Well-Being Writ Large: The Essential Work of Virginia Satir

A comprehensive collection of Virginia Satir’s research and teachings around the nature of humanity, author Barbara Jo Brothers has written the first ever tribute to the Mother of Family Therapy’s life-work, capturing the essence of Satir’s groundbreaking philosophies about the human race and the impact human’s have on the Earth. 

In her career, the “Mother of Family Therapy” Virginia Satir strove to make life work better: for the individual, for families, for the entire world. With a training objective of “becoming more fully human,” Virginia believed that the principles for peace within families could be extrapolated to peace within the “world family.” Having formulated her groundbreaking philosophies from her clinical observations of hundreds of families in multiple countries, Virginia’s practices continue to impact the world at large, spreading peace and understanding.

More than just a testament to Virginia’s legacy, Well-Being Writ Large is a window into her thinking—a “biography” of a deeper understanding of the nature of the human being and how that human being might live better in her or his world. Author, licensed clinical social worker, and Virginia scholar Barbara Jo Brothers has painstakingly researched and drawn from Virginia’s works—including books, articles, interviews, and transcribed lectures—personal notes made over the course of Satir’s career, and direct conversations during Brothers’s own extensive residential training to compile the most complete, most essential collection of Virginia Satir’s work.

Barbara Jo Brothers is a licensed clinical social worker, certified group psychotherapist, and author. She was the 2017 recipient of the Outstanding Service Award given by the Virginia Satir Global Network and recognized for her contribution to Satir's legacy through her courses and writings. Brothers was the editor of the Newsletter of the American Academy of Psychotherapists (1979–1985), associate editor of Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy (1979–1989), and editor of the Journal of Couples Therapy (1989–2001). She also contributed a chapter in Virginia Satir: Her Life and Circle of Influence. She has more than fifty years of experience in the field of mental health and psychotherapy.