Handbook of Relational Diagnosis and Dysfunctional Family Patterns

Handbook of RELATIONAL DIAGNOSIS AND DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY PATTERNS"A major contribution to our understanding of how families work." -- Allen Frances, MD Professor of Psychiatry, Duke University Chair, DSM-IV Task Force."..the biggest changes in the DSM-V--in a decade or so--will be in the area of...family or systems (relationship) diagnosis." -- John McIntyre Past President, American Psychiatric AssociationIt has long been known that an individual's psychiatric and behavioral problems are often played out in and exacerbated by problems in his or her personal relationships. Nevertheless, traditional psychiatric classification schemes such as the DSM and ICD have willfully neglected the relational component of mental health. As a consequence, no standardized classification system with which to assess distressed relationships has ever been developed. This lack of a common language has, in turn, led to the many well-known clinical, legal, and health insurance difficulties that often seriously curtail patients' ability to receive the care they deserve. The time has come to provide such a common language, and this book is the first giant step in that direction.The Handbook of Relational Diagnosis and Dysfunctional Family Patterns is the first book to offer a comprehensive clinically based typology of couples-centered, parent-child, and family relational dysfunctions. It is the collaborative effort of more than 50 leaders in the field of relational therapy, many of whom have been actively involved in the APA Division of Family Psychology Task Force on Diagnosis and Treatment and the interorganizational Coalition on Family Diagnosis. Representing many differentdisciplines and schools of thought, these theorists and researchers share their insights into and expertise in relational assessment, treatment, and classification. They examine the role of diagnosis in couples and family therapy, a

About the editor<br> <br> CE W. KASLOW, PhD, is Director of the Florida Couples and Family Institute. She is a past president of both the Family Psychology and Media Psychology Divisions of the American Psychological Association and the International Family Therapy Association. She co-chaired the Coalition of Family Diagnosis from 1988 to 1993. And she is a former editor of the Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy, and editor of the Wiley Series in Couples and Family Dynamics and Treatment. Her other books include The Military Family in Peace and War, Voices in Family Psychology, and Dynamics of Divorce.