Marital and Family Therapy

Marital and Family Therapy, now in its Fourth Edition, remains a classic text for psychiatrists and family therapists - trainees and practitioners alike. The authors of this definitive work (previous editions have been widely adopted throughout Europe and translated into Japanese and Chinese) combine psychiatric and integrative family models into a single framework. As in previous editions, the authors make a statement about the current state of the art of family intervention, asserting that a more sophisticated, integrative approach is required to keep up with the recent growth and changes in the field - and thus prompting them to expand and rewrite the text. Readers will discover a fresh understanding of family therapy's underlying principles, hypotheses, and treatment techniques; of the effects of gender, culture, class, and race on both therapist and family as they work together; and of the complex ethical issues involved. The authors' thoughtful use of objectives as a road map within each of this volume's 31 chapters ensures that beginners can find their way through its wealth of information. The authors have Rewritten the chapter on how new attitudes and information about gender, culture, race, and class are affecting family theory building, including new information about single-parent and remarried families, gay and lesbian families, African American families, the effects of abuse, the complexities of AIDS, and family response to reproductive events. Added a section on treating Axis 1 disorders by combining family therapy with medication, including revisions throughout this volume for compatibility with DSM-IV and ICD-1. Added a section that emphasizes the importance of the new subspecialty of family systems medicine. Incorporated new data into their discussion on how to handle incest, violence, suicide, and the family responses to these problems. Updated sections on family therapy effectiveness and training, as well as on the ethical, financial, and professional issues facing therapists today. With two new authors, up-to-date references for the advanced therapist, and suggested readings for both instructor and student, this volume will spend little time on the shelf. Psychiatrists, family therapists, social workers, nurses, family education teachers, counselors, family physicians, and family law professionals will turn to this practical reference time and time again as they seek a better understanding of the evolving field of marital and family therapy.

Table of Contents:
Section I: Family Therapy in Context. The field of marital and family therapy: development and definition. Family life in historical and sociological perspective. Section II: Functional and Dsyfunctional Families. Understanding the functional family. Understanding the functional family: alternative family forms. Problems and dysfunction from a family systems perspective. Section III: Family Evaluation. The process of evaluation. The content of evaluation. Formulating an understanding of the family problem areas. Tools for evaluation, including rating scales and tests. Section IV: Family Treatment. The major schools of family therapy. Family treatment: goals. Family treatment: strategies and techniques. The course of family treatment. Promoting change in family treatment: issues of alliance and resistance. Family therapy: general considerations. Brief family therapy: treatment as it is influenced by time constraints. Treatment as it is influenced by issues of ethnicity, race, gender, and class. Treatment as it is influenced by issues specific to African American families. Section V: Couples Therapy. Dysfunctional couples and couples therapy. Sex, marriage, and marital and sex therapy. Separation and divorce. The couple and reproductive issues. Lesbian and gay couples. Section VI: Family Treatment When One Member Has a Psychiatric Disorder or Other Special Problem. Family treatment in the context of individual psychiatric disorders. Family treatment in the context of other special problems�violence to self and others. The family and treatment of acute and chronic psychiatric illness. Section VII: Results of and Guidelines for Recommending Family Therapy. Indications for and the sequence of family therapy evaluation and treatment. Controversies, relative contraindications, and the use and misuse of marital and family therapy. Results: the outcome of family therapy. Section VIII: Family Systems Medicine And Finishing Touches. Treating the medically ill patient: a family systems medicine perspective. Ethical and professional issues in family therapy. Index.

About the Author :
Ira D. Glick, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine; and Director of Inpatient and Partial Hospitalization Services at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford University Hospital in Stanford, California. Ellen M. Berman, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; and Senior Consultant for the PENN Council for Relationships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. John F. Clarkin, Ph.D., is Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at the Cornell University Medical College; and Director of Psychology, Westchester Division, at The New York Hospital�Cornell Medical Center in White Plains, New York. Douglas S. Rait, Ph.D., is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine; Chief of the Couples and Family Therapy Clinic at the Stanford University Medical Center; and Director of the Family Therapy Program at the Veterans Administration Palo Alto Health Care System in Palo Alto, California.

