Customer Reviews

Beyond Technique in Family Therapy: Finding Your Therapeutic Voice

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Simon has pulled off a rare feat with with his splendid book, "Beyond Technique in Family Therapy." This highly respected family therapist writes in a way that even those with little or no professional background in the field can comprehend. He's equally insightful--and equally lucid--in his fascinating presentation of key philosophical themes.
I believe that his book is aimed primarily at therapists or those still studying to enter the field, but the book will have appeal to a wide range of others: generalists who want to learn a bit more about philosophy, family therapy, and their interplay; those interested in western philosophy who want to learn how it affects this important field; those who are in (or who have been in) therapy who want to step back and reflect on the therapuetic process. An all-around triumph that deserves to find a wide audience.

George Simon has written a book that should be read by everyone who wants to be a good family therapist or who trains family therapists. His style is delightfully engaging without sacrificing scholarship; I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting, then went back and savored it again slowly. He argues--successfully, in my opinion--that in order to be an effective family therapist we must believe in the therapy we are providing. This might sound obvious, but look around in the literature and you'll find scant attention to it. Simon's discussion of the philosophical basis of the major systems of family therapy provides a much-needed framework for helping therapists find the approach that fits with their own personal philosophy. Perhaps even more importantly, he facilitates meaningful self-knowledge by taking the reader through thought-provoking chapters rich with challenging personal exercises.

A breath of fresh air and highly recommended.

The pretender ideologists of family therapy come with strange ideas when they are not working with regular families. If you are working in private practice in Midtown Manhattan, and/or Center City Philadelphia you will see middle/upper class individual clients and couples, for the simple reason that those places are business and political districts. Their are not the proper environment if you want to be an ideologist of model that is based on low-income families and their context.

The author is a "protégé" of Salvador Minuchin the originator of Structural Family Therapy. Simon is in private practice in NYC. There are no reports of him working with low-income clients/families. Probably this explains why the content of the book is high philosophical, psychoanalytic and with little relevant for psychotherapists and those working with families. This book demonstrates that structuralism come in different shapes and forms. This book is shows "cerebral structuralism" version of the structural family therapy model. If you enjoy wandering the abstract world, this book is for you.