ABSTRACT
This paper illustrates complications that develop as a result of therapists' use of power and control in their encounter with an alcoholic family. Although family therapists are usually concerned with the idea of “changing” the family or the alcoholic, they often end up repeating the same “control game” the family would play—only in the context of therapy settings. The nature of power and control and its limitation in therapy with an alcoholic family is reexamined through a single case study. Similar to alcoholics being powerless over the bottle, this case portrays the therapists' surrender over their power and position for helping the family's evolution. This one-year-long family consultation was carried out as a part of the community case program for alcoholic families in one of the districts of Tokyo.
