The continuing search for a conceptual model of family psychopathology

Abstract

As stated at the beginning of this book, it was our intention to lead the reader from an initial frame of reference concerning family functioning relevant to family therapy in the home through a statement of our methods to the heart of the volume—a series of illustrative family case histories reported in the distinctive style of each treatment team. We then presented some objective-evaluative data and specific topics of clinical and theoretical interest which caught the fancy—and to some extent the fantasies—of our group. What follows now is an elaboration upon the rough parameters of the conceptualization of family functioning outlined in Chapter 1. We approach this difficult task by asking ourselves, “In what ways did our initial concept of family dynamics change as a function of the experience of treating the schizophrenic and his family as a unit in the home?”