Books / Systemic & family
Families and Family Therapy
Salvador Minuchin’s Families and Family Therapy (1974) presents a structural approach to family therapy using clinical examples and session transcripts.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Salvador Minuchin
Edition: 1974 Harvard University Press edition
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Edition year: 1974
Language and origin: English (United States)
Form and genre: Treatment Manual & Clinical Guide
Level: Introductory
Historical era: 1960–1979 · Humanistic, Cognitive & Systemic Turn
Covers: Structural family therapy and family organisation; Subsystems, boundaries and relationships; Clinical examples of family interviews
APA 7th reference: Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Harvard University Press.
What it is
Published by Harvard University Press in 1974, Minuchin’s book describes structural family therapy and illustrates clinical work with transcripts and interpretations of family interviews.
What it covers
Minuchin describes a family model using concepts such as subsystems and boundaries. The book discusses joining and restructuring in therapy and presents examples of how different practitioners approached family interviews.
Practice and evidence
The family transcripts illustrate the author’s clinical approach and interpretations. They do not establish that family organisation causes a particular illness or that an intervention will be effective for every family.
Reading this record
This is an educational description of a historical clinical work. The publisher’s description, contents and available excerpts were consulted; the full book and treatment-outcome research were not reviewed for this entry.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Family Therapy Techniques (Salvador Minuchin and H. Charles Fishman, 1981)
Reference: Minuchin, S., & Fishman, H. C. (1981). Family therapy techniques. Harvard University Press.
A later book by Minuchin and Fishman discusses family therapy techniques. Its full text was not reviewed for this entry.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: The book presents family structure and family therapy through theoretical discussion and examples of clinical interviews. (The publisher’s description and available extracts were consulted; clinical examples are not by themselves evidence of treatment outcomes.) [Source 1: Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Harvard University Press.]
Sources and inspection notes
Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Harvard University Press.
Supports: Harvard University Press book record on JSTOR, including publisher description, contents and excerpts on joining and restructuring; full book not reviewed.
Mercyhurst University Libraries. Families & family therapy, catalogue record.
Supports: Library catalogue records the 1974 Harvard University Press publication and contents.