Postmodernist ideas are widely used in family therapy. However, it is argued that these ideas have their limits in meeting the richness and complexity of human experience and therapy practice. Family Therapy Beyond Postmodernism examines postmodernism and its expressions in family therapy, raising questions about: * reality and realness * the subjective process of truth * the experience of self. Alongside identifying the difficulties in any sole reliance on narrative and constructionist ideas, this book advocates the value of selected psychoanalytic ideas for family therapy practice, in particular: * attachment and the unconscious * transference, projective identification and understandings of time * psychoanalytic ideas about thinking and containment in the therapeutic relationship. Family Therapy Beyond Postmodernism offers a sustained critical discussion of the possibilities and limits of contemporary family therapy knowledge, and develops a place for psychoanalytic ideas in systemic thinking and practice. It will be of great interest to family therapists, psychotherapists and other mental health professionals.

V.1. The profession of systemic family therapy / volume editors Richard B. Miller, Ryan B. Seedall -- v. 2. Systemic family therapy with children and adolescents / volume editor Lenore M. McWey -- v. 3. Systemic family therapy with couples / volume editor Adrian J. Blow -- v. 4. Systemic family therapy and global health issues / volume editors Mudita Rastogi, Renee Singh.

A concise, readable introduction to systems theory (and especially second-order cybernetics) with practical applications to family therapy. Systems Theory and Family Therapy: A Primer, Fourth Edition, provides a thorough yet concise explication of systems theory (cybernetics), which is the primary paradigm for the practice of systemic individual, marital, and family therapy. This book provides an overview of the essential concepts of a systems theoretical perspective using families and family therapy in context as examples and illustrations of their application in professional practice. Readers are invited to see themselves as parts of the systems with which they are working, consistent with a second-order cybernetics perspective. This book concludes with more than one hundred examples of how the meta-perspective of systems theory can be used in work with families.

Collaborative Therapy: Relationships and Conversations That Make a Difference provides in-depth accounts of the everyday practice of postmodern collaborative therapy, vibrantly illustrating how dialogic conversation can transform lives, relationships, and entire communities. Pioneers and leading professionals from diverse disciplines, contexts, and cultures describe in detail what they do in their therapy and training practices, including their work with psychosis, incarceration, aging, domestic violence, eating disorders, education, and groups. In addition to the therapeutic applications, the book demonstrates the usefulness of a postmodern collaborative approach to the domains of education, research, and organizations.

"Once upon a time, everything was understood through stories....The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said that 'if we possess our why of life we can put up with almost any how.'...Stories always dealt with the why' questions. The answers they gave did not have to be literally true; they only had to satisfy people's curiosity by providing an answer, less for the mind than for the soul." --From Chapter 1 Each of us has a story to tell that is uniquely personal and profoundly meaningful. The goal of the modern therapist is to help clients probe deeply enough to find their own voice, describe their experiences, and create a narrative in which a life story takes shape and makes sense. Emphasizing the vital connections among personal experience, family, and community, the authors of this provocative new book explore the role of narrative therapy within the context of a postmodern culture. They employ the interactional dynamics of family therapy to demonstrate how to help people deconstruct oppressive and debilitating perspectives, replace them with liberating and legitimizing stories, and develop a framework of meaning and direction for more intentional, more fulfilling lives. Blending scientific theory with literary aesthetics, Story Re-Visions presents a comprehensive collection of specific narrative therapy techniques, inventions, interviewing guidelines, and therapeutic questions. The book examines the development of the postmodern phenomenon, tracing its evolution across time and disciplines. It discusses paradigmatic traditions, the meaning of modernism, and the ways in which the ancient, binding narratives have lost their power to inspire uncritical assent. Methods for doing narrative therapy in a destoried world are presented, with suggestions for meeting the challenges of postmodern value systems and ethical dilemmas. Numerous case examples and dialogues illustrate ways to help people become authors of their own stories, and each of the last four chapters concludes with an appendix that provides additional information for the practicing clinician. Detailing ways in which a narrative framework enhances family therapy, the authors describe how the therapist and client may act together as revisionary editors, and present techniques for keeping the story re-vision alive, well, and in charge. Finally, the book examines re-vision techniques for clinical training and supervision settings, with discussion of how therapists may help one another create stories about their clients, as well as themselves. Accessibly written and profoundly enlightening, Story Re-Visions is ideal for family therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and anyone else interested in doing therapy from a narrative stance. It is also valuable as supplemental reading for courses in family therapy and other psychotherapeutic disciplines.

Anyone following the recent developments of systemic thinking will be aware that activity has not been restricted to Europe and America. Systemic therapists and writers from both Australia and New Zealand are now making a major impact on the field, particularly in the way they explore therapy as an exchange between “real” people; with gender and with ethical values; and embedded within specific cultural experiences. These people are challenging the traditional way we see clients and the context of therapy. Over the years, systemic? therapists have theorized extensively about the client family as a system and have more recently addressed the use of self in therapy, but there has been very little attention paid to the therapeutic relationship between the two.

