Working with older adults and their families – a review

This paper discusses family work with older adults by exploring some of the related literature published since Herr and Weakland's work in 1979, and compares psychoeducational and systems-based approaches to work with later life families. Issues of bias and omissions in the existing literature, and the definition of family therapy with this client group are raised. Areas for future research are indicated.     

Engaging multiproblem families in treatment: lessons learned throughout the development of multisystemic therapy.

Multisystemic therapy (MST) is a family-based treatment model that has achieved high rates of treatment completion with youths who present serious clinical problems, and their families. The success of MST in engaging challenging families in treatment is due to programmatic commitments to family collaboration and partnership as well as to a conceptual process that delineates barriers to family engagement, develops and implements strategies to overcome these barriers, and evaluates the success of these strategies. This article provides an overview of the nonspecific/universal engagement strategies used by MST therapists, frequently observed barriers to achieving therapist-family engagement, and specific strategies to overcome a sampling of these barriers.     

Working with Bangladeshi families in the East End of London

This paper is an account of the author's evolving practice in working with Bangladeshi families in the East End of London. It considers first of all the circumstances of such families: their socio-economic situation, and their beliefs about family life, mental illness and seeking help. Then it describes two case examples illustrative of those styles of working and techniques of intervention from different family therapy approaches which have proven most applicable to working with families from this community.     

Working with families of adults with anorexia nervosa

The aim of this paper is to describe working with the carers (families) of adults with anorexia nervosa (AN), which is different from working with families of younger adolescents. The main difference is in the area of rights and responsibilities of both parties. Moreover, as AN in adults is often a chronic condition, the treatment goal may not focus on recovery, but instead on improvement in quality of life. Thus the spectrum of nature and degree of parental involvement in the treatment of adults with AN is much broader than in children and adolescents. Our framework for intervention is based on a clear model of carer distress, from which targets for intervention follow. The paper outlines some of the core components of this work.     

Working with families: a psychoanalytic approach. Thoughts on the Conference Workshop

An account of the work done before, during and after the Workshop meetings is given, with emphasis on the method of working with clinical material through a psychoanalytical framework. Some of the leaders' concerns about using an experiential approach in teaching/learning groups are discussed.     

Working with refugee families in Greece: systemic considerations

When refugee families leave their country of origin, they may also leave behind their culture and support systems but not their abilities to overcome the emerging adversities. This article addresses issues concerning the process of refugee families' ‘acculturation’ and adaptation to their new setting in Greek society. It attempts to develop culture‐sensitive approaches to family therapy based on narrative perspectives and inspired by Pike's ‘‐emic and ‐etic’ distinction. It discusses the innovative methods developed by the therapeutic team of the Greek Council for Refugees which included the use of ‘cultural therapeutic mediators’ and others in an endeavour to access the overlapping systems of refugee families in more effective ways.     

A combined therapeutic approach in a family setting

Combined treatment approaches, co-therapy and family work are three concepts which are under much discussion in psychiatry. This paper describes the systematic use of an integrated treatment approach used by co-therapists working with families in which a child was the referred patient. The rationale behind this approach together with its advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The authors conclude that the approach is sufficiently promising to merit formal evaluation.     

Working with the families of children with mental handicap in India: Various models

This paper presents a rationale for working with families who have children with disabilities in India. The various types of parent and family involvement which have been developed at the National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped are described. These include: individual programmes; group activities; family cottages; parent training programmes; sibling groups; and, self-help groups. Finally, the difficulties encountered in working with such families in India are discussed.     

Working with the institutionalized aged and their families: Considerations for clergy

The institutionalization of an aged parent presents unique challenges and strains to the family system. It also provides opportunities for limited intervention and support by empathic clergy. It is often difficult for middle-aged children to understand some of the strong and often sudden emotions they experience regarding their institutionalized parents, particularly as these feelings become confused with their own sense of having reached middle age. Again, opportunities present themselves for clergy to be sensitive to these confusing feelings.