Table Of ContentFAMILY THERAPY
C M
onCepts and ethods
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Twelfth Edition
FAMILY THERAPY
C M
onCepts and ethods
Michael P. Nichols
College of William and Mary
Sean D. Davis
Alliant International University
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nichols, Michael P., author. | Davis, Sean D., author.
Title: Family therapy : concepts and methods / Michael P. Nichols, College
of William and Mary, Sean D. Davis, Alliant International University.
Description: Twelfth edition. | Hoboken : Pearson, [2019] | Includes
bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “In this twelfth
edition of Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods, the authors tried to
describe the full scope of family therapy-its rich history, the classic
schools, the latest developments-but with increasing emphasis on
clinical practice”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019046469 (print) | LCCN 2019046470 (ebook) | ISBN
9780135843062 (Casebound) | ISBN 9780135842836 (epub) | ISBN
9780135842843 (Access card) | ISBN 9780135843031 (MyLab instant access)
Subjects: LCSH: Family psychotherapy.
Classification: LCC RC488.5 .N53 2019 (print) | LCC RC488.5 (ebook) | DDC
616.89/156--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046469
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046470
ScoutAutomatedPrintCode
ISBN 10: 0-13-584306-5
ISBN 13: 978-0-13-584306-2
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This book is dedicated to the memory
of Salvador Minuchin.
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FOREWORD
Sigmund Freud disliked the families of his patients. He rates that favor individual treatments, and the ever wider
complained that relatives often undermined treatment, availability of prescription drugs that promise to improve
seemingly preferring the patient remained sick. Following one family member’s behavior without inconveniencing
Freud’s lead, his successors kept families at arm’s length, the others.
although they might influence them indirectly through their Other realities, however, are redirecting the atten-
work with one member. Eventually, however, some ther- tion of practitioners and policy makers toward the family.
apists came to suspect relatives might not just prefer the Some see a link between adolescent destructive or self-
patient remain sick but actually were making the patient destructive behavior and the replacement of proximal,
sick, and they saw a need for the whole family to be treated. in-person connections with the virtual ones facilitated by
Thus family therapy was born as an attempt to disrupt the modern technology or with a pill. Residential treatment, the
web of relationships that entrapped individuals. expensive strategy of temporarily taking disturbed children
But once families and therapists met in person, their away from their families, is falling out of favor with cost-
relationship changed. Now the family was no longer a dis- conscious administrators who look for ways to keep those
tant observer with an obstructed view of the treatment but children at home. Along the same lines, the 2018 Family
an active protagonist. Therapists were experiencing the First Act bill aims to prevent children from entering fos-
family firsthand rather than through the distortion of one ter care by redirecting funding streams to family support
member’s view. They learned, or were reminded, that a programs. Family therapy, originally designed to disrupt
family is more than just a generator of pathology; it actu- negative bonds, is now being applied to the nurturance of
ally shapes its members’ whole identities. Whereas work- positive ones.
ing with individual patients inclines therapists to prioritize For current and future clinicians who contem-
individuation, self-sufficiency, and personal realization, plate entering the exciting world of working with fami-
working with families nudges them toward appreciating lies, Nichols and Davis’s Family Therapy: Concepts and
belonging, interdependency, and mutual responsibility. It M ethods provides the best road map. Wide in scope and
then becomes possible to look at the binds that connect substantial in content, meticulously researched and clearly
family members as something that can be fine-tuned rather written, the text outlines the core rationales and techniques
than just dismantled—the family may not be part of the of the foundational models and the ones that followed,
problem but is certainly part of the solution. illustrating them with abundant clinical vignettes that
The therapist’s journey from avoiding families to bring the theories to life. First published in the mid-1980s,
valuing them has not always moved in one direction, and each successive edition has been thoroughly revised and
not everybody has been on board. Therapists’ choices of updated, keeping pace with the continuous evolution of the
approach are conditioned by the context within which they field. This version, the twelfth, captures the more recent
practice, and at different times that context has been more or developments in family therapy and in the sociocultural
less supportive of work with families. In the United States context where family therapists ply their trade.
today, some of the contextual realities that discourage
such work are the requirement of individual diagnoses for Jorge Colapinto, LMFT
purposes of insurance reimbursement, the reimbursement Wynnewood, PA
vii
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PREFACE
One thing that sometimes gets lost in academic discus- Family Therapy has moved to Chapter 2 to provide
sions of family therapy is the feeling of accomplishment a foundation for the Basic Techniques in Chapter 3.
that comes from sitting down with an unhappy family and Chapter 10 in the previous edition has been split into
being able to help them. Beginning therapists are under- two chapters (Chapters 10 and 11)
standably anxious and not sure they’ll know how to pro- • Updated photos and references throughout
ceed. (“How do you get all of them to come in?”) Veterans
often speak in abstractions. They have opinions and discuss
ALSO AVAILABLE WITH MYLAB HELPING
big issues—postmodernism, managed care, second-order
PROFESSIONS
cybernetics. While it’s tempting to use this space to say
Important Things, we prefer to be a little more personal. This title is also available with MyLab Helping Profes-
Treating troubled families has given us the greatest sat- sions, an online homework, tutorial, and assessment pro-
isfaction imaginable, and we hope the same is or will be gram designed to work with the text to engage students
true for you. and improve results. Within its structured environment,
students see key concepts demonstrated through video
clips, practice what they learn, test their understanding,
NEW TO THIS EDITION
and receive feedback to guide their learning and ensure
In this twelfth edition of Family Therapy: Concepts and they master key learning outcomes.
Methods, we’ve tried to describe the full scope of fam-
• Learning outcomes and standards measure
ily therapy—its rich history, the classic schools, the latest
s tudent results. MyLab Helping Professions orga-
developments—but with increasing emphasis on clinical
nizes all assignments around essential learning out-
practice. There are a lot of changes in this edition:
comes and national standards.
• Video- and Case-Based Exercises develop decision-
Content Changes in the New Edition
making skills. Video- and Case-Based Exercises
• New case studies throughout introduce students to a broader range of clients, and
• Revised chapter on research in family therapy, therefore a broader range of presenting problems,
including a discussion on common factors and rec- than they will encounter in their own preprofessional
ommendations for bridging the gap between research clinical experiences. Students watch videos of actual
and practice (Chapter 15) client–therapist sessions or high-quality role-play
• Expanded section on establishing a fee-for-service scenarios featuring expert helpers. They are then
private practice (Chapter 3) guided in their analysis of the videos through a series
• Expanded and updated section on technology, of short-answer questions. These exercises help stu-
including a discussion of the effects of technology dents develop the techniques and decision-making
on family relationships and adolescent emotional skills they need to be effective helpers before they
development (Chapter 10) are in a critical situation with a real client.
• List of prominent training centers and recommended • Licensure Quizzes help students prepare for cer-
readings added to each theory chapter tification. Automatically graded, multiple-choice
• New section on immigration (Chapter 10) Licensure Quizzes help students prepare for their
• New section on community mental health (Chapter 3) certification examinations, master foundational
• Expanded discussion of Bowen theory (Chapter 4) course content, and improve their performance in
• New section on emotional affairs (Chapter 3) the course.
• Expanded discussion of narrative externalizing ques- • Video Library offers a wealth of observation
tions (Chapter 13) opportunities. The Video Library provides more
• Revised sequence and structure of several chapters to than 400 video clips of actual client–therapist
improve readability. The Fundamental Concepts of sessions and high-quality role plays in a database
ix
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