Theories and approaches to family counselling

This article examines from a historical perspective the theories and approaches to family counselling. Having been planted in the 1940's, the family counselling movement continues to develop into a major counselling perspective with considerable theoretical and professional influence. Major schools of family counselling theory and practice are examined. Future directions are identified, such as social constructionism, gender issues, normative bias, counsellor as expert and integration of individual and systemic theory.Paper presented at the 1994 International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling (IRTAC) conference in Munich, Germany.