Core Focused Family Therapy: Moving from Chaos to Clarity
Core Focused Family Therapy brings back the originating wisdom of family therapy, reminding us that the interactional and communicative presence of the therapist is more important than his or her professed orientation. The field of family therapy (and all people helping professions) easily gets lost in theory and organizational politics, forgetting that therapy is primarily about experience realizing the feelings underneath the words and the truths of the ways we are with others.CFFT reconnects family therapy to its core roots and I highly recommend it as an effective means of waking up what is "family" about "family therapy."Inspired by the prodigious clinical work of experiential therapist Carl Whitaker as well as the grand gestalt practitioners, the authors theoretically ground the family in the pioneering systems views of Minuchin and Bowen. They avoid the many trivial dead ends and stalled efforts the field too often has spawned and go for the heart of what is essential in bringing forth experiential family therapy. If you want to BE a family therapist (rather than talk gibberish about it), then check out this important more-than-an-introduction to family therapy.Bradford Keeney, PhDProfessor, Transformative StudiesCalifornia Institute of Integral StudiesSan Francisco, California --Bradford Keeney, PhDHess and Cohen s Manual for Core Focused Family Therapy is a valuable contribution in understanding individual dynamics in interpersonal relationships. Both conceptually grounded and practically focused, it bridges theoretical orientations and is an immediately useful guide for both novice and experienced family therapists in clinical and training settings. I intend to use it regularly in my supervision and teaching.Terence PattersonProfessor of Counseling PsychologyUniversity of San FranciscoBoard certified in Couple & Family Therapy (ABPP)Past President, APA Division of Family PsychologyPresident, Association of Family Therapists of Northern California --Terence PattersonThis practical and clinically based book is written by a master teacher and clinician. Students and practitioners will welcome its systematic and direct approach to understanding and intervening in the sometimes confusing and complex issues faced by families.The examples are well chosen to elucidate the principal understandings the author has achieved by her studies, teaching, and clinical experience. Highly recommended.Alan Leveton, MDAssociate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco, California (Retired)Founder and Past-President, Association of Family Therapists of Northern CaliforniaAn exceptional, inspirational work by a very experienced family therapist, who knows that the truth of who we are is best openly expressed in a safe environment with the guidance of an integrative, experiential, systems-trained therapist.As we search for common desires and feeling states amongst family members, the therapist s empathy provides a deeper bridge of love and a clearer perception of who we really are deep down in our core being, and whom we are living with. This deeper understanding of who we are creates a leap in emotional self-awareness.A solid book for trained professionals and a well designed roadmap for graduate students to see the whole family as a system. Clearly a paradigm shift for both professionals and families alike. This book will help to reduce anxiety in clients, graduate students, and professionals. The book also teaches techniques in working with clients and how the therapist can use themselves on many levels.Martin Kirschenbaum, PhDProfessor of Family Clinical Psychology --Martin Kirschenbaum