Integrative Family Therapy

Integrative family therapy as represented in this DVD draws from the generic base of practice in family therapy. It is Dr. Lebow's version of how to work with families in an integrative way. This method is not presented as a new model of treatment, but as the integration of the best available treatment models, strategies, and interventions for working with families.

Dr. Lebow's approach is based in the simple notion of utilizing the most appropriate, helpful, and effective treatment strategies that are applicable in each case, coupled with the concept of therapists selecting those strategies that they can most effectively deliver. The approach builds on a biopsychosocial and systemic theoretical underpinning and emphasizes clients as informed consumers and collaborators in treatment. The approach builds on and attempts to maximize the impact of common factors in treatment.

The approach features creating a clear therapy contract, thorough assessment, clear goal setting, the utilization of multiple therapy session formats, holding both a systemic and individual focused perspective, maintaining a solution-oriented focus, creating a multipartial alliance with all parties, tracking outcome on a session-by-session basis throughout treatment, and the utilization of a wide range of intervention strategies and interventions.

Among those strategies used are ones that focus on psychoeducation, behavior, cognition, emotion, internal process, and relevant social systems. The approach can be used in a time-limited way, but is intended to be "open-ended" in building an alliance with the family that can be drawn upon to help the family cope with various challenges over the life cycle that might arise.

This approach is intended to be applicable to the broad range of clients seeking couple and family therapy, either for relational difficulties such as family conflict, or as part of the treatment of an individual problem. Treatment strategies are adapted to the presenting problem, the family, and the context of the therapy, to maximize the acceptability and effectiveness of the treatment. It is intended to be suitable for all clients presenting for couple or family therapy. There have been several specific descriptions in the literature of the adaptation of this approach to high conflict divorcing families.

Jay Lebow, PhD, ABPP, is a senior therapist and research consultant at The Family Institute, and clinical professor of psychology at Northwestern University. He is board certified in family psychology. He is a clinical member and approved supervisor of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, a fellow of Divisions 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology) and 43 (Family Psychology) of the American Psychological Association, a fellow of the Academy of Family Psychology, and a former member of the board of the Illinois Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

Dr. Lebow has served as treasurer and a member of the board of directors of the American Family Therapy Academy, president of Division 43 of the American Psychological Association, and a member of the board of directors of the American Board of Family Psychology.

His publications include three edited volumes: Family Psychology: The Art of the Science (with William Pinsof), the Handbook of Clinical Family Therapy, and the Integrative and Eclectic Psychotherapies volume of the Comprehensive Handbook of Psychotherapy. He has authored Research for thePsychotherapist: From Science to Practice.

He is also the author of 100 book chapters and articles including an end-of-decade review of couple therapy; the practice update concerned with couple therapy for the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy; a chapter reviewing the research literature in family therapy for the Annual Review of Psychology; chapters overviewing couple and family therapy in Comprehensive Clinical Psychology, the Psychologist's Desk Reference, and the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry; as well as numerous articles and chapters dealing with integrative therapy, research in couple and family therapy, and assessment and treatment in divorce when there is conflict over child custody and visitation.

He is a contributing editor and writes a regular column on the relation of research to practice for the Psychotherapy Networker and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Family Process, and In Session.

Dr. Lebow lectures in the master of science in Marital and Family Therapy program and leads a practicum group from the doctoral clinical psychology program at Northwestern University. He also is involved in the ongoing treatment research at The Family Institute concerned with assessing progress in psychotherapy and the development of the Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change. Dr. Lebow received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Northwestern University and is also a graduate of The Family Institute's postgraduate training program.

