Author Description

"Understanding how to ameliorate the negative effects of gender roles and stereotypes is essential if optimal treatment outcomes [for depression] are to be obtained." --The American Psychological Association's Report on Women and Depression (1990)Under the guidance of Peggy Papp, renowned author and clinician, the Depression Project at the Ackerman Institute for the Family has pioneered a marital therapy approach that addresses the cultural gender "mandates" that predispose men and women to depression and undermine intimate relationships. In this emotionally compelling video, Papp demonstrates her team-based approach to treating depression within a marital therapy context. An immensely useful and skillfully presented resource, the program also draws upon the clinical expertise of Depression Project members and producer Steve Lerner, practicing family therapist and founding director of Menninger Video Productions.Viewers observe a series of clinical sessions in which the Depression Project's male-female treatment team works with a severely depressed couple to help reduce marital discord, alleviate each partner's feelings of despair, and bolster the couple's sense of competency and satisfaction within the marriage. The video brings to life strategies for helping couples:* Recognize symptoms of emotional disconnectedness* Restore a sense of connectedness as individuals and as a couple* Redistribute and equalize responsibility in relationships * Develop new skills and competencies in their work, family life, social interactions, and marital relations. *Modify stereotypic gender patterns that undermine the health of a relationship and exacerbate depression. THE VIDEO ALSO ELUCIDATES:* How men's and women's self-esteem is shaped by social and cultural forces.* The distinct elements that tend to trigger depression in men and in women. * The different ways men and women tend to cope with depression. * The different ways husbands and wives of depressed partners tend to hand