In what ways are computer networking practices comparable to face-to-face therapy? With the exponential increase in computer-mediated communication and the increasing numbers of people joining topically based computer networks, the potential for grass-roots therapeutic (or antitherapeutic) interchange is greatly augmented. Here we report the results of research into exchanges on an electronic bulletin board devoted to the topic of suicide. Over an 11-month period participants offered each other valuable resources in terms of validation of experience, sympathy, acceptance, and encouragement. They also asked provocative questions and furnished broad-ranging advice. Hostile entries were rare. However, there were few communiques that parallel the change-inducing practices more frequent within many therapeutic settings. In effect, on-line dialogues seemed more sustaining than transforming. Further limits and potentials of on-line communication are explored.

Internet addiction among college students has become a serious problem in China. This pilot study involved the development of an online expert system named Healthy Online Self-helping Center (HOSC) as an intervention tool to help those who wish to reduce online usage. The study also explored the effectiveness of HOSC for college students' Internet addiction behavior. Participants (N = 65) were recruited from a university in Beijing, and were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: using HOSC within a laboratory environment, using HOSC within a natural environment, using a noninteractive program, and a control group. All the participants were asked to answer questionnaires at the baseline and at the 1-month follow-up. The questionnaires included the participants' online hours per week, the legitimate ratio of Internet usage, online satisfaction, and the Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire. The results revealed that HOSC under both natural and laboratory environments could effectively reduce the participants' online hours per week as well as their Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire score, and improve online satisfaction at a 1-month follow-up. Participants using a noninteractive program also had similar results. The article concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study, as well as the implications of the findings and future research directions.

This article provides a description of a unique walk-in family therapy service designed to overcome barriers to clinical delivery, as well as a survey of client experiences with the therapy. This therapy modality is aimed at providing an immediately accessible, affordable, nonstigmatizing, single-session-focused resource. The service operates from a systemic, collaborative, consumer oriented, pragmatic, non-pathology perspective. Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with 43 clients 3 to 6 months after they received treatment. Generally, former clients reported satisfaction with the service. The majority (67%) indicated some level of improvement, and 43% of participants found their single session sufficient to address their concerns. At the time of the session, the majority (86%) of clients were rated by their therapists as "customers" regarding their motivational readiness for change.

There is a growing movement to define competency within the field of marriage and family therapy (MFT), particularly with respect to the training of practitioners and the evaluation of clinical practice. Efforts to define competency, however, transcend the practice of MFT and much can be learned from the experiences of other disciplines. Professions such as education, law, and medicine have made strides toward addressing the complex issue of competency standards in their respective fields. This article describes some ways in which the issue of competency has been approached in other professions, as well as some common dilemmas posed by adopting a competency-based orientation, to shed light on the process of defining competency in MFT. Moreover, this article identifies some of the more useful conceptualizations, modes of pedagogy, and evaluative practices found in other professions.

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This longitudinal study examined the relationship between couple relationship satisfaction, parenting practices, parent depression, and child problem behaviors. The study participants (n = 148) were part of a larger experimental study that examined the effectiveness of a brief family-centered intervention, the Family Check-Up model. Regression analysis results indicated that our proposed model accounted for 38% of the variance in child problem behavior at Time 2, with child problem behavior and couple relationship satisfaction at child age 2 years each accounting for a significant portion of the variance in child problem behavior at age 3. Couple relationship satisfaction directly predicted child behavior problems over time. Clinical and research implications are discussed.The relationship between couple relationship satisfaction and distress, parenting, and child outcomes is well established. Researchers have consistently demonstrated that couple distress negatively affects the partners' health, welfare, and quality of life, and is a risk factor for poor child outcomes (Cordova, Warren, & Gee, 2001;El-Sheikh & Staton, 2004;Fals-Stewart, O'Farrell, Birchler, Cordova, & Kelley, 2005). Children from high-conflict families, when compared with children from low-conflict homes, have more adjustment problems (Booth & Amato, 2001;Harold, Shelton, Goeke-Morey, & Cummings, 2004). Moreover, children of distressed couples often have poorer school performance, more behavioral problems, and greater incidence of physical illness (Cherlin et al., 1991). At the extreme end of couple conflict, children exposed to parental domestic violence have significantly higher rates of behavioral and emotional problems, poorer academic performance, lower levels of well-being, poorer physical health, and higher rates of clinical depression, anxiety, suicide ideation, drug abuse, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (Graham-Bermann & Edleson, 2001;Jouriles, Norwood, McDonald, Vincent, & Mahoney, 1996).The birth of a first child and negotiation of child-rearing responsibilities mark a developmental transition that is particularly influential on the couple relationship and child outcomes. Some research has demonstrated that this time period can be filled with joy and pleasure with the baby (Gottman & Notarius, 2002). Yet, in even the healthiest relationship, it is normative to experience a decrease in relationship satisfaction with the birth of the first child (Schulz, Cowan, & Cowan, 2006;Shapiro, Gottman, & Carrere, 2000). In fact, researchers estimate that one third of all divorces occur within the first 5 years of marriage, and for many couples, the trajectory toward divorce begins with the decline in the female partner's relationship satisfaction after the arrival of the first baby (Cowan & Cowan, 1992;Shapiro et al., 2000). During the transition to parenthood, couples frequently demonstrate a dramatic increase in relationship conflict in addition to a decrease in positive interactions, which result in an overall decline in couple re...