Clinical Manual of Couples and Family Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide

By Gabor I. Keitner, this manual presents a conceptual framework for engaging families of psychiatric patients, outlining practical, evidence-based family therapy skills that make it easier for clinicians to effectively integrate families into the treatment process.

The Importance of Family Involvement in Mental Health Care

The underlying assumption in this concise manual is that most psychiatric symptoms or conditions evolve in a social context, and families can be useful in identifying the history, precipitants, and likely future obstacles to the management of presenting problems.

As psychiatrists, it is essential to understand the role of the family in the patient’s treatment process. By reestablishing the role of the psychiatrist as the leader of the team of professionals providing mental health care, this manual aims to facilitate a clinician’s ability to evaluate and treat couples and families.

A Comprehensive Approach to Family Assessment and Treatment

The manual clarifies the clinical decision-making process for establishing family involvement in patient care in different clinical settings, outlining distinct steps in family assessment and treatment within a biopsychosocial organizing framework that can be applied to all families, regardless of the patient’s presenting problems.

This approach is based on a broad model of family functioning, which provides a multidimensional description of families and has validated instruments to assess family functioning from both internal and external perspectives.

Unique Features and Benefits

• A focus on one consistent model of assessment and treatment that can be applied to a wide range of psychiatric conditions and clinical settings
• Numerous case examples, tables, and charts throughout the text to further highlight the material
• A summary of key concepts at the end of each chapter
• A companion DVD, keyed to discussion in the text, that demonstrates how to perform a family assessment and treatment

By following the guidance and principles outlined in this manual, clinicians can improve patient outcomes, enhance family dynamics, and provide more effective mental health care.

All psychiatrists should be proficient in assessing the social and familial context in which a patient’s psychiatric illness evolves. The Clinical Manual of Couples and Family Therapy is a practical guide designed to facilitate a clinician’s ability to evaluate and treat couples and families.

Published by American Psychiatric Publishing on December 11, 2009, this manual is an invaluable resource for mental health professionals, providing a comprehensive approach to family assessment and treatment.