Families can develop self-destructive routines so predictable that members seem to be following a script each coming in on cue as the plot unfolds. Such scripts can be altered, however, when therapists help clients learn to improvise new patterns of relating. This book presents an innovative approach to doing just that--incorporating into therapy elements of script theory and recent findings in attachment research, including those related to narrative. Developing a new attachment concept, the secure family base, from which individuals can feel safe enough to explore and improvise new scripts, Byng-Hall shows how insecure relationship patterns can be changed both during and after therapy. Jargon-free and illustrated with detailed clinical case material, this book presents a comprehensive conceptual framework that illuminates the central issues of therapy practice with families, couples, children, and adults.

About the Author

John Byng-Hall is a Consultant Child and Family Psychiatrist at the Tavistock Clinic. He has published widely on topics such as family myths, legends, and scripts; attachments within the family; adolescence; and the impact of chronic illness within the family. He has also presented his ideas at international conferences. He was trained at Cambridge University, University College Hospital London, the Maudsley and Bethlem Royal Hospitals, and at the Tavistock Clinic. He is a past Chair of the Institute of Family Therapy, London.

Reviews

"I found Rewriting Family Scripts to be a very human book, absorbing, delightful and clear. It should engender a new era in the study of attachment in the family and should serve as recommended reading for all workers in the field. "Mary Main, Ph.D., Leiden, The Netherlands

"This long?awaited book is the culmination of 25 years of practice by one of Great Britain's foremost family therapy practitioners and trainers ... It is an eminently practical and accessible book and provides us with a powerful tool with which to explore the complex links among individual, interaction, and system." Bebe Speed, Editor, Journal of Family Therapy

"Rewriting Family Scripts has been long awaited, but like the very best wines, the maturity and richness that John Byng?Hall's ideas and practice have provided has made the wait worth?while." Arnon Bentovim

Book Information
ISBN 9781572300668
Author John Byng-Hall
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Guilford Publications
Publisher Guilford Publications
Weight(grams) 460g