Origins and Originality in Family Therapy and Systemic Practice

The founding volume of the European Family Therapy Association book series presents new ideas confirming the crucial importance of systemic family therapy for family practice.Spanning paradigms, models, concepts, applications, and implications for families as they develop, experts in the field demonstrate the translatability of session insights into real-world contexts, bolstering therapeutic gains outside the treatment setting. Chapters emphasize the potential for systemic family therapy as integrative across theories, healing disciplines, modes of treatment, while contributors’ personal perspectives provide unique takes on the therapist’s role. Together, these papers promote best practices not only for therapy, but also research and training as professionals delve deeper into understanding the complexity and diversity of families and family systems. 

Maria Borcsa, Dipl.-Psych., PhD, is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Applied Sciences in Nordhausen, Germany. She is also a Licensed Psychological Psychotherapist and family therapist, trainer and supervisor. She has been board member of the Systemic Society (Systemische Gesellschaft), German Association for Systemic Research, Therapy, Supervision and Counselling; member and board member of the European Family Therapy Association (EFTA) (2007-2016), Chair of the Chamber of National Family Therapy Organizations of EFTA (2010-2013), and President of EFTA (2013-2016). Dr. Borcsa is also a founding member of the Institute for Social Medicine, Health Care Research and Rehabilitation Sciences at University of Nordhausen; Co-editor of the scientific journals “Systeme” (2001 -2014) and “Psychotherapie im Dialog” (2007-2018), member of the Editorial Board of  the journals "Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology", “Contemporary Family Therapy”, Associate Editor of the “Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy” and Advisory Editor of “Family Process”.  Peter Stratton, PhD, Dip Psychotherapy, FBPsS, is an Emeritus Professor of Family Therapy. He is a Systemic Family Therapist and developmental psychologist with broad research interests and involvement in statutory processes that affect families. His research includes development of an outcome measure for families in therapy (the SCORE project); the effects of basing training on concepts of active learning and the dialogical construction of self; attributional analyses of family causal beliefs and blaming; applications of systemic science to family wellbeing. He is Joint Editor of the journal Human Systems; Chair of European Family Therapy Association Research Committee and recently Academic and Research Development Officer for the Association for Family Therapy and Chair of the  UKCP Research Faculty. Founding Director of Leeds Family Therapy and Research Centre and Managing Director of The Psychology Business Ltd.