ABSTRACT

The systemic model has long been associated with seeing families in family therapy. Systemic practitioners have extended their practice more broadly into the wider domain of human systems, not exclusively focused on families, but applying the systemic approach also to work with individuals and couples as well as to training, consultation and liaison with professionals and agencies. Context is a key concept. According to Bateson, "without context, words and actions have no meaning at all". Context is defined, among other characteristics, by markers such as place, time, relationship, and language. Professionals are also organized in their thinking and practice by their personal and professionally held beliefs and experiences. It is important for them to consider how ideas of difference in race and ethnicity, religion, class and culture, gender, age, and ability affect the meaning they give to their own lives and the families and colleagues with whom they work.