Families and the professional network: an attempted classification of professional network actions which can hinder change

Many families, willingly or unwillingly, collect a professional network which can act either to facilitate or to hinder natural growth within the family. This article offers a classification of network actions that can contribute to a family's stuckness and incompetence. These include the network advance, invasion, freeze, scapegoating, over-protection and the classic multi-agency mirror. Recognizing and dealing with network problems from the perspective of a clinic is briefly considered.