ABSTRACT
Throughout the process of therapy there is a need for the therapist to construct her view of what is happening by way of a formulation or a hypothesis. This may be to lead her own questioning or to offer an alternative view to the family. For example before the ®rst session with the Jones family the family therapist might hypothesise that Rob's behaviour seems to `®t' between a father who expects boys to be dif®cult because that is how he was when he was a child and a mother who is very upset that her son is growing up and growing away from her. The therapist here may see Rob's behaviour as being `functional', e.g. each parent contradicts the other and so they help to maintain the problem.
