---

---

“I have already adopted this book for my Family Life Cycle class (master level class in a MFT department). I cannot think of any other book more appropriate for this specific class.”

—Doody's Review Service


“The book provides an excellent springboard from which to foster student/trainee curiosity and further learning....I have already used insights from this book for work with my own clients.”

—Clinical Social Work Journal


“The authors emphasize what families and marriages are doing that works well, building on family strengths rather than highlighting deficits....[Most care providers] would benefit from the therapeutic expertise, current research, and broad perspectives the contributing authors present.”

—Family Ministry


“A classic in the clinical literature....Belongs on the shelf (or desk) of every practitioner, teacher, and student in the mental health and social science fields.”

—The Family Journal


“This volume takes another step forward on the trail that Walsh has blazed in the field of family therapy. It captures the breadth and depth of family life like no other book. This is a great text for graduate courses and a joy to read for experienced professionals.”

—William M. Pinsof, PhD, private practice, Chicago, Illinois


“A classic text retains its relevance! The 'go-to' text on normal family processes has been significantly updated for its fourth edition, reflecting what the editor fittingly refers to as the 'new normal' of families. Therapists in training (or in practice!) will find this an invaluable resource for understanding the varieties of normal family life in our increasingly diverse world.”

—Wayne H. Denton, MD, PhD, Professor and Director, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Florida State University


“There is a reason this book is in its fourth edition—it is simply the most definitive text on this topic on the market today. The comprehensive coverage and chapter authors who are leaders in the field have made Normal Family Processes part of the 'collective conscious' of clinicians, students, and faculty who work with families the world over. With new chapters on contemporary topics such as neurobiology, gender norms, and kinship care, this book will continue to be the standard text for clinically focused graduate family development courses.”

—Sean D. Davis, PhD, LMFT, Couple and Family Therapy Program, Alliant International University


“The fourth edition of this highly influential work integrates important contemporary knowledge about family functioning and family processes. Walsh is a visionary thinker who has long been at the forefront of conceptualizing and advocating for a competence orientation for understanding families. This volume covers universal family issues (such as relationships, work, neurobiology) as well as specific challenges (such as divorce, illness, immigration). Each chapter balances thoughtful reviews of the literature with translational guidance for family assessment and intervention, making the book a welcome resource for researchers, therapists, and educators.”

—Anne E. Kazak, PhD, ABPP, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Director, Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia


“Walsh and her colleagues have framed for us the critical and emerging issues for families in the 21st century. They bravely tackle some of the most thorny and enduring issues in family work, such as family structure, race, class, and sexual orientation, among others. Each chapter is well-conceived, steeped in the most current scholarship, and offers essential knowledge for students, clinicians, and researchers alike. The chapter material—whether theoretical, conceptual, and/or empirical—can be applied immediately in clinical intervention with families. This book offers an excellent foundation for further study and practice. As a text, the full volume is very relevant for social work foundation courses in both the clinical and human behavior tracks, and for family therapy and couple therapy courses.”

—Ellen R. DeVoe, PhD, MSW, Boston University School of Social Work

---

Table of Contents

I. Overview

1. The New Normal: Diversity and Complexity in 21st-Century Families, Froma Walsh

2. Clinical Views of Family Normality, Health, and Dysfunction: From Deficit to Strengths Perspective, Froma Walsh

II. Varying Family Forms and Challenges

3. Couple Interaction in Happy and Unhappy Marriages: Gottman Laboratory Studies, Janice Driver, Amber Tabares, Alyson Shapiro, and John M. Gottman

4. Contemporary Two-Parent Families: Navigating Work and Family Challenges, Peter Fraenkel and Carrie Capstick

5. Risk and Resilience After Divorce, Shannon M. Greene, Edward R. Anderson, Marion S. Forgatch, David S. Degarmo, and Mavis E. Hetherington

6. The Diversity, Strengths, and Challenges of Single-Parent Households, Carol Anderson

7. Remarriage and Stepfamily Life, Kay Pasley and Chelsea Garneau

8. Gay and Lesbian Family Life: Risk, Resilience, and Rising Expectations, Robert-Jay Green

9. Family Processes in Kinship Care, Malitta Engstrom

10. Adoptive Families, Cheryl Rampage, Marina Eovaldi, Cassandra Ma, Catherine Weigel Foy, Gina Miranda Samuels, and Leah Bloom

III. Cultural Dimensions in Family Functioning

11. Culture: A Challenge to Concepts of Normality, Monica Mcgoldrick and Deidre Ashton

12. Intersections of Race, Class, and Poverty: Challenges and Resilience in African American Families, Nancy Boyd-Franklin and Melanie Karger

13. Immigrant Family Processes: A Multidimensional Framework, Celia Jaes Falicov

14. Changing Gender Norms in Families and Society: Toward Equality amid Complexities, Carmen Knudson-Martin

15. The Spiritual Dimension of Family Life, Froma Walsh

IV. Developmental Perspectives on Family Functioning

16. The Family Life Cycle, Monica McGoldrick and Tazuko Shibusawa

17. Family Resilience: Strengths Forged Through Adversity, Froma Walsh

18. Normative Family Transitions, Couple Relationship Quality, and Healthy Child Development, Philip A. Cowan and Carolyn Pape Cowan

