Family Counseling Services Research Articles

Assessing the Needs of a Blind Client Population

A needs assessment was conducted to measure perceived unmet needs of the blind population of Massachusetts. Some 1,050 client interviews were conducted, using a sample stratified by age and region. The results indicated that the highest needs were for instruments specifically designed for the blind, such as low vision devices and the Optacon; transportation services, especially public transit and volunteer drivers; recreation services; training in daily living procedures; and medical health care. Very little need was expressed for personal or family counseling services, and there was relatively little need for housing services.

Training Marriage and Family Counselors in an Industrial Setting*

The paper focuses on the interface between family life and the world of work with special reference to the field of marriage and family counseling. The empirical and theoretical rationale for incorporating marriage and family counseling services in an industrial setting are presented along with estimates of industry‐wide receptivity. The final section of the paper describes a specific plan of action being implemented at Purdue University and explores some of the basic issues associated with the training program, the clientele to be served, and the delivery system to be employed within an industrial setting.

An Argument for the Use of Para-Professional Counselors in Premarital and Marital Counseling

Current social changes reinforce the need for trained marriage and family counselors. After a brief examination of these changes, the authors suggest para-professional training as one alternative for providing needed marriage and family counseling services. Already established programs, advantages, disadvantages, and the criterion for the establishment of a nation-wide paraprofessional program are discussed. Areas in which the para-professional could make a vital contribution, segments of the nation's population which need para-professional counseling, and target groups which might benefit most from para-professional training are identified. Marriage and family counseling is a specialization focusing on the interpersonal interaction of the marital dyad and the larger family. The establishment of national and regional professional organizations and journals has strengthened this specializaed area of counseling. The standards adopted by the American Association of Marriage and Family Counselors (A.A.M.F.C.) and the new licensing laws drafted by several states, moreover, have added credence to the professionalization of marriage and family counselors.

Marriage and Family Counseling in Industry*

Marriage and family counseling in industry for employees and their dependents is relatively new and innovative.Exploratory descriptive materials of marriage and family counseling problems, cases, and services have been obtained from letters, reports, and interviews with counselors in industry and business.The main findings are:1. Industry is opening its doors to marriage and family counseling at home and abroad, both for humanitarian and financial reasons.2. A variety of programs and services are being offered and developed.3. Preliminary reports from industry indicate these services are helping families in trouble and improving productivity of employees.

Counseling as an Insured Benefit: Perspectives from the Insurance Industry

Presently, about 170 million people have some form of private health insurance protection-about 92 percent of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population under age 65. The coverage is provided through insurance companies, Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, group medical plans operating on a prepayment basis, plans that are self-administered by employers or labor unions, community plans, and rural or consumer health cooperatives, each with its own distinctive approach (Follman, 1973). Health Insurance is a big business, and it is expanding in numbers of people covered and in the range of benefits offered. Now commonly available, for example, are coverages for treatment of mental illness and dental care. The mechanism of group insurance is now being used experimentally to offer coverage for legal services. The development of group prepaid legal services will undoubtedly hasten a more definitive study of counseling services as group insurance benefits. Attorneys have traditionally made use, through referral, of psychological, occupational, pre-retirement, and, especially, marriage and family counseling services in order to help answer client need outside the realm of legal service per se. As divorce and separation rates climb, more and more attorneys are turning to marriage counselors at the time clients indicate a desire to terminate a marriage.

The Effect of Work Experience on the Self-Concept and Anxiety Level of the Social Work Graduate Student

Charles R. Atherton is Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Alabama. Formerly, he was Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Illinois. Mr. Atherton received a B.A. in history from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. He is a graduate of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and is an ordained Presbyterian minister. Mr. Atherton also has an M. A. in social work from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Illinois. Mr. Atherton has worked in child welfare and in family counselling services. He is the author of several articles published in the United States. He is a co-editor with Donald Brieland and Lela B. Costin of Contemporary Social Work to be published by McGraw-Hill in 1975.

Divorce American Style

The canon-law heritage of American divorce law resulted, in the nineteenth century, in a divorce law that necessitated pretense and perpetuated hypocrisy. Lawyers, courts, and the public paid lip-service to the rules, but institutionalized the processes of divorce. Two myths were the basis of the divorce, namely, that divorce should only be granted to an innocent and injured spouse and that a divorce action must take place in an adversary setting. This was circumvented by a variety of techniques, and for the most part, in reality, there was divorce by consent. After World War II, changes in the law of divorce were marked by an expansion of grounds and the contraction of defenses. Furthermore, collateral attacks upon divorce decrees were increasingly restricted by Supreme Court decisions, and non-fault-grounds supplemented the traditional fault-grounds for divorce. Current pressures for reform may be observed in the growth of family courts and counseling services; in the development of theories, such as the "irretrievable breakdown" of marriage, to be used for divorce in lieu of all fault-grounds; in a modification of the "breakdown" theory which would be proved by the proof of the existence of traditional grounds; and by the addition of non-fault-grounds to existing grounds.

Defects in a State System

Defects in a State System Get access Clarence E. Winans Clarence E. Winans Family Counseling Service of Mifflin CountyLewistown, Pennsylvania Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Social Work, Volume 7, Issue 2, April 1962, Pages 124–125, https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/7.2.124 Published: 01 April 1962

Use of a Clinical Psychologist in a Casework Agency

Use of a Clinical Psychologist in a Casework Agency Get access Walter C. Hart, M.A. Walter C. Hart, M.A. Directs the separate departments Family Counseling Service, Prison Rehabilitation, Free Employment, Alcoholic Treatment Service, and the institutions for children, for elderly persons, and for summer vacation, of the Los Angeles Volunteers of America Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Social Work, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 1958, Pages 42–49, https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/3.1.42 Published: 01 January 1958

Family Counseling Service in a University Community

Family Counseling Service in a University Community

Family Counseling Service in a University Community.Margaret Gilbert Benz

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsFamily Counseling Service in a University Community. Margaret Gilbert Benz Robert F. WinchRobert F. Winch Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Sociology Volume 47, Number 2Sep., 1941 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/218893 Views: 3Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.