This book is not intended as an introductory text for family therapy training. It is meant to redress the balance of previous works on family therapy which have, by and large, undervalued the importance of transgenerational influences upon the family member. I intend to put the transgenerational view about families; although I realise that there are other equally important foci of interest in regard to family functioning. I hope that readers interested in family therapy, whether psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses or any other member of the helping professions will gain a better understanding of the profound influences which extended family members and the family of origln have on the course of development of nuclear families and individual family members.

The book has two separate emphases. The first is more theoretical and explores the definitions, antecedents and theory of transgenerational influence. The second is clinically oriented and explores the therapeutic use of the concepts introduced in section one. The reader is expected to have sufficient grasp of the concepts to be able to apply them to the clinical material presented in later chapters. For this reason I have deliberately omitted exhaustive theoretical explanations of the therapeutic work.

It is my hope that the material in this book will also provide practical guidance to those professionals ready and willing to take the risk of working with their patients or clients in a new way. For this reason I have particularly emphasised the use of the geneogram. It is a simple workable technique whose use can provide structure and understanding for beginning family therapists.

Throughout the numerous clinical examples and diagrams provided in this book, facts which could identify family members have been altered or omitted. The omission of certain names, dates or alteration of specific details has been done in such a way that, while preserving confidentiality, the underlying dynamics and meaning have been preserved.