• Lebow, J., & Newcomb-Rekart, K. (in press). Integrative couple and family therapy. In K. Jordan (Ed.), The quick theory reference guide: A resource for expert and novice mental health professionals. Hauppauge, NY: NOVA Science Publishers
• Lebow, J. (2006). A case study in integrative couple therapy. In G. Stricker & J. Gold (Eds.), A casebook in psychotherapy integration. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Lebow, J. (1997). The integrative revolution in couple and family therapy. Family Process, 36 (1), 1–17.
• Lebow, J. L. (1984). On the value of integrating approaches to family therapy. Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 10 (2), 127–138.
• Lebow, J. L. (Ed.). (1995). Open-ended therapy: Termination in marital and family therapy. In R. H. Mikesell, D.-D. Lusterman, & S. H. McDaniel (Eds.), Integrating family therapy: Handbook of family psychology and systems theory. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Lebow, J. (2001). Conducting integrative therapy over time: A case example of open-ended therapy. In S. H. McDaniel, D.-D. Lusterman, & C. L. Philpot (Eds.), A casebook for integrating family therapy: An ecosystem approach (pp. 21–32). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Lebow, J. L. (Ed.). (2003). Integrative approaches to couple and family therapy. In T. L. Sexton, G. R. Weeks, M. S. Robbins (Eds.), Handbook of family therapy: The science and practice of working with families and couples. New York: Routledge.
• Lebow, J. (2005). Family therapy in the 21st century. In J. Lebow (Ed.), Handbook of clinical family therapy. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
• Newcomb, K., & Lebow, J. (in press). Homework in couple and family therapy. In N. Kazantzis and L. L'Abate (Eds.), Handbook of homework assignments in psychotherapy: Research, practice, and prevention. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic.
• Lebow, J. (2003). Integrative family therapy for disputes involving child custody and visitation, Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 181–192.
• Lebow, J., & Newcomb-Rekart, K. (in press). Integrative family therapy for high conflict divorce with disputes over child custody and visitation. Family Process.
• Lebow, J. (2005). Family therapy in high conflict divorce. In J. Lebow (Ed.), Handbook of clinical family therapy. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
• Lebow, J. (2002). An integrative approach for treating families with child custody and visitation disputes. In J. Lebow (Ed.), Integrative and eclectic psychotherapies (Vol. 4). In F. Kaslow, Comprehensive Handbook of Psychotherapy. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

APA Videos

• Family Therapy Over Time
  Susan H. McDaniel
• Family Therapy With Patients Having Physical Health Problems
  Susan H. McDaniel
• Functional Family Therapy
  James F. Alexander
• Individual Therapy From a Family Systems Perspective
  Florence W. Kaslow
• Integrative Therapy
  John C. Norcross
• Multidimensional Family Therapy
  Howard A. Liddle
• Parent–Child Interaction Therapy
  Cheryl Bodiford McNeil
• Parenting Young Children
  Edward R. Christophersen
• Psychotherapy Integration Over Time
  George Stricker
• Stepfamily Therapy in Practice
  Scott Browning
• Working With Stepfamilies
  James H. Bray

APA Books

• Casebook for Integrating Family Therapy: An Ecosystemic Approach
  Edited by Susan H. McDaniel, Don-David Lusterman, and Carol L. Philpot
• Casebook of Psychotherapy Integration, A
  Edited by George Stricker and Jerry Gold
• Family Psychology: Science-Based Interventions
  Edited by Howard A. Liddle, Daniel A. Santisteban, Ronald F. Levant, and James H. Bray
• Integrating Family Therapy: Handbook of Family Psychology and Systems Theory
  Edited by Richard H. Mikesell, Don-David Lusterman, and Susan H. McDaniel
• Intervening in Children's Lives: An Ecological, Family-Centered Approach to Mental Health Care
  Thomas J. Dishion and Elizabeth A. Stormshak
• Parenting Children with ADHD: 10 Lessons That Medicine Cannot Teach
  Vincent J. Monastra

Magination Press Books

• "Putting On the Brakes" Activity Book for Young People with ADHD, The
  Patricia O. Quinn and Judith M. Stern; Illustrated by Neil Russell
• Solving Your Problems Together: Family Therapy for the Whole Family
  Jane Annunziata and Phyllis Jacobson-Kram; Illustrated by Elizabeth Wolf