Systemic psychotherapy has long been conceptualised and practiced as
brief psychotherapy, in both the public sector and in independent
practice, but it is now increasingly becoming a longer term practice.
This ground-breaking book examines the ways in which systemic theory can
accommodate and formulate long term practice, and locates the boundaries
of the systemic theories that both help to explain and give direction to
such work. In doing so, it asks important questions such as: at what
point might a practitioner need to incorporate and integrate other
explanatory models into their systemic thinking? What does this mean for
systemic practice? How does the relative longevity of the work impact
the way practitioners build and maintain therapeutic relationships with
the relational systems they assist? And what implications does such
longevity have on, and for, the supervisory needs of systemic
psychotherapists at the heart of the work? Given the absence of a
rigorous evidence base for long term systemic therapy and practice, this
book explores how practitioners can hold themselves ethically
accountable for what they do and think.
Written by some of the leading names in systemic thinking, this book
provides an important new resource for both students and experienced
professionals in family therapy seeking to enhance their practice and
research.