Family Therapy: History, Theory, and Practice

This best selling book has been thoroughly updated to reflect a current and in-depth look at the field of family therapy. It retains its unique approach of leading the reader developmentally from understanding how families function to using therapeutic techniques that will help them change. Extremely organized and well written, this edition offers comprehensive coverage of all major theories of family therapy as well as the latest information about associations dedicated to promoting family therapy and means by which therapists can best assist families in entering and being successful in treatment. A popular four-part format organizes content in a logical, developmental format: 1) Understanding Families, 2) Therapeutic Approaches to Working with Families, 3) Special Populations in Family Therapy, and 4) Professional Issues and Research in Family Therapy. For individuals with either a personal or professional interest in marriage and family counseling.

Samuel T. Gladding is professor of counselor education, director of the counselor education program, and the associate provost at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Philosophy Therapeutic work with families is a recent scientific phenomenon but an ancient art. Throughout human history, designated persons in all cultures have helped couples and families cope, adjust, and grow. In the United States, the interest in assisting families within a healing context is both a twentieth and twenty-first century movement. Family life has always been of interest, but because of economic, social, political, and spiritual values, outsiders made little direct intervention, outside of social work, into ways of helping family functioning until the 1920s. Now, there are literally thousands of professionals who focus their attention and skills on improving family dynamics and relationships. In examining how professionals work to assist families, the reader should keep in mind that there are as many ways of offering help as there are families. However, the most widely recognized methods are counseling, therapy, educational enrichment, and prevention. The general umbrella term for remediation work with families isfamily therapy.This concept includes the type of work done by family professionals who identify themselves by different titles including counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and clergy. Family therapyis not a perfect term; politically it gets bandied about by a number of professional associations such as the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), the American Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Association of Social Workers. Physicians who treat families also debate this term, as well as whether as doctors they are "family therapists" or engaged in the practice of medicine and therefore "family medical specialists." For purposes of this book, the generic termfamily therapyis used because of its wide acceptance among the public and professionals who engage in the practice of helping families. Within this term, some aspects of educational enrichment and prevention are included. Organization As a comprehensive text, this book focuses on multiple aspects of family therapy. Part One introduces the reader to the various ways in which families develop and the characteristics of healthy and dysfunctional families. Part Two examines the rationale and history of family therapy, its general processes, and the main theoretical approaches to working therapeutically with families: Adlerian/psychodynamic, Bowenian, experiential, behavioral and cognitive-behavioral, structural, strategic, systemic (Milan), solution focused, and narrative. Each theoretical chapter emphasizes the major theorists of the approach, premises, techniques, process/outcome, and unique aspects of the theory. A case illustration is provided also. Part Three examines issues and dynamics in working with special family forms--singleparent families, remarried families, culturally diverse families, and addictive/abusive families--as well as the different therapeutic approaches used, according to family type and background. Finally, Part Four discusses ethical, legal, and professional issues in being a family therapist. It also explores research and assessment in family therapy. New to This Edition The third edition ofFamily Therapyhas been thoroughly updated with new and relevant sources. It has been strengthened to include a greater emphasis on family health, a more complete integration of issues related to diversity and gender, and an expanded discussion of professional identity and ethics. Another added feature is a new chapter on working with families who suffer from substance-related disorders, domestic violence, and child abuse. A student workbook,Exercises in Family Therapyby Mark E. Young, Monserrat Casado, and Scott Rasmus, now accompanies the text. It includes case studies, structured exercises, and questions to help the student ref