ABSTRACT
Family therapy is a personally demanding form of therapy. The therapist needs to be alert to verbal and non-verbal interactions in the room and has to be able to manage a complex multivoiced conversation. In learning to do this, therapists need to develop a form of presence so that they can be present within the conversation but not dominate it. Although it is dif®cult to describe what therapeutic presence is for family therapists, we would suggest that it is demonstrated by a poise and purpose in how a therapist behaves and intervenes in the ongoing session. There are perhaps three aspects to this presence that are particularly signi®cant. The ®rst is to have the con®dence to intervene quite ®rmly if required. As family therapy sessions can be fast moving and entail multiple themes, it is not unusual for family members to talk over each other, to disqualify what another says or even to ignore the content of what a family member has said. The family therapist in such situations must manage the session such that members hear each other and listen to the content of what is said.