19. Mastering Family Challenges in Serious Illness and Disability, John S. Rolland

20. Family and Community Rituals in the 21st Century, Evan Imber-Black

V. Advancing Family Systems Research and Practice

21. Assessment of Effective Couple and Family Functioning: Prevailing Models and Instruments, Jay Lebow and Catherine B. Stroud

22. Unraveling the Complexity of Gene–Environment Interplay and Family Processes, Erica L. Spotts

23. Neurobiology and Family Processes, Mona Dekoven Fishbane

Index

---

About the Editor

Froma Walsh, MSW, PhD, is the Mose and Sylvia Firestone Professor Emerita in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and the Department of Psychiatry, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago. She is also Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Chicago Center for Family Health. Dr. Walsh is an internationally respected clinical scholar and a foremost authority on family resilience. Integrating developmental, relational, sociocultural, and spiritual perspectives, her resilience-oriented systemic approach with individuals, couples, and families fosters healing and positive adaptation. She is past editor of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy and past president of the American Family Therapy Academy. Dr. Walsh is the recipient of many honors for distinguished contributions to theory, research, and practice, including the Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association and awards from the American Family Therapy Academy, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American Orthopsychiatric Association, and the Society for Pastoral Counseling Research. She is a frequent speaker and consultant internationally, and her books have been translated into many languages.

• Author's website
• All titles by Froma Walsh

---

Contributors

Carol Anderson, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Edward R. Anderson, PhD, Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

Deidre Ashton, LCSW, Princeton Family Institute, Princeton, New Jersey

Leah Bloom, MSMFT, The Family Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Nancy Boyd-Franklin, PhD, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey

Carrie Capstick, PhD, private practice, New York, New York

Philip A. Cowan, PhD, Department of Psychology and Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley, California

Carolyn Pape Cowan, PhD, Department of Psychology and Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley, California

David S. DeGarmo, PhD, Oregon Social Learning Center, Eugene, Oregon

Janice Driver, PhD, Eastside Parenting Clinic, Inc., Bellevue, Washington

Malitta Engstrom, PhD, LCSW, Hartford Faculty Scholar, School of Social Service Administration, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Marina Eovaldi, PhD, The Family Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Celia Jaes Falicov, PhD, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, California

Mona DeKoven Fishbane, PhD, Chicago Center for Family Health, Chicago, Illinois

Marion S. Forgatch, PhD, Oregon Social Learning Center, Eugene, Oregon

Peter Fraenkel, PhD, Department of Psychology, City College, City University of New York, New York, New York

Chelsea Garneau, PhD, Family and Child Sciences, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida

John M. Gottman, PhD, The Gottman Institute, Inc., Seattle, Washington

Robert-Jay Green, PhD, Rockway Institute for LGBT Psychology, California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, San Francisco, California

Shannon M. Greene, PhD, Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

E. Mavis Hetherington, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia

Evan Imber-Black, PhD, Ackerman Institute for the Family, New York, New York, and Marriage and Family Therapy Master's Program, Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, New York

Melanie Karger, MA, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey

Carmen Knudson-Martin, PhD, Counseling and Family Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California

Jay Lebow, PhD, The Family Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Cassandra Ma, PsyD, The Family Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Monica McGoldrick, MSW, PhD(Hon.), The Multicultural Family Institute, Highland Park, New Jersey

Kay Pasley, EdD, Family and Child Sciences, School of Human Sciences, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida

Cheryl Rampage, PhD, The Family Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

John S. Rolland, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Center for Family Health, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Gina Miranda Samuels, PhD, School of Social Service Administration, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Alyson Shapiro, PhD, School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Tazuko Shibusawa, PhD, Silver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, New York

Erica L. Spotts, PhD, Division of Behavioral and Social Research, National Institutes on Aging/Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Catherine B. Stroud, PhD, The Family Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Amber Tabares, PhD, private practice, Bellevue, Washington

Froma Walsh, PhD, School of Social Service Administration, Department of Psychiatry, and Center for Family Health, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Catherine Weigel Foy, MSW, The Family Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

---

Audience

Therapists and counselors working with families; instructors and students in family therapy, psychology, social work, counseling, nursing, and related fields.

---

Course Use

Serves as a text in such courses as Family Psychology, Social Work and the Family, Marriage and the Family, and Family and Couple Therapy.

---

Previous editions published by Guilford:

Third Edition, © 2003
ISBN: 9781572308169

Second Edition, © 1993
ISBN: 9780898620900

First Edition, © 1982
ISBN: 9780898620511

---

New to this edition:

• Reflects important research advances and the changing contexts of family life.
• Additional chapter topics: kinship care, family rituals, evidence-based assessment, and neurobiology.
• All chapters have been fully updated.