Lee, Bonnie

Permanent URI for this collection

https://opus.uleth.ca/handle/10133/546

Browse

Browsing Lee, Bonnie by Author "Lee, Bonnie"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Characteristics of seekers for couple therapy for alcohol use or gambling disorder
    (Wolters Kluwer Health, 2023) Lee, Bonnie ; Shi, Yanjun; Ofori-dei, Samuel M.; Miftari, Naser
    Objective: This study examined characteristics of individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) or gambling disorder (GD) who were seeking couple therapy based on screening data from a randomized controlled trial on Congruence Couple Therapy at 2 out-patient addiction service sites in Alberta. Method: Screening data of couple therapy seekers (N= 171) were analyzed. Results: Seekers cited various motivations for seeking couple therapy including addiction-related relationship breaches and issues, the desire to recover from addiction together, concerns for the well-being of their children, and the lack of available couple therapy in addiction services until this trial. Significantly more females than males were first to indicate interest, and 77% of the sample had attended other treatment and mutual help programs in the past 12 months. The majority of the treatment seekers met DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for AUD and/or GD scoring in the moderate-severe range with nearly half of the seekers reporting a mental health diagnosis at least once in their lifetime. In addition, 30% of treatment-seekers reported past-year suicidal thoughts, citing their own addiction and their partners’ addiction as reasons and 57% of those individuals reported having a method/plan to carry out their suicide. Suicidal attempts in the past year was 8% based on the entire sample. Finally, 19% of treatment seekers reported experiencing intimate partner violence within the past 12 months. Conclusion: Addiction and couple relationship problems are closely connected. Despite the serious multiple concurrent concerns of seekers identified in this study, there is a general lack of couple therapy availability in addiction services. This study highlights the importance for addiction and mental health professionals to note the complex interaction of couple distress and addiction, understand couple therapy as a treatment modality, and make timely referrals for this vulnerable group.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Family therapy and civilization and its discontents
    (2023) Lee, Bonnie
    Myth or history, the origin of civilization was ascribed in the Hebrew scriptures to the first couple, Adam and Eve, and to the intergenerational saga of their descendants. Civilization has been a concern of psychoanalysts since the time of Freud and Jung, the fathers of depth psychology. In their mature years, they applied their theories and observations of human nature to the tumultuous events of the First and Second World Wars. Taking their cues, the author utilizes key concepts and insights from family therapy on couple conflict as a lens for analyzing international relations, with the goal for finding their parallels on the dynamics of strife and turmoil in our time and with the premise that the world could be seen as the human family writ large. The article explores how principles for couple analysis — respecting differences, boundaries, history, recognizing stress and transitions and congruent communication — can be transposed to international relations.
To access publication content, first browse or search for a title. Once an item is located, full-text can be obtained by clicking the "View/Open" link in the lower-right corner of the individual item page.