Family Therapy Basics

Mark Worden's excellent revision is a step-by-step outline for learning family therapy that encourages counselors to translate theory into action. At its essence, it is a resource for learning the 'how to' of family therapy. Worden consistently links what students learn in their textbooks to what actually happens in real-life sessions--from the first interview through termination. Family Therapy Basics provides students with practical guidelines for conducting family interviews, emphasizes common clinical problems, and serves as a springboard for theoretical/clinical discussions. A single family-a mother and father, his teenage daughter from a previous marriage, and her two children-is followed through the entire treatment process. This developing narrative case history is enhanced by questions throughout that reveal why each step is taken. This case presentation provides a continuing focus for the discussion of clinical problems and their solutions, and further emphasizes the therapeutic choice points that occur during a therapy session. In so doing, a balance is struck between providing the reader with a conceptual understanding of the family treatment process and offering a variety of potential therapeutic interventions.