The evolution of family and couple therapy

It all started with a simple observation. By expanding one’s “lens” from the individual to the entire family, new treatment opportunities and new ways of understanding the seemingly mysterious mechanisms of relationships emerged. By moving the focus of attention from the individual to a relational focus came a new clarity in defining and understanding the “space between” the people in families. In doing so, therapy became a process in which behaviors and interactions were described in terms of a recursive process of mutual influence. For most early family therapists, this also meant “an emphasis on what is happening in the here and now rather than why it is happening or in terms of a historical focus.” Thus, the patterns within relationships became the primary target and goal of most early family therapies.