title: Illness, family theory, and family therapy: I. Conceptual issues.
abstract: This article examines and clarifies controversies about the concept of illness in the field of family therapy. We contend that illness, as traditionally understood in all cultures, is a relational, transactional concept that is highly congruent with core principles of present-day family theories. Family therapists need not buy into a biotechnical, reductionistic reframing of illness as disease. Rather, it is more appropriate to conceptualize and work with illness as a narrative placed in a biopsychosocial context. Such a narrative includes how shared responsibility for coping and for finding solutions can take place, without becoming involved in disputes about causal models.
authors.affiliation: University of Rochester School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, NY.
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Wynne
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Sirkin
mesh_terms: D003717:Denial, Psychological; D004194:Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations