The Family in Medical Practice. A Family Systems Primer.

My practice life has spanned 36 years and during that time I have been involved in untangling countless mysterious maladies-or at least trying to do so. All of these efforts were without the benefit of any formal training about family systems. I am greatly encouraged by this book because it first draws attention to the intricate web that mankind has woven for itself. The family physician has often been caught up in this web, and therefore rendered impotent. Efforts to understand all of this are to be applauded. It has been my good fortune to know the editors, Leonard Roberts and Michael Crouch and, as a family physician, I feel that their "hearts are in the right place." They have grown up, medically speaking, in an era when society has become more complex, where life is not easy. Birth and its medical participants are suspect; childhood is complicated by divorce and loneliness; adolescence is a time of aimless searching; young adults are hard pressed to earn a living; the quality of life is being threatened somewhat by the overgrowth of high technology; dying with dignity is at a premium. The editors are to be commended for helping us clarify the role of the family physician in all of this.