Couple Family & Group Work

There are important common principles in working with couples, families and small groups, yet these principles are normally obscured by different bodies of theory, different terminology, and different training curricula. Couple, Family and Group Work persuasively unifies the field of interpersonal intervention. Using clear language and compelling analogies, this book shows one-on-one counsellors and therapists how to work with `all those people in the roomĹź. The starting point is couple therapy, and how individuals who have chosen to be together must negotiate their `similaritiesĹź and `differencesĹź. Following on, there is a discussion of group therapy, where participants do not `chooseĹź each other, but must nevertheless cope with similarities and differences; and then to family therapy, where powerful, longstanding enmities and loyalties complicate the dynamics further. Finally, readers are introduced to the principles of intervening in larger, temporary gatherings like conferences and workshops, where effective facilitation can massively improve outcomes. This book is essential reading for those training, or newly qualified, in counselling and psychotherapy, and for all helping professionals, whatever their discipline, who are attracted to the energy and creativity that can be generated when people come together, in the safe space provided by professional help, to address their difficulties.