Schools Of Family Therapy Research Articles

ENACTING CORE PRINCIPLES OF FAMILY ASSESSMENT AND TAILORED INTERVENTIONS IN DAILY MENTAL HEALTH CARE

Participants will learn about: 1) the principles of family assessment in busy clinical practice; 2) cardinal systemic family interventions based on the classical systemic family therapy schools; and 3) practicing creative family interventions in clinical practice such as family rituals, prescribing symptoms, and circular questioning in various scenarios.

Integrative Practice for the Beginning Family Therapist: Bringing it Back to Basics

The practice of integrating various therapeutic disciplines and models in therapy has traditionally been the domain of the experienced practitioner. To encourage the newly trained systemic therapist to embark on their journey in the artistry of integrative practice, this paper addresses the question: ‘What guidance and encouragement could be offered to the beginning family therapist to practice in an integrative way?’ Central to this paper is the view that the discipline of systemic thinking itself facilitates integration. Based on the notion that complex models of integrative practice may not serve the beginning clinician, three suggestions are offered. First, the overarching theories that support systemic family therapy also provide a platform for moving between schools of family therapy and our professions of origin. Second, the role of common factors is a useful and important guiding principle to practice in an integrative way. And finally, an essential ingredient of integrative practice is the return to therapeutic presence and attunement.

Editorial:Narrative‐BasedApproaches in Psychological Research and Practice

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INTEGRATIVE FAMILY INTERVENTIONS FOR A BUSY CLINICIAN: STRATEGIES FOR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Participants will learn about: 1) the principles of family assessment in busy clinical practice; 2) cardinal systemic family interventions based on the classical systemic family therapy schools; and 3) practicing creative family interventions in clinical practice such as family rituals, prescribing symptoms, and circular questioning, in various scenarios.

Toward A Greater Understanding of the Ways Family-Based Treatment Addresses the Full Range of Psychopathology of Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa.

Family-based treatment (FBT) for anorexia nervosa (AN) is an empirically supported treatment for this disorder. Derived from several different schools of family therapy, it is a highly focused approach that initially targets weight restoration under parental management at home. However, the view that manualized FBT is solely a behavioral therapy directing parents to refeed their children AN with the single purpose of weight gain is a common but misleading over simplification of the therapy. Indeed, weight restoration is the main goal only in phase 1 of this 3-phase treatment. When practiced with fidelity and skill, FBT's broadest aim is to promote adolescent development without AN thoughts and behaviors interfering and disrupting these normal processes. Although weight restoration is a key starting point in FBT, the entire course of treatment takes into consideration the ongoing impact of starvation, cognitions, emotions, and behaviors on adolescent development. These factors associated with maintaining low weight are viewed in FBT as interfering with the adolescent being able to take up the tasks of adolescence and thus must be overcome before fully turning to those broader adolescent tasks. In addition, FBT recognizes that adolescence takes place in the context of family and community and respects the importance of learning in a home environment both for weight gain as well as related developmental tasks to have a lasting effect. Specifically, in this article we describe how the current FBT manualized approach addresses temperament/personality traits, emotional processing, cognitive content and process, social communication and connections, psychiatric comorbidity, and family factors. This report makes no claim to superiority of FBT compared to other therapies in addressing these broader concerns nor does it add interventions to augment the current manual to improve FBT.

INTEGRATING FAMILY INTERVENTIONS WITH CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY PRACTICE: IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF OUR DAILY CLINICAL INTERVENTIONS

Participants will learn about: 1) the principles of family assessment in busy clinical practice; 2) cardinal systemic family interventions based on the classical systemic family therapy schools; and 3) practicing creative family interventions in clinical practice, such as family rituals, prescribing symptoms, circular questioning, and so on, in various scenarios.

Becoming Effective Family Psychiatrists: A Clinician’s Guide to Family Assessment and Creative Interventions

Participants will learn about the following: 1) the principles of family assessment in busy clinical practice; 2) cardinal systemic family interventions based on the classical systemic family therapy schools; and 3) practicing creative family interventions in clinical practice, such as family rituals, prescribing symptoms, circular questioning, etc., in various scenarios.

