Family Systems/Family Therapy: Applications for Clinical Practice

Use your family therapy skills to coordinate multidisciplinary teams!This comprehensive book examines family therapy issues in the context of the larger systems of health, law, and education. Family Systems/Family Therapy shows how family therapists can bring their skills to bear on a broad range of problems, both by considering the effects of larger social systems and by cooperating with professionals in other disciplines. Because family therapists are trained to understand how systems operate, they can offer wise guidance whether the dysfunction is occurring within the family system or between the individual and the larger systems of society. The studies and projects reported in Family Systems/Family Therapy demonstrate the ways in which family therapists can help create dialogues of inclusion to develop innovative, effective solution plans. The PEACE project, for example, brings together judges, attorneys, divorcing parents, and therapists to help children deal with the strains of divorce. Family Systems/Family Therapy includes both practical case histories and theoretical considerations. This thought-provoking book suggests areas in which an intersystems approach can be especially effective, including:

preventing substance abuse in adolescent girls

enhancing awareness of adolescent dating violence

managing geriatric care, not just for the identified patient, but for the family as a whole

doing court-ordered therapy for divorcing couples

working with children labeled as difficult and their teachersFamily Systems/Family Therapy will give family therapists a new vision of what they can achieve when working in the context of individuals, families, or the broader system.