Psychosomatic Families: Anorexia Nervosa in Context (Hardcover)

by Salvador Minuchin (Author), Bernice L. Rosman (Author), Lester Baker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Presents case studies and applies the techniques of family therapy to the treatment of self-starvation, anorexia nervosa, as well as other psychosomatic diseases.

About the Author
Salvador Minuchin, M.D., is Research Professor at the New York University Medical School. He is author of Families and Family Therapy and Family Kaleidoscope and coauthor of Psychosomatic Families: Anorexia Nervosa in Context.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 351 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press; 1 edition (June 22, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674722205
• ISBN-13: 978-0674722200
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #401,871 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Study of the Role of Family in Anorexia Nervosa, December 27, 2003

By	Kirsten Jacobson (Bangor, ME, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In "Psychosomatic Families: Anorexia Nervosa in Context," Salvador Minuchin and his co-authors argue that anorexia nervosa is not a neurosis that is limited to an isolated individual. On the contrary, they argue that anorexia belongs to an ailing social structure--specifically, that of the family. Minuchin's analyses of a variety of family therapy sessions both support this claim and reveal a number of communication patterns that are typically found in anorectic families--such as enmeshment, excessive tendencies to nurture or protect, and the failure to acknowledge or address emotional claims. Minuchin offers a unique and compelling analysis of anorexia nervosa that will be of interest to those who are studying or treating the neurosis as well as to those who are struggling with anorexia nervosa in their own lives.

5 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars blaming the parents again, October 31, 2004

By	zpgmom - See all my reviews

I read this book back in graduate school, and, knowing nothing then about living with an adolescent with anorexia, it seemed to me to be a perfectly fine text. However, now we've crossed over that bridge, and saw this develop in our daughter regardless of how we tried to prevent it.

Blaming the parents is toxic, unhelpful, and thoughtless. Assigning causality (and thus blame) to traits you find in families going through these difficult situations when you should recognize that correlation is not the same as causality is really toxic. We no longer talk about the "schizophrenigenic" parent, and it is cruel to blame parents for their children developing a brain disease or disorder.