While other works have discussed various methodologies, cases, niche aspects of the field and some broader views of counseling in general, this authoritative Encyclopedia provides readers with a fully comprehensive and accessible reference to aid in understanding the full scope and diversity of theories, approaches and techniques and how they address various life events within the unique dynamics of families, couples and related interpersonal relationships.

Table of Contents

• Reader's Guide
• About the Editors
• Contributors
• Introduction
• Volume 1
• A
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Acculturation
• Active Parenting
• Adjustment Disorder in Adolescents
• Adlerian Family Therapy
• Adlerian Open-Forum Family Counseling
• Adolescent Behavior Disorders
• Adolescent Behavior Problems
• Adolescent Mental Health
• Adoption
• Adoption, Cross-Cultural and Interracial
• Adoptive Families
• Adult Attachment Assessments
• Adult Development
• Affect Regulation
• African American Families
• Aging and Caregiving
• Alcohol and Substance Abuse
• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
• Anger Management
• Anxiety
• Anxiety Disorders in Adolescents
• Asian American Families
• Assertiveness
• Assessment, Biopsychosocial
• Assessment, Suicide
• Assimilation: Immigrants and Refugees
• Attachment
• Attachment and Adolescents
• Attachment and Health
• Attachment and Romantic Love
• Attachment Styles
• Attachment Theory
• Attachment-Based Family Therapy
• Attention-Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders
• Attunement, Clinician
• Attunement in Relationships
• Authoritative Parenting
• Autism and Children
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Avoidance
• B
• Behavioral Family Therapy
• Beliefs and Values
• Bereavement
• Bereavement Counseling
• Best Interests of the Child
• Bibliotherapy
• Bilingual Families
• Birth Control and Contraception
• Blended Families
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder in Adolescents
• Bonding
• Boundaries
• Bowen Family Systems Theory
• Brief Adlerian Couples Therapy
• Brief Family Therapy
• C
• Cacrep
• Career Planning and Couples/Families
• Caregivers
• Certified Family Life Educator
• Chaos Family Therapy
• Child Behavior Problems
• Child Guidance Movement
• Child Maltreatment
• Child Parent Relationship Therapy
• Child Protective Services
• Child-Centered Parenting
• Childhood Anxiety
• Childhood Obesity, Prevention and Treatment of
• Childless Couples
• Children With Chronic Illness
• Children With Special Needs in Family Therapy
• Choice Theory and Reality Therapy
• Chosen Families
• Chronic Illness With Couples and Families
• Cinematherapy
• Circular Questions
• Circularity and Linearity
• Circumplex Model
• Clinical Case Conceptualization With Couples and Families
• Clinical Interviews With Couples and Families
• Clinical Practice
• Clinical Versus Statistical Significance
• Clinician-Directed, Solution-Focused Supervision
• Cognitive Maps and Couples
• Cognitive-Behavioral Couples Therapy
• Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy
• Cohesion
• Collaborative Couples Therapy
• Collaborative Language Systems
• Collaborative Therapy
• Commitment
• Common Factors
• Communication Disorders
• Communication Errors/Problems in Couples and Families
• Communication in Couples and Families
• Community Programs
• Compassion
• Competency-Based Standards for Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
• Complementary and Symmetrical Relationships
• Compulsive Sexual Behavior
• Conduct Disorder
• Confidentiality
• Conflict in Couples and Families
• Conflict Resolution
• Conflict Styles
• Confrontation
• Conjoint Family Therapy
• Constructivism
• Contextual Family Therapy
• Core Competencies for Marriage and Family Therapists
• Cost–Benefit Analysis
• Cotherapy Team
• Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
• Couple and Family Forensics
• Couple Development
• Couples, Quality Time
• Couples and Marriage Counseling
• Couples Therapy Research
• Court-Mandated Clients
• Crisis Intervention With Couples and Families
• Critical Theory
• Crucible
• Cultural Issues in Couples and Families
• Custody Evaluations
• Cutting/Self-Mutilation
• Cybernetics
• D
• Dating Coaching
• Dating Relationship Dissolution
• Death, Parents of Deceased Children
• Death and Dying
• Debt and Financial Strain
• Decision-Making
• Delphi Research Method
• Depression in Adolescents
• Depression in Children
• Depression in Couples and Families
• Developmental Model of Marriage
• Differentiation
• Discernment Counseling
• Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder in Children
• Diversity
• Divorce and Separation
• Divorce Therapy
• Domestic Violence
• Double Bind Theory
• DSM and V-Codes
• Dual and Multiple Relationships
• Dual-Earner Families
• Duty to Warn and Protect
• Volume 2
• E
• Earned Attachment
• Eating Disorders
• Ecological Systems
• Eco-Map
• Ecosystemic Structural Family Therapy
• Ecosystems Perspective
• Effectiveness Research
• Elder Abuse
• Elimination Disorders in Children
• Emotional Disengagement
• Emotional Intelligence, Children
• Emotional Intelligence, Families
• Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples
• Empathy
• Empirically Validated Models
• Empowerment in Families
• Enactments
• Engendering Hope
• Entitlement
• Epistemology in Family Therapy
• Equine-Assisted Family Therapy
• Erectile Disorder
• Ericksonian Family Therapy
• Ethical Codes
• Ethical Decision-Making
• Ethnicity
• Evidence-Based Practice With Couples and Families
• Experiential Family Therapy
• Externalizing Behaviors
• Extramarital Affairs and Infidelity
• F
• Faith-Based Therapy
• Families and Poverty
• Families and Substance Abuse
• Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
• Family Assessment, Models of
• Family Life Cycle
• Family Life Educators
• Family Mediation
• Family Mode Deactivation Therapy
• Family Myth
• Family of Origin
• Family Reconstruction
• Family Resilience
• Family Resource Management
• Family Rituals
• Family Strengths
• Family Stress
• Family Stress Adaptation Theory
• Family Values
• Feedback
• Female Orgasmic Disorder
• Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder
• Feminist Family Therapy
• Feminization of Poverty
• Fetishes
• Fidelity
• First-Order Change
• Focal Family Therapy
• Forgiveness
• Foster Children
• Friendship
• Functional Assessment and Children
• Functional Family Therapy
• Functionalism
• Fusion
• G
• Gambling, Compulsive
• Gender- and Culture-Sensitive Therapies
• Gender Dysphoria
• Gender Issues
• Gender Orientation, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression
• Gender Roles
• General Systems Theory
• Genito-Pelvic Pain/Penetration Disorder
• Genograms
• Gestalt Family Therapy
• Goals, Treatment
• Gottman Method Couples Therapy
• Grief Counseling
• Group Family Therapy
• Group Parenting Classes
• H
• Health Issues
• Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood
• Hierarchy
• HIPAA Standards
• Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative
• Hoarding
• Holism
• Home-Based Therapy
• Homelessness
• Homelessness and Youth
• Homeostasis
• Homework Assignments in Therapy
• Homicide
• Hope-Focused Approach to Couple Enrichment in Counseling
• Hospice
• Human Sexual Response
• Humanistic Family Therapy
• Hypnosis
• Hypothesis, Systemic
• I
• IAMFC
• Identified Patient
• Imago Relationship Therapy
• Immigrant Families
• Incest
• Individual and Family Development
• Individual Family Culture
• Individual Versus Family Therapy
• Infertility
• Informed Consent for Research
• Informed Consent in Clinical Work
• In-Law Relationships
• Integrating Systemic and Individual Theories
• Integrative Couples Therapy
• Intellectual Disability and Autism
• Intercultural Marriage and Family
• Intergenerational Loyalty
• Intergenerational Trauma
• Intermittent Explosive Disorder in Adolescents
• Internal Family Systems Model
• International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors
• International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
• International Family Therapy
• Interpersonal Neurobiology, Attachment and
• Interpersonal Neurobiology, Couples and
• Interpersonal Neurobiology, Parenting and
• Interpersonal Violence
• Interracial Marriages and Families
• Intimacy, Specific Threats to
• Isomorphism
• J
• Job Loss
• Joining
• Juvenile Firesetter Interventions
• K
• Kinship Care
• Volume 3
• L
• Latino Families
• Legal Issues in Parenting
• LGBT Families
• Licensure and Certification
• Life Balance
• Life Events
• Life Transitions
• Listening, Empathic
• Live Supervision
• Loneliness
• Loss
• Love, Physiology of
• Love, Theories of
• Love, Types of
• Love and Rituals
• Love Languages
• M
• Male Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder
• Mandated Reporter
• Marital Distress
• Marital Group Therapy
• Marriage, Arranged
• Marriage, First and Second
• Marriage and Health
• Marriage Education
• Marriage Encounter
• Marriage Enrichment
• Marriage Myths
• Marriage Versus Civil Unions
• Marriage-Friendly Therapy
• Mate Selection
• Media in Family Therapy
• Medical Family Therapy
• Men in Counseling
• Mental Health, Systemic Perspective
• Metacommunication
• Metaphors
• Milan Team
• Military Couples and Families
• Mindfulness
• Mindfulness and Children
• Mindfulness and Couples
• Mindfulness and Sex
• Miracle Question
• Mood Disorders in Adolescents
• Mood Disorders in Children
• Moral Dimensions of Therapy
• Morphogenesis
• Morphostasis
• Mother-Blaming
• Motivational Interviewing
• Multicultural Counseling Competence
• Multiculturalism
• Multiple Family Therapy
• Multiple Relationships
• Multisystemic Therapy
• Muslim American Families
• N
• Narrative Therapy
• National Marriage Initiative
• Native American Families
• Network Therapy
• Neuro-Linguistic Programming
• Neutrality and Curiosity
• No-Harm Contracts
• Non–Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Arousal Disorders in Children
• Nonresidential Fathers
• Nonverbal Communication
• Normalizing
• No-Secrets Contracts
• Nuclear Family
• Nudity: Beliefs and Values
• O
• Object Relations Theory
• Online Dating
• Open Relationships
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• Outcome Research
• P
• Paradoxes and Paradoxical Intervention
• Paraphilic Disorders
• Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T.)
