ABSTRACT
Experience has shown that, for a number of reasons, it is essential for the therapist working with incest families to engage in a fair amount of pretreatment planning that is not required when treating other family disorders. These reasons include the severity of the problem itself, the number of outside agencies and persons typically involved, and the likelihood that the therapist will have to testify in a civil or criminal action. Another important reason for pretreatment planning is that there is often resistance to treatment that emerges from seemingly unlikely places; that is, from the agency in which the therapist works, and from the outside agencies with which the therapist will collaborate (Anderson & Stewart, 1983). Like therapeutic resistance, these resistances are best confronted prior to their occurrence.
