Originally published in 1967, this book gathers together the various aspects of Dr Dick’s theoretical and clinical approach to marriage difficulties into a coherent system for the benefit of professional workers and students who were concerned with family and community psychiatry and case work at the time. He preserves the essentials of the steps by which his concepts developed from one-person therapy into hypotheses for understanding interaction, with the couple as the unit of study.

Originally published in 1987 this book was designed to present the most recent research data on assessment of various aspects of marriage. Noted authorities on specific assessment areas provide information on conceptual and practical issues in marital assessment. The chapters include assessment of: behavior; affect; social cognition; communication; sexual dysfunction; child and marital problems; family assessment. All the chapters include reference to specific assessment measures of the areas covered. In addition, for clinical use, one has been selected by each of the authors to represent a state of the art measure that can be used by clinicians. Reliability, validity, and normative data are presented on these measures, which appear in full in the appendix of the text. O'Leary provides a context for this book in the first chapter of the book, and in the final chapter, discusses with his co-author how they begin their assessments, from the initial phone contact, the assessment battery, the interviews with the clients and the couple, to the evaluation of the therapy sessions by the clients.

The family therapy movement had from its earliest days been marked by a surge of creativity and by the energy of the new ideas it generated. Originally published in 1979, the authors of the original essays collected together in this book felt that the time had come to take stock and to scrutinise more carefully the meaning and effectiveness of this new psychotherapeutic method within the particular conditions prevailing Britain at the time. The book focuses on issues relating to theory, research and practice and, while concentrating on three sub-specialities of family therapy – family group therapy, marital therapy and network therapy – the papers cover a wide variety of topics. In addition to papers by practitioners and teachers of family therapy, two contributions are included from the field of academic psychology. Before this, much of the family therapy literature had been presented in the form of an uncritical eulogy of the method. The special interest of this book lies in its attempt to bring a critical perspective to bear upon family therapy and its application. Moreover, in contrast with much that had been previously written, the authors sought to make a distinctive contribution to the development of family therapy through their effort to integrate, rather than to polarise, what is valuable within a variety of different theoretical and empirical approaches.

Originally published in 1981, this volume presents papers by the leading British theorists and practitioners in family therapy from its beginnings up to the 1980s. It collected together for the first time a number of important previously published articles which had relevance and interest for family therapists of the day, and includes other chapters specially written for this book which reflected the most recent thinking on the topics covered at the time. The book is divided into three parts. The first, which includes papers by John Bowlby, R.D. Laing and A.C.R. Skynner, deals with the theory behind family therapy. In the second part we see the application of family therapy to specific clinical situations such as adolescent psychiatry, illness, death and mourning in the family, and marital therapy. The third part of the book covers various differential approaches within family therapy, including psychoanalysis; the experiential approach and family construct psychology. The papers in all three parts weld together ideas from the behavioural and the psychodynamic spheres of interest. Addressed as they are to theoretical issues and clinical applications, they linked together the past and future of family therapy at that time.

Originally published in 1970 this title commemorates the men and ideas that started, inspired and established a pioneer institution in British psychiatry. Based on the impetus of Freudian and related innovations after the First World War, the Tavistock Clinic offered treatment, training and research facilities in the field of neurosis, child guidance and later on group relations. Dr Dicks, who had been associated for nearly forty years with the work and personalities that helped to develop the Tavistock venture, describes the struggles and capacity for survival of the clinic. He shows how, belonging neither to the older classical psychiatry nor to orthodox psychoanalysis, and suspect to both, the Clinic nevertheless became increasingly used by the rest of the profession as a psychotherapeutic resource. Dr Dicks describes the influence of the Tavistock on the medical, psychological and social work scene both before and after the Second World War, and assesses its achievements as a centre of psycho- and socio-dynamic thinking. The Tavistock is shown as a pioneer sui generis, launching psychosomatic research and initiating the exciting ventures in social psychiatry associated with the Army in the Second World War. As the Tavistock was the outcome of work with shell-shock victims in the first war, so its offspring, the Institute of Human Relations, was the natural continuation of the military effort in man-management, morale and group dynamic studies. The book includes an account of the inter-relationship between the Clinic, now part of the National Health Service, and the Institute, a private corporation. Still going strong as part of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust today this is an opportunity to revisit its early history.