Evidence-Based Family Assessment and Interventions: Providing Mental Health Professionals Techniques for Integrating Mental Health Treatment Into the Family Setting

In this session, participants will learn about the following: 1) the principles of family assessment in busy clinical practice; 2) cardinal systemic family interventions based on the classical systemic family therapy schools; and 3) practicing creative family interventions in clinical practice, such as family rituals, prescribing symptoms, circular questioning, etc., in various scenarios.

Where Codependency Takes Us: A Commentary

In their article ‘‘Applying the codependency concept to significant others of problem gamblers: Words of caution’’, Calderwood and Rajesparam critique the codependency concept and highlight its problems when applied to problem gambling treatment. In this commentary I will show how codependency falls short of true family systems thinking and raise some questions concerning clinical work that includes concerned significant others (CSOs). Language Matters Once a concept such as codependency has gained traction through wide circulation in popular and addiction recovery culture, it acquires a taken-for-granted meaning that seldom gets scrutinized. It is to the authors’ credit that they take up this concept for examination. They suggest that codependency has become short-hand for connoting that CSOs are problematic, and characterized as ‘‘external focusing,’’ ‘‘self-sacrificing,’’ ‘‘attempting to control,’’ ‘‘suppressors of their own emotions,’’ ‘‘needing to be needed,’’ ‘‘victims’’ and ‘‘partners-in-crime.’’ Cast in this negative light, partners are stigmatized and accusatorily treated by professionals. Language shapes perception. Because of these ingrained negative connotations, it is best that the terms codependent and codependency be avoided. Further, codependency as a concept needs to be deconstructed. The authors suggest that codependency is influenced by family systems theory. They equated the ‘‘expert,’’ ‘‘confrontational and accusatory’’ style of a therapist they observed with the family systems approach of Minuchin. In reality, codependency that assigns blame to the partner falls short of systems thinking. Rather than ascribing pathology to an individual in the family, family systems therapists look for the patterns of interaction that are circular and recursive and thereby result in symptom development. Moreover, there are many schools of family therapy, and family therapists are among the first in the mental health field to raise sensitivity to how language is used – notable are the contributions of Michael White in narrative therapy, of Jay Haley in the Ericksonian tradition (which later gave rise to

Development of Family Therapy in Hong Kong

This paper provides an insight into the development and growth of family therapy in Hong Kong. Family therapy was introduced in Hong Kong in the early 1980s and is now gaining ground. The authors give a historical account of the development of family therapy in Hong Kong, and report on its progress and achievement for the past three decades there. The field has gone through several stages of development. The 1980s were marked by an importation of Western family therapy models, during which overseas expertise was tapped to promote family therapy. The 1990s were characterized by a blossoming of different schools of family therapy on the local scene. Most schools established their own practice centers, and training packages were tailor-made for local use. The 2000s were an important era of family therapy development in Hong Kong. The field has nurtured a new generation of leaders (both academics and front-line practitioners and trainers) who play an essential role in advancing its development. The paper concludes by identifying problems in clinical practice, professional training, and research and knowledge development, and proposes ways of overcoming these difficulties.

Findings for Practice From PACFA’s First Literature Review on Family and Relationship Therapy: A Commentary

Researchers at Monash University were awarded the PACFA tender to undertake a literature review of the effectiveness of Family and Relationship Therapy, which has now been published on the PACFA website. Seven major approaches representative of the major family therapy schools were reviewed, including Experiential Family Therapy, Structural Family Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Multi-systemic Therapy, Family Problem Solving, Solution Focused Therapy and Narrative Therapy. The development and major concepts of each of these approaches is included in the review, which is a useful resource for students and practitioners. The review found much of the research has been conducted in the US, followed by the UK. This article summarises the major findings in terms of the implications for practice. A consistent research finding is that couple and family interventions outperform individual therapy for difficult to treat conditions such as anorexia nervosa and alcohol dependence.

