In elegant clinical interplays, Minuchin, his colleagues Wai-Yung Lee and George Simon, and nine advanced students provide answers to such critical questions as: What does it take to master the art of family therapy? How do I create an effective personal style? How can I become an instrument for growth for troubled families?

In Part I, Minuchin offers his candid assessment of the forms of family therapy that have emerged over the past fifty years, including his own structural approach. He shares his views on what makes a good family therapist and he explains why, if therapists are to become catalysts for change, they must learn to draw on their personal histories, their own sensibilities and sensitivities.

Part II takes us behind the scenes to observe Minuchin in supervisory sessions with his students and the families they are treating.