This introduction to couples and family counseling lays the foundation for student skill-building by encouraging the development of personal, professional, and ethical standards of practice. This third edition has been expanded to include couples counseling and updated to reflect recent research and current practice. Primary text features include a genogram delineating the history of the field; a comprehensive discussion of 13 widely used theories with real-life examples of quality work for each approach; a single, bicultural couple/family system case for comparison across models; and strategies for the integration and application of the models into clinical practice with diverse clients. To help readers apply the concepts they have learned, Dr. Bitter provides numerous Illustrative examples, case studies, sample client dialogues, and exercises for personal and professional growth. *Requests for digital versions from ACA can be found on www.wiley.com *To request print copies, please visit the ACA https://imis.counseling.org/store/detail *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Treatment Planning. 2. Structural Family Therapy. 3. Strategic Therapy. 4. Milan Systemic Approach. 5. MRI Approach. 6. Satir's Communication Approach. 7. Symbolic-Experiential Family Therapy. 8. Intergenerational Family Therapy. 9. Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy. 10. Solution-Focused Therapy. 11. Narrative Therapy. 12. Collaborative Therapies. Internet and Video Resources. Index.

This text provides students of family therapy with a unique opportunity to understand and compare the inner workings of 14 traditional and non-traditional family therapy models. The book demonstrates, through innovative “guiding templates,” how the different therapeutic models are applied in an actual family therapy situation. The second edition features a new chapter on neuroscience, new interviews with master therapists on topics such as LGBT families, EMDR and research, and coverage of ethical issues concerning electronic safety and telephonic therapy. Overviews of every model include history, views of change, views of the family, and the role of the therapist. Chapters on every model also provide responses to one, realistic case study with commentary and analysis by master therapists to illustrate how each one addresses the same scenario. Interviews with master therapists illustrate how each mode of therapy actually “works” and how therapists “do it.” Print version of the book includes free, searchable, digital access to the entire contents! New to the Second Edition: Examines neuroscience and its role in family therapy New chapter on solution focused narrative therapy with families Includes enhanced coverage of self-care and mindfulness for the therapist Contains educator resources including instructor’s manual, PowerPoint slides, and a test bank Updated references provide current developments in the field of marriage and family therapy Provides insight on submitting research articles for publication through an interview with a current journal editor Reports on current, revised ethical guidelines from the AAMFT Key Features: Provides a guiding template for each family therapy model from assessment through termination Describes a practice-oriented approach to family therapy Uses a single case study throughout the book where different approaches to therapy are applied by master therapists Introduces the theory, history, theoretical assumptions, techniques, and components of each model Includes numerous interviews, case study commentary, and analyses by master therapists

This practical book presents cutting-edge approaches to couple and family therapy that use attachment theory as the basis for new clinical understandings. Fresh and provocative insights are provided on the nature of interactions between adult partners and among parents and children; the role of attachment in distressed and satisfying relationships; and the ways attachment-oriented interventions can address individual problems as well as marital conflict and difficult family transitions. With contributions from leading clinicians and researchers, the volume offers both general strategies and specific techniques for helping clients build stronger, more supportive relational bonds.

In this time of vulnerable marriages and partnerships, many couples seek help for their relationships. Psychoanalytic couple therapy is a growing application of psychoanalysis for which training is not usually offered in most psychoanalytic and analytic psychotherapy programs. This book is both an advanced text for therapists and a primer for new students of couple psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Its twenty-eight chapters cover the major ideas underlying the application of psychoanalysis to couple therapy, many clinical illustrations of cases and problems in various dimensions of the work. The international group of authors comes from the International Psychotherapy Institute based in Washington, DC, and the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships (TCCR) in London. The result is a richly international perspective that nonetheless has theoretical and clinical coherence because of the shared vision of the authors.

Doug Sprenkle - Awarded the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) 2010 Award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Research and Practice! Grounded in theory, research, and extensive clinical experience, this pragmatic book addresses critical questions of how change occurs in couple and family therapy and how to help clients achieve better results. The authors show that regardless of a clinician's orientation or favored techniques, there are particular therapist attributes, relationship variables, and other factors that make therapy specifically, therapy with couples and families more or less effective. The book explains these common factors in depth and provides hands-on guidance for capitalizing on them in clinical practice and training. User-friendly features include numerous case examples and a reproducible common factors checklist.

