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This is the first comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of relationship enhancement (RE) therapy since Bernard Guerney's 1977 classic Relationship Enhancement; Jossey-Bass; San Francisco

Dr. Ginsberg begins with a thorough review of the theoretical underpinnings of RE, followed by a delineation of the role of the therapist in RE. Bolstered by extensive case studies, the remainder of the book is devoted to providing clinicians with practical guidelines for applying RE methods. Because it is aimed at arming clients with the skills to forge and foster healthy relationship treatment throughout the lifecycle, relationship enhancement therapy is inherently developmentally-oriented. Hence, this book is structured to clearly demonstrate how the principles and methods apply at all stages of development across the lifespan.

Topics covered include the use of RE to improve child/parent relationships; adolescent/parent relationships; and relationships between adults, young adults, and their families. The author also applies the RE method to specific mental health and drug/alcohol disorder problems; and to special populations, such as single individuals, single parents, and those in blended families. The book concludes with an insightful discussion of the role of relationship enhancement therapy/enrichment in the age of managed care.

Relationship Enhancement Family Therapy is important reading for family therapists, clinical psychologists, social workers, and all mental health professionals.

CONTENTS
1. Basic Principles
2. Skills Clients Are Taught
3. Relationship Enhancement Therapist and Leadership Skills
4. The Young Child in Family Therapy Filial Relationship
Enhancement
5. The Adolescent in Relationship Enhancement Therapy
6. The Young Adult in Relationship Enhancement Therapy
7. Adulthood, Marriage, Coupling, and Close Relationships
8. Relationship Enhancement Family of-Origin Therapy
9. Relationship Enhancement in the Twenty-First Century
10. Brief Therapy and Managed Care
11. Appendix: Filial Therapy Parents Manual

In this slim, accessible book, well-known family enhancement therapy expert Barry Ginsberg provides busy single-parent families with insightful and inspiring suggestions on how to heighten familial intimacy, balance work and home life, enhance communication, and boost the family fun factor.

In the last 20 years, single-parent families have become more common than their so-called nuclear counterparts. In addition to feeling as if they are under a great deal of stress, single parents also lack confidence in their ability to be ‘parent enough’ to keep family members connected and content.

This book offers 50 simple and straightforward tips that will enable single parents to feel good about the benefits their family situation provides the children. Easy-to-use techniques include talking with children about sharing decisions, developing family rituals and traditions, listening to children of different ages, balancing the pressures of work and home, making the family a team, creating time to play, discovering common ground, negotiating, and establishing boundaries.

By focusing on the positive, readers learn to embrace their roles as single parents and their entire family as a complete unit. This confidence helps them raise their children to be strong, optimistic, and enthusiastic about life, and improves the children's chances of having strong self-esteem and the ability to sustain healthy relationships.