In Foucault Beyond Foucault Jeffrey Nealon argues that critics have too hastily abandoned Foucault's mid-career reflections on power, and offers a revisionist reading of the philosopher's middle and later works. Retracing power's "intensification" in Foucault, Nealon argues that forms of political power remain central to Foucault's concerns. He allows us to reread Foucault's own conceptual itinerary and, more importantly, to think about how we might respond to the mutations of power that have taken place since the philosopher's death in 1984. In this, the book stages an overdue encounter between Foucault and post-Marxist economic history.

If family therapy is like a camera through which clients are able to view their lives, then the treatment method used by clinicians could be considered the lens, offering different ways of seeing. In Metaphors of Family Systems Theory, Paul C. Rosenblatt explores the metaphors of family systems theory that form the conceptual foundation - the lens - of a great deal of therapy, research, theory, education, and policy making in the family field. He demonstrates the value of testing out theoretical or alternative metaphors - other lenses - to provide new perspectives and a fresh means of gaining clarity. The literature that informs family therapy is rich with striking accounts of how therapeutic metaphors have helped to move families into healthier, energizing, freeing, and more satisfying relationships, yet little attention has been devoted to the development of alternative theoretical metaphors. This innovative new work investigates the uses and limitations of the standard metaphors of family systems theory. Perhaps more important, it also provides the means to generate alternative theoretical metaphors to stimulate new thinking about family systems. Rosenblatt asserts that the capacity to recognize metaphors will enable clinicians and clients to identify biases, hidden implications, and reification, as well as what may have been overlooked. He shows the way this ability also helps us to organize and remember information, and to better appreciate the multilayeredness of "reality". Initial chapters define metaphor and discuss family systems theory, as well as the uses and limitations of standard therapeutic metaphors. The chapters examine the notion of the family as an entity, themetaphor of "system", and the major systemic metaphors. Rosenblatt extends his analysis to the idea of family boundary and to the closely related metaphors of family subsystem, family boundary permeability, and family boundary ambiguity. He also analyzes the metaphors of family structure, systems control, family rules, and negative and positive feedback. Later chapters apply these ideas to the metaphors of communication, therapeutic goals, the therapist in the system, and family response to intervention. Rosenblatt Illustrates new insights with a variety of experience-based metaphors and presents strategies for the evaluation and development of new theoretical metaphors for family systems. Unique and innovative, this book offers a fresh perspective for anyone working with metaphors of family systems theory. Of special interest to family therapists, family researchers, social workers, and other mental health professionals working in the family field, it is especially useful as a text for courses in family systems theory, theories of family therapy, and theory construction.

Integrates key techniques into current teaching and practice This text provides a framework for the synthesis of postmodern theories of counseling. The cutting-edge Strength Centered Counseling model can be incorporated effectively with the more traditional models of counseling, resolving the ambiguity about how postmodernism fits into every day practice and results in more direct application of knowledge and skill sets for training in counselor education. Authors Colin Ward and Teri Reuter offer a practical and straightforward resource that presents clients with opportunities to look at life not only from a context of problems and adversity; but also of solutions, strengths, and hope. Key Features Interactive learning experiences including Learning Activities (within chapters) and Professional Growth Activities (at the end of chapters) present throughout the text Clear direction for application of principles, techniques and interventions Counselor Interview and Reflection guides serve as both valuable as a learning tool and a structural guide for future sessions with clients This text is appropriate for counseling theories and counseling skills related courses in counseling, psychology, and related fields.

This authoritative reference assembles prominent international experts from psychology, social work, and counseling to summarize the current state of couple and family therapy knowledge in a clear A-Z format. Its sweeping range of entries covers major concepts, theories, models, approaches, intervention strategies, and prominent contributors associated with couple and family therapy. The Encyclopedia provides family and couple context for treating varied problems and disorders, understanding special client populations, and approaching emerging issues in the field, consolidating this wide array of knowledge into a useful resource for clinicians and therapists across clinical settings, theoretical orientations, and specialties. A sampling of topics included in the Encyclopedia: Acceptance versus behavior change in couple and family therapy Collaborative and dialogic therapy with couples and families Integrative treatment for infidelity Live supervision in couple and family therapy Postmodern approaches in the use of genograms Split alliance in couple and family therapy Transgender couples and families The first comprehensive reference work of its kind, the Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy incorporates seven decades of innovative developments in the fields of couple and family therapy into one convenient resource. It is a definitive reference for therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and counselors, whether couple and family therapy is their main field or one of many modalities used in practice.