An Invitation to Openness‡

In reflecting on the content of the Adelaide conference, this closing address reviews three themes that have seemed implicit to the author in this and other recent conferences. The adoption of parental metaphors for therapy and the ethical demands that this overtly places on practitioners are discussed. The growing interest in psychoanalytic theories for family therapy is commented on in the light of family therapy theory's absence of a ‘body’, the soma. Lastly, the issue of the therapist's therapy (to have or not to have) is considered as recurring ‘corridor talk’ that may benefit from open discussion in family therapy forums.