Discusses the "hidden illness" of compulsive gambling. Describes course of the disease, theories of compulsive gambling, effects of compulsive gambling on gambler's wife and children, the organization Gam-Anon, and human service agencies' staff training and counseling intake procedures. Recommends self-help groups for all family members.…

Reviews and critiques 11 stepfamily self-help books for children and adolescents. Codes books on dimensions of appropriate audience, author background, issues, advice, and strengths. Rates general interest and quality of writing of books and assigns categories of recommendation. Discusses use of the books as an adjunct to therapy. (Author/NB)

Two trends are emerging in sexual counseling: use of self-help programs, and increasing reliance on group therapy to overcome specific sexual complaints. The weekend sexual enhancement workshop represents a synthesis of both trends, but efficacy regarding outcome has not been well documented. This article attempts such documentation. (Author)

Describes the Families in Transition Project that serves families experiencing separation, divorce, or remarriage. Focuses on one model of treatment--self-help support groups for youth. (JOW)

Describes a program, both rehabilitative and preventive, which provides individual, family, group, and community work for Holocaust survivors and their children. Six group experiences are offered: awareness, self-help, long-term therapy, mixed, multiple-family, and intergenerational. (Author/DB)

Examines the ways hypertension therapy-related stress is mediated by extended family-based self-help groups in rural, central Mississippi. Concludes that these self-help groups are the best means of controlling hypertension in this area because they are built upon an existing family structure and involve the entire extended family in adapting to…

Applies codependency group model to families of obsessive-compulsive people based on view that these families are normal, feeling people who are trying to cope with unremitting stress. Clinical vignettes illustrate how these families are similar to families of alcoholics in their management of emotions and in their dysfunctional behaviors. (JBJ)

To discuss ways to help strengthen family systems was the purpose of a Wingspread Conference held in Racine, Wisconsin. The conference was sponsored by the Coalition for the White House Conference on Families, in cooperation with the Johnson Foundation. There are ten sections to the report, including a brief introduction which provides background…

A review of the history and literature about the runaway child in America reveals that young people from poor families have always viewed running away as a reasonable way of leaving a poverty stricken home. For many adolescents, running away has been a response to an unhealthy family or work situation, and at times it has been a problem-solving…

Analysis of Al-Anon and Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA) organizational literature shows women's articulation of and responses to the problems of codependence from the 1950s to the 1980s. Progressive appropriation of feminist ideals, a critique of the family, and a disease-based model of family dysfunction characterize understanding of…

Examines the effects of a self-help program, Parents United, on families in which incest has occurred. Studied male incest offenders (N=56). Results indicated the program was successful in increasing participants' feelings of responsibility, and decreasing recidivism, but less successful in keeping the families together. (Author/JAC)

Describes the establishment and development of a support group for the parents of children infected and/or affected by HIV infection. The group is hospital-based, meeting monthly since April 1992, facilitated by professionals but with a self-help and peer support emphasis. Explains the planning, setting, and running of the group. Identifies…

A comprehensive picture of existing services to families under stress can be useful for immediate and long-range planning. In order to determine the range of services to families under stress, including those identified as involved in child abuse and neglect, the Council for Child Protection and Family Support, Missoula, Montana, surveyed, through…

Three program models, developed for use by agencies and groups wishing to create or expand social services for youth and families experiencing separation, divorce or remarriage, are described in this manual. The three models are a Family Counseling Model, an Education Model, and a Self-Help Model. The manual contains a discussion of the issues to…

This document is a learning module designed to provide adult literacy practitioners in New York and elsewhere with the materials needed to take an empowering approach to helping adult literacy learners deal with the realities of alcohol and other drug issues affecting them and their families. The module includes background material, information on…