Family Psychology

What is Family Psychology

• Family Psychology is a specialty in professional psychology that is

focused on the emotions, thoughts, and behavior of individuals,
couples, and families in relationships and in the broader
environment in which they function.
• It is a specialty founded on principles of systems theory, with the
family as a system being of most central focus.
• Family Psychology has a rich research and practice tradition
• Within this framework family therapists might study and practice
with:
• Individuals
• Couples
• Families
• Work groups
• Community groups of all kinds
• Organized systems
 Major focus
• It is not so much that family psychologists treat different
populations or even that a family psychologist’s clients
present with vastly different problems.
• Rather, it is the way in which family psychologist’s think
and work that differentiates him or her from the more
traditionally trained professional psychologist.
• The family psychologist is trained to approach client issues
from systemic and multisystemic perspectives.
• This perspective provides a vastly different conceptual model from which to
view the complex presenting issues of families and their constituent members.

• Whether the client is a family, a couple, or a single member

of a family, the family psychologist approaches both
research and practice from a systemic perspective
 History
• Family Psychology has its roots in the early child
welfare and social work movements of the early 1900’s
• The unique nature of Family Psychology emerged in
the 1960’s with the emergence of “systems thinking”
• The early systems thinkers were mathematicians, economists,
engineers, and communication theorists
• The first generation of Family Psychology theoretically
based practices were built on systems thinking and
come about in the middle 1960’s
• Evidence-based Family Psychology emerged from the
extensive research on effective practices beginning in
the 1980’s until the present
 Scope
• Family Psychologists work with individuals, couples, families and
broader social systems. Regardless of the client, the Family
Psychologist conceptualizes treatment from an interpersonal, systems
perspective.
• Family Psychology researchers study family dynamics, couple
dynamics, relationship patterns and effective practices
• Family Psychology intervention have been found to be effective with:
• Youth behavior problems
• Couple and family communication issues
• Couple relational distress
• Substance use and abuse (in couples, families and with youth)
• Managing mental illness by reducing hospitalizations and relapse
• Schooling problems of youngsters
• Behavioral problems of children or adolescents
• Parenting problems
 Main Theories
• Traditional/Historical Approaches
• Structural Family Therapy
• Strategic Family Therapy
• Multigenerational Family Therapy
• McMaster Model

Evidence Based Family Interventions

• Functional Family Therapy
• Multisystemic Family Therapy
• Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy
• Multidimensional Family Therapy
• Cognitive Family/Couple Therapy
• Behavioral Couple Therapy
 Typical Techniques
• Evidence based Treatments
• Systems interventions (including family therapy) from
a wide array of emphases
• Network therapy
• Couples therapy
• Group therapy and work group therapy
• Consultation with external authorities such as school
professionals, primary and chronic care physicians,
juvenile authorities and the courts
 Sub-Areas
• Family Therapy
• Couple Therapy
• Parent Education
• Divorce Mediation
• Sex Therapy
• Organizational Consultation
• Forensic Parenting and Child Evaluations
 The effectiveness of Family Psychology
• Family Psychology has a 50 year tradition of research
focusing on:
• The effectiveness of family psychology intervention
• The patterns and processes of family and couple functioning

• Family Psychology has repeatedly been found to be as

or more effective than alternative approaches for a wide
range of psychological problems
 Current Issues
• How to effectively implement Family and Couple
based treatment in community settings
• Identifying adaptation for cultural and ethnic diversity
• Integrating Family Psychology into Primary Care
settings
• Primary training in Couple and Family Psychology in
graduate and undergraduate training
• Using Family Psychology intervention methods to
work with major mental illness