The Legacy of Unresolved Loss

A Family Systems Approach with Monica McGoldrick

Family therapy is well known for understanding the symptoms of the identified patient within the context of the larger family system. Monica McGoldrick has been a pioneering voice in extending the power of family therapy even further, helping us see how one family member's loss has ramifications for others--through an extended family network, and even across several generations.

In this realistic simulation of an18-week course of therapy with the Rogers family, we see how the presenting problem--teenage daughter Michelle's rebellious behavior--masks unresolved loss across three generations of family members. Despite the father's initial resistance to explore the death of the children's mother, McGoldrick links this loss with the family's current struggles, and assists them in the delayed grieving. She shows remarkable fluidity and mastery as she changes her stances based on the family's needs of the given moment, while her commentary provides the viewer with insight about her interventions.

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