Family therapy has become a well-established treatment modality across many mental health disciplines including clinical social work, psychology, psychiatry, nursing, and counseling. This book tells the story of how family therapy began based on the work of one of the pioneers of family theory and therapy, Murray Bowen, M.D. Bowen's psychiatric training began at the Menninger Foundation in 1946. It was during the later part of his eight years at Menninger's that he began his transition away from conventional psychoanalytic theory and practice. Bowen left Menninger's in 1954 and began a historic family research program at the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Maryland. This program, called the Family Study Program, involved hospitalizing entire families on a specialized research ward. He was interested in families with a child diagnosed with schizophrenia. There were two central findings of Bowen's four year project. The first was the concept that the family could be conceptualized and treated as an emotional unit. The second, was family psychotherapy, which began as staff-family daily meetings on the inpatient unit. The findings of Bowen's project remain part of mainstream mental health practice today. From that project, Bowen went on to develop his well known eight interlocking theoretical concepts that continue to be highly influential both in mental health and business. Bowen's project also significantly transformed the therapeutic relationship. The psychotherapist tried to achieve a balance when working with the families by making emotional connections while staying out of intense emotional reactions. They also worked diligently to avoid psychologically replacing parents. This book details the story of how these transformative changes came about by highlighting the original papers of the project.

The founding volume of the European Family Therapy Association book series presents new ideas confirming the crucial importance of systemic family therapy for family practice. Spanning paradigms, models, concepts, applications, and implications for families as they develop, experts in the field demonstrate the translatability of session insights into real-world contexts, bolstering therapeutic gains outside the treatment setting. Chapters emphasize the potential for systemic family therapy as integrative across theories, healing disciplines, modes of treatment, while contributors’ personal perspectives provide unique takes on the therapist’s role. Together, these papers promote best practices not only for therapy, but also research and training as professionals delve deeper into understanding the complexity and diversity of families and family systems. “div>Included in the coverage:• The story of an encounter: the systemic approach at the heart of innovative clinical practice. • Steps to an ultramodern family therapy.• From networks to resonance: the life journey of a family therapist.• How to give a voice to children in family therapy.• Systemic theory and narratives of attachment: integration, formulation, and development over time.• Virtual relations and globalized families: the Genogram 4.0 interview. Origins and Originality in Family Therapy and Systemic Practice offers practitioners and other professionals particularly interested in family therapy practice timely, ethical tools for enhancing their work./div

The concepts of Murray Bowen, one of the founders of family therapy and the originator of family systems theory, are brought together here in an integrative fashion. Michael Kerr (who worked with Bowen for many years) and Bowen propose that the enormously complex task of evaluating a clinical family can be orderly when it is grounded in family systems theory. Using family diagrams and case studies, the book is devoted to an elegant explication of Bowen theory, which analyzes multigenerational family relationships and conceptualizes the family as an emotional unit or as a network of interlocking relationships, not only among the family members, but also among biological, psychological, and sociological processes. Bowen’s persistent inquiry and devotion to family observation, in spite of obstacles and frustrations, have resulted in a theory that has radically changed our ways of looking at all behavior.

While iconic popular images celebrated family life during the 1950s and 1960s, American families were simultaneously regarded as potentially menacing sources of social disruption. The history of family therapy makes the complicated power of the family at midcentury vividly apparent. Clinicians developed a new approach to psychotherapy that claimed to locate the cause and treatment of mental illness in observable patterns of family interaction and communication rather than in individual psyches. Drawing on cybernetics, systems theory, and the social and behavioral sciences, they ambitiously aimed to cure schizophrenia and stop juvenile delinquency. With particular sensitivity to the importance of scientific observation and visual technologies such as one-way mirrors and training films in shaping the young field, The Pathological Family examines how family therapy developed against the intellectual and cultural landscape of postwar America. As Deborah Weinstein shows, the midcentury expansion of America's therapeutic culture and the postwar fixation on family life profoundly affected one another. Family therapists and other postwar commentators alike framed the promotion of democracy in the language of personality formation and psychological health forged in the crucible of the family. As therapists in this era shifted their clinical gaze to whole families, they nevertheless grappled in particular with the role played by mothers in the onset of their children's aberrant behavior. Although attitudes toward family therapy have shifted during intervening generations, the relations between family and therapeutic culture remain salient today.

