The Essentials of Family Therapy

A pragmatic, clinical approach focuses on the essential knowledge needed for the successful practice of family therapy
The Essentials of Family Therapy examines the full scope of family therapy – its rich history, classic schools, and latest developments – with an increased emphasis on practical issues. With its focus on contemporary clinical practice, illustrative case studies, and extremely practical presentation, The Essentials of Family Therapy helps readers gain a thorough understanding of why a therapy technique is successful and how they can apply it in their own practice.

The 7th Edition features new case studies with Reflect and Apply Questions to help students think about how to apply therapeutic principles; end-of chapter questions that are designed to help readers think critically about the principles in the chapter and consider how to apply them; and additional content highlighting the essential concepts in each chapter. New material that emphasizes recent trends in clinical practice has been added, including: a revised Cognitive-Behavioral chapter that focuses on recent trends (Ch.9); a new section on families with transgender members (Ch. 10); and a new chapter about research (Ch. 14).

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Michael P. Nichols has been a leading teacher and practitioner of family therapy for 40 years. He trained with Salvador Minuchin and Murray Brown and has worked with many leaders of the various schools. He’s written a number of books, including the most respected textbook in family therapy, Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods, as well as the best-selling The Lost Art of Listening, and Assessing Families and Couples: From Symptom to System (with Salvador Minuchin and Wai-Yung Lee). He currently teaches at the College of William and Mary. He is also a national champion powerlifter.

Dr. Sean Davis earned his BA in Family Studies and MS in Marriage and Family Therapy at Brigham Young University. He earned his PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy at Virginia Tech and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Kentucky. He currently teaches at Alliant International University. Dr. Davis' work focuses on common factors of effective marriage and family therapy treatments. He is widely published in this area, most notably having co-authored the first book on this subject and two articles for which he and his co-authors received the 2014 and 2015 article of the year award in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, his field's top journal. Dr. Davis is also the co-author (with Dr. Michael Nichols) of Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods, one of the field's most widely used theory textbooks. In addition to his work on common factors, Dr. Davis enjoys international education opportunities, having taken students to Mexico and Italy.

PART I: THE CONTEXT OF FAMILY THERAPY Introduction: Becoming a Family Therapist
1. The Evolution of Family Therapy
2. Basic Techniques of Family Therapy
3. The Fundamental Concepts of Family Therapy
PART II: THE CLASSIC SCHOOLS OF FAMILY THERAPY
4. Bowen Family Systems Therapy
5. Strategic Family Therapy
6. Structural Family Therapy
7. Experiential Family Therapy
8. Psychoanalytic Family Therapy
9. Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy
PART III: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN FAMILY THERAPY
10. Family Therapy in the Twenty-First Century
11. Solution-Focused Therapy
12. Narrative Therapy
PART IV: THE EVALUATION OF FAMILY THERAPY
13. Comparative Analysis
14. Family Therapy Research