Synopses & Reviews
The most thorough and well-written text in the field, Family Therapy: History, Theory, and Practice, covers all aspects of working with families. Beginning with an explanation of how individual and family life cycles differ and how healthy and dysfunctional families operate regardless of structure or ethnicity, Gladding clearly covers the basic processes involved in treating couples and families before delving into a dozen theoretical ways of treating families. Readers will learn about the history of family therapy, multicultural aspects of family therapy, ways of working with various types of families, ethical and legal issues involved in family therapy, and ways of assessing families.
Thoroughly updated and revised, the fifth edition is logically organized into three sections–Understanding Families and Family Dynamics, Therapeutic Approaches to Working with Families, and Professional and Clinical Issues in Family Therapy. Each chapter has an abundance of examples and case studies, and discussion questions included at the end of each chapter help to engage class participation.
New to This Edition
· NEW! Clearly presents the developmental process of working with families from early, middle, and late stages of therapy so students get a sense of what all approaches have in common (Ch. 7).
· NEW! More examples and case studies included so students understand how techniques and processes work with families in a demonstrative way (Chs. 9-14).
· NEW! Chapter 16 now coversthe main clinical areas associated with family therapy, introducing students to the dynamics of family dysfunctions–including abuse, depression, and infidelity–and how to help families regain health and stability.
· NEW! An expanded summary section in each chapter helps students quickly and accurately review major points.
· NEW! Expanded focus on luminaries in the field of family therapy, including some notable women, such as Insoo Kim Berg and Michelle Weiner-Davis.
· NEW! Additional coverage on multisystemic family therapy, highlighting for students how this type of therapy is used in clinical settings (Part II).
· NEW! Enhanced discussion on select assessment instruments, with more specific information on the usefulness of these measures and how they are used in a clinical setting (Ch. 17).
“The author does a tremendous job building an argument for family approaches to problems faced by both individual and families alike. The author uses a good mix of text, diagrams, figures, bulleted lists as well as poetry and pictures….I do believe my students read Gladding’s text and attempt to digest the material.”
--William O’Connell, Xavier University
Synopsis
The most thorough and well-written text in the field, Family Therapy: History, Theory, and Practice, covers all aspects of working with families. Beginning with an explanation of how individual and family life cycles differ and how healthy and dysfunctional families operate regardless of structure or ethnicity, the author clearly covers the basic processes involved in treating couples and families before delving into a dozen theoretical ways of treating families. Readers will learn about the history of family therapy, multicultural aspects of family therapy, ways of working with various types of families, ethical and legal issues involved in family therapy, and ways of assessing families.
Thoroughly updated and revised, the fifth edition is logically organized into three sections–Understanding Families and Family Dynamics, Therapeutic Approaches to Working with Families, and Professional and Clinical Issues in Family Therapy. Each chapter has an abundance of examples and case studies, and discussion questions included at the end of each chapter help to engage class participation.
About the Author
Samuel T. Gladding is chair of and a professor in the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University. He is a Fellow in the American Counseling Association (ACA) and served as its president in 2004-2005. He is the author of numerous publications, including over two dozen books on counseling.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Part One Understanding Families and Family Dynamics
Chapter 1: Individual and Family Life Cycles
Chapter 2: Healthy and Dysfunctional Families
Chapter 3: Working with Culturally Diverse Families
Chapter 4: Working with Single-Parent Families
Chapter 5: Working with Blended Families
Part two Therapeutic Approaches to Working with Families
Chapter 6: History of Family Therapy
Chapter 7: The Process of Family Therapy
Chapter 8: Couple and Marriage Enrichment and Therapy
Chapter 9: Psychodynamic and Bowen Family Therapies
Chapter 10: Experiential Family Therapy
Chapter 11: Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapies
Chapter 12: Structural Family Therapy
Chapter 13: Strategic Family Therapy
Chapter 14: Solution-Focused and Narrative Family Therapies
Part Three Professional Issues and Research in Family Therapy
Chapter 15: Working with Substance-Related Disorders,
Domestic Violence, and Child Abuse
Chapter 16: Ethical, Legal, and Professional Issues in Family Therapy Chapter 17: Research and Assessment in Family Therapy