ABSTRACT
Problems presented as family problems may include the full range and diversity of symptoms presented in clinical practice from anxiety and bedwetting to sexual abuse, anorexia, and schizophrenia. This raises the question of what makes something a “family problem” and what distinguishes it from an individual or marital problem. In fact, any presenting symptom can be seen as a family problem if you choose to view it in relational terms, that is, if a problem is seen as a communication that affects and organises relationships. This means that there can be no specific definition of what constitutes a family problem without asking the question of who chooses to describe a particular behaviour or series of behaviours as a problem and what their relationship is to those they describe as having the family problem. So the problem is in the eyes of an observer.
