FAMILY-THERAPY

The family therapy literature betrays an unhappy divorce. On the one h and, there is an accruing body of research showing the efficacy of fam ily treatments for a range of psychiatric disorders, including the mos t severe. On the other, the 'orthodox' family therapy literature revea ls a preoccupation with theory, currently 'postmodernist', which sits uncomfortably with the demands of health care systems for evidence-bas ed, cost-effective therapies.