ABSTRACT
Family systems theory allows family therapists to examine the context in which individuals live. It is this context that shapes meaning in the lives of individuals, couples, and families. Individual psychology has traditionally focused on the mind as the source of mental illness, and family therapy fo cuses on the family system as the source of problematic behaviors. As Alice quickly found in encountering the Cheshire Cat and others in Wonderland, mental illness is defined by the context by which one is surrounded.
