How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching Families | Page 25
Family Therapy – Background Information
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy and family systems therapy, is a branch of
psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and
development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of interaction between family members. It
emphasizes family relationships as an important factor in psychological health.
What the different schools of family therapy have in common is a belief that, regardless of the origin of the
problem, and regardless of whether the clients consider it an "individual" or "family" issue, involving families in
solutions is often beneficial. This involvement of families is commonly accomplished by their direct
participation in the therapy session. The skills of the family therapist thus include the ability to influence
conversations in a way that catalyzes the strengths, wisdom, and support of the wider system.
In the field's early years, many clinicians defined the family in a narrow, traditional manner usually including
parents and children. As the field has evolved, the concept of the family is more commonly defined in terms of
strongly supportive, long-term roles and relationships between people who may or may not be related by blood
or marriage.
Family therapy has been used effectively in the full range of human dilemmas; there is no category of
relationship or psychological problem that has not been addressed with this approach. The conceptual
frameworks developed by family therapists, especially those of family systems theorists, have been applied to a
wide range of human behaviour, including organizational dynamics and the study of greatness.
Contents
1 History and theoretical frameworks
2 Techniques
3 Publications
4 Licensing and degrees
o 4.1 Values and ethics in family therapy
5 Founders and key influences
6 Summary of Family Therapy Theories & Techniques
7 Academic resources
8 Professional Organizations
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
25