I am grateful to my wife and children for allowing me to withdraw from family life in the evenings during the past year while writing. My wife has also provided a practical and critical view of the content and presentation of the material in this book which has been especially helpful.
Special thanks are due to Mrs J. Lambert who has undertaken the tedious task of typing the bulk of the manuscript and offered several useful suggestions. I also wish to thank Mrs J. Lake for her help in typing the last chapter and for the time and energy she has given additionally towards the completion of this project. To Alan Jones I must add my thanks for the Artwork and geneograms which he produced at very short notice.
I am very grateful to my colleagues in the Institute of Family Therapy (London) for their patience with me during the period in which this book was written. I also wish to thank Dr R. Skynner for providing a trusting setting in Britain for me to teach and learn family therapy. To all of my colleagues at the Institute I owe a great debt for sharing their work and thoughts with me as well as sharing themselves.
Finally, I wish to acknowledge the important rôle which Dr N. Paul played in the development of my work in family therapy. Much of what is written has its origin in his thinking and his work.