Intensive Family Therapy

The chapters of this volume were written for the purpose of surveying the field of intensive family therapy. The book is not a compilation of previously published articles; all of the chapters are original contributions written at the request of the editors. The structure of the volume was determined by the editors' experience with family therapy and their continuous exchange with other workers in the field through symposia, personal discussions, and, in most cases, direct observation of their work.

Families today are assailed on all fronts by the profound changes, such as the decline of real wages and the loss in many industries of job security, that have shaken society over the past forty years and forced the monolithic family structure to take on a multitude of new forms, including the now-common dual-income family and the single-parent family. With families now more dependent on outside institutions for help and support—from the day care center to social services to neighbors and friends—family therapy needs a model of intervention that is capable of dealing with the new role these outside institutions and their representatives play in the life of the family.In this groundbreaking book, H. Charles Fishman takes this next logical step in the evolution of the treatment of families and details how to assess the broader system supporting and affecting the family and how to intervene effectively. Assessment techniques show how to decide which people and institutions (such as siblings, friends, co-workers, employers, social workers, teachers, clergy) need to be incorporated into the treatment. Fishman outlines how and when representatives of these outside institutions should meet with the therapist and the family. Rich case examples extensively illustrate principles of intervention for working within the family's context and for identifying who or what is maintaining the dysfunction of the family system.A concluding section reveals that altruism, a side of human nature too easily forgotten or dismissed, is the driving force behind the cooperative spirit regularly shown by participants in intensive structural therapy. This surprising finding is sure to inspire all who help families deal with the stresses of life today.

“If you have a troubled marriage, a troubled child, a troubled self, if you’re in therapy or think that there’s no help for your predicament, The Family Crucible will give you insights . . . that are remarkably fresh and helpful.”—New York Times Book Review The classic groundbreaking book on family therapy by acclaimed experts Augustus Y. Napier, Ph.D., and Carl Whitaker, M.D. This extraordinary book presents scenarios of one family’s therapy experience and explains what underlies each encounter. You will discover the general patterns that are common to all families—stress, polarization and escalation, scapegoating, triangulation, blaming, and the diffusion of identity—and you will gain a vivid understanding of the intriguing field of family therapy.

The chapters of this volume were written for the purpose of surveying the field of intensive family therapy. The book is not a compilation of previously published articles; all of the chapters are original contributions written at the request of the editors. The structure of the volume was determined by the editors' experience with family therapy and their continuous exchange with other workers in the field through symposia, personal discussions, and, in most cases, direct observation of their work.

Focusing on a program ("Homebuilders") that has attracted national attention, this book develops implications for family-centered curricula in such areas as social policy, direct practice, program design/management, practice research, theory and prevention.

This book has been replaced by Adolescents at Risk: Home-Based Family Therapy and School-Based Intervention, ISBN 978-1-4625-3653-5.

This book explains how to provide Functional Family Therapy (FFT), a highly successful family intervention for delinquent and substance-using adolescents. FFT systematically alters important risk and protective factors associated with the problem behaviors.

The latest theory, research, and practice information for family therapy The last twenty years have seen an explosion of new, innovative, and empirically supported therapeutic approaches for treating families. Mental health professionals working with families today apply a wide range of approaches to a variety of situations and clients using techniques based on their clinically and empirically proven effectiveness, their focus on specific individual and relational disorders, their applicability in various contexts, and their prominence in the field. In this accessible and comprehensive text, each chapter covers specific problems, the theoretical and practical elements of the treatment approach, recommended intervention strategies, special considerations, supporting research, and clinical examples. The contributors provide step-by-step guidelines for implementing the approaches described and discuss particular issues that arise in different couple, family, and cultural contexts. Handbook of Clinical Family Therapy covers treatment strategies for the most common problems encountered in family therapy, including: Domestic violence Adolescent defiance, anxiety, and depression Trauma-induced problems Stepfamily conflicts ADHD disruption Substance abuse in adults and adolescents Couple conflict and divorce Chronic illness A detailed reference for today's best treatment strategies, the Handbook of Clinical Family Therapy brings together the top practitioners and scholars to produce an innovative and user-friendly guide for clinicians and students alike.