What’s New at MRI?

Announcements by the Center for Couples in Recovery

Dr. Robert Navarra:

Just published: (2007) "Family Response to Adults and Alcohol". A chapter in Familial Response to Alcohol Problems, edited by Fischer, Muslow, and Korinek. Taken from an article published in Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly: Special Edition, Volume 25, 2007

August 2007: Television Interview, San Jose Community Television, Comcast Channel 15, "Perspectives on Health". Speaking about challenges recovering couples face in intimate relationships

September 28, 2007: Presenting at the Fourth Annual Conference on Gottman Marital Therapy, "Why Can’t We Be Friends? “Helping Couples Recovering from Alcoholism Develop a Friendship System", Seattle, Washington

A review of the book THE ALCOHOLIC FAMILY IN RECOVERY: A DEVELOPMENTAL MODEL by Stephanie Brown and Virginia Lewis, appeared in the Criminal Justice Review, Vo. 30 No.2 Sept. 2005.

The reviewer commends the book as …” user-friendly text….a valuable addition to the area of research on the multi-dimensionality of alcoholism. The authors, two clinicians/researchers, present a psychological view of “what happens to the entire family, as a system, when one or both parents stop drinking.’ “. The purpose of the book is to address “recovery from acoholism for the whole family from a systems perspective…”

Clinicians and researchers from the Recovery Projects at MRI have contributed chapters to an upcoming book entitled FAMILY RESPONSE TO ALCOHOL PROBLEMS, edited by Judith L. Fischer, Ph.D. from the Haworth Press. The book discusses the most current studies, innovative programs, and practical therapy approaches that focus on the goal of bringing alcoholic individuals into recovery and mending the psychological impact.

Dr. Virginia Lewis and Dr. Lois Allen-Byrd of the Family Recovery Project have written of the impact of family recovery on other family members.

Robert Navarra, Ph.D. of the Couples in Recovery Program contributed a chapter on evolving issues in the recovery process, including couple identity, family origin issues, and couple interdependence.

More news from the Center for Couples in Recovery

Dr. Robert Navarra:

• was a guest presenter on ABC 7/KGO-TV with Cheryl Jennings aired on New Year's Eve day called "Beyond the Headlines: Teen Driving", speaking about teens and substance use.

• authored an article called "Family Response to Adults and Alcohol" for Addiction Treatment Quarterly: Special Edition (In press) presenting a theory of couple assessment and treatment based on his research.

• along with Dr. Virginia Lewis, presented a one day workshop on their research titled "The Family Recovery Project: What We Have Learned", to Santa Clara County mental health and chemical dependency counselors.

• will be offering a "Couples in Recovery" workshop this Spring with Lynda Voorhees, M.F.T., in collaboration with The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) in the Silicon Valley as a fundraiser for NCADD. Robert & Lynda are developing an approach integrating the Gottman Method with research from Center for Couples in Recovery, an evolving model of couple assessment and treatment.

Dr. Navarra can be reached at:

Robert Navarra, Psy.D., MFT
Center for Couples in Recovery
Mental Research Institute
555 Middlefield Road
Palo Alto, CA 94301
650-593-8087

Prior to the Family Recovery Project, there was no true awareness or understanding of the devastation that children can experience when their parent(s) enter recovery. Knowledge and understanding of the family recovery process and its dramatic impact upon families allows clinicians and practitioners to play a critical and life-saving role in assisting pre-teens and adolescents, by implementing more effective interventions and/or making appropriate referrals for this vulnerable “forgotten” population.

In addition, Dr. Lewis and Lois Allen-Byrd, Ph.D., Research Fellow at MRI, have co-authored “Coping Strategies for the Stages of Family Recovery” , to appear in the ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT QUARTERLY, Special Edition, in press. The paper briefly discusses family recovery and research that identifies four stages of recovery. It focuses on the role of the therapist in treating families in recovery, including working with children; and identifying and discussing the various requirements, tasks and treatment strategies associated with each stage. Therapists can play a vital role in 1) assisting the family in entering into the recovery process and 2) helping them maintain recovery. With understanding of the characteristics of family recovery, the therapist can provide coping strategies for the recovering alcoholic, the co-alcoholic and the children

Robert Navarra, Psy.D, MRT, Research Associate and Co-Founder of the Center for Couples in Recovery (CCR) at MRI, presented with colleague Lynda Voorhees, MFT, “Applying Gottman Method to Relational Therapy in Addiction Treatment” at the 3rd Annual Gottman Conference on Gottman Method Therapy, in Seattle, Washington on September 15, 2006. Integrating Robert’s research with the Gottman method therapy is currently part of an ongoing study of couple recovery processes at CCR.

As published in the San Mateo County's Daily Journal

Students to get emotional help

By Heather Murtagh

Students at all six schools in the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District could start receiving emotional counseling next year along with the academic support they already get.

The school district will vote Thursday to bring in Parent, Adolescent, Child Therapy Solutions, known as PACTS, into the schools next year to offer in-house counseling. The $60,000 program will provide the students with 10 hours of counseling per week at each location.

Currently a counselor is offered full time at Ralston Intermediate and part time at Nesbit Elementary, said Superintendent John McIntosh. But the district is always looking for cost effective ways to increase services for the students, he said.

PACTS opened in March 2005 as a service offered by the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto with a focus on the family.

The concept used, brief therapy, was a locally developed idea, said PACTS co-director Stephanie Rudolph. It focuses on a solving a specific problem without getting into psychoanalytic therapy, she said.

“We were at a conference in Louisiana about struggling youth and society. They were using brief therapy with the worst problems in the penal system. ... It was a local idea and I thought why do we need to go to Louisiana to use it?” said Rudolph.

A business proposal was started and funding was sought in October 2004. The work began the following March with one intern. For the past year, PACTS worked with schools in East Palo Alto using the same theories.

The counselors at each location are interns who have completed graduate degrees but have yet to be certified. It’s a win for both groups, the interns need hours of work to become certified while it offers counseling to students who wouldn’t have it otherwise.

If the agreement with the district goes through, each of the five interns working for Belmont-Redwood Shores would be responsible for 20 hours a week, including 10 hours of face to face time with individuals. The rest of the time is spent doing case notes, training and administrative support, said Rudolph.

Rudolph, whose children attend school within the Belmont-Redwood Shores District, is happy to have the chance to offer extra services to the children.

“I helped doing a tutoring program at Central, it wasn’t just the educational aspect, [the kids] needed emotional support. I’m excited to bring what was missing. It’s my school district and I want to see the kids strive. They just need the extra support,” she said.

The district meets 6 p.m. Thursday, March 2 at the district office, 2960 Hallmark Drive, Belmont. For more information about PACTS visit www.mri.org.