ABSTRACT
The "interactional" approach to brief psychotherapeutic treatment that was developed at the Mental Research Institute (Palo Alto Group) is ideal for use in family practice for a number of reasons (Watzlawick and Weakland, 1977). First, it was developed specifically to be a brief treatment program. At the Mental Research Institute (MRI), brief treatment program patients were kept to a maximum of ten sessions (Fisch, Weakland, and Segal, 1982; Weakland et al., 1974). In our experience at the Sioux Falls Family Practice Residency, we have seen patients for two to seven sessions with three or four meetings being the mode. The first session is usually an hour in length, while subsequent sessions range from one half-hour to one hour.
