My philosophy about academic life and working with students:
Synergy of Theory, Research, and Practice
There has been a lot of buzz lately about what distinguishes Ph.D. training in Couple and Family Therapy from Masters’ level training. The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy devoted several essays and commentaries about this in their July 2010 volume. The OSU Couple and Family Therapy Ph.D. program is viewed as a premiere program because of our research productivity. In my opinion what distinguishes a Ph.D. program/scholar/clinician from a Masters’ level program/scholar/clinician is how integrated their theory is with their lives. I often tell students in supervision that for me, the ultimate clinician is one who “lives their theory.” For a scholar/clinician living your theory means you use it clinically, personally and in research. Not all Ph.D. students will do research on their particular clinical theory, but in some way it has to be what drives their research agenda. I’m not sure why research and theory have somehow become separated.
If I think about my own productivity, it is based on my passion for theory in general and Bowen theory more specifically. It is my passion for the ideas within Bowen’s theory that drives my research agenda. My main focus is on how families influence individuals, with various outcomes of interest. I have procured funding for investigating decision making about breast cancer screening with an idea about how differentiation permeates all facets of our lives. I continue to work on how client and therapist differentiation creates a context within which therapy proceeds, good or bad. I also continue in my efforts for assessing families in a way that will provide enough quantitative information to give us a glimpse of the family system as a whole.
So how do we as faculty in an accredited Ph.D. program encourage student productivity? First, we provide models for how to survive at a research institution. Second, we work with students on our projects and publications so they get the practice they need to continue this work once they have graduated. Third, we encourage students to think critically about the literature that is out there, what the gaps are in the literature and how they might be able to fill them. Finally, we encourage students to use their clinical curiosity to think about their next steps in their development as a researcher.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Yoo, H., Bartle-Haring, S. , Gangamma, R., (in press) Predicting premature termination with alliance at sessions 1 and 3: an exploratory study”. Journal of Family Therapy.
Gangama, R., Bartle-Haring, S., Holowacz, E., Hartwell, E., Glabova, T.,(in press) Relational Ethics, Depressive Symptoms, and Relationship Satisfaction in Couples in Therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.
Bartle-Haring, S., Slesnick, N., Carmona, J., (in press) Reciprocity in adolescent care-giver violence. Journal of Family Violence.
Ponappa,S, Bartle-Haring,S, Day,R. (2014). Connection to parents and healthy separation during adolescence: A longitudinal perspective. Journal of Adolescence, 37, 555-566.
Yoo,H, Bartle-Haring,S., Day,R., Gangamma,R, (2013) Couple communication, emotional and sexual intimacy, and relationship satisfaction”. JOURNAL OF SEX & MARITAL THERAPY. Vol. 40, 275-293.
Slesnick, N., Erdem, G., Bartle-Haring, S., & Brigham, G. (2013). Intervention with Substance Abusing Runaway Adolescents and their Families: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81, 600-614.
Bartle-Haring, S., Glebova, T., Gangamma, R., Grafsky, E. & Ostrom Delaney, R. (2012). Alliance and termination status in couple therapy: A comparison of methods for assessing discrepancies. Psychotherapy Research, 22, 502-514.
Gangamma, R, & Bartle-Haring, S., & Glebova, T (2012). A Study of Contextual Therapy Theory’s Relational Ethics in Couples in Therapy. Family Relations, 61, 825-835.
Bartle-Haring, S., Slesnick, N., Collins, J., Erdem, G., & Buettner, C. (2012). The utility of mentoring homeless adolescents: A pilot study. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse,38, 350-358.
Bartle-Haring, S., Lotspeich Younkin, F. & Day, R. (2012). Family distance regulation and school engagement in middle-school-aged children. Family Relations, 61, 192-206.