Families Under Fire fills these gaps with real-world examples, clear, concise prose, and nuts-and-bolts approaches for working with military families utilizing a systems-based practice that is effective regardless of branch of service or the practitioner’s therapeutic preference.

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As provider networks on military bases are overwhelmed with new cases, civilian clinicians are increasingly likely to treat military families. However, these clinicians do not receive the same military mental-healthcare training as providers on military installations, adding strain to clinicians’ workloads and creating gaps in levels of treatment. Families Under Fire fills these gaps with real-world examples, clear, concise prose, and nuts-and-bolts approaches for working with military families utilizing a systems-based practice that is effective regardless of branch of service or the practitioner’s therapeutic preference. Any civilian mental-health practitioner who wants to understand the diverse needs of military personnel, their spouses, and their families will rely on this indispensable guidebook for years to come.

The need for ways to help military families has rarely been greater, and most family therapists are oblivious to the special challenges these families face and present to the therapist. Families Under Fire is written by people who work with military families on a daily basis, and it is an invaluable resource for those of us who want to know what we are doing with this specially distressed population." - Richard C. Schwartz, developer of the Internal Family Systems model of psychotherapy and president of the Center for Self Leadership in Oak Park, Illinois, USA

"This book should be on the shelf of every clinician who works with service members and their families. Everson and Figley have created a comprehensive, practical guide for applying systemic therapy with families by drawing on the experience of highly credible and knowledgeable authors. Families Under Fire is replete with sound advice, thoughtful synthesis of the most current literature, and useful principles that are easily applied to practice." - Bret A. Moore, former active-duty psychologist in the U.S. Army, two-tour veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and author of Living and Surviving in Harm's Way and The Veterans and Active Duty Military Psychotherapy Treatment Planner

"This comprehensive guide makes a strong case for adopting a systems approach to the clinical care of service members, veterans, and their families. It also provides many useful and practical tools for understanding and working within the cultures of different military branches. The chapter on Marine Corps families alone is easily worth the price of the book." - William Nash, Captain, Medical Corps, United States Navy (Retired), former director of Marine Corps Combat and Operational Stress Control programs, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UC San Diego, USA

352 pages Hardback

Introduction. Part I: An Overview of Family Systems in the Military. Everson, Camp, Seeing Systems: Introduction to Systemic Approaches with Military Families. Hall, The Military Culture, Language, and Lifestyle. Part II: Systemic Therapy Interventions for Various Military Contexts. Everson, Herzog, Structural Strategic Approaches with Army Couples. Everson, Herzog, Haigler, Systemic Therapy with Adolescents in Army Families. Catherall, Systemic Therapy with Families of U.S. Marines. Herzog, Boydston, Whitworth, Systems Approaches with Air Force Members and Their Families. Sneath, Rheem, Emotionally Focused Therapy with Army Couples Coping with PTSD. Smith, Attachment as a Consideration in Family Play Therapy with Military Families. Baroody, Spirituality and Trauma in a Time of War: A Systemic Approach to Pastoral Care and Counseling. Herzog, Everson, Secondary Traumatic Stress, Deployment Phase, and Military Families: Systemic Approaches to Treatment. Part III: Systemic Solutions to the Interpersonal Challenges of Modern Military Families. Matthewson, In Support of Military Women and Families: Challenges Facing Community Therapists. Springle, Wilmer, Painting a Moving Train: Preparing Community Providers to Serve Returning Warriors and Their Families. Lyons, Elkovitch, Post Deployment: Practical Guidelines for Warrior Loved Ones. Everson, Figley, The Long Way Home: The Aftermath of War for Service Members and their Families. Appendix. Everson, Camp, Developmental Overview and Brief History of Systemic Family Therapy.