Jay L. Lebow

Integrative Systemic Therapy, now in paperback, offers a set of templates that enable therapists to navigate the course of therapy, as well as a treasure trove of case examples to illustrate how therapists can use the IST perspective to treat a wide variety of challenging problems. Many psychotherapists today work in agencies where they see individuals, couples, and families from a variety of backgrounds who present with a broad range of problems. Integrative Systemic Therapy (IST) is a framework for these professionals, whether they are training in the basics of therapy or are well established in their careers. IST provides early-career therapists with a framework that guides their work and facilitates lifelong learning. It provides established therapists the opportunity to think outside the box of their established practice, using tools that facilitate more comprehensive care. IST encourages a focused and efficient approach to problem-solving. It offers the means to continually assess the full complement of factors--psychological, biological, interactional, and cultural--that impact clients and their concerns. IST's blueprint for decision-making in therapy encourages practitioners to draw upon the valuable strategies of various theoretical models and empirically supported treatments.

This book presents a comprehensive, integrative, systemic approach to psychotherapy with families undergoing difficult divorce. Divorce can be an exceptional challenge for couples and children who must endure acrimony, accusations, fear and anxiety for the future. Divorce is also a substantial challenge for mental health professionals, as standard psychotherapeutic approaches can prove insufficient for the complexities of families in crisis. Drawing on the integrative tradition that considers both individual and systemic processes, as well as his nearly forty years of clinical practice, Dr. Lebow describes strategies for intervention that show therapists how to calm individuals, couples, and families in acute distress, and help ease the transition to a new family structure. Chapters highlight the research on divorce and mental health, describe concrete interventions that achieve realistic treatment goals, explain how therapists interact with the legal system in divorce cases, and offer adaptations for different types of divorce, including high-conflict and more normative divorces. This book can be used by one or more therapists, working with couples, a parent and child, a former partner, or even a single parent or child.

While empirical, scientific research has much to offer to the practice-oriented therapist in training, it is often difficult to effectively engage the trainee, beginning practitioner, or graduate student in the subject of research. This fully revised and expanded edition of Research for the Psychotherapist is an engaging, accessible guide that bridges the gap between gathering, analyzing, presenting, and discussing research and incorporating that research into practice. The authors present concise chapters that distill research findings and clearly apply them to practical issues, while also helping readers progress as consumers of relevant research.

While empirical, scientific research has much to offer to the practice-oriented therapist in training, it is often difficult to effectively engage the trainee, beginning practitioner, or graduate student in the subject of research. This fully revised and expanded edition of Research for the Psychotherapist is an engaging, accessible guide that bridges the gap between gathering, analyzing, presenting, and discussing research and incorporating that research into practice. The authors present concise chapters that distill research findings and clearly apply them to practical issues, while also helping readers progress as consumers of relevant research.

Many psychotherapists today work in agencies where they see individuals, couples, and families from a variety of backgrounds who present with a broad range of problems. Integrative Systemic Therapy (IST) is a framework for these professionals, whether they are training in the basics of therapy or are well established in their careers. IST provides early-career therapists with a framework that guides their work and facilitates lifelong learning. It provides established therapists the opportunity to think outside the box of their established practice, using tools that facilitate more comprehensive care.IST encourages a focused and efficient approach to problem-solving. It offers the means to continually assess the full complement of factors-psychological, biological, interactional, and cultural-that impact clients and their concerns. IST's blueprint for decision-making in therapy encourages practitioners to draw upon the valuable strategies of various theoretical models and empirically supported treatments.The book offers a set of templates that enable therapists to navigate the course of therapy, as well as a treasure trove of case examples to illustrate how therapists can use the IST perspective to treat a wide variety of challenging problems.

Grounded in theory, research, and extensive clinical experience, this pragmatic book addresses critical questions of how change occurs in couple and family therapy and how to help clients achieve better results. The authors show that regardless of a clinician's orientation or favored techniques, there are particular therapist attributes, relationship variables, and other factors that make therapy--specifically, therapy with couples and families--effective. The book explains these common factors in depth and provides hands-on guidance for capitalizing on them in clinical practice and training. User-friendly features include numerous case examples and a reproducible common factors checklist.

When selecting treatment for their clients, couple and family therapists are faced with a bewildering array of competing models. On closer inspection, the most effective of these approaches share common elements. This book surveys the state of the science and practice of today's couple and family therapy, looking beyond single models of treatment to instead present an integrative view of the field and its methods of practice. In describing how the field has evolved over the years, Jay Lebow articulates a core set of shared elements from which therapists can shape their own best methods of practice. His pragmatic view assumes that family functioning and problems are multilayered, and he advocates an individualized approach to each family based on what is occurring in the system. Areas of disagreement among couple and family therapists are described so too are some of the ethical questions and areas of value conflicts that arise in this field of therapy. Readers will come away from this book with a clear sense of when couple and family therapy is the treatment of choice, what is known to work in therapy, and what is still debated.

Grounded in theory, research, and extensive clinical experience, this pragmatic book addresses critical questions of how change occurs in couple and family therapy and how to help clients achieve better results. The authors show that regardless of a clinician’s orientation or favored techniques, there are particular therapist attributes, relationship variables, and other factors that make therapy—specifically, therapy with couples and families—effective. The book explains these common factors in depth and provides hands-on guidance for capitalizing on them in clinical practice and training. User-friendly features include numerous case examples and a reproducible common factors checklist.

Praise for Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies "Jay Lebow has done a masterful job in presenting a lucid overview of the leading theories of psychotherapy, strategies of change, and intervention techniques at the forefront of the field. This outstanding volume is a must-read for seasoned clinicians and trainees alike." —Froma Walsh, Mose & Sylvia Firestone Professor in the School of Social Service Administration, Professor of Psychiatry in the Pritzker School of Medicine, and Codirector of Center for Family Health, The University of Chicago "This book provides a well-written, up-to-date survey of the theories and practices of psychotherapy that have stood the test of time and seem to be here to stay. A great strength is the chapter authors' inclusion of the evidence for each approach, since Evidence-Based Practice truly is a hallmark of the twenty-first century. This outstanding resource will enable readers to both understand and implement therapy." —Ronald F. Levant, EdD, ABPP, Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Akron, and 2005 President, American Psychological Association "Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies offers a remarkably comprehensive, up-to-date, and scholarly examination of the dominant approaches to therapy. Written by leading and articulate experts in each intervention model, this book draws together the most forward-thinking perspectives in individual, group, and couples/family therapy. This will be a treasured reference to novice and experienced clinicians alike, and I expect it to be a much-consulted companion to professionals for many years to come." —Nadine J. Kaslow, PhD, ABPP, Professor and Chief Psychologist, Emory University School of Medicine at Grady Health System Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies provides thorough coverage of the methods of psychotherapy now held in the highest regard, both for the quality of the research evidence behind them and for their effectiveness with a variety of treatment populations and treatment settings.