ABSTRACT
The context in which family and couple therapists practice has dramatically changed. The widening of the notion of context from an intrafamily to an ecosystemic view has emerged from the need to explain the diversity of client experience. More recent articulations suggest that the relationship between these “systems” is a “cross-domain” or a “cascading” relationship. An ecological focus thus adds other important contexts to understanding the functioning of each of these smaller units. Family therapy was among the first psychological disciplines to emphasize the critical importance of viewing culture as a central aspect of change. Falicov suggests a multidimensional-ecosystemic-comparative approach that integrates both individualistic and dynamic views of culture into the mainstream of all teaching, thinking, and intervening in therapy. The accumulated body of research evidence in family and couple therapy is significant.
