Family Therapy as Initiation

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief examination of the nature of family therapy as it reflects the structural components of the ritual of initiation. Terminology is defined in order to illustrate the connection between family therapy, anthropology, comparative religion, and depth psychology. Van Gennep's (1960) classical anthropological model of the "Rites of Passage" is explicated to demonstrate the affinity with the stages of family therapy. Finally, a case study is explored in the context of ritual theory to further illustrate the clinical usefullness of this approach towards family therapy.