Ideas drawn from family and systemic therapy form the basis of many interventions in mental health and childcare. This brief introduction offers an ideal starting-point for non specialists and new students keen to develop their skills. Taking a step-by-step experiential approach, it explores key concepts in vivid practice context.

JOHN HILLS is Vice Chair of the Association for Family Therapy and British correspondent of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy.

Introduction
Using the Genogram and Convening the Family
A Family Systemic Session Observed
Essential Ideas in Systemic Thought and Practice
The Family Crucible and the Origins of Family Therapy
Key Interactions in the Family Crucible
The Search for Wellbeing: the Ethical Dimension of Systemic Thought
The Phenomenological Perspective and Method
Dialogue Analysis: Scripts and Subscripts
Change and the Therapeutic Art of Narrative