Integrating Family Therapy

Integrating Family Therapy brings together family psychology and systems thinking to explore the ways systems therapists actually think and behave to bring about needed family change in the context of other systems. The theme of integration is carried through the book on several levels: integration of the family with school, work, medical, and other social systems; integration of research, theory, and systemic practice; and integration of methods and techniques from diverse schools of family therapy. The result is a book that gives the researcher and practitioner an encompassing perspective of family psychology and systems therapy today.

Family Therapy Techniques briefly reviews the basic theories of marriage and family therapy. It then goes into treatment models designed to facilitate the tailoring of therapy to specific populations and the integration of techniques from what often seems like disparate theories. Based on the assumption that no single approach is the definitive approach for every situation, the book leads students through multiple perspectives. In teaching students to integrate and tailor techniques, this book asks them to take functional methods and approaches from a variety of theoretical approaches, without attempting to reiterate the theoretical issues and research covered in theories courses.

A common question at the initial meeting of a family therapist and a new client(s) is often whether or not to include a child or children in the counseling sessions. The inclusion of a child in the family therapy process often changes the dynamic between client and therapist -- and between the clients themselves -- within the context of the counseling sessions. And yet, although this is such a common experience, many counselors and family therapists are not adequately equipped to advise parents on whether to include a child in therapy sessions. Once the child does make an appearance in the counseling session, the therapist is faced with the challenges inherent in caring for a child, in addition to many concerns due to the unique circumstance of the structured therapy. Counseling a child in the context of a family therapy session is a specific skill that has not received the attention that it deserves. This book is intended as a guide for both novice and experienced counselors and family therapists, covering a wide range of topics and offering a large body of information on how to effectively counsel children and their families. It includes recent research on a number of topics including working with children in a family context, the exclusion of children from counseling, and counselor training methods and approaches, the effectiveness of filial play therapy, the effects of divorce on children, and ADHD. Theoretical discussion is given to different family therapy approaches including family play therapy and filial play therapy. Central to the text are interviews with leaders in the field, including Salvador Minuchin, Eliana Gil, Rise VanFleet and Lee Shilts. A chapter devoted to ethical and legal issues in working with children in family counseling provides a much-needed overview of this often overlooked topic. Chapters include discussion of specific skills relevant to child counseling in the family context, case vignettes and examples, practical tips for the counselor, and handouts for parents.

This thorough update of a classic text describes the impact of recent economic and structural changes in health care on the role of the medical family therapist, and how medical and mental health providers can learn to collaborate in various settings.

First published in 1987. This book connects Adlerian theory, defined as a human systems approach, with the other systems theories of family therapy. By comparison and contrast with five other popular family therapy theories, the authors suggest that Adlerian family therapy can well serve as a much-needed integrative model-a need often stressed in the literature and in many conference presentations. Adlerian psychology is described as an open system theory that provides the theoretical base for synthesizing the multitude of concepts and techniques now extant in the burgeoning field of family therapy. Systems of Family Therapy fulfills the need for integration and synthesis and enables clinicians to make use of the broad range of ideas and methods generated in contemporary family therapy theories within an internally consistent framework. Chapters describe the history of the theory, basic principles and con­cepts, structure of the therapy, the behavior change model, and specific techniques for conducting the therapy. Many case examples are used throughout. The volume is enhanced by five distinguished contributing authors who are skilled in both Adlerian theory and another major theory. They each make a detailed comparison of the two theories with respect to history, major concepts, definitions of well and dysfunctional families, diagnoses, change models and techniques, and a summary of their findings. The theories analyzed are Satir's model, the M.R.I. Interactional View, Strategic therapy, Structural therapy, and Rational-Emotive therapy.

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.

The systemic-cybernetic framework in Family Therapy provides a framework for understanding people and families in context. The text-divided into three sections including The Systemic Framework, The Practice of Family Therapy, and The Systemic Practitioner-includes historical information, current developments, and ongoing debates. Book jacket.

Presents a comprehensive model of integrating individual and family therapy with clinical examples to illustrate the model. Throughout the book, the importance of tailoring the structure and process of therapy to meet the particular needs of specific individuals and families is emphasized.