Intensive Structural Therapy

A Remembrance of Braulio Montalvo (1934-2014)

I am in Albuquerque New Mexico. I have just come back with my wife Tana, Braulio's widow Margarita Montalvo, and their daughter Maria, from visiting Braulio's ashes in the mountains where they were scattered. (more…)

As a child and adolescent psychiatrist for almost 40 years I have worked with tens of thousands of children, adolescents and their families. Whereas I think we should avoid blaming parents for the problems of their children, it would be ludicrous to suggest the parents do not have the lion's share influence on how well their children fare.

So, here are three crucial steps that parents can take to damage their children as they go along their way toward adulthood.
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My new book 'You Can Fix Your Family' is now available on Amazon:
http://amzn.com/1463611455. It is in stock and costs US$9.00
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For a number of years, Charles Fishman has been working with Dr. Mark Friedman to incorporate some of the major tenants of Results Based Accountability into Intensive Structural Therapy (IST.)
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Today Dr Charles Fishman was interviewed by Dr Lisa C Palmer and Dr Jason Ross on the Renew your Life radio show.
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This video is a re-enactment of an actual Intensive Structural Therapy session.

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I would like to congratulate Context on its 100th issue.
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NZ Eating Disorder Specialists has opened its private clinic in Auckland to help people and their families overcome eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. The clinic has 30 years of expertise and is the only clinic in New Zealand using the family therapy approach of Intensive Structural Therapy.
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Adolescence is a strange wondrous stage, both for the young person as well as the family. No-one can deny that, just as a tadpole becomes a frog, there are biological changes in children in terms of physical and, somewhat slower, emotional maturity. The family, along with the peers and other social force help shape the emerging adult. Certain tips for parents can facilitate and make this voyage easier, in my experience. (more…)

I believe that one of the most useful assessment tools available to the family therapist is the concept of the homeostatic maintainer, the individuals or social forces that are maintaining a given problem and must therefore be included in the treatment.

The term homeostatic maintainer derives from the word homeostasis or same state. As used in biology or physiology, homeostatis refers to a process of maintaining sameness by restoring a system to a state from which it periodically departs. (more…)