The classic and critically acclaimed book Family Therapy with Ethnic Minorities, Second Edition has now been updated and revised to reflect the various demographic changes that have occurred in the lives of ethnic minority families and the implications of these changes for clinical practice. Family Therapy with Ethnic Minorities provides advanced students and practitioners with the most up-to-date examination yet of the theory, models, and techniques relevant to ethnic minority family functioning and therapy. After an introductory discussion of principles to be considered in practice with ethnic minorities, the authors apply these principles to working with specific ethnic minority groups, namely African Americans, Latinos, Asian/Pacific Americans, and First Nations People. Distinctive cultural values of each ethnic group are explored as well as specific guidelines and suggestions on culturally significant family therapy strategies and skills. Key Features: The revised text reflects advances in family therapy scholarship since the first edition thus ensuring for readers an up-to-date treatment of the topic Accents and extends current critical constructionist theories and techniques and applies them within a culturally specific perspective Pays special attention to the issues of 'historical trauma' (referred to as 'soul wound'), especially in work with First Nations Peoples and African American families /span

Mark A. Yarhouse and James N. Sells survey the major approaches to family therapy and treat significant psychotherapeutic issues within a Christian framework, offering timely wisdom for therapeutic practice. Fully updated and revised, this second edition is an indispensable resource for those in the mental health professions, including counselors, psychologists, family therapists, social workers, and pastors.

Now in its third edition, this highly regarded and well-established textbook includes up-to-date coverage of recent advances in family therapy practice and reviews of latest research, whilst retaining the popular structure and chapter features of previous editions. Presents a unique, integrative approach to the theory and practice of family therapy Distinctive style addresses family behaviour patterns, family belief systems and narratives, and broader contextual factors in problem formation and resolution Shows how the model can be applied to address issues of childhood and adolescence (e.g. conduct problems, drug abuse) and of adulthood (e.g. marital distress, anxiety, depression) Student-friendly features: chapters begin with a chapter plan and conclude with a summary of key points; theoretical chapters include a glossary of new terms; case studies and further reading suggestions are included throughout

Now in its second edition, this text introduces readers to the rich history and practice of Marriage and Family Therapy, with 32 professionals from across the US presenting their knowledge in their areas of expertise. This blend of approaches and styles gives this text a unique voice and makes it a comprehensive resource for graduate students taking their first course in Marriage and Family Therapy. The book is divided into three sections: Part 1 focuses on the components on which 21st century family therapy is based and summarizes the most recent changes made to not only therapeutic interventions, but to the very concept of “family.” Part 2 presents an overview of the 7 major theoretical models of the field: structural, strategic, Milan, social constructionist, experiential, transgenerational, and cognitive-behavioral family therapy. Each chapter in this section • Focuses on the founder of the theory, its theoretical tenants, and its key techniques • Shows how the model focuses on diversity • Presents the research that supports the approach Part 3 addresses specific treatment areas that are common to marriage and family therapists, such as sex therapy, pre-marital therapy, research, and ethics and legal issues. As an introduction to the field of Marriage and Family Therapy, this volume stands above the rest. Not only will readers gain an understanding of the rich history of the field and its techniques, but they will also see a complete picture of the context in which families are embedded, such as gender, culture, spirituality, and sexual orientation. This knowledge is the key to understanding what differentiates Marriage and Family Therapy from individual psychotherapy. Glossaries, case studies, tables, figures, and appendices appear generously throughout the text to present this information and give students a thorough overview to prepare them for their professional lives.

Please watch the following short video advertisement for the book, featuring the Editors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1ApHAQIMzQ&feature=youtu.be Relationships are a resource for healing a range of psychological difficulties. This is the fundamental principle of family therapy, an increasingly influential form of psychotherapy that is building up a strong evidence base in a range of psychological problems across the life cycle. Family Therapy Skills and Techniques in Action is both a guide to a variety of family therapy techniques and a review of their history. It provides a thorough explanation of the techniques, explaining their origins and use in contemporary family practice, whilst guiding readers in learning new skills. The authors provide film examples and transcripts of the techniques in action so that readers can develop their skills in a practical way. The book is divided into sections that describe and demonstrate skills such as: Assessing a family; Building a therapeutic relationship with multiple family members; Enactment; Reframing; Using circular questions; ‘Externalising’ the problem; Using family therapy skills in individual work; Understanding and utilising systemic supervision. Family Therapy Skills and Techniques in Action will be an essential practical manual for a range of family therapy skills which can be used in family work by family practitioners from a variety of backgrounds: counsellors, support workers, social workers, psychologists, generic therapists and nurses.