Family therapists, community, and civic renewal

Abstract

In this article, we review family therapy's history regarding community concerns and broader societal issues; offer a model of levels of therapists' involvement with communities and community systems; and propose that family therapists join the citizen activation movement by becoming catalytic partners with families in communities. We call for a new kind of community practice that is driven less by therapist-defined problems and professional expertise, and more by community-defined problems and families' own expertise.