Basic Concepts in Family Therapy: An Introductory Text, Second Edition

Basic Concepts in Family Therapy: An Introductory Text, Second Edition, presents twenty-two basic psychological concepts that therapists may use to understand clients and provide successful services to them. Each chapter focuses on a single concept using material from family therapy literature, basic psychological and clinical research studies, and cross-cultural research studies.The book builds on the strengths of the first edition, incorporating ideas and articles that have become worthy of investigating since 1990 into the original text. This new edition also introduces five new chapters on resiliency and poverty, adoption, chronic illness, spirituality and religion, and parenting strategies. The new chapters make the book far more relevant for students and clinicians trying to use family theory and technique in response to the problems they see in their communities.Basic Concepts in Family Therapy will assist you in offering clients better services by providing a deeper understanding ofthe contemporary family in its various forms, the psychological bonds that shape all families, and the developmental stages of the family life cycle. This exploration of how family demography, stages and life cycles affect family functions is a solid foundation from which all of the therapeutic concepts in this book can be explored.Some of the facets of family therapy you will explore in Basic Concepts in Family Therapy are: -- generational boundaries, closeness, and role behaviors-- managing a family's emotions-- defining problems and generating possible solutions-- teaching children specific attitudes, values, and social skills-- transracial adoptions and normativeprocesses and developmental issues of adoptive parents-- strategies for reducing conflict-- ... and much more!Basic Concepts in Family Therapy will help to broaden your understanding of the ways families function in ge

Linda Berg-Cross, PhD, ABPP, is Professor of Psychology and former Director of the Clinical Psychology Program at Howard University in Washington, DC