First published in 1996, this enlightening book about facilitating therapeutic change within the couple relationship opens with a transcript of one of a series of lectures by Virginia Satir. It presents readers with Satir’s observations – observations that show the difference between thinking with systems in mind and thinking linearly – of process, interrelatedness and attitudes. Readers will find these and the observations of contributors that follow full of practical application potential. In this title the editor brings together contributors who show how to affect change in couples by explaining dynamics of the male/female relationship and by expanding upon the roles of the therapist. Specifically, contributors give readers information about: Male/female relationships over a 30, 000-year history and how history may have affected present day relationships between men and women Therapists as merely resource providers who facilitate self-discovery and self-solutions The necessity of marital therapy in maintaining stability and change from both systemic-interpersonal and intrapersonal perspectives Psychodynamic, affective and insight-oriented, marital therapy The consultative conversation model and its relationship to the change process in couples therapy Fostering change of psychological (emotional and verbal) abuse Why women leave abusive relationships The use of a specific physical posture for assessing a couple’s interactive style Therapists who work with couples will keep Couples and Change within reach and refer to it often as they help couples develop more healthy, satisfying relationships.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a growing interest in family therapy as a potent tool for helping to bring about change and growth in many families whose lives had become stagnant, joyless or self-destructive. As it became more popular as a method of social work intervention, demands for training opportunities for professional workers increased. Despite this, however, there was very little writing on the subject produced in Britain at the time. Originally published in 1976 this practical text was aimed at the growing number of social workers who were anxious to add family therapy to their skills, and would also have been of value to psychiatrists, general practitioners, psychologists, and all those involved in the psychotherapeutic treatment of married couples and families who came to them for help. Using case illustrations, Sue Walrond-Skinner describes the theory behind family therapy and some of the techniques of treatment which the method uses. By extensive use of verbatim transcripts of interviews, she shows the minute-by-minute flow of a family therapy session and gives a clear idea of what can be and is achieved using this method of therapeutic intervention. A major part of social work today, this book shows where it all began.

The most useful therapy is one that can be applied to a wide range of client problems, is easy to learn, and produces lasting results following a brief intervention. The cognitive-behavioural approaches described in this volume probably come nearest to this ideal. Originally published in 1989, this book begins with a description of the cognitive-behavioural revolution that had taken place in the decade prior to publication and provides therapists with the specifics of helping in four major areas: child behaviour problems, emotional disorders (depression and anxiety), interpersonal problems and addictive disorders. Coverage of the major areas of concern begins in each case with an overview of theory and research in the specific domain, followed by detailed guidance for practice. The volume represents a synthesis of the author’s research and practice with patients in inner city Liverpool and with employees referred by major employers. The strategies described have been devised to take account of a wide variety of client social contexts and service delivery settings, and the strengths, pitfalls and practicalities of group cognitive-behavioural approaches are also discussed. The reader is finally led into largely uncharted waters, the application of cognitive-behavioural approaches to schizophrenia, people with learning difficulties and the elderly. Back in print, this title will still be of interest to students and practitioners in social work, clinical psychology, and community psychiatry.

Originally published in 1983, in the two decades prior to publication, specialised neonatal units for the treatment of sick or preterm babies had been set up in most major neonatal centres. In the early years these units did little to prevent separation of parents and babies and evidence accumulated of the ill effects of this situation. In addition, we had gradually become aware of the difficulties of building a relationship with a sick or immature baby even under more ideal circumstances. This book, in a series of authoritative review chapters, sets out to describe the process by which social relationships develop after birth and the ways in which this process may be distorted by separation, the condition of the baby or by the process of medical treatment. Experienced practitioners describe practical steps which may be taken to support parents and foster their relationship with their babies in treatment situations. The final section of the book examines the organisation of neonatal care in a number of widely different settings and indicates that diverse approaches may be successful in achieving the same ends.

How do bereaved people come to terms with their loss? What factors are important in successful coping? The death of a loved one is one of the most painful experiences that we have to encounter. If the loved one is a child or partner the experience can be especially devastating. How do we cope? Do our families provide sufficient support? Would professional help be better? In this book, originally published in 1992, the author provides an in-depth study of the many aspects of bereavement and the grieving process. With ample support from personal accounts of bereaved people, she examines the experience of bereavement: what can go wrong, the importance of social networks, both family and professional, and looks at how society’s attitudes to death and dying can affect our ability to cope. There are specific chapters on the death of children in childhood, adolescence and adult life, and on the death of a partner. The result is a book that will be of importance to all those who have regular contact with the dying and bereaved.