Foundational Concepts and Models of Family Therapy An Introduction for Online Learning

1. Introduction: Systems Theory in the Context of Family Therapy 

Yulia Watters and Darren Adamson

Part I- Foundational Concepts of Family Therapy

2. Using Theory in the Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy 

Kristi Harrison

3. History of Family Therapy

Patricia Postanowicz

4. Building Blocks to Conceptualizing Family: A Family System's Perspective

Valerie Q. Glass

5. Postmodernism and Social Constructionism: Foundational Concepts

Valerie Q. Glass

6. The Core Process of Therapy: Planning Therapy Guided by Theory

Kristi Harrison

7. Clinical Practice: Preparing for Day 1

Michael Knerr

Part II- Modern or Classic Models of Family Therapy

8. Milan Systemic Family Therapy

Valerie Q. Glass

9. Structural Family Therapy

Asha Sutton

10. Strategic Family Therapy

Emily Schmittel

11. Experiential Family Therapy

Amanda Veldorale-Griffin

12. Bowen Family Systems Theory

Michael Knerr

13. Emotionally-Focused Family Therapy

Emily Schmittel

14. Gottman Method Couple's Therapy

Amanda Veldorale-Griffin

15. Contextual Therapy

Aurélia Bickler

16. Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy

Amanda Veldorale-Griffin

17. Psychoanalytic Family Therapy

Siva Perera and Emily Schmittel

Part III- Postmodern Models of Family Therapy

18. Postmodernism and Social Constructionism in Family Therapy

Valerie Q. Glass

19. Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Vanieca Kraus

20. Narrative Family Therapy

Valerie Q. Glass

21. Collaborative Language Systems Therapy

Siva Perera

Biography

Dr. Watters is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in FL and DE and has been the Director of Curriculum Development and Professor at Northcentral and then National University since 2012. She holds a PhD in MFT from Nova Southeastern University and a master's degree in Instructional Design from Northcentral University.

Dr. Adamson is a licensed MFT and has been a practicing Marriage and Family Therapist since 1987 and a Professor since 1989. He has been with Northcentral and then National University since 2010, currently serving as the Associate Dean for the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences. He holds a Master's and PhD degree in MFT from Brigham Young University and is licensed as an MFT in Utah.

"Recent, global events highlight the vitality of mental healthcare to individual and collective well-being. The impact of these events on education, training, and delivery models of care has been tectonic. It has created gaps in healthcare delivery and exposed significant gaps in provider training. 'Necessity is the mother of invention'. It is the impetus for significant workforce development trends in family therapy training. Seminal texts (first order) that focus on systems theory and family therapy models often sacrifice application for overview. This critique has birthed additional family therapy clinical texts (second order) over time, that focus more on application, but none has managed to integrate systems theory and family therapy models in a comprehensive, applied way. Foundational Concepts and Models of Family Therapy: An Introduction for Online Learning achieves the Goldilocks Principle; it’s just right. It’s comprehensive, integrated, and applied. The editors and authors are to be commended, as this is a difficult feat, particularly when the application is for the online learning environment. Online healthcare education, training, and delivery is the future, and the demand is predicted to grow. The text represents the third order change the field of family therapy needs as educators and training programs continue to ramp up to outcome-based, data-driven healthcare education that is vital in the 21st century."

Christian Jordal, PhD, Chair, Counseling and Family Therapy Department, Drexel University, Former Editor, Journal of Family Psychotherapy.

"This book offers an amazing collection of helpful chapters which were written by seasoned MFT educators, teaching in an online environment. Readers are exposed to a strong introduction to systemic ways of thinking and practice and to a number of key MFT models of therapy. The book is written in a way that readers can engage the ideas in an interactive way and it has a strong application component. This book is uniquely helpful for those learning MFT in an online environment."

Dale E. Bertram, PhD, Professor of MFT, Campbellsville University Louisville

"Systems thinking and practice in family therapy has proven to advance the understanding and connection of relationships. Exploring the theories identified in this book has pulled together the most important ways to utilize and practice MFT. Therapists from a variety of underpinnings can involve themselves in broadening the scope of application to our larger population. Thank you for such a thorough comprehensive computation for the MFT field."

Tommie V. Boyd, PhD, LMFT.