The Family in Medical Practice

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. The History of the Family in Medicine

   • Janet Christie-Seely, Michael A. Crouch

   Pages 1-27

3. A Systems View of the Clinical Relationship

   • Howard F. Stein

   Pages 28-49

4. Family Systems Theory In Medical Practice

   • Leonard Roberts

   Pages 50-73

5. The Family Life Cycle in Medical Practice

   • Leonard Roberts

   Pages 74-96

6. Families and Illness

   • Lisa Baker

   Pages 97-111

7. Applying a Systems Approach to Common Medical Problems

   • Thomas Campbell, Susan McDaniel

   Pages 112-139

8. Systems-oriented Counseling

   • Karen Weihs, Karen Kingsolver

   Pages 140-173

9. Using the Genogram (Family Tree) Clinically

   • Michael A. Crouch, Terry Davis

   Pages 174-192

10. Working with One’s Own Family Issues: A Path for Professional Development

    • Michael A. Crouch

    Pages 193-208

11. Future Directions for Family-oriented Medical Care: Research, Education, and Practice

    • Michael A. Crouch, Janet Christie-Seely

    Pages 209-223

12. Back Matter

    Pages 224-256

    PDF

My practice life has spanned 36 years and during that time I have been involved in untangling countless mysterious maladies-or at least trying to do so. All of these efforts were without the benefit of any formal training about family systems. I am greatly encouraged by this book because it first draws attention to the intricate web that mankind has woven for itself. The family physician has often been caught up in this web, and therefore rendered impotent. Efforts to understand all of this are to be applauded. It has been my good fortune to know the editors, Leonard Roberts and Michael Crouch and, as a family physician, I feel that their "hearts are in the right place." They have grown up, medically speaking, in an era when society has become more complex, where life is not easy. Birth and its medical participants are suspect; childhood is complicated by divorce and loneliness; adolescence is a time of aimless searching; young adults are hard pressed to earn a living; the quality of life is being threatened somewhat by the overgrowth of high technology; dying with dignity is at a premium. The editors are to be commended for helping us clarify the role of the family physician in all of this.

• Counseling
• Training
• attention
• genogram
• medicine
• quality of life
• therapy

• Department of Family Medicine and Comprehensive Care, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Shreveport, USA

  Michael A. Crouch

• Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester, Rochester, USA

  Leonard Roberts

Policies and ethics