ABSTRACT
Contextual family therapy developed in the mid-twentieth century. The interests of its founder, Iván Böszörményi-Nagy, focused on treating severe mental disorders by going beyond individual psychopathology and looking into family interactions (Carey, 2007). Böszörményi-Nagy noticed destructive patterns of family interactions are often passed on through generations. This perspective helped him formulate the contextual model, which equipped family therapy with new theoretical principles and practical applications.
