The systemic-family-individual approach: The heritage and continuation of Mara Selvini Palazzoli's work in integrative psychotherapy.

Since the birth of family therapy, the Milan approach has been known as a foundational systemic model. Nevertheless, following the dissolution of the Milan group, Mara Selvini, alongside Matteo Selvini, Stefano Cirillo, and Anna Maria Sorrentino, began a new trajectory of clinical development, insufficiently examined within the American panorama. After her death, in 1999, the Selvini group continued to adapt and refine her systemic approach which is known today as the systemic-family-individual (SFI) approach. In this article, we delve into the constituents that constitute the SFI approach, elucidating how it furnishes therapists with a structured framework to guide clinical decision-making and the application of integrated theoretical concepts. Ultimately, the article exemplifies the SFI approach's practical application via a clinical case study, showcasing its efficacious navigation.

[The centenary of Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy's birth (1920-2007). The roots of contextual therapy].

Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, the founder of the contextual therapy was born on 19th May 1920. None of the psychotherapeutic models deal with the transgenerational relationships, nor do they address the issue of trustworthi - ness, relational obligations and consequences other than the contextual therapy. Its goal is the restoration and the prevention through strengthening the resources of care, concern and connection. This goal is accomplished by multi - directed partiality, which is one of the most important therapeutic attitude and dialogic methods. The paper addresses the significance of contextual approach and its historical antecedents.

Sexuality, therapeutic culture, and family ties in the United States after 1973.

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2nd ed.; DSM-II; American Psychiatric Association, 1968). Clinicians subsequently began conducting psychotherapy with gays and lesbians not in order to change their sexuality but to address the psychological effects of homophobia and associated problems. Family-related issues such as the impact of coming out to relatives became an important dimension of psychotherapy that normalized same-sex desire, identity, and relationships, even amid contemporary invocations of family values as grounds for opposing gays and lesbians' political claims. This article examines family therapy's gradual recognition of gay and lesbian families as emblematic of the historically changing relationship among psychotherapy, sexuality, and family during the 1970s to 1990s. Although early family therapists of the 1950s and 1960s were largely unconcerned with treating homosexuality as a psychiatric problem, they also generally did not recognize same-sex relationships as a possible configuration of family life because their models presumed a heterosexual nuclear family. By the 1980s and 1990s, many family therapists came to see sexuality as a dimension of family life that might shape the issues for which couples and families sought treatment but that did not warrant treatment itself. Homosexuality's depathologization in 1973 thus signaled the opening, not the closing, of lesbian and gay issues in family therapy because the cultural trends and social movements that led to homosexuality's removal from the DSM-II would, by the 1990s, also contribute to expanding family therapists' notion of "family." (PsycINFO Database Record

The legacy of Tom Andersen: The ethics of reflecting processes.

Tom Andersen and his pioneering work with reflecting conservations has had a lasting influence on the field of family therapy and mental health more broadly. Most family therapists are familiar with his contributions related to reflecting teams; however, fewer are familiar with his conceptualization of reflecting processes, which offer practical ways to approach therapeutic conversations to address challenging problems. This article provides a brief history of Andersen's career and reviews four key elements of his approach, including: (a) his way of being in relationship, (b) appropriately unusual comments, (c) inner and outer dialogs, and (d) ethics of dialogical relating. Finally, this article introduces readers to the context of the video that will be analyzed in the articles that follow in this special section.

Studying Stepfamilies: Four Eras of Family Scholarship.

Historically, there have always been stepfamilies, but until the early 1970s, they remained largely unnoticed by social scientists. Research interest in stepfamilies followed shortly after divorce became the primary precursor to stepfamily formation. Because stepfamilies are structurally diverse and much more complex than nuclear families, they have created considerable challenges for both researchers and clinicians. This article examines four eras of stepfamily scholarship, tracing the development of research questions, study designs and methods, and conceptual frameworks from the mid-1970s to the present and drawing implications for the current state of the field.

Ahead of its time: 40 years after the advice versus treatment family study.

