Guidelines for family interviewing and brief therapy by the family physician

Psychosomatic and behavioral problems are commonly seen in the practice of family medicine. If these problems are viewed as difficulties with family interaction, rather than as difficulties of an individual family member, intervention may be more successful. Treatment of families with problems involves interviewing the family unit, identifying and altering dysfunctional behavioral patterns within the family which serve to maintain the problem, and making selected referrals to experienced family therapists.