ABSTRACT
Caseworkers and therapists have a long tradition of working together as collaterals on a case; that is to say, the two professions have worked cooperatively with the same individuals or families and have done so with professional respect for their colleagues. Outcome skills have not been the focused target for collaboration between service partners in the past. Concurrence on problem definition will lay the groundwork for a discussion of what change will look like when the family is successful in treatment. From a casework perspective, services would be most useful if they were built around the specific developmental tasks that families face. As therapists know very well, individuals and families who are engrossed in maladaptive behavior generally have little knowledge of their individual and collective actions, how they contribute to escalating conflict, and when they are prone to destructive behavior.
