MARCH 2005

VOLUME 44

 NUMBER 1

Reecting and Anticipating

EVAN IMBER-BLACKw

n the fall of 2004, I attended the European Family Therapy Association Congress in Berlin. I am very pleased to report from this congress that family therapy is thriving in Europe. Over 3,500 people attended this meeting, but perhaps more important and exciting is that some 1,500 of the attendees were trainees looking to make a professional future in family therapy practice and research. Together with Ivan Eisler, editor of the Journal of Family Therapy, I co-facilitated the beginnings of a network of international editors of systemic journals. Our conversation ranged over the complex topics of language, translation, copyright, and scholarly content, all in the context of the new world of electronic publishing. I found myself wishing that I could read the pages of the Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, French, and Greek language journals that were represented. And I imagined that the many young trainees at this congress would likely live in a world where mutual translations would be simply a click of a mouse away. Our own Web site, http://www.familyprocess.org, under the wonderful associate editorship of Anne C. Bernstein, has recently launched a continuing education initiative in partnership with PsyBC. Selected themes inspired by Family Process articles form the basis of interactive symposia. Continue to visit the site for news about future courses. This new volume of Family Process begins with an issue that embodies a vibrant balance of theory, practice, research, and training. The theory and practice articles, notably Rolland and Williamss Toward a Biopsychosocial Model for 21st-Century Genetics, McDaniels The Psychotherapy of Genetics, and Robertss Transparency and Self-Disclosure in Family Therapy: Dangers and Possibilities, offer powerful research directions that I hope to see on future pages of the journal. The importance of research
wEditor, Family Process.

Family Process, Vol. 44, No. 1, 2005 r FPI, Inc.

FAMILY PROCESS

to practicing clinicians is easily visible in the work of Tubbs, Roy, and Burtons Family Ties: Constructing Family Time in Low-Income Families. This article enables clinicians to appreciate and utilize the inherent strengths and inventiveness in parentchild relationships in families struggling with poverty. This dynamic interplay of theory, research, and practice was my hope when I assumed the editorship. The special section on Genetic Illness, Family Systems, and Family Therapy heralds a new era for families and therapists alike. As family members choose whether to know their medical future, family relationships will surely undergo unanticipated changes, requiring that our eld develop capacities for ethical and efcacious therapeutic responses. The pioneering work of John S. Rolland and Janet K. Williams, and that of Susan H. McDaniel, offers a model of opening new frontiers for systemic thought, practice, and research. As Family Process moves into 2005, a number of exciting initiatives are in the offing. We will feature a special section, Marriage and Relationship Education in the International Context, guest edited by Howard Markman and Kim Halford. A special issue on Family Therapy Training: State of the Art is currently under way. And Guillermo Bernal, our associate editor for research, is guest editing a special section, Intervention and Treatment Development, that examines novel empirically based psychosocial treatment approaches among African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos. All of these vital topics, however, will still leave plenty of room in the journal for articles on many other themes. If you have been considering sending your work to Family Process, I hope that in 2005 you will do so.

EDITORS NOTE OF APPRECIATION

Several key components make this peer-reviewed journal possible. While the most obvious are the authors and the readers, as your editor, I rely on a cadre of advisory editors who give selflessly to the life of the journal. Through their thoughtful and careful reviews, advisory editors provide feedback and critique, enabling authors to strengthen their work, whether for this journal, or ultimately for another one. While readers can easily see the list of international advisory editors on our masthead, operating more anonymously are our ad hoc editors, selected by me to bring their special expertise to bear on a given topic. I want to thank the following people who served as ad hoc editors in 2004: Guy Bodenmann; Donald Brown; Ruth Cohen; Pat Colucci; Ed Dunne; Thelma Jean Goodrich; David Greenan; Herta Guttman; Miguel Hernandez; Rick Heyman; Eliana Korin; Jeffrey Larson; Larry Levner; Eve Lipchik; Don-David Lusterman; Gayla Margolin; Dusty Miller; Marsha Mirkin; David Moltz; Pat Noller; Joyce Pavao; Ellen Pulleyblank-Coffey; David Reiss; Miriam Reitz; Laura RobertoForman; Jack Saul; David Seaburn; Michal Shamai; Tammy Sher; Susan Sobel; Doug Sprenkle; Peter Steinglass; Martha Sullivan; Marlene Watson; Mary Whiteside; Richard Whiting; Hinda Winawer; and Steven Wolin.

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