Shows one-on-one counsellors and therapists how to work with 'all those people in the room'. This book discusses couple therapy, and how individuals who have chosen to be together must negotiate their 'similarities' and 'differences'.

Using clear language and compelling analogies, this book shows one-on-one counsellors and therapists how to work with 'all those people in the room'. The starting point is couple therapy, and how individuals who have chosen to be together must negotiate their 'similarities' and 'differences'. Following on, there is a discussion of group therapy, where participants do not 'choose' each other, but must nevertheless cope with similarities and differences; and then to family therapy, where powerful, longstanding enmities and loyalties complicate the dynamics further.Finally, readers are introduced to the principles of intervening in larger, temporary gatherings like conferences and workshops, where effective facilitation can massively improve outcomes. This book is essential reading for those training, or newly qualified, in counselling and psychotherapy, and for all helping professionals, whatever their discipline, who are attracted to the energy and creativity that can be generated when people come together, in the safe space provided by professional help, to address their difficulties.

Acknowledgements Introduction A necessary discomfort: From individual to relationship work
Attachment and disenchantment: Why couples lose hope and seek help What happens after the third session? The process of couple work Facing difference, finding unity: How therapy groups begin
The power of the many: The group at work Loyalties and disappointments: The nature of family relationships 'All those people in the room!': Getting started with families Beyond blame and shame: Three levels of family work
Some principles of interpersonal intervention References Index