Presents a model for organizing presession and midsession therapy team conferences. Examines the risks in working in teams and proposes ways to counteract these risks, based on experiences at the Family Therapy Center at the Worcester Youth Guidance Center. (JAC)

Describes four interventions in brief family therapy, illustrated by case examples. Interventions are aimed at helping clients solve problems, and three assumptions about the nature of change are described. Results of these interventions suggest there is no clinical distinction between clients' perceived change and observed change. (JAC)

Explores the reliability of the categories used to describe family structure in structural family therapy. Five clinicians independently rated three initial conjoint family interviews. Results are discussed in terms of their demonstration of the utility of the structural nonmenclature, some conceptual problems in the structural nomenclature, and…

Addresses issues of supervision for counselors in training who are moving from individual practice to systemic family sessions. Transition issues are identified and addressed. Recommendations for training in such areas as cotherapy, team approach, and basic skills applications in systemic models are offered. (Author/MKA)

This article illustrates some specific advantages and practical considerations in the use of cotherapy during the family therapy process. (Author/DOW)

This paper provides a rationale for group pre-marriage counseling based on the social nature of factors influencing the marriage model. The author suggests that while group pre-marriage counseling invites disillusionment, it offers the antidote--the realization that disillusionment occurred not necessarily because of a bad choice, but because of…

Proposes a model for the understanding of the development of the cotherapy relationship. Discusses both developmental fixations and modes for enhancement of this relationship with particular reference to family therapy. (Author)

Proposes a full-system therapeutic approach which widens the lens of assessment and intervention beyond the family to include the interactive patterns of the family's immediate community and service systems. Describes four common dysfunctional models: the blind, or dispersed system; the conflicted interagency system; the rejecting system, and the…

Recent developments in the establishment of modern family codes of governing the relationships between husband, wife, and children have provided long needed vehicles which make interdisciplinary cooperation an absolute necessity. Counselors and lawyers must work together, as lawyers, courts, and juries proceed to divide families and property in…

Presents Virginia Satir's Family Reconstruction, a group therapy experience that blends and extends her 1982 process therapy and 1983 conjoint family therapy approaches. Describes the family reconstruction process, the review of family reconstruction data in the pregroup interview, the family reconstruction process in the counseling group, and the…

Discusses a pilot study in which joint consultations with a family therapist and a matrimonial attorney were offered to 10 couples and one woman contemplating divorce. Videotaped sessions. Suggests joint consultations can be useful in helping couples understand the psychological and legal implications of conflicts expressed during separation.…

Presents an approach to family therapy where a group of observers becomes part of a therapeutic team by introducing strategic messages into the sessions. Messages are described in terms of five components: function, target, timing, content, and delivery. Suggests guidelines for effective team functioning and discusses implications for training.…

Uses family systems theory to conceptualize family dissolution and child custody disputes. Describes a family assessment model involving a therapy team with each member responsible for a family subsystem. The role of each therapist and the functioning of the team is outlined. Criteria for determining custody recommendations are identified. (JAC)

Reviews current forms of treatment for the symptomatic child including individual child psychotherapy, conjoint parent-child psychotherapy and counseling, parent therapy and counseling, and conjoint family therapy. Suggests each approach has certain strengths, but alone is an incomplete treatment mode. Recommends an integration of child and family…

This paper describes a strategic, paradoxical therapy approach useful in family therapy. A discussion of the criteria for case selection indicates the ideal profile to be a case which has been treated by several therapists, using various modalities, with virtually no change. Other indications of the need for strategic therapy are discussed,…