Griffith Edwards' proposal for the alcohol 'treatment versus advice' study--also known as 'the family study'--illustrates how ahead of his time he was. The sample consisted of 100 married men who attended with their wives for a comprehensive assessment. Those randomized to 'advice' were told that the responsibility for attaining the goal of abstinence lay in the patient's hands, supported by his wife, that no further intervention was indicated, but that the research social worker would 'keep a watching brief' by visiting the home every 4 weeks for 12 months. Across multiple outcome measures there was no evidence that 'treatment'--considerable in amount by modern standards--was better than advice. Conversely, marital variables such as wives' alcohol-related hardship were significantly predictive of the outcome of the drinking problem. The study was arguably one of the principal sources of the whole 'brief treatments'/'brief interventions' movement which gathered momentum from then on and which, arguably, has itself become the conventional wisdom. The findings questioned the very nature of the addiction change process, suggesting that non-specific factors might be the more important, an issue that still remains unresolved. It is less clear that the study has left such a mark in terms of the development of a family and social model of addiction treatment and change. For example, it continues to be a struggle to help treatment organizations to become more family-inclusive.

History of Family Psychiatry: From the Social Reform Era to the Primate Social Organ System.

From early twentieth century social reform movements emerged the ingredients for both child and family psychiatry. Both psychiatries that involve children, parents, and families began in child guidance clinics. Post-World War II intellectual creativity provided the epistemological framework for treating families. Eleven founders (1950-1969) led the development of family psychiatry. Child and family psychiatrists disagreed over the issues of individual and family group dynamics. Over the past 25 years the emerging sciences of interaction, in the context of the Primate Social Organ System (PSOS), have produced the evidence for the family being the entity of treatment in psychiatry.

Being a family systems thinker: a psychiatrist's personal odyssey.

This account traces the development of family systems thinking from early pioneering thinking and practices, through the development of institutions and professional definitions, and through challenges to family systems thinking and practice from the biomedical points of view. Throughout there is a strong conviction that "thinking family" is an essential core of effective mental health treatment, because families can heal.

The advance of poststructuralism and its influence on family therapy.

Postmodernism began to influence family therapy very early in the 1980s with articles referencing postmodern ideas, focusing on meaning and multiplicity. With the appearance of narrative therapy on the scene in the 1990s there was a shift toward poststructural thinking, which refined the movement and politicized the clinical work. Even with a bit of a backlash, whether because this was a new idea or it somehow threatened a positivistic culture, a poststructural view has continued to have effects on family therapy. This article explores the variety of influences: the expansion of narrative ideas, the innovation of Madsen's collaborative helping, and also more nuanced effects. I argue that a poststructural view has effectively changed how many family therapists think and may also be subtly influencing how they might work.

Eschewing certainties: the creation of family therapists in the 21st century.

I reflect here on Family Therapy's origins, our present dilemmas, and future possibilities. Using the lens of training new Family Therapists for current public sector domains, I examine our field's strengths, vulnerabilities, and contradictions. I critique the current vogue of model certainty and branding. Our responsibilities to trainees, young practitioners, and the families we serve are highlighted.

Putting the "family" back into family therapy.

In this article, we examine the field of family therapy by drawing a distinction between two forms of practice: Whole Family Therapy (WFT), defined as treating the whole family, and Relational Family Therapy (RFT), defined as working with a subsystem of the family or an individual while retaining a systemic lens. Our thesis is that the practice of WFT has been in decline for some time and steps must be taken to keep it from becoming a defunct practice. We consider the trajectory of WFT and RFT throughout the development of family therapy through reference to the people, the literature, training, and practice patterns associated with family therapy. We remind the reader of the many benefits of WFT and suggest that today WFT is likely to be practiced in conjunction with RFT and individual therapy. Since training of family therapists today is largely located in degree-granting programs, we identify constraints to including WFT in such programs. We conclude by offering suggestions that can enhance a program's ability to train students in WFT.

The role of family institutes in promoting the practice of family therapy.

Much of the development of family therapy as a discipline was an outcome of the clinical, training, and theory-building activities conducted at family institutes around the United States. Beginning in the 1960s, these institutes were the crucibles in which the concepts and practices of family therapy flourished. The author, a leader at one of the largest family institutes in the United States, discusses the role of family institutes in promoting the practice of family therapy, as well as the challenges of doing so.

Reflexiones sobre la evolución y desarrollo de la Terapia Familiar en España / No disponible

En este artículo reflexionamos sobre la experiencia del desarrollo de la Terapia Familiar y de Parejas en el contexto de la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía. A través de la experiencia docente e investigadora del autor se recogen algunos hitos de este desarrollo y se muestra las líneas futuras. Se muestra cómo la colaboración entre instituciones públicas y privadas puede hacer posible el desarrollo de herramientas para una atención más adecuada a las familias (AU)

In this article we reflect on the experience of development of family therapy and couples in the context of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Through teaching and research experience of the author set out some milestones of this development ands hows the future lines. It shows how collaboration between public and private institutions may make possible the development of tools to more appropriate care to families (AU)