Family Conflict after Separation and Divorce: Mental Health Professional Interventions in Changing Societies (Basic Texts in Counselling and Psychotherapy, 38)

With forty-two per cent of marriages ending in divorce and many cohabiting couples separating, family therapy has become a key aspect of counselling and psychotherapy. Beginning with descriptions of contemporary pre-separation family conflict patterns, this book progresses to examine the challenges faced by families and their assisting professionals as they transition through residential separation, parental struggle, mediation assistance, family court applications, and other patterns of unending high conflict.Focusing on practitioner needs, the skills required, and a range of helpful interventions that can be used to address specific contexts, each chapter has a four-part structure that includes:The description of a topic-related theme, its related concepts and evidence baseThe making concrete of the theme through case vignettes of family conflict and their discussionThe naming of the challenges faced by professionals, the skill set required, and helpful interventions they might use in their responsesConcluding exercises designed to assist students and professionals towards an increasingly reflective practiceWritten by a leading expert in Family and Conflict Therapy, a growing area of academic and professional interest, Family Conflict after Separation and Divorce is the only book to combine theory, research, and practice into one accessible text that helps promote the personal and professional development of practitioners and students alike.