Theory and Practice of Couples and Family Counseling. James Robert Bitter
a focus on couples counseling (three new chapters and sections in each of the earlier family chapters);
an emphasis on wellness and resiliency;
an expanded history of the profession; and
the case example of the Quest family, a part of each of the theory chapters, which involves a blended family with two children from a different culture.
A number of features make this book unique among couples and family counseling textbooks. Dr. Bitter uses a common format to organize each of the theory chapters, which will make your job of comparing these approaches easier. The first four chapters give you a fine introduction to the field and to the rest of the book; in two of these chapters, you get a real sense of Jim Bitter the person, the author, the teacher, and the couples and family counselor. Each of the theory chapters has exceptionally clear sections on key concepts, goals, and techniques. You will be introduced to the Quest family and then follow this family for each of the theory chapters. This case example gives a concrete illustration of how each theory can be applied to counseling the same family. The personal exercises that appear at the end of each chapter will assist you in personalizing your learning and help you apply what you are reading to gain a fuller understanding of how your family background influences you personally and professionally. The chapter on integrative approaches aims to assist you in thinking about your own personal synthesis. Dr. Bitter does an excellent job of guiding you through the process of learning how to focus on aspects of various theories that fit the person you are.
I found the summary sections to be very helpful in pulling together the key ideas of each chapter; furthermore, the sections on multicultural and gender concerns are most useful for seeing practical applications. You will find numerous suggestions for where to go beyond the chapter if you want to learn more about any theory. This text will challenge you to think and to reflect on what you are reading. I trust that you will feel encouraged in your own quest to better understand how your family history impacts you and your journey to becoming a relational practitioner. I have read this book several times, and it has been instrumental in helping me gain a deeper understanding of family counseling. My hope is that you too will be enlightened and encouraged to do what it takes to become an effective relational practitioner—and that this book will be a part of that experience.
Although other family therapy textbooks are available, in my view Theory and Practice of Couples and Family Counseling is the most personal and well written, and it is my choice for a text for a family therapy course.
—Gerald Corey, EdD, ABPP Professor Emeritus, Human Services and Counseling California State University, Fullerton
PREFACE
Theory and Practice of Couples and Family Counseling is intended for undergraduate and graduate students interested in the field of couples and family counseling. Although this book is designed especially for counselors—both those in training as well as those currently practicing as licensed professional counselors—it also accommodates students and practitioners in family studies, human services, marriage and family therapy, nursing, pastoral counseling, psychiatry, psychology, and social work. My overall goal in writing this book was to survey the major theories and practices of contemporary relational counseling as well as support the development of personal, professional, and ethical couples and family practice. Most important, the book provides a model for a successful integration of multiple points of view.
I had several goals in writing this book. I wanted to
address the use of theoretical models across several fields, giving as much consideration to health, growth, and resiliency as I did to assessment and remediation;
present some models that are absent from other textbooks;
provide real examples of quality work for each approach as well as work with a single couple or family system that could be used for comparison across models;
focus on personal as well as professional development; and
write in the kind of conversational tone that has made other textbooks so successful.
This book is a thoroughly updated version of my previous textbook Theory and Practice of Family Therapy and Counseling (2nd ed.). The most significant change in this edition is the emphasis on couples counseling. Here is the complete set of changes:
The history of couples and family counseling based on the genograms of couples and family counseling has been completely updated and revised to include the discipline of couples counseling.
The Quest family, which is used for comparison purposes throughout the text, has been revised to include a multicultural dimension, as has every theoretical model.
All previous family chapters have been updated generally and specifically to include a section on working with couples.
Three new chapters on couples counseling have been added, featuring the models of John and Julie Gottman, Susan Johnson, and Harville Hendrix and Helen Lakelly Hunt; each of these chapters has a section on working with families.
To make room for the new chapters, I have updated two chapters from the previous edition and made them available at www.jamesrobertbitter.com. These two chapters are on Carl Whitaker’s symbolic-experiential model and effective parenting.
This book is divided into three parts. Part 1 deals with the language, conceptualizations, history, and issues that are the foundation for couples and family practice. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the book and of the field of couples and family counseling. It defines the language and thinking associated with family systems theory. In Chapter 1, I also tell you a little bit about my own family history and how it relates to both my personal and professional development. I hope this brief biography can serve as a model for students who may be starting their own personal explorations in preparation for a career in the helping professions.
Chapter 2 uses the genogram of couples and family counseling, presented at the end of the chapter, as a structure for considering the history of the field of couples and family counseling. Four interlocking histories are presented in this chapter: (a) a history of the pioneering individuals who first introduced family and systems concepts to the field of psychotherapy as well as their offspring and supporters; (b) the development of the structural, strategic, and solution-focused/ solution-oriented models of family counseling; (c) the evolution of postmodern, social constructionist, and feminist models of couples and family counseling; and (d) evidence-based counseling approaches to couples and family counseling, including three couples counseling models that are brand new to this edition and that are discussed at length in the next part of the book.
Chapter 3 more directly addresses personal and professional development. In this chapter, I use some of the processes I learned from 10 years of training with Virginia Satir, a late, great pioneer of family counseling and therapy. They are designed to help you discover self in family context and consider the tremendous influence family systems have on each of us as growing counselors and therapists. I also list some personal and professional characteristics that are particularly useful in relational practice: some ideas for how to get started with couples and families, the relationship of scholarship to practice in the field of family counseling, and a first look at a model for integration that is more fully developed in Part 3.