The concept of change in conjoint family therapy

Abstract

Because of its relevance for pathology, the assessment of change is of fundamental significance for the psychotherapist. Pathology, whether it is conceived in physical or psychological terms, traditionally connotes a deviant (altered or changed) state of an organism. As to psychiatric conditions, that which has been altered can be best defined either in intrapsychic or in interpersonal terms. It is apparent that of all recent developments in psychiatry, family therapy has been most emphatic concerning the multipersonal texture of psychological health and illness. This chapter is specifically concerned with questions of individual and interactional changes, accompanying conjoint psychotherapy of families comprising at least one clinically schizophrenic member.