ABSTRACT
Relational Psychology finds its roots in the American culture of the 1950s, characterized by an attempt to overcome the fragmentation of isolated studies and interventions with the introduction of a holistic model to deal with people’s problems. Such a new interdisciplinary approach provided fertile ground for the development of social sciences like anthropology and sociology, which offered a significant contribution to the understanding of the socio-cultural contexts in the individual’s life cycle, as well as the influence of family dynamics on personality development. In particular, in the field of psychology, Neo-Freudian theories brought about a radical shift from observing mostly intra-psychic factors, to exploring inter-personal phenomena and the cultural and social contexts in which they take place. In the opening session of an outstanding International Conference on The Pioneers of Family Therapy, held in Rome in 2000, Minuchin stated that the Neo-Freudian group formed by Sullivan, Fromm, Horney and Thompson were the real precursors of the incipient movement of family therapy.
