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Family Therapy: Full Length Case Studies. (Ed). New York: Gardner Press, 1977. xi + 210 pp.
In different ways, both Helm Stierlin's Psychoanalysis and Family Therapy and the case studies in Peggy Papp's Family Therapy are personal accounts. Stierlin's book is a collection of articles that represent the way stations of his journey from psychoanalytic to family systems conceptualizations about individual
health and pathology. The contributors to Peggy Papp's book present their idiosyncratic therapeutic methods.
From the point of view of the traditional psychoanalyst, who works with one patient in the privacy of the consultation room, contributors to Papp's anthology might appear to be courageous, if not exhibitionistic. Family therapists expose themselves and their techniques. Indeed, that is precisely Papp's aim. She invited twelve therapists to describe the therapeutic process in detail.
“The Family That Hides Together” is presented by Frank S. Pittman, who sees a common problem in the many symptoms suffered by members of the family. The physically handicapped father, the asthmatic son, the school-phobic daughter, the friendless daughter, and the fanatically religious mother, all suffered from a sort of non-involvement with the world. Dr. Pittman asserts that change in behavior precedes insight. Accordingly, he assigns tasks to each family member, the performance of which would solve the problem defined. The case under discussion turned out to be a two-yearlong family treatment during which feelings and motivations became important topics of concern as the family moved along, trying to carry out the tasks assigned in the first session. Clearly, Dr. Pittman understands individuals. As family therapist, he deals with interactions.
John Weakland, who wrote “O.K., You've Been A Bad Mother,” believes that behavior constitutes not a symptom, but the problem. He gives specific examples of his recommendations. Many of them are based on the principle of prescribing