How Good Is Family Therapy?: A Reassessment

Family therapy is one of the most widely practised psychotherapies in North America. Roy and Frankel here provide a comprehensive and critical reassessment of the research literature regarding the efficacy of this form of treatment. The main thesis of the book is that this research is still in its infancy and that, although important contributions have been made, much work remains to be done.
The book is divided into three parts. The first offers an overview of the current state of the family therapy field. The second assesses outcome studies of family therapy on the basis of light-stage issues. It examines the literature on family treatment with children, adolescents, and adults. The third part reviews the outcome of a host of problems treated by this method: psychosomatic and medical conditions, alcoholism, anorexia nervoa, drug addiction, and placement prevention in child welfare. The authors conclude by reviewing the state of the art in the field and defining future directions for research.

Ranjan Roy is a professor in the Faculty of Social Work and the Department of Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Manitoba.

HARVY FRANKEL is an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Work and director of the Child and Family Services Research Group at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of several articles on family-centered practice.

Dr. Nathan Epstein was the founder of the Jewish General Hospital Division of Family and Child Psychiatry.