This work is the most comprehensive volume to focus on new directions in professional practice with families of people with mental illness. It offers a multidisciplinary systems-oriented examination of theory, research, and practice in the area. Unique features include a consideration of life-span and family system and subsystem perspectives, as well as the inclusion of powerful personal accounts of family members. It is written from the perspective of a competence paradigm for clinical practice, which offers a constructive alternative to the more prevalent pathology models of the past.

This work is the most comprehensive volume to focus on new directions in professional practice with families of people with mental illness. It offers a multidisciplinary systems-oriented examination of theory, research, and practice in the area. Unique features include a consideration of life-span and family system and subsystem perspectives, as well as the inclusion of powerful personal accounts of family members. It is written from the perspective of a competence paradigm for clinical practice, which offers a constructive alternative to the more prevalent pathology models of the past. In the era following deinstitutionalization, families often have served as an extension of the mental health system. There is much evidence that the needs of families are often poorly met. In response to the shortcomings of the system and to their own anguish, families have become increasingly assertive in articulating their needs for respect, support, information, skills, resources, and services. This volume is designed to provide professionals with increased understanding of the experiences and needs of families, as well as with concrete suggestions for enhancing their effectiveness in meeting those needs.

The first three chapters are designed to explore general issues related to the family experience and family-professional relationships, the conceptual and empirical context, and new directions in professional practice. The next six chapters provide the experiential core of the volume, covering such topics as life-span perspectives, the subjective and objective burden, the family system, family subsystems, coping and adaptation, and the needs of families. The final three chapters are concerned with intervention, including nonclinical strategies that are designed primarily to educate and support families, and clinical strategies that are designed primarily to provide treatment. The nonclinical and clinical intervention strategies that are discussed have the potential to comprise a full continuum of family-oriented services that can be tailored to the needs, desires, and resources of particular families. The final chapter is concerned with intervention on the level of the mental health system.

Traditional pathology models do not provide a satisfactory framework for professional practice with families of people with mental retardation. Families and Mental Retardation is written from the perspective of a competence paradigm for professional practice, which offers a constructive alternative to the more prevalent pathology models of the past. The goal of professional practice is to empower families in coping with the catastrophic stressor of mental retardation. Such an approach recognizes the strengths and resources of families, which have often been minimized in the past, and fosters new collaborative modes of family-professional relationships.

Unique features include a consideration of life-span and family system and subsystem perspectives, as well as the inclusion of powerful personal accounts of family members. The volume is likely to be of special value to mental health and health care professionals, who often receive little training in mental retardation or family-professional relations, and who tend to apply a pathology model. In contrast, a competence paradigm is more prevalent in education.