The Family Interpreted: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, And Family Therapy

by Deborah Anna Luepnitz, Paki Wieland

The paradox of the contemporary family is that it is both patriarchal and father-absent. Family therapists reproduce these problems by blaming mothers, protecting fathers, ignoring issues of race and class, and settling for superficial symptom relief. In The Family Interpreted, Deborah Anna Luepnitz proposes a new practice grounded in psychoana-lytic feminism. Since its publication in 1988, this intelligent, irreverent, and incorrigibly witty book has become a classic, admired by the therapeutic community and feminist scholars. Luepnitz's work has permanently altered the debate about families, culture, and psychological change.

Genres: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, Psychology

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[s_evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review 2016: I revisited this book for my psychology book group and I liked it even more! I did skip around, jumping to what I hadn't read and thoroughly enjoyed and found incredibly helpful the chapter on the history of the family. Obviously she didn't look at every class and race of family in history, but she chose 5 to put in perspective where we are today, especially as we look at gender roles, social mores, and community within the family and care for the child. Another amazing chapter was on "psychoanalytic theory as conceptual source for feminist psychotherapy" in which she unpacked several elements of both modalities. I agree with my younger self that the case studies brought the concepts to light, and also really enjoyed the intro and chapter refreshers and critiques on the canonical family therapists, with other really strong additions in the later chapters I had skipped at an earlier read due to their intellectually challenging and thought-demanding nature. (I was in grad school back then so likely tapped for brain space!)

Review 2010: really like reading this author's case stories, in fact, I skipped to that part of this book and started from those last 150 pages and that is the basis of my 4 stars. However, I also think this book is helpful in having a feminist perspective on some very widely-used family therapy models which are not only quite dated, but highly recommended without any critical analysis of their lack of feminist approaches.

This book sheds light on this important feminist critique. Perhaps there are others out there that serve this purpose better, but as I really liked Luepnitz's 'Shaupenhauer's Porcupines: Intimacy and Its Dilemmas' I was drawn to read more of her cases through her engaging and self-critical/aware and approachable style.

[Kasandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful read, though a bit dated for your contemporary practitioner. There was a case study involving incest where I thought key pieces concerning professional ethics, client safety, and of course feminist politics could have been explored more pointedly. It was strange, for example, what a minimal role safety planning played in that case study - and safety planning is an essential skill for any therapist. This particular case study threw off my reading of the remainder of the text. It was hard to continue with the same level of enthusiasm. However, we learn only in the space of discomfort, and I would recommend this book to any therapist.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a mixed bag in 2020. I wish I could say that her feminist critique of the main schools of family therapy does not still apply, but it certainly does. Some of her assumptions have certainly been challenged in the ensuing years, and I would be interested to hear how the author's theory of change has evolved in the last 30 years. The case studies were excellent. They were presented in a fair and vulnerable way, and as a beginning practitioner myself I appreciate the admittance of mistakes and the glimpse into her learning process.

[Lyndon Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful integration of the skill of psychoanalytic insight into the structure and dynamics of the family, an area where Freud made a number of mistakes and trampled a few boundaries (yes, I would love to hear Deborah Anna Luepnitz do a brief analysis of the "Dora" Tale). Highly recommended book.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this is a relatively dense, good history of family therapy, but the case studies in the second half make the whole field come alive.