ABSTRACT
This is the first paper with the name “Contextual Therapy” in its title. Already in Invisible Loyalties (1973) the last chapter was entitled “contextual guidelines” yet the approach as a whole was called “intergenerational family therapy.” The starting point for this therapy is an ethical redefinition of the relational context. This is the first publication that deals with the four dimensions of relational determinants: facts, needs, transactions and merit. This clustering of relational factors resulted from years of search for an inclusive scheme of a mutually nonreduceable minimum number of clusters of independent relational and therapeutic factors. Thus, the four dimensions constitute a framework for the integration of a wide variety of therapeutic techniques under the umbrella of dimension four.
