Theory and Practice of Couples and Family Counseling. James Robert Bitter
4 introduces you to the ethical, professional, and legal issues that have shaped the development of family practice. This chapter on applied ethics has been completely updated and coauthored with my friends and colleagues David Kleist and Mark Young. We focus on learning to think about ethical issues from the perspectives of virtue, professional ethics codes, and legal requirements in the field. This chapter takes into account the guidance and mandates of multiple ethics codes, including those developed by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association, the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors, and the National Board for Certified Counselors.
Part 2 is devoted to a consideration of 13 models of couples and family counseling. It starts with a presentation of the biography and genogram of the Quest family, a family that is part of each of the theory chapters. The 13 theory chapters have a consistent organization so that you can compare and contrast the various models. Each chapter starts with an introduction to the model that defines its major characteristics and identifies its founders. The introduction is followed by a transcript of an actual couples or family counseling session, usually featuring a major contributor to that approach. I want you to have these sessions in mind when you consider the key concepts, counseling goals, counselor’s role and function, and process and interventions that follow. Toward the end of each chapter, I present another counseling session with the Quest family using the model presented in that chapter. I end each of the theory chapters with a summary of the chapter, a consideration of cultural and gender issues, and suggested readings and videos. Each of these chapters has been updated with the latest ideas and references for the model. The three chapters on couples counseling are brand new from start to finish.
Part 3 addresses the integration and application of models. Chapter 18 on integration is designed to help you discover a model or set of models that fits your worldview and perspectives on family practice. An emphasis is placed on assessing personal values and beliefs and using videotapes of initial work for reflection and development as a family counselor or therapist-in-training. A four-stage process for conducting couples and family sessions is also described: forming relationships, performing relational assessments, hypothesizing and sharing meaning, and facilitating change. An emphasis is placed on resiliency work, tailoring treatment to individual families, and methods for ensuring treatment adherence and relapse prevention. Finally, the integrative model is applied one last time to the Quest family.
With this structure in place, we are now ready to begin a journey together. It is my hope that you will enter the field of couples and family counseling and find an exciting place for yourself as a relational practitioner. Couples and family practice is very much a growing and developing field. Only 70 years ago, the field was still in its infancy. I hope you will feel yourself grow into couples and family practice as you consider the different models presented in this book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Robert (Jim) Bitter, EdD, is professor of counseling and human services at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. He is a nationally certified counselor, an Adlerian family counselor, and a former officer of the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology. He is also a former editor of the Journal of Individual Psychology and a Diplomate in Adlerian Psychology. He is a reviewer for the American Journal of Family Therapy and has served in the past in a similar role for The Family Journal and the Journal of Counseling & Development. He received his doctorate in counselor education from Idaho State University in Pocatello in 1975.
Jim has received awards for outstanding teaching in the College of Human Development and Community Service at California State University, Fullerton, and for outstanding scholarship in the Clemmer College of Education at East Tennessee State University. In 2015, Jim won the American Counseling Association’s Don Dinkmeyer Social Interest Award. He has taught in graduate counseling programs in three universities and has authored or coauthored four books as well as more than 60 articles and chapters.
Jim is the featured expert on Adlerian family therapy in the Allyn & Bacon/Psychotherapy.net series Family Therapy With the Experts, and he has offered workshops in Canada, England, Greece, Ireland, South Korea, New Zealand, and Peru as well as throughout the United States. He was introduced to Adlerian family counseling by Manford A. Sonstegard, with whom he worked for more than 30 years.
Jim studied and worked for 10 years with one of the pioneers of family therapy, Virginia Satir. He was a trainer in her Process communities for three of those years and published an article and a number of chapters with her before her death in 1989. He is a past president of AVANTA, Satir’s training network.
Jim currently sees couples and families together with graduate students at East Tennessee State University’s community counseling clinic. He continues to develop Adlerian counseling models for individuals, groups, couples, and families. His focus on a fully present relationship in all forms of counseling is an integration of Adlerian counseling and the work of Virginia Satir, Erv and Miriam Polster, and Michael White, all of whom have trained Jim in the past.
Jim has been married to Lynn Williams for 37 years; they have two grown daughters, Alison and Nora Williams. In his leisure time, Jim likes to travel, collect stamps, play basketball, and read.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
No one writes a textbook like this without a lot of help, and I have had wonderful support from the very beginning, starting with Carolyn Baker, Nancy Driver, and the rest of the team at the American Counseling Association. Special thanks to Beth Ciha for copyediting the project, and also to my daughter, Alison Williams, who carefully proofread every page of this book. In many ways, this is the third edition of a textbook I wrote back in 2009. Sherry Cormier served as a developmental editor, friend, and confidant for that first edition. Her wisdom is still in every chapter. And of course, this book would never have been started without the kindness, support, and constant encouragement of Jerry Corey.
Special thanks are extended to the chapter reviewers who provided consultation and detailed critiques. Their recommendations have been incorporated into this text:
Chapters 1–4: Gerald and Marianne Corey
Chapter 4: David Kleist and I cowrote the original chapter, and Mark Young updated and improved it
Chapter 5: Jill Scharff
Chapter 6: Jon Carlson (now deceased and much missed) and Richard E. Watts
Chapter 7: Betty Carter and Monica McGoldrick
Chapter 8: Jean McLendon and John Banmen
Chapter 9: Harry Aponte
Chapter 10: Madeleine Richeport-Haley
Chapter 11: Jane Peller