Normal Family Processes, Fourth Edition: Growing Diversity and Complexity

by Froma Walsh

$47.00

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Author: Froma Walsh

Publisher: The Guilford Press

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 9781462525485
ISBN 13: 978-1462525485

Hardcover:
ISBN 10: 1462502555
ISBN 13: 978-1462502554

Widely adopted, this valued course text and practitioner guide has expanded the understanding of family normality and healthy functioning in our increasingly diverse society. The editor and contributors are at the forefront of research and clinical training. They describe the challenges facing contemporary families and ways in which clinicians can promote resilience. With consideration of sociocultural and developmental influences, chapters identify key family processes that nurture and sustain strong bonds in couples; dual-earner, divorced, single-parent, remarried, adoptive, and kinship care families; gay and lesbian families; culturally diverse families; and those coping with adversity, such as trauma, poverty, and chronic illness.

New to This Edition

*Reflects important research advances and the changing contexts of family life.

*Additional chapter topics: kinship care, family rituals, evidence-based assessment, and neurobiology.

*All chapters have been fully updated.

Review

"This volume takes another step forward on the trail that Walsh has blazed in the field of family therapy. It captures the breadth and depth of family life like no other book. This is a great text for graduate courses and a joy to read for experienced professionals."--William M. Pinsof, PhD, private practice, Chicago, Illinois

"A classic text retains its relevance! The 'go-to' text on normal family processes has been significantly updated for its fourth edition, reflecting what the editor fittingly refers to as the 'new normal' of families. Therapists in training (or in practice!) will find this an invaluable resource for understanding the varieties of normal family life in our increasingly diverse world."--Wayne H. Denton, MD, PhD, Professor and Director, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Florida State University

"There is a reason this book is in its fourth edition--it is simply the most definitive text on this topic on the market today. The comprehensive coverage and chapter authors who are leaders in the field have made Normal Family Processes part of the 'collective conscious' of clinicians, students, and faculty who work with families the world over. With new chapters on contemporary topics such as neurobiology, gender norms, and kinship care, this book will continue to be the standard text for clinically focused graduate family development courses."--Sean D. Davis, PhD, LMFT, Couple and Family Therapy Program, Alliant International University

"The fourth edition of this highly influential work integrates important contemporary knowledge about family functioning and family processes. Walsh is a visionary thinker who has long been at the forefront of conceptualizing and advocating for a competence orientation for understanding families. This volume covers universal family issues (such as relationships, work, neurobiology) as well as specific challenges (such as divorce, illness, immigration). Each chapter balances thoughtful reviews of the literature with translational guidance for family assessment and intervention, making the book a welcome resource for researchers, therapists, and educators."--Anne E. Kazak, PhD, ABPP, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Director, Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

"Walsh and her colleagues have framed for us the critical and emerging issues for families in the 21st century. They bravely tackle some of the most thorny and enduring issues in family work, such as family structure, race, class, and sexual orientation, among others. Each chapter is well-conceived, steeped in the most current scholarship, and offers essential knowledge for students, clinicians, and researchers alike. The chapter material--whether theoretical, conceptual, and/or empirical--can be applied immediately in clinical intervention with families. This book offers an excellent foundation for further study and practice. As a text, the full volume is very relevant for social work foundation courses in both the clinical and human behavior tracks, and for family therapy and couple therapy courses."--Ellen R. DeVoe, PhD, MSW, Boston University School of Social Work

"I have already adopted this book for my Family Life Cycle class (master level class in a MFT department). I cannot think of any other book more appropriate for this specific class."

, Doody's Review Service Published On: 2011-12-01

"The book provides an excellent springboard from which to foster student/trainee curiosity and further learning....I have already used insights from this book for work with my own clients."

, Clinical Social Work Journal Published On: 2011-12-01

"The authors emphasize what families and marriages are doing that works well, building on family strengths rather than highlighting deficits....[Most care providers] would benefit from the therapeutic expertise, current research, and broad perspectives the contributing authors present."

, Family Ministry Published On: 2011-12-01

"A classic in the clinical literature....Belongs on the shelf (or desk) of every practitioner, teacher, and student in the mental health and social science fields."

, The Family Journal Published On: 2011-12-01

From the Inside Flap

Widely adopted, this valued course text and practitioner guide has expanded our understanding of the diversity and complexity of “normal” families today. Froma Walsh and her contributing authors are at the forefront of family systems research and clinical training. They describe the challenges facing contemporary families and ways in which clinicians can promote well-being and resilience. Thoroughly revised and updated to reflect important research advances and the changing contexts of family life, the fourth edition covers new topics including evidence-based assessment, neurobiology, kinship care, and family rituals.

The introductory section by Walsh surveys emerging trends in family life; critically examines views of family normality, health, and dysfunction; and provides a strengths-based framework for clinical practice. Subsequent sections present cutting-edge research on varied family structures and sociocultural and developmental contexts, highlighting implications for assessment and intervention. The book identifies processes that nurture and sustain strong bonds in couples; dual-earner, divorced, single-parent, and remarried families; gay and lesbian families; and adoptive and kinship care families. It discusses how families are influenced by social and economic constraints, changing gender norms, immigration experiences, and spirituality. It examines the multigenerational family life cycle and describes key family processes for coping and resilience, with attention to the normative strains of childrearing as well as major stressors such as trauma, loss, and chronic illness or disability. Rounding out the volume, the final section reviews the state of the science of family assessment and probes genetic and neurobiological interactions with family processes.

Shifting the focus from how families fail to how they can succeed, this book is essential reading for therapists and counselors, as well as instructors and graduate students in family therapy, psychology, social work, counseling, nursing, and related fields. It is a uniquely informative and authoritative text for graduate-level courses.

From the Back Cover

About the Author

Froma Walsh, PhD, MSW, is the Mose and Sylvia Firestone Professor Emerita in the School of Social Service Administration and the Department of Psychiatry at the Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago. She is also Co-Founder and Co-Director of the University-affiliated Chicago Center for Family Health. Dr. Walsh is a past president of the American Family Therapy Academy and past editor of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. She has received many honors for her distinguished contributions and leadership in the field of family therapy, including awards from the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association, the American Family Therapy Academy, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American Orthopsychiatric Association, and the Society for Pastoral Care Research. Widely published, she is a frequent speaker and international consultant.

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Normal Family Processes, Fourth Edition: Growing Diversity and Complexity