Systemic Multi-Family Therapy

This book provides a pragmatic guide to multi-family therapy (MFT), as employed in a variety of different settings: health, social care and education. Bringing six to eight families together to work on similar issues in MFT has become an increasingly successful intervention that encourages service user-participation and moves towards a more patient- and family-centred care. This text describes the concepts, therapeutic stances, interventions and techniques of MFT, bringing together all the major recent developments in the field. Specific topics covered include how to engage families in working together with up to eight families with similar issues and problems, how to set up and conduct multi-family groups and how to evaluate and develop interventions. The book covers working with and across diverse cultures, conditions and problems and includes a chapter on different MFT exercises, activities and games. Systemic Multi-Family Therapy is written for a range of practitioners, including psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, group therapists and family therapists, and will also be relevant for most professionals working in social care and schools.

Eia Asen, MD, Consultant Psychiatrist, Anna Freud Centre London; Visiting Professor, University College London. Previously Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Clinical Director, Marlborough Family Service London (NHS). Emma Morris, DClinPsy, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Head of Psychological Therapy Innovation, Anna Freud Centre, London. Director of the Multi-Family Project. Previously Clinical Psychologist, Marlborough Family Service, London (NHS). Noël Pommepuy, MD, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Head of Child and Adolescent Department, Ville-Evrard Hospital, Neuilly-sur-Marne (France). MFT trainer, Aprtf Paris.

1. Aims and basic principles 2. Does it work, and how can we make it work better? 3. Basic techniques 4. Mentalizing and MFT: A match made in heaven? 5. Making contexts for interventions 6. Specific MFT activities 7. Engaging with culture in multi-family groups 8. MFT projects in mental health settings 9. MFT projects in social services settings 10. MFT projects in schools 11. Problem corner: Managing challenges - what to do if and when. . .? 12. Looking back and looking ahead. . . References