THE DEVELOPMENT OF FAMILY-THERAPY - INTER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PATIENTS AND THE THERAPISTS FAMILY

During the last 20 years family therapy has well been established as a supplementary or alternative therapy to individual therapy within chi ld and adolescent psychiatry. Along with the further development and t he change of concepts of family therapy there has been a greater inter est in the interrelationship within the triad of patient-family-therap ist, too. In the training of family therapists the meaning of the fami ly of origin has been recognized. The implications of the therapeutic professional activities on the psychiatrist's family has not yet thoro ughly considered, however. In the present paper the development and th e characteristics of same main concepts of family therapy are describe d. Illustrated by a case report the influences of family oriented ther apeutic activities over the therapist's family are presented. Finally the interrelationship between the patient's and the therapist's family are discussed as a constructive element of a mutual learning process.