A perspectiva sistêmica para a Clínica da Família

O presente texto tem por objetivo traçar uma breve trajetória teórica, conceitual, empírica e tecnológica do estudo da família na perspectiva sistêmica e apontar a consequente proposta de intervenções para a clínica da família. Apresentamos as diferentes Escolas de Terapia Familiar, desde aquelas fortemente influenciadas pela Cibernética até aquelas que assimilaram as contribuições do Construtivismo e do Construcionismo Social. A seguir, tecemos comentários sobre a pesquisa com família e os interesses dos pesquisadores da área em nosso país. Finalmente, apontamos nossa opinião sobre o direcionamento futuro da Terapia Familiar no Brasil.

Scientist‐practitioner family therapists, postmodern medical practitioners and expert parents: second‐order change in the Eating Disorders Program at The Children's Hospital at Westmead

The Maudsley model of family‐based treatment for anorexia integrates a variety of schools of family therapy, and has been developed and supported by a number of randomized controlled trials. In this paper we will describe the systemic organizational changes that have occurred as a result of the inclusion of this model in the Eating Disorders Program at The Children's Hospital at Westmead over an eighteen‐month period, including a process of mutual influence between medical practitioners and family therapists. These changes have contributed towards a dramatic improvement in clinical outcomes including a significant drop in readmission rates to hospital.

Tales of a Therapist

ABSTRACT Historically, theorists and clinicians from various schools of family therapy have discussed therapist self-disclosure in terms of either helping or inhibiting therapeutic progress. Although postmodern language-based theorists and therapists accept and encourage its use, few clinical examples of therapist self-disclosure exist in the family therapy literature. In this paper, a postmodern family therapist working within the language-based tradition describes the use of self-disclosures with a couple. The therapist then reviews the effects of those self-disclosures through the eyes of husband, wife, and therapist.

Marital and Family Therapy, fourth edition

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book ReviewsFull AccessMarital and Family Therapy, fourth editionMichele Reiter, M.S., L.I.C.S.W., and Christy N. H. Adams, B.A.Michele ReiterSearch for more papers by this author, M.S., L.I.C.S.W., and Christy N. H. AdamsSearch for more papers by this author, B.A.Published Online:1 Aug 2001https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.52.8.1109-aAboutSectionsView EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail In a foreword to this book, Peter Steinglass, M.D., describes this edition as "an opportunity to document… a major reconceptualization of a field." What he finds noteworthy is that this edition addresses issues connected with the movement of family therapy as a field from being a subspecialty of psychotherapy toward becoming a "discipline" with broad-based application. For many marriage and family therapists, this shift reflects what we have been working toward for several decades—that is, to be able to apply family therapy concepts to all aspects of psychotherapy regardless of who is actually in the room with us during a given session.For the marriage and family therapist and student, Marital and Family Therapy offers both an accessible organization and the benefit of information that has been left out of previous works. The book progresses in sections, which move from development and definition of the field itself to the development of family life. It addresses the history and "normal" development of family life while allowing readers to broaden their understanding of "nontraditional" families and of cultural variations in families. It defines problems that families encounter and provides excellent information about how to comprehensively evaluate a family. In later sections of the book, historical as well as current schools of family therapy are reviewed.The book's chapters are well organized. Each begins with a list of objectives and concludes with a useful summary and an excellent bibliography. Tables and graphics significantly enhance the book's usefulness by presenting a great deal of information in a quick-reference format.This volume will be useful not just to marriage and family therapists but to other clinicians as well. Medical practitioners, for example—often the family's first choice for discussion of family issues—can use this book to assist them in providing competent and helpful interventions to families who are dealing with a chronic illness or an acute medical crisis.Since our experience is that of family therapy supervisor and graduate intern, we were most impressed by this book's usefulness for both the supervisor or seasoned professional practitioner and the graduate-level student. In our consultation within the internship setting, we have been seeking just such a reference work. We both found relevant information in this book to bridge the gap between our different levels of experience and to provide a common language for discussing the work at hand and for understanding the families with whom we work.As the settings in which we practice become more and more complex, so does the need for more detailed information about families—about working with families with special needs, serial relationships, marital conflict, parenting issues, issues connected with race and class, social structure of families, and cross-cultural issues. We recommend Marital and Family Therapy for all who work with families and couples.Ms. Reiter is program director for Families in Recovery, a Retreat Healthcare substance abuse treatment program for women in Brattleboro, Vermont. Ms. Adams, a student in the marriage and family therapy program of Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, New Hampshire, is completing her second year of internship.by Ira D. Glick, M.D., Ellen M. Berman, M.D., John F. Clarkin, Ph.D., and Douglas S. Rait, Ph.D.; Washington, D.C., American Psychiatric Press, Inc., 2000, 739 pages, $44 FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 52Issue 8 August 2001Pages 1109-a-1110 Metrics History Published online 1 August 2001 Published in print 1 August 2001

