Family Therapy

Dr. David Rubinstein, 65, who fled Castro's Cuba in 1961 and later became a professor of psychiatry at Temple University and a pioneer in the development of family therapy, died Tuesday at his home in Penn Valley. Born and educated in Havana, Dr. Rubinstein received a medical degree from the Havana University School of Medicine in 1951. He did postgraduate work at Temple University Medical Center in 1956 and 1957. He left Cuba in 1961. "He was not siding at all with communist government, which was making strong suggestions that there would be some dealing with him if he did not promote the government," his son Leonard said.

Last year, 10-year-old John Stagliano of Newark, Del., was so anxious that he no longer wanted to play baseball, speak up in class, or sleep alone. But, after 16 weeks of treatment that included his parents, John is back on his own at night, looking forward to school, and building a batting average that's better than ever. And his parents have learned how to change some behaviors to help their son. The family's experience at a Temple University clinic shows how children do not become anxious or fearful in a vacuum.

James L. Framo, 79, a former professor of psychology at Temple University and an early practitioner of family and marital therapy, died Wednesday of a stroke at his home in San Diego. A native of South Philadelphia, Dr. Framo had been living in California since 1983, when he joined the faculty of United States International University, now Alliant International University, in San Diego. He retired and received emeritus status in 1999. Dr. Framo taught at Temple from 1973 to 1983 and also served as chief of the family-therapy unit at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital from 1969 to 1973.

Alyce Renee Collier Higginbotham, 40, a family therapist, died Thursday at her Philadelphia home. She was awaiting a lung transplant. Her last position in a long career in family therapy was as senior counselor and assistant director of the Penn Women's Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Higginbotham was a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Girls and received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was the first president of the Penn Gospel Choir.

Duane told his mother that it wasn't her fault. "I had felt, maybe, I didn't do the right thing," Carol Gant says. "I felt bad. It's hard to know where your kids are and what they're doing after they're grown. " And he told her "he loved me a lot. He never had said that before. " Duane Gant, 32, is in prison on a burglary charge and a parole violation that he says were related to drug and alcohol problems. He talked to his mother and father as part of a unique federally funded program in which only a few hundred inmates participate locally and which is not available elsewhere.

The Township Council has given the go-ahead for a drug and alcohol prevention and treatment program for adolescents at the Ogden House on the county-owned Fair Acres campus. The county needed the township's approval for a governmental use in a residential district. The building, formerly used for adolescent foster care, is at Middletown and Old Forge Roads. The day program would include treatment for the adolescents as well as family therapy, said Sandra Purcell, executive director of the Delaware County Alcohol and Drug Commission.

The family dynamic has come under close scrutiny recently in a handful of first-rate movies and TV shows. The Fishers from "Six Feet Under" certainly extract the fun from dysfunction. In "Signs," a possible alien invasion takes a back seat to family therapy. And fathers and sons have new sins visited upon them in "Road to Perdition. " The family dynamic, however, has rarely been presented with such raw and unsettling power as in the brilliant "In the Bedroom" (VHS: priced for rental; DVD: $29.99)

The families of Vietnam veterans afflicted with a disorder that causes them to relive combat experiences are suffering and require more state aid, veterans said at a public hearing Thursday. About 40 veterans and their families attended the hearing at the Gloucester Township Municipal Hall, the second held by the state Commission for the Study and Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam Veterans since the commission was established in January 1989. The first hearing was in November in Jersey City.

They're not after Phil Donahue's job, but several Philadelphia-area psychotherapists believe they have more savvy than the TV talk-show host about how to communicate with your average Soviet citizen. And they want to use a Philadelphia family to prove it. Responding to a Soviet invitation, the group leaves today for Moscow to plan a televised two-hour show featuring two families - one local, the other from Russia - engaged in a dialogue on their common concerns and experiences.

There is a well-adjusted-looking bug, with perky antennae, crawling across the grass in Kendra's picture. It's passing an apple tree and is headed for a row of flowers. There's a smile on the bug's face and a smile on the sun in the top corner of the page. "Caterpillars like that are yellow, red, orange and blue," Kendra, 12, says. "They go underground in the winter and on a nice day they come out and hang around with their friends. Then they go on a branch and turn into butterflies.

