 | | |
Book Details
|
The Answer Within: A family in therapy re-examined
By: Lang, Moshe; McCallum, Peter
Published By: Australian Council for Educational Research
| PDF for Digital Editions Price: |
$27.45 |
Available to read online in eb20
(what's this?) |
|
|
|
I vividly recall the frustration of reading about psychotherapy and
finding the writing abstract and vague. I kept wanting to know what the
therapist said, what the patients said, what was actually happening.
There was so little detail of this kind available at the time that I was
once provoked to remark, ‘There are only two things in life we are
supposed to do without any prior observations: sex and psychotherapy’
(Lang, 1981). How things have changed!
In 1970 I was introduced to family therapy, a new and radical way
of conceptualising human problems which offered an effective method
of resolving many of them (Lang, 1987, 1995). It was a kinder way of
understanding human suffering, because it placed the explanation for
a person’s pain in the social domain, in the interactions between
individuals and those around them. Before, psychotherapists tended to
look for the cause within the individual, which often led to victims
being blamed for their own pain. My excitement about this new
approach was augmented by the way family therapy offered transcripts
and videotapes of therapy, making it possible, at last, to see what was
really happening. When I taught family therapy my students told me how
disappointed they were with their own work after seeing videotapes of
American family therapists resolving all kinds of problems almost
instantaneously and with the greatest of ease. It was never so quick and
easy for my students, and their results were not nearly as satisfying. I
wanted to show them that for me, too, working with families was a
struggle. I was videotaping my work with the Black family at the time
and thought that what was actually happening in our sessions would
be an excellent way to illustrate how difficult therapy can be. I asked
the family’s permission to show the videotape to my students and, to
my surprise, they agreed. I also presented the tape to professional
audiences and a lot of interest in my work with the Black family was
generated.
The more I viewed the tape, the more absorbed I became. I
eventually asked Peter McCallum if he would be interested in writing
articles based on the full transcript for the Australian and New Zealand
Journal of Family Therapy. This led to the publication of a series of
articles describing all five sessions, and these were later republished by
McPhee Gribble as a book. Hilary McPhee observed, ‘Most authors
hope that their book will become a TV show or a movie one day. A
Family in Therapy is the opposite — it is TV made into a book.’ It was
the first time a full transcript of everything said and done in therapy
had been available to the general public. The commentary on the
therapy allowed readers to assess the validity of our conclusions for
themselves. The book was favourably reviewed and became a standard
text in training programs. I was delighted that ACER agreed to make A Family in Therapy
available again. I looked forward to re-examining the therapy that took
place twenty-five years ago.
|
Related eBooks
| More eBooks in this subject
|
Related Subjects
Latest Release Alerts
Stay ahead of the game! Register your subject interests to receive an email alert when we release new ebooks in your field of interest. There are over 50 subjects to choose from.
Receive occasional email alerts when we receive new eBooks on the site.
Register »
eBook Formats
The eBook you are interested in is available for purchase in the following formats:
| | Family & Relationships Best Sellers
Special Offers
 First time to eBooks.com?
Easy steps to using eBooks
Sign up for Email Alerts
Receive an email alert when we release new books in your field.
New York Times Bestsellers - $9.99
eBook versions of the New York Times Best Sellers - at just $9.99
Best Selling Fiction Titles
Books that are definitely worth a read - our Best Selling Fiction
Free Excerpts
Free excerpts for titles which are new, noteworthy or strongly in demand this month.
Just Arrived!
We're adding hundreds of great titles each month.
Recently Reduced Titles
On Sale - Our favorite and most popular ebooks!
Featured Authors
20% off titles by our favorite authors!
Maintain Your Brain
Is your grey matter in need of a tune up??? Take a look at some of these excellent titles, to stimulate your synapses!
Visit the Cambridge University Press eBook Store
Cambridge University Press, the oldest university press in the world, has just launched its own eBook Store, powered by eBooks.com.
Wealth Building
Be inspired to gain control of your financial future with titles that give you the motivation and information necessary to create abundance.
John Wiley Bestsellers
Bestsellers from John Wiley
Gift Certificates
Give the gift of reading with an eBooks.com Gift Certificate
| |
