Priority setting in family change and clinical practice: the Family FIRO Model

We update a theoretical framework for understanding priority setting for the management of family change, with special emphasis on developmental change. We propose that three core dimensions of family interaction--inclusion, control, and intimacy--constitute an optimal priority sequence for managing major family change stemming from life-cycle transitions and other stressful experiences. In the next section of the article, we compare the Family FIRO Model and other models of family change. Finally, we suggest that therapists can benefit from an explicit, clinical decision-making model for setting priorities in treatment: issues of inclusion take precedence over issues of control, which in turn take precedence over issues of intimacy.