The Family Crucible: Amazon.ca: Augustus Y Napier: Books

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"A thoughtful, well-written book for the general reader." -- -- The Milwaukee Journal

"Highly absorbing and readable." -- -- American Journal of Psychiatry

Book Description

This extraordinary book presents scenarios of one family's therapy experience and explains what underlies each encounter. You will discover the general patterns that are common to all families-stress, polarization and escalation, scapegoating, triangulation, blaming, and the diffusion of identity--and you will gain a vivid understanding of the intriguing field of family therapy.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
"Would you like to see a new family with me?" Carl said. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

4.9 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Published in '78, still relevant today, Feb 11 2004

By

M. Swinney "Marc My Words" (Flower Mound, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Family Crucible (Paperback)

This is an insightful and engaging read.

Everything is wrapped up in the complex dynamics of the family. Napier and Whitaker take the approach that 12-year old daughter is having some issues, then bring the whole family in and conduct therapy on them as a family. The problems of the individual are so deeply intertwined with the problems of the family.

Napier and Whitaker do a bang-up job at presenting the material. This could have easily been a book of boredom filled with psycho-babble dry academic lifeless trifle, but no, it's not. Instead "The Family Crucible," makes the point of family therapy by telling a story, an extended case study. We follow along with the family of five as they show how one member's problems is related to the family. The therapy shifts from daughter to son to parent-interaction with daughter and son, and finally the couple's marriage that really is at the heart of the issue. The good docs even go so far as to call in the grandparents to get at some real issues the family is dealing with.

You begin to care about this family seemingly as much as Napier and Whitaker do, and you want the best for them. Along the way, the authors share their poignant view on family dynamics and also, somewhere along the way...there's a reader epiphany. There's the oh, there's the yes, there's the "that explains it." In our ever growing quest here on this earth to live together and understand humanity and the humanity we call family and live with day to day, this book goes miles beyond any expectation.

Get your hands on, "The Family Crucible," and talk with your family about it. I know, I am.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating..amazingly interesting!, Oct 26 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Family Crucible (Paperback)

This book is one of my favorites of all time! My "Couples and Family Therapy" professor highly recommended it- it's a hallmark book in the family therapy field. If you are interested in family dynamics- the scapegoated child, the symptomatic child, adultery, depression, promiscuity- it's all in here.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Very pertinent, Jun 9 2003

By

Darwin Perkins (Gilbert, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Family Crucible (Paperback)

First, let me say that I've never been a proponent of Therapy. This book, however, has made me re-think that stance.

I'm recently divorced. I was very surprised how this book explained, in detail, the process I went through. It provided an insight into family and relationship dynamics that I had not considered at all. While obstensively, it documents a therapy process with a single family, the side notes, theory, and author's comments provide a fuller explanation of the dynamice of relationships that makes this book a "must read" if you are interested in why you do things and how you work within your relationships.

I find myself wondering if I had read this before my divorce if there would have been a different outcome. I definitely would have looked at the entire process and relationship differently.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to get a better understanding of relationship dynamics, especially in a family setting.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Sheds light on many common family problems
Are you a parent having trouble understanding your kids? Are you having trouble understanding your parents? Read more

Published on Feb 9 2003 by R. Burkhart

5.0 out of 5 stars Fasinating, fun to read
This book reads like a novel yet provides insightful looks at a family, and families in general. Read it. Read more