ABSTRACT
Families most commonly come or are referred to therapists with a view of their diculty and frequently know within whom the problem lies. Use the rst one or two sessions to get to really know the immediate family as well as the nuclear families of both parents. For example, the family may tell you the younger of two children has always been sickly and anxious, unlike the older sibling. A family therapist would use the term “identied patient” for that child. However, the situation is dierent as other factors are considered. e child may have a genetic disposition for asthma living near a polluting industry in a very poor country with scarce health care resources.
