Family Therapy in a Biomedical Context

The role of family therapy has to be redefined in the wake of the reemergence of the medical model in psychiatry, which now encompasses biological, psychological, and social parameters. In this biopsychosocial model, the goal of biological therapy is to promote cognitive and affective regulation through the prescribing of neuroleptic and mood-stabilizing chemicals. The goal of individual psychological therapy is to teach individuals how to achieve intimate relationships and creative work productivity. The goal of social therapy, typified by family therapy, is to promote socialization, involving social belonging and obligation in terms of individual autonomy and freedom. One of the implications of allocating circumscribed objectives to the various therapies is that mental health professionals, even more in the future than in the past, will have to work together as collaborative team members.