---

---

“This book stands out with its practical approach to supporting families at every stage of growth and change and addressing both common and complex transitions. It is an ideal text for graduate-level courses in family therapy, psychology, and social work. In my classroom, I would use this book to illustrate the nuanced emotional and relational challenges that families face, from marriage to parenting to aging. Students would benefit from its blend of theory and hands-on strategies and skills.”

—Manijeh Daneshpour, PhD, Systemwide Director, Couple and Family Therapy, Alliant International University


“This book is a gem for students and experienced practitioners alike. Organized around the dimension of time, the text expertly highlights the breadth of family experience in meeting the challenges of life course transitions. The authors provide core principles and a wealth of guidance for working with families through a developmentally informed, systemic, biopsychosocial, and strengths-based perspective. The book is sensitive to diverse family forms and multicultural issues. Coverage includes both normative and disruptive life course transitions, such as separation and divorce, single-parent families and stepfamilies, chronic illness, and loss.”

—John S. Rolland, MD, MPH, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Executive Co-Director, Chicago Center for Family Health


“In this outstanding book, Edwards, Patterson, and Griffith bring their scholarship and clinical expertise to offer a current, novel perspective on the family life cycle, a foundational topic in family therapy. Questioning the formulaic notion that families experience developmental stages and transitions in predictable ways, every chapter offers a biopsychosocial and systemic approach that informs conceptually, presents evidence-based resources, and provides guidelines for clinical work. This book will become the 'go-to' text to teach master's- and doctoral-level students in family therapy, and will be useful for clinical supervisors. It covers both evolving universal issues and the specific intersectionalities of LGBTQ+ individuals, intercultural couples, and other diverse family forms today. Readers will be touched by and learn from the many moving stories of clients navigating the inevitable relational changes that accompany family development.”

—Celia J. Falicov, PhD, Department of Family Medicine, University of California, San Diego


“An exceptional training and practice resource. Unlike many other books I have encountered, this one addresses both common and uncommon day-to-day challenges faced by individuals and families, with remarkable sensitivity and insight. The transtheoretical clinical recommendations, grounded in empirical evidence and practical wisdom, seamlessly integrate theory and application. This thoughtful guide is an invaluable asset for psychotherapy students and practitioners seeking to enhance their skills and understanding.”

—Timothy Sim, PhD, Head, Master of Counseling Program, Singapore University of Social Sciences

---

Table of Contents

Preface

I. Conceptual Foundations

1. The Contexts of Time and System

2. The Family as an Interactive System

II. Life Cycle Transitions

3. Committed and Marital Relationships

4. The Transition to Parenthood

5. Risk And Resilience in Childhood: The Impact of Family Life

6. Adolescents and Their Parents in a Highly Connected World

7. Emerging Adults and Their Parents at Midlife

8. Elderhood

III. Life Cycle Disruptions and Diverse Family Forms

9. Separation and Divorce

10. Single-Parent Families and Stepfamilies

11. Coping with a Chronic Illness

12. Loss, Death, and Grief

References

Index

---

About the Authors

Todd M. Edwards, PhD, LMFT, is Professor and Chair of the Marital and Family Therapy Program at the University of San Diego (USD). He is a Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and Editor of the International Journal of Systemic Therapy. In addition to his work at USD, Dr. Edwards has a private practice, where he works with individuals, couples, and families, and is a health coach through the RELINK program at the University of California, San Diego.

• All titles by Todd M. Edwards

JoEllen Patterson, PhD, LMFT, is Professor in the Marital and Family Therapy Program at the University of San Diego. She is also Associate Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. Dr. Patterson received a Rotary International Scholarship to work at Cambridge University, as well as Fulbright Awards to work in Norway, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Canada. She has published several books and has served on the editorial boards of leading family therapy journals. Her global work includes initiatives in Jordan and Ecuador.

• Author's website
• All titles by JoEllen Patterson

James L. Griffith, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology and former Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences, where he joined the faculty in 1994. As a psychiatric educator, Dr. Griffith has helped develop GW's psychiatry residency program into a national leader in refugee mental health, human rights advocacy, and global mental health research. Dually trained in psychiatry and neurology, he teaches psychiatry residents a curriculum that integrates humanistic psychiatry with psychopharmacology.

• All titles by James L. Griffith

---

Audience

Clinical psychologists, social workers, couple and family therapists, mental health and pastoral counselors, psychiatrists, and psychiatric nurses; graduate students and instructors.

---

Course Use

Serves as a text in such courses as Family Therapy, Direct Practice with Families, and the Family Life Cycle.