Editors Introduction to the Special Issue on International Developments in Family Therapy

Abstract

The purpose of this special issue is to consider the current state of the field in as many areas of the world as possible. The first goal was to build connections between people. People who share some similar ideas about the importance of family therapy, family involvement in care, or systemic approaches to family support, could look in one location find others of similar interests. Our second goal was to satisfy a curiosity. We wondered about what is happening in places other than our own. My initial consultations with members of the CoFT Editorial Board confirmed that many of them shared a similar interest and many of them agreed to contribute to the project. The result is a remarkable collection of ideas, developments, and thinking about how the field ‘‘stands’’ in different places. Forty-seven authors representing four of the six continents (less Africa and Antarctica), who themselves identified nineteen unique (and sometimes overlapping) geographical areas all contributed to this ‘‘snapshot’’ of the field as it appears in the summer of 2013. The contributors were identified by consulting with members of the CoFT editorial board, gleaning names from the membership lists of different family-based professional organizations, examining the editorial boards of a range of professional journals, and then using the ‘‘snowball technique’’ to identify additional potential authors. The authors were asked to respond to a framework of topics that included: ‘‘1. History of family therapy in your area including such material as key ‘‘founders’’, or people who began to work in family therapy in your area. Where and how the early founders received training in family therapy. Key institutions that began providing services and/or training in family therapy. A timeline of key developments in your area. 2. How does family therapy fit into the current medical and or social services systems in your area?