Long Term Systemic Therapy

Arlene Vetere is Professor of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice at VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway. Her previous books includeSupervision in Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (2017) co-edited with Jim Sheehan, and together with Rudi Dallos she co-edits thePalgrave Texts in Psychotherapy and Counselling book series.Jim Sheehan is Professor of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice at the VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway and Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Ireland. He is a social worker, family therapist, trainer, consultant and systemic supervisor. His previous publications include Supervision of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (2017) co-edited with Arlene Vetere, andFamily Conflict After Separation and Divorce (2018) published by Palgrave.

• Foreword; Shelagh Wright.- Editors’ Introduction; Arlene Vetere and Jim Sheehan.- Part One: Long Term Systemic Work with Couples and Families.- Chapter One: Couple and family therapy as meta-therapy – doing relational therapy in the longer-term; Arlene Vetere.- Chapter Two: Couples with Chronic Illness: Challenges and Opportunities in the Long-term Therapeutic Relationship; Jim Sheehan.- Part Two: Long term Systemic Work with Individuals.- Chapter Three: Olena’s battle for Utopia; Chip Chimera.- Chapter Four: And it takes as long as it takes; Ros Draper.- Chapter Five: Journeying together through a landscape of uncertainty: Long-term systemic work with young people; Sarah Houston.- Part Three: Long Term Systemic Work with Professional Practitioner Groups.- Chapter Six: Psychological and emotional support in the workplace – can it make a difference for the longer term?; Helga Hanks.- Chapter Seven: Long term supervision in groups – opportunities and challenges of a language-systemic approach; T.K. Lang.- Chapter Eight: Ministering reflectively – a story of two groups; Paddy Sweeney and Martin Daly.- Part Four: Long Term Systemic Work with Family Businesses.- Chapter Nine: Families in business – the longer-term perspective; Ana Aguirregabiria.- Editors’ Reflections: The Way Forward;Arlene Vetere and Jim Sheehan.

“Although the iThrive model (Wolpert et al., 2015) has redressed the balance somewhat by suggesting a service framework for UK Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services that include very short, brief, medium and long-term therapeutic interventions, there has been a startling lack of focus in the therapeutic literature on long-term work, in recent years. … This is an enjoyable, highly relevant and timely addition to the literature, and addresses an important and much neglected aspect of systemic practice and consultation.” (Percy Aggett, Journal of Family Therapy, August 16, 2020)