The Family Crucible: The Intense Experience of Family Therapy (Paperback)

~ Augustus Y. Napier (Author), (Author) "Would you like to see a new family with me?" Carl said..." (more)
Key Phrases: Carolyn Brice, Arthur Brice, Jay Haley (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A thoughtful, well-written book for the general reader." -- -- The Milwaukee Journal

"Highly absorbing and readable." -- -- American Journal of Psychiatry

Product Description

This extraordinary book presents scenarios of one family's therapy experience and explains what underlies each encounter. You will discover the general patterns that are common to all families-stress, polarization and escalation, scapegoating, triangulation, blaming, and the diffusion of identity--and you will gain a vivid understanding of the intriguing field of family therapy.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Later Printing edition (May 25, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060914890
• ISBN-13: 978-0060914899
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,381 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #87 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Marriage & Family
  #88 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Medical > Medicine > Internal Medicine > Psychiatry

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Family Crucible, May 5, 2000

By A Customer

The authors have succeeded in writing a serious treatise about marriage and family therapy with the characteristics of an, hard to put down, emotion packed real life drama. I felt as if I were the "fly-on-the-wall" watching as a two caring and skillful therapists worked with a seriously disfunctional familly listening, helping, supporting, cajolling, teasing, pushing. I saw problems of scapegoating the children fall one by one by the wayside until the parents and the parent's parents faced the hard issues they had so skillfully avoided through the dynamics they set up among themselves. This book best illustrates why sometimes familly therapy and not individual therapy can be the right solution. Add to that a "hold-on-to-your-chair" style of writing made this book impossible to put down.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful view from a different perspective, December 6, 2000

By	"hautboisr" (Evansville, IN, USA) - See all my reviews

I read this book for a university abnormal psychology class, and it provided a welcome contrast to the way we viewed human behaviour for most of the semester. Typically, psychology classes at my college have focused on individual factors causing psychological distress, but of course, family systems therapy views problems within the family system. Napier describes in depth his therapy with one family from beginning to end, and supplements his explanations of the family systems model and his and Whitaker's therapy techniques with examples from other families they have had in therapy. The book actually reads like a novel, and Napier's explanations make the entire process seem clear and reasonable. Even if you don't agree with the family system model, by the time you finish reading this book, you will at least have a much better understanding of it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very pertinent, June 9, 2003

By	Darwin Perkins "darwin_perkins" (RIchland, Wa United States) - See all my reviews

First, let me say that I've never been a proponent of Therapy. This book, however, has made me re-think that stance.

I'm recently divorced. I was very surprised how this book explained, in detail, the process I went through. It provided an insight into family and relationship dynamics that I had not considered at all. While obstensively, it documents a therapy process with a single family, the side notes, theory, and author's comments provide a fuller explanation of the dynamice of relationships that makes this book a "must read" if you are interested in why you do things and how you work within your relationships.

I find myself wondering if I had read this before my divorce if there would have been a different outcome. I definitely would have looked at the entire process and relationship differently.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to get a better understanding of relationship dynamics, especially in a family setting.