Couple, Family and Group Work: First Steps in Interpersonal Intervention

'As a reasonably experienced (10+ years) practitioner particularly in couples and group work I found this work stimulating and illuminating ... I have already recommended this book to group facilitators relatively new to the field because it is so readable and unique in its capacity to draw together the significant relationship between couple, family and group work.' Counselling Australia 'A natural storyteller who draws on an extensive range of theory in an integrative style, Crago tackles the current dilemmas and complexities faced by practitioners ... As an educator who uses self-disclosure to encourage and facilitate a process of self-reflection in students, I find Crago's style engaging and interesting ...'Psychotherapy in AustraliaThere are important common principles in working with couples, families and small groups, yet these principles are normally obscured by different bodies of theory, different terminology, and different training curricula. Couple, Family and Group Work persuasively unifies the field of interpersonal intervention. Using clear language and compelling analogies, this book shows one-on-one counsellors and therapists how to work with 'all those people in the room'. The starting point is couple therapy, and how individuals who have chosen to be together must negotiate their 'similarities' and 'differences'. Following on, there is a discussion of group therapy, where participants do not 'choose' each other, but must nevertheless cope with similarities and differences; and then to family therapy, where powerful, longstanding enmities and loyalties complicate the dynamics further. Finally, readers are introduced to the principles of intervening in larger, temporary gatherings like conferences and workshops, where effective facilitation can massively improve outcomes. This book is essential reading for those training, or newly qualified, in counselling and psychotherapy, and for all helping professionals, whatever their discipline, who are attracted to the energy and creativity that can be generated when people come together, in the safe space provided by professional help, to address their difficulties.