Emotion Management of Marriage and Fam ily Therapists: How is it Different for Women and Men?

Most schools of family therapy directly or indirectly recognize that personal qualities of the therapist influence therapy process. If personal qualities of therapists are associated with therapy process, it seems plausible that there would be some interaction between their personal relationships and therapy process. The present study examines the relationship between emotion management at home and emotion management at work to job satisfaction and marital satisfaction of marriage and family therapists. Results suggest that men and women experience a different interaction between emotion management, relationship satisfaction, and job satisfaction.

Family Therapy: Out from Behind the Hero Narrative

Schools of family therapy have been highly selective in their presentation of the theory/practice nexus. Family therapy's method of teaching (the infamous workshop format) has hampered it's growth as a practice and academic discipline. An inadvertent, unhelpful legacy of Gregory Bateson has been that lesser scholars have aped his capacity to draw on other fields of knowledge without his rigour, or his propriety. Family therapy's cavalier dealings with bodies of knowledge and its reliance on miraculous case studies has resulted in the bypassing of individual suffering. The heroic narrative that has dominated family therapy has precluded other styles of stories for therapists, theorists and clients. Family therapy has been dominated by the myth of the hero, with its accompanying motif of the puer eternus (the eternal youth). Family therapy has been forever reinventing itself, forever the ‘new kid on the block’. This fascination with newness has interfered with family therapy's capacity, at times, to consolidate its genuine value as a therapeutic entity.

Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods

Each chapter concludes with Readings and References. Foreword, by Salvador Minuchin, M.D. Preface. I.THE CONTEXT OF FAMILY THERAPY. 1.The Foundations of Family Therapy. The Myths of the Hero. Psychotherapeutic Sanctuary. Family versus Individual Therapy. Psychology and Social Context. The Power of Family Therapy. Contemporary Cultural Influences. Thinking in Lines: Thinking in Circles. 2.The Evolution of Family Therapy. The Undeclared War. Small Group Dynamics. The Child Guidance Movement. The Influence of Social Work. Research on Family Dynamics and the Etiology of Schizophrenia. Marriage Counseling. From Research to Treatment: The Pioneers of Family Therapy. The Golden Age of Family Therapy. Summary. 3.Early Models and Basic Techniques: Group Process and Communications Analysis. Sketches of Leading Figures. Theoretical Formulations. Normal Family Development. Development of Behavior Disorders. Goals of Therapy. Conditions for Behavior Change. Techniques. Lessons from the Early Models. System's Anxiety. The Stages of Family Therapy. Family Assessment. Working with Managed Care. 4.The Fundamental Concepts of Family Therapy. Systems Theory. Functionalism. Structuralism. The Legacy of Cybernetics and Structural-Functionalism. General Systems Theory. Satir's Humanizing Influence. Bowen and Differentiation of Self. The Road Not Taken. Enduring Concepts and Methods. Conclusions. II.THE CLASSIC SCHOOLS OF FAMILY THERAPY. 5.Bowen Family Systems Therapy. Sketches of Leading Figures. Theoretical Formulations. Normal Family Development. Development of Behavior Disorders. Goals of Therapy. Conditions of Behavior Change. Techniques. Evaluating Therapy Theory and Results. Summary. 6.Experiential Family Therapy. Sketches of Leading Figures. Theoretical Formulations. Normal Family Development. Development of Behavior Disorders. Goals of Therapy. Conditions of Behavior Change. Techniques. Evaluating Therapy Theory and Results. Summary. 7.Psychoanalytic Family Therapy. Sketches of Leading Figures. Theoretical Formulations. Normal Family Development. Development of Behavior Disorders. Goals of Therapy. Conditions of Behavior Change. Techniques. Evaluating Therapy Theory and Results. Summary. 8.Structural Family Therapy. Sketches of Leading Figures. Theoretical Formulations. Normal Family Development. Development of Behavior Disorders. Goals of Therapy. Conditions of Behavior Change. Techniques. Evaluating Therapy Theory and Results. Summary. 9.Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy. Sketches of Leading Figures. Theoretical Formulations. Normal Family Development. Development of Behavior Disorders. Goals of Therapy. Conditions of Behavior Change. Techniques. Evaluating Therapy Theory and Results. Summary. III.RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN FAMILY THERAPY. 10.Family Therapy Enters the Twenty-First Century. Erosion Boundaries. Postmodernism. Constructivism. Collaborative, Conversational Approaches. The Hermeneutic Tradition. Social Constructionism. The Narrative Revolution. Family Therapy's Answer to Managed Care: Solution-Focused Therapy. Feminism and Family Therapy. Family Violence. Multiculturalism. Race. Poverty and Social Class. Gay and Lesbian Issues. Spirituality. Tailoring Treatments to Populations and Problems. Empirically Based Treatment Programs. Medical Family Therapy and Psychoeducation. The Self in the System. Managed Care. Conclusions. 11.From Strategic to Solution-Focused: The Evolution of Brief Therapy. The MRI, Strategic, and Milan Systemic Models. Sketches of Leading Figures. Theoretical Formulations. Normal Family Development. Development of Behavior Disorders. Goals of Therapy. Conditions of Behavior Change. Techniques. Evaluating Therapy Theory and Results. Summary. 12.Narrative Therapy. Sketches of Leading Figures. Theoretical Formulations. Normal Family Development. Development of Behavior Disorders. Goals of Therapy. Conditions of Behavior Change. Techniques. Evaluating Therapy Theory and Results. Summary. 13.Integrative Models. Eclecticism. Selective Borrowing. Specially Designed Integrative Models. The Internal Family Systems Model. Summary. IV.THE EVALUATION OF FAMILY THERAPY. 14.Comparative Analysis. Theoretical Purity and Technical Eclecticism. Family Therapist - Artist or Scientist? Theoretical Formulations. Normal Family Development. Development of Behavior Disorders. Goals of Therapy. Conditions of Behavior Change. Techniques. Context and Applicability of the Schools of Family Therapy. Selection of a Theoretical Position: Rational and Irrational Factors. Summary. 15.Family Therapy Research: Science into Practice, Practice into Science. How Effective Is Family Therapy? What Makes Family Therapy Effective? Practice into Science. Appendix A: Recommended Readings. Appendix B: Glossary. Appendix C: Careers and Training. Name Index. Subject Index.

At Play in the Fields of Memory—A “Novel” Approach to Training

This paper offers a narrative approach to teaching first-year Master's level family therapy students. In an introductory course at the school of family therapy students were asked to write a brief narrative account of family memories. Then they were asked to edit that account four times: The first two times using ideas and concepts from traditional schools of family therapy, the second two times using ideas from postmodernism and social construction theory. Students found this experience helpful in not only making distinctions between the schools of therapy, but in distinguishing between modernism and postmodernism as it applies to clinical practice and personal identity.

Re‐authoring the stories we work by Situating the narrative approach in the presence of the family of therapists**

This paper evaluates the work of the narrative school of family therapy, as developed by Michael White. This is examined in relation to the field of ideas in family therapy out of which it emerged, highlighting some of the similarities and differences, The lack of acknowledgement by the narrative school of many of the commonalities shared with others is then considered. A second order perspective is taken, situating the therapist's theory in the presence of the family of therapists to examine the development of the narrative approach to theory and practice. Constructionist contributions are considered in relation to the development of an eclectic approach where the therapist adopts a multiverse of theories to draw upon in practice. Development of theory becomes then a dialogue between different lenses rather than the development of any one truth.