How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching Families | Page 35
John Elderkin Bell
Perhaps one of the first family therapists was John Elderkin Bell, who began treating families in the early
1950's. Bell's ingenious approach to family therapy involved developing a step-by-step, easy-to-follow plan
of attack to treat family problems in stages. Bell's treatment approach was an outgrowth of group therapy
and was aptly named family group therapy. In 1951 Bell discovered that John Bowlby, a well-respected
clinician, was applying group psychotherapy techniques to treat individual families. Bell decided to follow
Bowlby's approach, and did not discover until many years later that Bowlby had only used this treatment
approach with one family.
Bell believed that the treatment of families should follow a series of three stages designed to
encourage communication among family members and to solve family problems.
In the first stage, the child-centered phase,
Bell encouraged children's involvement by facilitating the expression of their thoughts and feelings.
In the parent-centered stage,
parents responded to their children's concerns and often related difficulties they experienced with their
children's behavior.
The family-centered stage
was the final phase of treatment, and Bell continued to stimulate communication among family
members and to help solve family problems.
Unfortunately, Bell's pioneering efforts in the field of family therapy are less well-known as compared to
other family therapists. Bell did not publish his ideas until the 1960's, and he did not establish family
therapy clinics or training centers.
Philip Guerin
A student of Murray Bowen, Philip Guerin's own innovative ideas led to his developing a sophisticated
clinical approach to treating problems of children and adolescents, couples, and individual adults (Nichols
& Schwartz, 1998. Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods. 4th ed. Allyn & Bacon). Guerin's highly
articulated model outlines several therapeutic goals, which emphasize the multigenerational context of
families, working to calm the emotional level of family members, and defining specific patterns of
relationships within families. Guerin's family systems approach is designed to measure the severity of
conflict and to identify specific areas in need of improvement.
In 1970 Guerin became the Director of Training of the Family Studies Section at Albert Einstein College of
Medicine and Bronx State Hospital, a family therapy training center originally organized by Israel Zwerling
and Marilyn Mendelsohn. Guerin's pioneering efforts and exceptional leadership resulted in his establishing
an extramural training program in Westchester in 1972 and founding the Center for Family Learning in New
Rochelle, New York, one of the most exceptional family therapy programs for training and practice in the
nation (Nichols & Schwartz, 1998. Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods. 4th ed. Allyn & Bacon).
In addition to being a distinguished clinician, Guerin has authored some of the most influential and valuable
books and articles in the field of family therapy. Two of his best are: The Evaluation and treatment of
marital conflict: A four-stage approach (Guerin, 1987) and Working with relationship triangles: The onetwo-three of psychotherapy (Guerin, Fogarty, Fay & Kautto, 1996).
Don Jackson
The vibrant and creative talent of Don Jackson contributed to his success as a writer, researcher, and
cofounder of the leading journal in the field of family therapy, Family Process. A 1943 graduate of Stanford
University School of Medicine, Jackson strongly rejected the psychoanalytic concepts that formed the basis
of his early training. Instead, he focused his in