Review :

" "Marital and Family Therapy", long considered a classic text, has evolved as the field has changed and expanded its knowledge and research base. The fourth edition reflects the latest and most clinically relevant developments, which have been seamlessly interwoven in the structure of the basic text.... In summary, "Marital and Family Therapy" provides a solid initial foundation of theoretical, technical, and historical information about couples and families. It is an ideal introductory textbook for those interested in working with families and couples in a variety of contexts and regardless of one's discipline. It is also an important resource for experienced clinicians to revisit periodically. We particularly recommend it to all medical students, interns, and residents regardless of their ultimate area of specialization. In the zeitgeist of the biopsychosocial perspective, all medicine is ultimately family medicine."-- "John Shilds, P.D.O., A.C.S.W., and Gary Swanson, M.D., Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry", "August 2002"

"As a textbook it stands as a model of its kind. It will admirably serve as a working guide for beginners at various levels, but particularly for trainee psychiatrists in ongoing training courses or supervision... (The book provides) a method for generating positive collaboration and effective partnerships between interlocking systems of individuals, family networks and health professionals. Family therapy is founded on the recognition that dyadic relations in clinical contexts do not exist outside a series of interlocking and usually tangled triangles... Glick (and his collaborators) provide (sic.) a helpful detailing of alternative family forms, including sole-parent, remarried and step-families, and gay and lesbian couples (Chapter 23 by Australian psychiatrist, the late John Patten), and the shaping influences of ethnicity, race, and class... They present compelling arguments that not only are family interventions a key component of best practice care, but are crucial to continued adherence to treatment, relapse prevention and clinical stability. This is most abundantly clear for family psychoeducational interventions and schizophrenia, but the evidence is also mounting for bipolar disorders, depression with marital conflicts, eating disorders, substance abuse and chronic physical health problems. How much longer will this research be ignored? This book demands, and hopefully will get, the widest circulation."-- "New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 35, No. 5 in", "October 2001"

" "Marital and Family Therapy," long considered a classic text, has evolved as the field has changed and expanded its knowledge and research base. The fourth edition reflects the latest and most clinically relevant developments, which have been seamlessly interwoven in the structure of the basic text.... In summary, "Marital and Family Therapy" provides a solid initial foundation of theoretical, technical, and historical information about couples and families. It is an ideal introductory textbook for those interested in working with families and couples in a variety of contexts and regardless of one's discipline. It is also an important resource for experienced clinicians to revisit periodically. We particularly recommend it to all medical students, interns, and residents regardless of their ultimate area of specialization. In the zeitgeist of the biopsychosocial perspective, all medicine is ultimately family medicine."-- "John Shilds, P.D.O., A.C.S.W., and Gary Swanson, M.D., Journ

"[I]t is a major contribution not only to its primary audience, but also can be of immense value to programs in marital and family therapy education and to mature therapists who are seeking to reconceptualize their thinking.... In my judgment, this ground-breaking book is certainly among the best works of its type."-- "William C. Nichols, Journal of Family Psychotherapy"

"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."-- "Psychiatric Services, Michele Reiter, M.S., L.I.C.S.W., and Christy N. H. Adams, B.A.", "August 2001"

"This broad-based and comprehensive text for students, clinicians, and teachers of family therapy covers a range of relevant topics presented in a well organized format to guide the reader systematically through a vast amount of information."-- "Pieter Le Roux, D. Litt. Et Phil. and Marvin I Herz, M.D., American Journal of Psychiatry", "March 2002"

"This is a thorough introduction to the field of marital and family treatment. The chapters are well documented and easy to read, and provide an important foundation for a beginning practitioner...While the book provides an excellent foundation for students or new practitioners, it contains enough new material that veterans of the field will certainly benefit from it as well.. This book provides a wealth of information on this field."-- "Doody Health Sciences Book Review Journal", "March 2001"