Forty years of eating disorder-focused family therapy – the legacy of ‘psychosomatic families’

ABSTRACT

Minuchin, Rosman and Baker published Psychosomatic families. Anorexia nervosa in context in 1978, which is the culmination of their work in developing a conceptual model of anorexia nervosa (and diabetes and asthma) that would inform a model of family intervention. The psychosomatic family model itself has been challenged empirically, through the development of family therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa and last, but not least, through the increased understanding of the complex aetiology of anorexia nervosa. The positive outcomes of Minuchin and colleagues series and the description of their interventions came to form the basis for research and treatment that has influenced the field in reaching a position where we see families as a solution rather than a problem, the best resource to aid their child's recovery.

KEYWORDS:

• Anorexia
• psychosomatic families
• family therapy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.