l'wo models of family therapy supervision were compared in this research. Thirteen doctoral interns were divided into two groups. The first group received supervision based on delayed feedback supervision concepts. The second group received supervision based on the concepts of live supervision using the team approach. No significant differences were detected between the two supervision models in their ability to help interns acquire and retain selected family therapy skills.

Characteristics of effective providers of marital and family therapy (MFT) in rural mental health settings were investigated. The survey sample included 74 members of the National Association for Rural Mental Health who, through a modified Delphi process, created a composite picture of effective MFT providers. The findings yielded six major rank-ordered characteristics of effective MFT providers in rural mental health settings, with effective skills in MFT ranked first. Rural community understanding, appreciation and participation ranked second. Specific competencies contributing to each major characteristic were also identified and are discussed. Recommendations for use of this information are provided.

There is currently rather widespread acceptance among clinicians that conjoint marital therapy is the preferred format for treating marital difficulties. However, more often than not, it seems that the marital referral or inquiry for therapy stems from the efforts of one spouse, with the other spouse remaining uninvolved or resistant. Consequently, engaging the non‐attending spouse in therapy is an important issue for professionals working with married couples.

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Despite the systemic interaction, family-based journals, as well as intake and assessment forms most frequently used by couple and family therapists (CFTs), have given a limited amount of attention to the issue of work and family conflict. Moreover, a review of the literature indicated that many CFTs perceive themselves as inadequately prepared to assist couples and families with work and family conflict. Addressing this apparent limitation, the present study identified various work stressors that contributed to family conflict (WFC), and the family stressors that contributed to work conflict (FWC). Results revealed significant predictors of WFC and FWC. Implications for CFTs and recommendations for changes in academic training and supervision are provided.KEY WORDS: Work and family conflict; predictive factors; couple and family therapy.

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Professional literature has frequently focused upon the content of therapist-to-client written messages (Berger, 1975;Teismann, 1980; Weeks & EAbate, 1982). Wilcoxon and Fenell (1983) proposed using a letter to engage non-attending spouses for marital therapy. Given as a homework assignment for the attending spouse in the early stages of therapy, the letter included information concerning potential hazards of one-spouse marital therapy (Gurman & Kniskern, 1981)) a request for signatures by both spouses to verify their understanding of these hazards, and a request for non-attender engagement. lkvo examples of the letter (linear and paradoxical) were featured in this publication as well as recommendations for research. The present study is an attempt to compare engagement rates, using the linear and paradoxical letters. METHOD Sample and ProcedureData were collected over a 23-month time span using volunteer subjects from 3 outpatient community health centers. Subjects were legally married agency clients requesting marital therapy, whose spouse had expressed unwillingness to participate in services. Therapists were full-time agency master's-or doctoral-level employees representing a n array of theoretical preferences and length of experience.At initial intake, therapists requested that the attending spouse attempt to engage their non-attending spouse for the second session. If engagement via attenders' request was unsuccessful, the therapist discussed the engagement-letter option during the second therapy session and willing participants received the letter during their third therapy session. Attenders were instructed to return for their fourth session with a verification form signed by both spouses. Whenever possible and appropriate, therapists would not reschedule a fourth session for the attending spouse until (s)he informed the therapist that the letter assignment had been completed.When attenders were unable to obtain signatures from non-attenders, or requested that services continue beyond the third session, therapists were instructed to comply with requests for services. However, in such cases, attenders not returning with signed letters by the seventh session were excluded from the study. This decision was based upon the premise($ that: (a) Therapists could not verify that non-attenders had read the letter and were choosing to avoid engagement; (b) one or both spouses might perceive an alliance between the attending spouse and the therapist; or, (c) attending spouses ~~ S.