In this groundbreaking book, Charles Fishman uniquely incorporates and develops results-based accountability (RBA) into the framework of structural family therapy. Collaborating with the founder of RBA, Mark Friedman, this approach aims to transform the field of family therapy by allowing clinicians to track performance effectively and efficiently with their clients. The book begins by reviewing the historical foundations of family therapy and evaluates why challenges in the field, alternative methods, and the reliance on evidence-based medicine (EBM) have meant that family therapy may not have flourished to the extent that many of us expected. It then explores how RBA can be integrated into intensive structural therapy (IST), with chapters examining how RBA can be applied in context, such as in treating eating disorders, supervision, and how it can be used to transform the professional’s clinical contexts. Relevant and practical, the book also introduces the community resource specialist to help in the treatment of socially disadvantaged families, as well as practical appendices and "tracking tools" to empower clinicians to track their data and choose treatment models that obtain best outcomes. This new approach offers transparent and measurable outcomes for both clinicians and training family therapists, lending a helping hand in making family therapy the gold standard in psychotherapy. It is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students of family therapy, course leaders, and all clinicians in professional contexts, such as social workers, psychotherapists, and marriage, couple, and family therapists.

Families today are assailed on all fronts by the profound changes, such as the decline of real wages and the loss in many industries of job security, that have shaken society over the past forty years and forced the monolithic family structure to take on a multitude of new forms, including the now-common dual-income family and the single-parent family. With families now more dependent on outside institutions for help and support—from the day care center to social services to neighbors and friends—family therapy needs a model of intervention that is capable of dealing with the new role these outside institutions and their representatives play in the life of the family.In this groundbreaking book, H. Charles Fishman takes this next logical step in the evolution of the treatment of families and details how to assess the broader system supporting and affecting the family and how to intervene effectively. Assessment techniques show how to decide which people and institutions (such as siblings, friends, co-workers, employers, social workers, teachers, clergy) need to be incorporated into the treatment. Fishman outlines how and when representatives of these outside institutions should meet with the therapist and the family. Rich case examples extensively illustrate principles of intervention for working within the family's context and for identifying who or what is maintaining the dysfunction of the family system.A concluding section reveals that altruism, a side of human nature too easily forgotten or dismissed, is the driving force behind the cooperative spirit regularly shown by participants in intensive structural therapy. This surprising finding is sure to inspire all who help families deal with the stresses of life today.

This book is about how to maintain an aliveness to the possibilities in therapy and practice and how to challenge ideas of orthodoxy in theory and methodologies that can become stale or followed like religions.

Please watch the following short video advertisement for the book, featuring the Editors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1ApHAQIMzQ&feature=youtu.be Relationships are a resource for healing a range of psychological difficulties. This is the fundamental principle of family therapy, an increasingly influential form of psychotherapy that is building up a strong evidence base in a range of psychological problems across the life cycle. Family Therapy Skills and Techniques in Action is both a guide to a variety of family therapy techniques and a review of their history. It provides a thorough explanation of the techniques, explaining their origins and use in contemporary family practice, whilst guiding readers in learning new skills. The authors provide film examples and transcripts of the techniques in action so that readers can develop their skills in a practical way. The book is divided into sections that describe and demonstrate skills such as: Assessing a family; Building a therapeutic relationship with multiple family members; Enactment; Reframing; Using circular questions; ‘Externalising’ the problem; Using family therapy skills in individual work; Understanding and utilising systemic supervision. Family Therapy Skills and Techniques in Action will be an essential practical manual for a range of family therapy skills which can be used in family work by family practitioners from a variety of backgrounds: counsellors, support workers, social workers, psychologists, generic therapists and nurses.

Here is an exciting collection of favorite and successful family therapy interventions from therapists which inspire more creative therapy methods in your own practice. 101 Interventions in Family Therapy features contributions by a diverse group of well-known leaders in the field, “therapists on the street,” and faculty of family therapy training programs. Each clinician presents a creative and useful intervention beginning with a complete description of the method, followed by the specific indications and contraindications for its application, and concludes with a particular case illustration. These engaging and informative stories document helpful interventions that really work, not the exotic and impractical methods of prolific marriage and family authors. Therapists at all levels can learn and incorporate these into their work with families. Practicing clinicians will learn what works for other therapists while graduate-level students and beginning counselors will benefit from the integration of theory and practice exemplified in the practical case examples. The rich and varied writing styles in this enjoyable volume reflect a multitude of personal therapeutic styles. You will find valuable insight and innovative treatment methods on critical family therapy topics such as eating disorders, the adolescent years, marriage counseling, stepfamilies, divorce therapy, communication difficulties, and conflicts with dual career couples. The smorgasbord of interventions found in this book include bibliotherapy, use of touch, creative use of space, ritual enactment, gift-giving, storytelling and countless other interventions, both revolutionary and commonsense, to enhance and improve your therapy with families.

Written by experts in the field, School-Based Family Counseling: An Interdisciplinary Practitioner’s Guide focuses on how to make integrated School-Based Family Counseling (SBFC) interventions, with a focus on integrating schools and family interventions, in an explicit step-by-step manner. Departing from the general language used in most texts to discuss a technique, this guide’s concrete yet user-friendly chapters are structured using the SBFC meta-model as an organizing framework, covering background information, procedure, evidence-based support, multicultural counseling considerations, challenges and solutions, and resources. Written in discipline-neutral language, this text benefits a wide variety of mental health professionals looking to implement SBFC in their work with children, such as school counselors and social workers, school psychologists, family therapists, and psychiatrists. The book is accompanied by online video resources with lectures and simulations illustrating how to implement specific SBFC interventions. A decision tree is included to guide intervention.