Family Process 1962-1969.

This is a personal recollection of the first 8 years of Family Process, the volumes published under the first Editor, Jay Haley, and strongly influenced by the Mental Research Institute at Palo Alto, of which Haley was a member. The later influence of the group's "double bind" hypothesis of schizophrenia is explored. Some ideas about the influence of theory on practice are suggested.

Some historical conditions of narrative work.

Written to honor the immense contribution of Michael White as a leader in the development of narrative therapy, this historical essay contrasts the origins of psychoanalysis, family therapy and narrative therapy. Changes in the understanding of therapeutic strategies, methods of training and supervision, styles of leadership, the involvement of audiences in the therapeutic and training processes, and conceptions of the nature of the mind are described. A style of direct demonstration of methods, especially of the formulation of questions, is important in narrative work.

Psychotherapy as a rite of passage.

Some psychotherapies may work because they resemble rites of passage. To explore this idea, this article describes an "individual" case of depression in which drug, cognitive, and narrative approaches fell short of effectiveness, and change occurred in a series of experiences that resemble a rite of passage. This resemblance is illuminated by examining two apparently quite different healing processes--Alcoholics Anonymous and multifamily group therapy in schizophrenia--to explore the elements they have in common with the case described: the acceptance of what Victor Turner called a liminal experience, and the importance of witnesses to the ritual support for that acceptance.

A rationale for determining, testing, and controlling specific impurities in pharmaceuticals that possess potential for genotoxicity.

The synthesis of pharmaceutical products frequently involves the use of reactive reagents and the formation of intermediates and by-products. Low levels of some of these may be present in the final drug substance and drug product as impurities. Such chemically reactive impurities may have at the same time the potential for unwanted toxicities including genotoxicity and carcinogenicity and hence can have an impact on product risk assessment.