Essential Skills in Family Therapy: From the First Interview to Termination

by JoEllen Patterson PhD, LMFT, Lee Williams PhD, LMFT, Todd M. Edwards PhD, LMFT, Larry Chamow PhD, LMFT, Claudia Grauf-Grounds PhD, LMFT

Overview

Many students and beginning clinicians have relied on this engaging, authoritative text--now revised and expanded--to hit the ground running in real-world clinical practice. Focusing on what works, the authors show how to flexibly draw on multiple theories and techniques to conduct comprehensive assessments, develop collaborative treatment plans, and intervene effectively for frequently encountered clinical concerns. Mental health skills needed by all therapists are interwoven with state-of-the-art family therapy knowledge. Illustrated with instructive case examples and vignettes, the book helps the reader navigate typical dilemmas and troubleshoot when treatment gets “stuck.”
 
New to This Edition

• Discussions of addictive behaviors (pornography, gambling, video games, social media); children's brain development; premarital counseling; divorce therapy; preventing premature terminations; and uses of technology in clinical practice.
• Chapter on working with older adults and their caregivers.
• Revised throughout with current research and evidence-based practice recommendations.
• Extensively rewritten chapter on treatment planning.
• Chapter-opening vignettes, plus new and revised case examples throughout.
• New assessment resources, including an Appendix on screening instruments.

See also the authors' Essential Assessment Skills for Couple and Family Therapists, which shows how to weave assessment into all phases of therapy, and Clinician's Guide to Research Methods in Family Therapy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781462533459
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	01/11/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	333
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

JoEllen Patterson, PhD, LMFT, is Professor of Marital and Family Therapy at the University of San Diego and Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, Division of Global Health, and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. She is on the editorial boards of five journals focused on families and has published five books. Dr. Patterson has written books and articles on family therapy training and the integration of mental health services into primary care. In addition, she has received Fulbright Awards to work in Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Norway.

Lee Williams, PhD, LMFT, is Professor of Marital and Family Therapy at the University of San Diego. He is a Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and does couple therapy with veterans at the VA San Diego Medical Center. His research and publications have focused primarily on marriage preparation, couples with religious differences, and family therapy training.

Todd M. Edwards, PhD, LMFT, is Professor and Director of the Marital and Family Therapy Program at the University of San Diego. He is a Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and a Voluntary Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego. His primary research interests are family therapy training and supervision, integrative family therapy, and friendship in adulthood.

Larry Chamow, PhD, LMFT, is Clinical Professor of Marital and Family Therapy at the University of San Diego and is in full-time private practice at the Pacific Family Institute in Carlsbad, California. He is a Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Dr. Chamow's interests and publications focus on couple therapy, supervision, the self of the therapist, and family businesses.

Claudia Grauf-Grounds, PhD, LMFT, is Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at Seattle Pacific University and served as a clinical faculty member at the University of Washington School of Medicine for over 10 years. She conducts research, publishes, and presents on family therapy training, supervision, and collaborative healthcare models that embrace spirituality. Dr. Grauf-Grounds is a Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Honored as Supervisor of the Year by the Washington Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, she enjoys mentoring the next generation of psychotherapists, pastors and physicians.

Table of Contents

1. The Beginning Family Therapist: Taking On the Challenge
2. Before the Initial Interview
3. The Initial Interview
4. Guidelines for Conducting Assessment
5. Developing a Treatment Focus and Treatment Plan
6. Basic Treatment Skills and Interventions
7. Working with Families and Children
8. Working with Older Adults and Their Caregivers
9. Working with Couples
10. When a Family Member Has a Mental Illness
11. Getting Unstuck in Therapy
12. Termination
13. Family Therapy in the Future
Appendix. Screening Instruments

Interviews

Graduate students, instructors, and practitioners in family therapy, clinical psychology, social work, psychiatry, mental health and pastoral counseling, and psychiatric nursing. Serves as a text in direct practice and therapy courses within family therapy, social work, clinical psychology, and counseling programs.

Editorial Reviews

"This is the resource that beginning family therapists have anxiously awaited. Nowhere else can they find the day-to-day pragmatics of marital and family treatment spelled out so comprehensively. When used in conjunction with a theory-based text, this book helps beginners know what to do in addition to knowing how to think about families. It is written by seasoned clinicians who teach and supervise beginning students and know their fears, blind spots, and mistakes." —Richard C. Schwartz, PhD, Family Institute of Northwestern University

"This is a valuable and welcome text for the beginning family therapist and for students preparing for careers in the field. I was impressed by the wide array of coverage and the clear and practical way in which the material is presented. The authors, all skilled therapists and trainers, combine their knowledge and expertise to provide a guide which I will look forward to using in my classes to help students on their road to becoming artful, empathic, and knowledgeable therapists. As a trainer and supervisor, I am grateful to these four authors." —Marcia Lasswell, MA, University of Southern California

"An unprecedented clinical primer illustrated with myriad helpful suggestions that take into account the inner dilemmas of the therapist. This comprehensive and up-to-date book serves as a detailed manual of operations for clinicians, one that can be referred to again and again—like a wise consultant—when treatment gets 'stuck.' Even more crucially, therapists will learn the basis for thinking and acting with a biopsychosocial and integrative view of effective practice in the context of current changes in health care delivery. Trainers, supervisors, and students of family therapy will wonder how they could teach and learn before the publication of this book." —Celia Jaes Falicov, PhD, Associate Clinical Professor, University of California at San Diego

"An up-to-date and comprehensive 'how-to' manual that specifically addresses the anxieties and knowledge gaps of beginners regarding the 'nuts-and-bolts' of treatment, and that also addresses the administrative and political issues that surround MFT treatment at the turn of the century....As with an actual person who mentored me, this book speaks with clinical wisdom, clarity, gentleness, sensitivity, and flexibility; and I believe it will empower beginning therapists to do their best work." —from the Foreword by Douglas H. Sprenkle, PhD, Purdue University

From the Publisher