ABSTRACT
Given the diversity among family members, a wide range of services offer potential benefits, including such nonclinical services as educational programs and support groups, and such clinical services as individual, marital, family, and group therapy. Indeed, family members may benefit from both nonclinical and clinical intervention, which may meet complementary needs. This chapter focuses on the psychodynamic approach to clinical intervention. As with other services for families, psychodynamic psychotherapy should be recommended when it provides the optimal match for the needs, desires, and resources of particular family members. In that regard, the following topics will be explored: (a) general considerations underlying a recommendation of psychodynamic psychotherapy; (b) an overview of the psychodynamic model; (c) short-term versus long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy; (d) professional practice with family members; and (e) therapeutic foci.
