Biomedical subjects

D Abelsohn

Publications and source records attributed to D Abelsohn.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

A "good enough" separation: some characteristic operations and tasks.

Perhaps there are advantages, at this stage of our knowledge, to be looking for the adaptive mechanisms of divorcing families where children are involved, rather than focusing primarily on concepts of risk, dysfunction, and disaster. Perhaps what is truly remarkable is that divorcing families are not more disturbed, given the stigmatization, the uncharted nature of this complex upheaval with little normative frame, and diminished financial resources. As a modest offering in this regard, a 3-year longitudinal study is presented of a nonclinical postseparation family with an adolescent who neither entered nor required treatment. Specifically, their successful resolutions invented for dealing with day-to-day divorce dilemmas and challenges are explored.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Adolescent adjustment to parental divorce: an investigation from the perspective of basic dimensions of structural family therapy theory.

This study, conducted within the framework of concepts of structural family therapy, examined the relationship of four family-based, clinical dimensions to the adjustment of 45 adolescents during the first 18 months of parental separation. There were two samples of mother-custody families: an Aided group that applied for treatment, and an Unaided group of paid volunteers. The inclusion of this variable addressed a major methodological deficit of previous studies. There was a significant association between perceived postseparation family structure and adolescent adjustment, demonstrating that individual adolescent adjustment is contingent on structural features of the contemporary postseparation family. Further, Aided families were perceived as more chaotic, disengaged, and enmeshed than Unaided families, while Aided adolescents were characterized by more behavior problems than Unaided adolescents. This suggests that divorce, as an unscheduled transition, might be within the realm of adaptation for many families and adolescents and is not necessarily "disastrous."

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1983

Dealing with the abdication dynamic in the post divorce family: a context for adolescent crisis.

Separation and divorce can exacerbate or precipitate abdication of parental functions. This is often associated with disengagement and acting-out by the adolescent offspring. This paper describes a therapy oriented to the management of four specific processes: (a) the restoration of parental nurturing functions, which tend to collapse under the personal and interpersonal tensions of divorce, with the result that the adolescent is without sustenance or seeks it elsewhere; (b) the recovery of parental guiding and controlling functions; (c) the correction of distortions that accompany the separation process and restoration of a relatively more accurate view of family reality; and (d) the repair of parental unity. Excerpts from a case study are used to illustrate the orchestration of this therapy.

Acting Out↗