ABSTRACT
In a sense `failure' is a very unsystemic concept (Coleman 1985; Carr 1990). If systems theory states that all systems change over time and that it is dif®cult to predict how change will occur or to which place it will lead, it is probably inappropriate to ascribe `failure' to any therapeutic intervention. However, the reality is that therapists will do so: they will `punctuate' change such that they cannot see any result from their interventions. Managing `failure' is therefore a crucial aspect of both managing the self and the role of the therapist. The literature con®rms that workrelated stress and what has been called `burnout' are often connected to feeling overresponsible for change and this is connected in turn to feeling that too often one fails to help families (Varma 1997). In some contexts this experience can be very common. For instance, some dif®culties carry with them less hope for change and more chronic presentations. Many family therapists will moreover be asked to see families who have been offered treatment by other professionals, perhaps over years, and in whose family dynamics `problems' seem to multiply. In such situations, it is important that the therapist retains a clear view that he or she is a facilitator for change but not the sole guardian of it: the family, the context and other agencies often also have a responsibility here. Therapists must also recognise their own capacities and humanness: they are not able to `cure' all human suffering and indeed some would argue that such an approach contradicts the basic human condition (Gehart and McCollum 2007).