Couples and Family Therapy in Clinical Practice has been the psychiatric and mental health clinician's trusted companion for over four decades. This new fifth edition delivers the essential information that clinicians of all disciplines need to provide effective family-centered interventions for couples and families. A practical clinical guide, it helps clinicians integrate family-systems approaches with pharmacotherapies for individual patients and their families. Couples and Family Therapy in Clinical Practice draws on the authors’ extensive clinical experience as well as on the scientific literature in the family-systems, psychiatry, psychotherapy, and neuroscience fields.

A complete and accessible resource for working with couples and families Becoming a Family Counselor sets a new standard for family therapy texts. Working from a broad historical orientation, it focuses on the common themes that reappear across various theoretical approaches and connects family practice with individual approaches. Crossing boundaries of generation, gender, race, and culture, this useful introduction presents current thinking related to today's practice issues. The text begins with an overview of couple and family counseling, emphasizing the diversity and unity in the field. The development of the field is examined, from its roots in the nineteenth century through its identity crisis in the 1980s. Subsequent chapters lay out an integrated approach to contemporary family research, theory, and therapy; core chapters focus on understanding the contributions of behavioral, organizational, narrative, emotional, and spiritual perspectives. The last section of the book offers practical chapters on conducting family therapy in organizational contexts that often define the client in individual terms. Readers are encouraged to balance a change orientation with a respect for continuity and tradition. Complete with illuminating case studies, self-evaluation exercises, suggestions for independent study, and current ethics codes, Becoming a Family Counselor is a dynamic resource suitable for both students and practicing mental health professionals.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Part I: Introduction. Family theory and therapy: an overview. Part II: Family Therapy: Theory and Techniques. Introduction to family theories. Structural family therapy. Constructing therapy: from strategic, to systemic, to narrative models. Psychodynamic family therapy. Multigenerational family systems theory of Bowen and its application. Contextual therapy. Behavioral family therapy. Psychoeducational family intervention. Social network intervention. Gender-sensitive family therapy. Techniques of family therapy. Family theories: conclusion. Part III: Family Assessment. Initial and diagnostic family interviews. Family assessment. The family life cycle: a framework for understanding family development. Functional and dysfunctional families. Diagnosis of family relational disorders. Part IV: Family Therapy With Children and Adolescents. Family therapy with children and adolescents: an overview. Family therapy with children: a model for engaging the whole family. Parent management training. Part V: Marital Therapy. Marital therapy: an overview. Psychodynamic couples therapy. Behavioral couples therapy. The divorcing family: characteristics and interventions. The remarried family: characteristics and interventions. Marital enrichment in clinical practice. Sex therapy at the turn of the century: new awareness and response. Part VI: Family Therapy With Different Disorders. Family variables and interventions in schizophrenia. Depression and the family: interpersonal context and family. Family intervention and psychiatric hospitalization. National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) and family psychiatry: working toward a collaborative model. Alcoholic and substance-abusing families. Family intervention with incest. Family therapy with personality disorders. The impact of culture and ethnicity on family. Medical family therapy. Part VII: Research in Family and Marital Therapy. The state of family therapy research: a positive prognosis. Couples therapy research: status and directions. Conclusion and future directions. References. Index.

A comprehensive and practical approach to the world of marriage, couples, and family counseling Esteemed academics David Capuzzi and Mark D. Stauffer present the theory, research, and real-life practice of today's counselors and therapists in family therapy settings. Aligned with the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE), this useful text covers foundational teaching important to readers, but also critical modern topics not included in other texts, such as sexuality, trauma, divorce, domestic violence, and addictions, filial play therapy, and using community genograms to position culture and context in family therapy. With a unique focus on practical applications, the book discusses the major family therapy theories, and provides graduate students and post-graduate learners in counseling, mental health, and behavioral health fields the skills and techniques they need to help couples and families as part of their work in a variety of helping environments. Each chapter contains case studies and anecdotes that help readers think critically about the issues they are likely to deal with as clinicians. Written by recognized and respected contributors, this book helps readers see the connection between what they know and what happens in couples and family counseling sessions. Readers will: Learn the knowledge and skills essential to family therapy Understand the history, concepts, and techniques associated with major theories Examine the key issues specific to couples work, with relevant intervention Explore solutions to the complexities generated by special issues Discusses the modern realities of family, diversity and culture, and systemic contexts Family and couples counseling presents a complex interplay of various factors inherent to each individual, the dynamic interplay between each person's issues, and the outside influences that shape behavior. Foundations of Couples, Marriage, and Family Counseling helps readers sort out the complexity and guide clients toward lasting resolution.