BEFORE WE marvel that there are 30 percent fewer Philly kids in foster care or delinquent placement today than three years ago, let's marvel that Rashan Clarke survived the system at all. From the age of 3 months until he aged out of foster care last year, Rashan, 18, bounced from placement to placement. A few of his caregivers were well-intentioned, he says, but those relationships were short-lived. Mostly, he endured abuse or neglect by people who were supposed to protect and care for him. "Too many of them are just in it for the money.

PARIS HILTON may not want to admit it, but Tattle thinks prison agreed with her. In the first photos of her exiting the slammer she looked healthy - did we see hips? - and, dare we say it, happy. Of course she was happy to be free, but she looked really happy, like a kid looks happy, with a real smile and happy eyes, not her usual pasted-on smirk-smile. Her face looked a little fuller, her hair more natural, every expression and turn wasn't posed. Hard as it is to imagine, Paris looked . . . real.

Last year, 10-year-old John Stagliano of Newark, Del., was so anxious that he no longer wanted to play baseball, speak up in class, or sleep alone. But, after 16 weeks of treatment that included his parents, John is back on his own at night, looking forward to school, and building a batting average that's better than ever. And his parents have learned how to change some behaviors to help their son. The family's experience at a Temple University clinic shows how children do not become anxious or fearful in a vacuum.

The family dynamic has come under close scrutiny recently in a handful of first-rate movies and TV shows. The Fishers from "Six Feet Under" certainly extract the fun from dysfunction. In "Signs," a possible alien invasion takes a back seat to family therapy. And fathers and sons have new sins visited upon them in "Road to Perdition. " The family dynamic, however, has rarely been presented with such raw and unsettling power as in the brilliant "In the Bedroom" (VHS: priced for rental; DVD: $29.99)

Sally Green, 71, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist whose course on human sexuality entertained, amused and, most important, informed students for 20 years, died Nov. 23 of complications from leukemia at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She had been a resident of Haverford. Mrs. Green's course was the "kind you slept over to get into," said Eliot Kaplan, former editor of Philadelphia Magazine, who managed to find his way into the course in 1978 as a senior majoring in political science.

James L. Framo, 79, a former professor of psychology at Temple University and an early practitioner of family and marital therapy, died Wednesday of a stroke at his home in San Diego. A native of South Philadelphia, Dr. Framo had been living in California since 1983, when he joined the faculty of United States International University, now Alliant International University, in San Diego. He retired and received emeritus status in 1999. Dr. Framo taught at Temple from 1973 to 1983 and also served as chief of the family-therapy unit at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital from 1969 to 1973.

By the time we boarded, Kate was cranky. She squirmed in her seat as she tried to adjust the little airline pillow. She complained about the reception on her earphones. She refused to eat anything, having been told by her brother that "airline food sucks. " We were on our way to a weeklong vacation in Paris during her spring break. The idea for the trip with my 11-year-old had come after many years of failed family vacations. My husband and I love our children, and we trust that, in time, they will admit to a grudging affection for us. But attempts to travel en famille have not been happy.

Two comedies - one that gives a new meaning to the phrase family therapy and one that dissects the life of an average Joe - top this week's list. Analyze This . 1/2 (1999) (Warner) 103 minutes. Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow and Chazz Palminteri. The sole selling point is that De Niro is a mob boss in search of his inner goodfella. De Niro plays brilliantly off his familiar screen gangland persona as he seeks the help of shrink Crystal and opens a new field: "family" therapy.

Any movie that casts Robert De Niro as a mob boss in search of his inner goodfella has a lot going for it before the opening credits roll. While Analyze This musters some genuinely uproarious moments, De Niro's cheerful self-mockery remains pretty much the sole selling point of Harold Ramis' comedy. The movie is like a car you buy strictly for the high performance. Analyze This ranks well above such lame mob spoofs as Mafia!, but lacks the polish to join the penthouse level of The Freshman and Married to the Mob. In movies reaching back to The Godfather Part II and his indelible young Vito Corleone to GoodFellas and Casino, De Niro has seen more guys off in the trunk of a Lincoln than anybody in the business.

Yes, Velma Thorne Carter has soft, snow-white hair, loves to quilt, and tirelessly dotes on her five grandchildren. And yes, she could seem a touch overly patriotic when explaining that she devoted four months to creating a quilt of the United States presidents. "The presidency has always been fascinating to me," she said last week, running her hands over the 42 somber cloth faces on her quilt. "Grover Cleveland's included twice because he served twice, but not consecutively," she said.