Family Therapy

family therapy focus on: drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorder, major illness, and sexual abuse.

problem-solving involves: behavioral, biobehavioral, experiental, family origin,psychodynamic, and self-psychology.

issue of culture and gender towards marriage, male-female roles, and the significance of extended family.

Lebow and Gurman: family therapy is at least as helpful as more traditional, individual approaches; troubled couples relationships is the area in which a wide range of systemic approaches have been validated as effective; and family therapy engages difficult individuals to engage.

Bochner and Eisenberg optimal family funtioning:

1. strong sense of trust; members rarely take oppositional attitudes and avoid blaming each other

2. enjoyment; optical families are spontaneous, witty, and humorous

3. lack of preoccupation with themselves; they do not overanalyze their problems looking for hidden motives, life is not taken too seriously

4. maintenance of conventional boundraries reflecting a strong parental coalition and clear sense of hierarchy

well-functioning families define:

A healthy family recognizes the interdependence of all members and attempts to provide for the growth of the system as a whole, as well as the individual members involved. These families develop a capacity for adaptation and cohesion that avoids functioning at an extreme level. Members welcome each life stage and attempt to adapt to variations in their family forms. Individuals seek to find joy while living in the present and creating a personal and familial support network. Healthy families exhibit levels of connection that permit members to feel cared for but not smothered. Family members make an effort to understand the underlying meaning of other members' communication. All members find a sense of connections in the family's stories, rituals, and cultural heritages.