• Parent Management Training
• Parent Study Groups
• Parent–Adolescent Relations
• Parental Acceptance–Rejection Theory
• Parental Alienation Syndrome
• Parental Stress: Effects on Children
• Parent–Child Communication
• Parentification and Diverse Family Systems
• Parenting
• Parenting Education
• Parenting Styles
• Patriarchy
• Peer Counseling
• Person of the Therapist
• Play Family Therapy
• Polyamory
• Polygamy
• Pornography
• Positive and Negative Feedback
• Positive Psychology
• Postdoctoral Training
• Postmodern Therapies
• Postpartum Depression
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Children
• Poverty and Family Development
• Power Issues in Couples
• Practice Management
• Pregnancy
• Pregnancy and Sexuality
• Premarital Counseling
• Premature Ejaculation
• Prenuptial Agreements
• PREPARE/ENRICH
• Presenting Problems
• Prevention Research
• Primary and Secondary Emotions
• Process Research
• Professional Associations
• Progress Notes for Couples and Families
• Psychoanalytic Family Therapy
• Psychobiology of Attachment
• Psychoeducation
• Public Health Code
• Punctuation
• Q
• Qualitative Research
• Quantitative Research
• Questions: Open, Closed, and Circular
• R
• Racial Disparities in Foster Care
• Racism
• Reactive Attachment Disorder in Children
• Reconciliation
• Recursiveness
• Reflecting Team
• Relational Diagnoses
• Relational-Cultural Therapy
• Relationship Enhancement
• Release of Information for Couples and Families
• Religion
• Remarriage
• Resilience
• Resistance
• Respect
• Restoration Therapy
• Retirement
• Rituals in Family Therapy
• Role-Playing
• Romance
• Rule-Setting
• Rural Families
• Volume 4
• S
• Same-Sex Couples
• Scales, Children
• Scales, Couple and Marital
• Scales, Family
• Scaling Questions
• Scapegoating
• Schizophrenia and Families
• Schools, Family Involvement in
• Second-Order Change
• Second-Order Family Therapy
• Secrets
• Self of the Therapist
• Self-Care Practices for the Trauma-Informed Couple and Family Counselor
• Self-Esteem
• Self-Esteem in Children
• Self-Help
• Self-Injury
• Sensate Focus
• Sentiment Override, Positive and Negative
• Sex, Definition of
• Sex Positivity
• Sex Researchers
• Sex Therapy
• Sexual Abuse
• Sexual Assault and Rape
• Sexual Assessment/History
• Sexual Dysfunction
• Sexual Enhancement, Sexual Toys
• Sexual Health
• Sexual History
• Sexual Intimacy
• Sexual Minorities
• Sexual Orientation, Attraction, and Identity
• Sexual Prejudice
• Sexual Relationships With Clients
• Sexual Toys/Sexual Aids
• Sexuality and Religion
• Sexuality Education
• Sexually Transmitted Infections
• Sibling Relationships
• Single-Parent Families
• Social Constructionism
• Social Support
• Socioeconomic Status
• Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
• Somatic Symptom Disorder and Related Disorders in Adolescents
• Spirituality
• Stages of Family Therapy
• Statutory Rape
• Stepfamilies
• Stillbirth and Miscarriage
• Strategic Family Therapy
• Stress Management
• Structural Determinism
• Structural Family Therapy
• Structural Maps
• Substance Use Disorders in Adolescence
• Suicide
• Supervision
• Supervision, Approved Supervisor in Marriage and Family Therapy
• Supervision, Developmental Model
• Supervision, Gatekeeping
• Supervision, Individual and Group
• Supervision Contract
• Supervision of Supervision
• Supervision Philosophy Statement
• Supervision Theories
• Support Groups
• Symbolic Interactionism
• Systemic Family Therapy
• Systems, Subsystems, and Metasystems
• Systems Theory
• T
• Technology and Families/Marriage
• Teen Parenting
• Termination
• Therapeutic Alliance
• Therapeutic Assessment
• Therapeutic Contract
• Therapeutic Impasses
• Therapists’ Values
• TIME Program
• Torture Treatment
• Training and Licensure
• Training in Marriage Enrichment (TIME) Program
• Transgender Families
• Transgenerational Family Therapy
• Transracial Adoption
• Trauma and Children
• Trauma and Families
• Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
• Treatment Planning With Couples and Families
• Triangulation
• Trust
• U
• Urban Families
• V
• Virginia Satir Model
• W
• Women's Project, The
• Work Relationships
• World Association for Sexual Health
• World Health Organization
• Appendix A. The History of Marriage, Family, and Couples Therapy
• Appendix B. Resource Guide
• Appendix C. Selected Readings