Reflection Of The Family Crucible

Napier and Whitaker maintain that every family is a society within itself regulated by its own distinctive culture, language, rules, and traditions. In The Family Crucible, the reader is introduced to the microcosm of the Brice family as they grapple with the politics of their own family system in order to solve the crisis that rules it. By exploring the Brice family’s past and present interactions with one another, and by unearthing the roots that nourish the difficulties threatening their reality, Napier and Whitaker take us on a journey of discovery with the Brice family, which would eventually include extended family members, using a co-facilitated systems approach to help the family learn to cope with life’s stresses; all the while, helping the family to gain awareness of self and to deepen relationships with each other. Together, the Brice parents, Carolyn and David, and their three children, Claudia, Don, and Laura gain skills that assist them in redirecting their lives, reshaping their family dynamic, and creating the positive change they desire. Napier and Whitaker challenge the Brice family to rethink their customary assertions about relationships in order to guide them towards new

I was drawn into the Brice family's story and by the end of the book I cared about them and felt as if I knew them. I appreciated the author's no holds barred, realistic portrayal of the therapist and client relationship. Not only is the reader drawn into the subject's inner world, the reader is also pulled into the world of the therapist and given a ring side seat into the cognitive operation of the therapist mind. Napier and Whitaker lay out the theories that inform their practice. For example, they identify, feedback spirals, triangulation, transference, and enmeshed identities, for the reader and then demonstrate through the narrative, methods for assisting families in leaping over these