WILL THERAPY HELP YOUR MARRIAGE? WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Today's quick-fix society says counseling is the answer when a marriage is on the rocks. Not so fast. Research by SMU psychology professor Robert Hampson shows that only 50 percent of the couples in counseling benefit from therapy. Couples with the following characteristics did well:
* No children. In fact, Hampson's study found that remarried couples without children did the best in treatment. Therapy with their children is suggested for parents with a troubled marriage.
* A track record of being open with one another and viewing their marriage as a partnership.
* Commitment to ongoing counseling.
WHAT ENRON CAN TEACH FAMILIES ABOUT LOVE
Corporate wrongdoings are ethical failings in the boardroom, but the behaviors -- greed, lying and hubris -- began in the family setting. Want to raise ethical children? Richard Mason, the Carr P. Collins Distinguished Professor at the SMU Cox School of Business and director of the Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, offers tips honed from more than 15 years of teaching business ethics:
* Ethics is about love, respect and caring. We teach these traits by showing children love consistently. Ethical businesses treat their employees with respect, honor their customers' wants and needs, and strive to be competent and excellent at all times.
* We are naturally self-interested. Teach children to control greedy impulses and to practice humility rather than hubris -- behaviors responsible for the downfall of executives at Enron and WorldCom.
* Manners help young children to understand ethics. "Manners teach respect for others, which is essentially what ethics is," Mason says. "When parents teach young children manners, they're also teaching them early concepts of ethical behavior."
NEW ATTITUDE: PARENTS' OUTLOOK MAY CAUSE DEPRESSION FOR KIDS
A parent's glass-half-empty outlook on life may not seem significant, but some SMU researchers are finding that negativism in the home can plant a seed of depression in a child.
Professors Rick Ingram and Robert Hampson are studying 50 children and their families to see what factors lead to full-blown depression as adults. "I firmly believe we will see a relationship between the thinking style of the parents and of the children," Hampson says.
Such research is important because it will give therapists the tools to help parents see that their attitudes can have far-reaching effects on their children, Hampson says.
Southern Methodist University is a private, comprehensive university of 10,000 students in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1911, SMU offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the arts and sciences, business, engineering, and the performing, visual, and communication arts, as well as professional degree programs in law and theology.
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