History of Family Therapy

By joshuaedwards

  • Child Guidance Centers

    Rudolph Dreikers, a disciple of Alfred Adler, emmigrated to America to expand child guidance centers into family counseling centers.
  • Period: to

    Social Psychologists Study Group Dynamics

    The study of small group dynamics had an immense impact on family theory.

  • First Published Paper Dealing with Family Therapy

    Nathan Ackerman is credited as being the author of the first paper published on family therapy.
  • Period: to

    Decade After WWII

    American troops were coming home and had to assimilate back into family life. This reuniting led to many family problems for which the public turned to the mental health professions.

  • The Schizophrenogenic Mother

    Frieda Fromm-Reichman introduced the idea that parents play a role in the development of schizophrenia in their children.

  • John Bell Visits John Bowlby

    John Bowlby worked with problem children and occasionally brought in the family.

  • Family Interactional Therapy

    Don Jackson developed family interactional therapy

  • The Double Bind

    Bateson introduce Double Bind to explain the effect of the family in causing schizophrenia in an individual

  • Published Method of Family Therapy

    John Bell, after working briefly in the Tavistock Clinic, began to provide therapy to an entire family on a regular basis.

  • The First Journal in the Field

    Ackerman and Jackson founded the journal "Family Process", the first journal on family therapy.

  • Salvador Minuchin

    Salvador Minuchin discovered two patterns common to troubled families: some are "enmeshed" while others are "disengaged."

  • Satir Publishes "Conjoint Family Therapy"

  • Behavioral Family Therapy First Appeared

  • The Integration of Marriage Counseling and Family Therapy

    The AAMC, due to increased pressure by its members, changed its name to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

  • The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy was Launched

  • Family Therapy Institute Founded

    Haley founded the Family Therapy Institute with Cloe Madanes.

  • The American Family Therapy Association Founded

  • Minuchin Establishes a Training Center

    Minuchin established Family Studies, Inc., a center of training in family therapy.

  • The IAMFC is founded

    The International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors, a division of the ACA, is founded. It developed training standards for marriage and family counseling training programs.

  • The Division of Family Psychology is Established in the APA