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Minuchin, Salvador

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Name

Minuchin, Salvador

Introduction

Salvador Minuchin (1921–2017) is the creator of structural family therapy. His work, writings, and teachings spanned across six decades and inspired generations of practitioners.

Career

Trained as a physician in his native Argentina, Minuchin planned to specialize in pediatrics. In 1948, however, the Israel war of independence moved him to join the Israeli army as a physician.

After the war, Minuchin traveled to New York to learn child psychiatry, working with psychotic children in institutional settings. He married Patricia Pittluck, a developmental psychologist who would also become his collaborator, and they spent three more years in Israel, where Minuchin directed residential institutions for Holocaust orphans and émigrés from Asia and Africa.

Upon his return to the United States, Minuchin was attracted to Harry Stack Sullivan’s interpersonal psychiatry, and joined the William Alanson White Institute to train as a psychoanalyst. However, in...

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Key Citations

  • Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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  • Minuchin, S. (1984). Family kaleidoscope. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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  • Minuchin, S., & Elizur, J. (1989). Institutionalizing madness: Families, therapy and society. New York: Basic.

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  • Minuchin, S., & Nichols, M. P. (1993). Family healing: Tales of hope and renewal from family therapy. New York: Free Press.

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  • Minuchin, S., Montalvo, B., Guerney Jr., B. G., Rosman, B. L., & Schumer, F. (1967). Families of the slums: An exploration of their structure and treatment. New York: Basic.

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  • Minuchin, S., Rosman, B. L., & Baker, L. (1978). Psychosomatic families: Anorexia nervosa in context. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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  • Minuchin, S., & Fishman, H.C. (1981). Family therapy techniques. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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  • Minuchin, S., Lee, W., & Simon, G. M. (1996). Mastering family therapy: Journeys of growth and transformation. New York: Wiley.

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  • Minuchin, P., Colapinto, J., & Minuchin, S. (1998 & 2007 2nd ed.). Working with families of the poor. New York: Guilford.

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  • Minuchin, S., Nichols, M.P., & Lee, W-T. (2007). Assessing families and couples: From symptom to system. Boston: Pearson.

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  • Minuchin, S., Reiter, M. D., & Borda, C. With contributions from: Walker, S. A., Pascale, R., & Reynolds, T. M. (2014). The craft of family therapy: Challenging certainties. New York: Routledge.

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Resource

  • Salvador Minuchin on Family Therapy with Salvador Minuchin, M. D. and Jay Lappin, LCSW. www.psychotherapy.net

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Correspondence to Jay Lappin .

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Colapinto, J., Lappin, J. (2018). Minuchin, Salvador. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_1097-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_1097-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Minuchin, Salvador
    Published:
    20 September 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_1097-2

  2. Original

    Minuchin, Salvador
    Published:
    14 July 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_1097-1