. Google ScholarSatir V. (1964). Conjoint family therapy; A guide to theory and technique. Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books. Google ScholarSatir V. (1972). Peoplemaking. Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books. Google ScholarWatzlawick P. (1976). How real is real? Confusion, disinformation, communication. New York, NY: Vintage. Google ScholarWatzlawick P. (1977). The language of change: Elements of therapeutic communication. New York, NY: Norton. Google ScholarWatzlawick P. (1983). The situation is hopeless, but not serious. New York, NY: Norton. Google ScholarWatzlawick P. (1988). Ultra-solutions, or how to fail most successfully. New York, NY: Norton. Google ScholarWatzlawick P., , Beavin J. H., , & Jackson D. D. (1967). Pragmatics of human communication: A study of interactional patterns, pathologies, and paradoxes. New York, NY: Norton. Google ScholarWatzlawick P., , & Weakland J. (1977). The interactional view: Studies at the Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto, 1965–1974. New York, NY: Norton. Google ScholarWatzlawick P., , Weakland J. H., , & Fisch R. (1974). Change: Principles of problem formation and problem resolution. New York, NY: Norton. Google ScholarWeakland J. H., , & Ray W. (1995). Propagations: Thirty years of influence from the Mental Research Institute. New York, NY: Haworth. Google Scholar Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 39Issue 2Jun 2020 Information© 2020 Guilford Publications Inc.PDF download

This work honors the work of the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto, California, upon the sale of the building it long occupied, and particularly the closing of the MRI Brief Therapy Center as a research and training center. The major position of the article is that the MRI was much more than a place, a name, or the people who have been part of it. Instead, the ideas and practices of those who have been part of the MRI are what endure and thrive. As a case in point, the author follows his own professional journey from his first contact with the MRI ideas as a “difference that made a difference” through his present day work.

Introduction: Increasingly, community aged care employees need to respond to multiple aspects of diversity to meet the care needs of older community members. Guidance to incorporate diversity into workplace education is an unmet need. Materials and methods: A diversity education program was developed for the Australian context, based on a Diversity Conceptual Model. A focus group and semi-structured interviews were undertaken, after the diversity education was delivered, to explore participants’ thoughts and experiences of the education and its impact on their practice. Data analysis was based on grounded theory, using constant comparison method. Results and conclusion: The diversity education positively influenced knowledge, built on participants’ skill;and influenced participants’ care practice.

This study examined the efficacy of the Integrative Family and Systems Treatment (I-FAST) training model that seeks to support development of model expertise within the agency in the context of facilitating the sustainability of evidence-based family treatment within community mental health settings. A quasi-experimental design was used to examine treatment outcomes of I-FAST among agencies that received ongoing Consultation and agencies that received No Consultation upon completion of I-FAST training. χ 2 analyses and independent samples t test analyses showed that there were no significant differences between the two groups on clients who had achieved reliable change on Problem Severity and Functioning based on parents’ assessments. Significance of this study is discussed in the context of the role of evidence-based family therapy (EBFT) training in facilitating its sustainability in community mental health settings.

Objectives:This study examined the treatment outcomes of integrated families and systems treatment (I-FAST), a moderated common factors approach, in reference to multisystemic therapy (MST), an established specific factor approach, for treating at-risk children and adolescents and their families in an intensive community-based setting.Method:This study used a nonrandomized noninferiority trial design to compare the outcomes of 79 families who received I-FAST, the test intervention, to 47 families who have received MST, the reference intervention.Results:I-FAST was noninferior to MST in reducing problem severity and improving functioning based on youth, parents, and workers' assessments.Conclusions:While the nonrandomized design of this study precludes any definitive conclusions, implications of the study were discussed with respect to the debate regarding common factors and specific factor approaches to family treatment and implementation of evidence-based treatments.