Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

JUST as any meaning attributed to communication is qualified by the context of that communicational sequence, so the publication of a book, in this case a dictionary of family therapy, is part of the context from which it originates. This dictionary is very much the vision of its senior French editor, Dr Jacques Miermont. As such, it reflects a particular perspective on the position of family therapy in France, and how that has been affected by developments in the field worldwide. It draws on a number of important themes, many of which are particular to the French tradition of scholarship and which differ from traditions of the Anglo-Saxon world. It is this which gives it a special interest. In commenting on these themes for the English edition, I echo the words of Freud in his Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis: Psycho-analysis and Psychiatry : ‘I do not aim at producing conviction - my aim is to stimulate enquiry and to destroy prejudices’ (Freud, 1929, Lecture 16). It seems appropriate to begin with a reference to Freud, since so much of family therapy practice, psychiatry and social work in France continues to be influenced by Freud's thought, by Lacan, and by the psychoanalytic world in general. This also represents a significant difference from the direction of mainstream family therapy in the UK, America and other English-speaking countries, especially Australia and ... log in or subscribe to read full text