"As a teacher and supervisor of marriage and family therapy, I consider this my essential text for encouraging and nourishing the developing skills of our graduate students. The text not only normalizes beginning-therapist anxiety, but it is also a vehicle for growth and self-awareness, both in the classroom and in group supervision. Every student of family therapy should read this book as part of their training." - Kristina S. Brown, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, The School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute, USA "A perennial favorite, Essential Skills in Family Therapy prepares students with real world skills for their first session and beyond. This is one of the few textbooks my students take to their field placements and refer to again and again." - Diane R. Gehart, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, California State University, Northridge, USA "An indispensable resource for clinicians interested in the basic operations of doing family therapy. The book's integrative framework blends clinical expertise with evidence-based practice and the characteristics, preferences, and context of the family. This second edition offers invaluable practical resources at the end of each chapter. For example, the assessment chapter concludes with useful guides that range from general assessment to the specifics of evaluating suicide risk, substance abuse, and mental status, as well as the parameters for holistic and spiritual assessment. Your students will be forever grateful for this book. This splendid second edition raises the bar on introductory texts for graduate-level courses in family therapy." - Guillermo Bernal, Director, Institute for Psychological Research, University of Puerto Rico, USA "Essential Skills in Family Therapy is packed full of the information that beginning family therapists want to know once they actually start seeing clients. This impressive second edition has been enhanced even further with updates and the addition of new topics of vital clinical importance. It is an unparalleled 'almanac' of clinical issues for new family therapists, especially those practicing in a context of multidisciplinary collaboration. My recommendation of this book to our trainees now will be even stronger!" - Wayne H. Denton, Director, Family Studies Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, USA "Patterson et al. provide exactly the kind of hands-on, 'what-to-do' guidance that every beginning family therapist needs. Even better than the original text, the second edition succinctly covers all the most important topics in family therapy practice from a broad perspective that fits well with nearly any theoretical orientation. Nicely organized, the book takes the reader from before the first session through assessment, treatment planning, intervention, and termination. It also provides guidance about such specific topics as couple therapy and working with families in the context of individual difficulties. This is the best available book of its kind for the beginning family therapist, and should be a core text for introductory graduate classes." - Jay Lebow, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, USA "This book is every beginning family therapist's bible. The second edition updates the family therapy knowledge base and presents the essential skills needed for clinical success. It makes complex theory easy to grasp and the related techniques easy to implement. I enthusiastically recommend this excellent text." - Susan H. McDaniel, The Dr. Laurie Sands Distinguished Professor of Families and Health and Director, Institute for the Family, University of Rochester Medical Center, USA

Sprenkle, Foreword. The Beginning Family Therapist: Taking On the Challenge. Before the Initial Interview. The Initial Interview. Guidelines for Conducting Assessment. Developing a Treatment Focus. Basic Treatment Skills and Interventions. Working with Families and Children. Working with Couples. When a Family Member has a Mental Illness. Getting Unstuck in Therapy. Termination. Family Therapy in the Future: Pertinent Issues for Beginning Clinicians.