Family Systems/Family Therapy

Use your family therapy skills to coordinate multidisciplinary teams!This comprehensive book examines family therapy issues in the context of the larger systems of health, law, and education. Family Systems/Family Therapy shows how family therapists can bring their skills to bear on a broad range of problems, both by considering the effects of larger social systems and by cooperating with professionals in other disciplines. Because family therapists are trained to understand how systems operate, they can offer wise guidance whether the dysfunction is occurring within the family system or between the individual and the larger systems of society. The studies and projects reported in Family Systems/Family Therapy demonstrate the ways in which family therapists can help create dialogues of inclusion to develop innovative, effective solution plans. The PEACE project, for example, brings together judges, attorneys, divorcing parents, and therapists to help children deal with the strains of divorce. Family Systems/Family Therapy includes both practical case histories and theoretical considerations. This thought-provoking book suggests areas in which an intersystems approach can be especially effective, including: - preventing substance abuse in adolescent girls - enhancing awareness of adolescent dating violence - managing geriatric care, not just for the identified patient, but for the family as a whole - doing court-ordered therapy for divorcing couples - working with children labeled as difficult and their teachersFamily Systems/Family Therapy will give family therapists a new vision of what they can achieve when working in the context of individuals, families, or the broader system.

Joan D Atwood

Contents - Introduction - Section I: Family Therapy and the Family Health Systems - A Research Revolution in Women's Health: Implications for Health Service Delivery - The Implications of Female Risk Factors for Substance Abuse Prevention in Adolescent Girls - Adolescent Dating Violence: A Multi Systemic Approach of Enhancing Awareness in Educators, Parents, and Society - Geriatric Care Management: The Art of Growing Older - Alcohol and Other Drug Problems in Older Adults: Health and Human Service Professionals Need To Be Aware - Section II: Family Therapy and The Legal System - Order and the Court: Preliminary Ideas on Family Therapy with Divorcing Couples - The Family Therapist in the Courts: The P.E.A.C.E. Program (Parent Education and Custody Effectiveness): A Voluntary New York State Interdisciplinary Program for Divorcing Adults - Section III: Family Therapy and The Educational Systems - Reconstructing the "Monsters" and the "Failures": Concerns and Issues for Professionals - Integration of the Family Therapy Specialist into Public School Pupil Personnel Services - Index - Reference Notes Included