Metaframeworks: Transcending the Models of Family Therapy

Family therapists have traditionally been divided among conflicting schools of theoretical allegiance. Yet, increasingly, practitioners are finding that any one approach to family therapy is limited in its efficacy. Rather than simply creating another school of therapy, Douglas Breunlin, Richard Schwartz, and Betty Mac Kune-Karrer have sought to go beyond the theoretical boundaries that currently constrain family therapy.
In this book the authors offer a foundation for understanding the fundamental concepts that underlie all family therapy approaches--and they show how to apply these "metaframeworks" to an expanded understanding of human systems.
Full of practical ideas, methods, and examples, Metaframeworks offers a wealth of guidelines for applying innovative strategies to a wide range of clinical problems and populations. In addition, this book provides an orientation to thinking about human systems at many levels, revealing a set of concepts with which to analyze the complexity of family life. By acknowledging and expanding upon the fundamental understandings of various family therapy approaches, the authors enable all practicing clinicians to improve the flexibility and comprehensiveness of their approaches--without having to abandon their training.
Furthermore, the authors look beyond the boundaries of traditional family systems approaches, seeking to help therapists better understand the individual's internal thought processes. And they examine the influence of the social context on families, discussing in depth such factors as culture and gender.

An innovative approach to family therapy

Family therapists have traditionally been divided among conflicting schools of theoretical allegiance. Yet practitioners are finding that any one approach to family therapy is limited in its efficacy. This breakthrough book goes beyond the theoretical boundaries that currently constrain family therapy and leads to an innovative approach that integrates multiple models of treatment.

In this newly revised edition, the authors offer an expanded and enriched foundation for understanding the fundamental concepts that underlie all family therapy approaches—and they show how to apply these “metaframeworks” to a broad understanding of human systems. Full of practical ideas, methods, and examples, Metaframeworks offers a wealth of guidelines for applying innovative strategies to a wide range of clinical problems and populations. This new edition refines the metaframeworks perspective by incorporating new trends in the field of family therapy.

By acknowledging and expanding upon the fundamental understandings of various approaches to family therapy, the authors enable all practicing clinicians to improve the flexibility and comprehensiveness of their approaches—without having to abandon their training.

“This book offers something really new. It not only distills much that is already known in other approaches, but also, having extracted the best parts, is able to recombine them into a perspective that integrates other areas often ignored. Metaframeworks is a unique book in the field.”
—Contemporary Psychology

“Those new to family therapy will find that this book offers a clear introduction to systems thinking and allows for comparison and contrast of existing models of family therapy across the dimensions represented by the six metaframeworks.”
—Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services