ABSTRACT
Families with problems are often so focused on the present dif®culties or on past history that they function as if there is no future. Tomorrow is experienced as just a piece of today. Such an orientation provides a paucity of problem-solving strategies, as no alternative ways of behaviour are considered (Boscolo and Bertrando 1993). The therapist therefore has to investigate the way the family considers its present-day behaviour in terms of the past or future. This is not only done to bring to awareness the domination of another time over the present, but it is also done to elaborate on past or future events that the family have not considered in the search of solutions. Each family will have some hidden or neglected strengths in their history and similarly a more re¯exive, hopeful view of the future can create new opportunities.
